Civil society is not just to be treated as the fashionable flavor of the moment by those who enjoy social engineering. Civil society, in turn, assumes a trust which can be easily abused. The free association of citizens is a wonderful thing. But it ceases to be so when it takes the path of virulent exclusion. Moreover, in those parts of the world and of our region of Europe where it is still growing, it needs the protection from the wider circle of the global civic movement.
Isolation breeds parochialism.
Civil society remained and held its ground throughout the region, gradually building ties with other such networks throughout the world. This is important because we have to remember that during this period, there was the counterweight of new states justifying themselves. It has stayed to fight for its own legitimacy under law. It has begun to acquire the recognition of political leaderships and bureaucracies that have otherwise been less than well disposed to this civic intrusion. But civil society has offered much more.