Efforts to prepare teachers and other professionals for inclusive education in the Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS/CEE) region are heavily influenced by the legacy of Soviet defectology (the study of children with disabilities) and Soviet traditions of teacher education. The authors identify some challenges facing those concerned with preparing teachers for inclusive education and provide examples of current projects in the region that address the complex problems associated with providing inclusive education for children identified as having disabilities. The changing role of defectologists in inclusion policy and practice is also discussed. Case examples from Armenia, Latvia, the Czech Republic, Azerbaijan, and Serbia reflect current innovations in teacher education and professional development in the region.Keywords Inclusive education Á Teacher education Á Defectology Á CIS/CEE region Since 1990, the post-socialist countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union (CIS/CEE) 1 have undergone tremendous change. Political and social changesWe are grateful to the three reviewers who provided helpful comments on our work and to our colleagues in the region who provided examples of their work for inclusion in this paper: Sarmite Tubele,

This paper examines developments in inclusive education in Bulgaria (BG) and Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) in the context of actual and desired accession to the European Union respectively. It seeks to provide insights into the national special education traditions in these countries and aims to establish how these have influenced current developments in inclusive education together with and alongside powerful external change agents. This research focuses on policy makers' perspectives on changes associated with inclusion. There are significant similarities in the way inclusive education reforms are being perceived and implemented in both countries, and analysis suggests there is a strong need for regional co-operation with shifts in both policy and practice.

Sixty-one children (aged 9-17) from the UK (31) and Bosnia (30) were interviewed about the war in Iraq. Significant differences emerged in their views of the war. The Bosnian children were more affected by the Iraq war, more aware of who is involved in it, had different views about its causes, viewed the consequences of the war with greater gravity and expressed a greater desire to end war and have peace.Two factors which might account for these differences -recent Bosnian history and the nature of media representations of the war in the two countries -are discussed.

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