And Eastern Europe has had a poor hand to play over the centuries. A powerful noble class held sway in Eastern Europe for a far longer period than was the case in Western Europe. For a variety of reasons, cities were slow to evolve in the East as well. The bitter nationalism that spurs suspicions and prejudices among different ethnic groups has also been a hindrance to Eastern Europe's development. Longworth also believes that East Europeans have been a little too easily swayed by utopianism for their own good.
Ideas become something of a drug and hopes tend to run unreasonably high.
Surveying Eastern Europe's current state of affairs, Longworth says it's important to realize that the region has strengths as well. They do have assets. There are oil and mineral resources. I fear that people in the East who think that this is going to be their meal ticket are going to be disappointed. Longworth's own interest in Eastern Europe was sparked when, as a young Cold War-era soldier, his facility for learning foreign languages drew the attention of his superiors.