Steven Fish calls the book "a major contribution to our understanding of the postcommunist political predicament" which "will stand the test of time", noting its "searching treatment of the connection between intellectual and political life", "incorporation of cultural conflict into the analysis of politics", "unabashed humanism" and "lyrical style", all of which, he argues, parallel works by Isaiah Berlin and Fouad Ajami. However, he criticizes Tismăneanu for his "not strictly correct" conclusion that intellectual former dissidents can be credited with bringing down communism and reforming their countries, replying that the "rough-hewn politicians" Lech Wałęsa and Boris Yeltsin, and the Bulgarian "pragmatic liberal centrist" Ivan Kostov, are just as important actors. A similar point is made by Cas Mudde, who contends that Tismăneanu's words display "passionate and uncritical support for the dissidents", adding: "For someone so worried about populism, it is remarkable that he does not see the clearly populist elements of the dissidents' 'anti-politics', which he so often praises." Political scientist Steven Saxonberg reserves praise for the manner in which "Fantasies of Salvation" is written, but objects to Tismăneanu's preference for market liberalism at the expense of any form of collectivism, and claims that his focus on new antisemitic trends overlooks the revival of antiziganism. Researchers comment favorably Tismăneanu's rejection of cultural determinism in discussing the Eastern Bloc countries' relation to the Western world and to each other.