Head to head: How do Europe's Cold War divisions persist?

It is tempting to trace Europe’s economic and political divisions back to the Cold War. Certainly, the brutality of the communist dictatorships left a poisonous legacy. Especially in the states that have successfully rebranded themselves as ‘Central Europe’, the wounds are gradually healing. Nevertheless, Europe’s former communist countries tend to be poorer, with inferior infrastructure, declining populations and toxic political polarisation evident in even the most vibrant democracies.