Introduction: The Political Currency of the Past: History, Memory, and Identity

Abstract

of 2006 and the submission of the completed volume, a writer/editor was assassinated; a dis tinguished scholar was hounded into exile; a prime minister's resignation was hastened; members of a parliament tried to impeach their president; parliamentarians in several countries accused colleagues of treason; the government of a member-state created a diplomatic crisis at a crucial summit of the European Union; a gov ernment finally dismissed an indictment against one of its most distinguished citizens? a current Nobel laureate?following wide spread international protests; and the same government recalled its ambassador to a major ally, to show displeasure with a committee vote in the latter's parliament. Several of the con tributors to this volume have received specific, credible threats to their safety, related to work on the subjects of their articles; and another was shouted down at an academic forum by presumably highly educated and sophisticated attendees.