Death and destruction such as events in the former Yugoslavia have wrought could be overcome with unity among Muslim, Western and post-communist nations, the Aga Khan said Friday.

As in other post-Communist nations, the block's night life is testament to an economic boom that has transformed a slice of society and created a vast gulf between this minority and a struggling underclass.

Page A1 News analysis: In Czechoslovakia, jubilation over the downfall of the Old Guard hasn't quite subsided as the country enters the far more complex phase of shaping a post-Communist nation.

This ban is still enforced with the former Soviet Union republics and post-Communist Eastern European nations without USA trade agreements.

POPE John Paul, on his first trip to the former Soviet Union, yesterday called for reconciliation in post-communist nations and said their people should not be divided into 'winners and losers'.

The issue of what benchmarks are appropriate is significant for every post-Communist nation.

The Czechs, like the peoples of most other post-Communist nations, have been slow to move against Communist-era leaders.

In these circumstances, a skilled external news operation can give post-Communist nations a yardstick for judging their own press.

Every post-Communist nation, from Russia to the Baltics to Germany, faces similar problems in trying to contain the disappointment of workers without courting economic disaster.

In the post-Communist nations, after an initial decline, those that are the most democratic have achieved the greatest gains in life expectancy.