Imagining membership: The conception of Europe in the political thought ofT. G. Masaryk and Vaclav Havel

A decade after the fall of Communism in Europe, the Czech Republic's member ship in the European Union is still a matter of a relatively short waiting period of 4 years. Not so the imagination of this membership and the creati on of a political concept created to promote this goal: the specific Centra l European policy initiated by Thomas G. Masaryk and revitalized by Vaclav Havel. Despite the deep differences in the political thought and philosophi cal orientations of both Presidents, not to mention the historic rupture of 41 years of Totalitarianism, their perceptions of Europe as an Imagined Co mmunity are identical.