Bücher der Reihe Soviet and Post-Soviet Politics and Society

This book represents a collection of the results of four empirical studies of ethnic and religious hate speech in Russia in 2001-2004. Several Russian non-governmental organizations took part in the project. The major part of the research was done by Alexander Verkhovsky and Galina Kozhevnikova (Sova Center). Further contributions were made by Tatyana Lokshina and Sergey Lukashevsky (formerly, Moscow Helsinki Group; now Demos Center) and Ksenya Izotova and Valeriya Akhmetyeva (Sova Center).The contributions analyze and compare with each other dynamics of the development of hate speech according to such parameters as groups that are the objects of intolerance, permutations of hate speech, types of people who voice intolerant views, etc. These phenomena were studied in politically relatively calm periods as well as in times of raising intolerance after the terrorist acts in Moscow 2002 and Beslan in 2004. Special research was devoted to hate speech during the federal electoral campaigns of late 2003 - early 2004. This allows the authors to make some conclusions about the dependence of hate speech on events such as the above.

This book discusses a number of issues concerning the service of the nationalities of the Caucasus in the Red Army within the context of Soviet nationality policies and an intensification of repressive tendencies in the USSR's armed forces during World War II. It is the first study of the role and function of the Caucasian national troops in the Red Army and of related political debates between state and military leaders of the Caucasian national republics and USSR. The political aspects of the mobilization of various Caucasian nationalities in the army, and the reasons for the gradual cessation, in the course of 1941-1943, of the mobilization in the Red Army of all native nationalities of the Northern and Southern Caucasus are analyzed, in particular.The study is based on documents from the Central Archive of the Defense Ministry of the Russian Federation, Russian State Archive of Social and Political History and Russian State War Archive, as well as on various memoirs and secondary sources.

Based on extensive archival research and, in particular, on documents of the Central Committee of the VKP(b), TsIK and SNK of the USSR and RSFSR, VSNKh, NKVD, and other institutions, this book analyses the aims and methods of pre-World War II urban housing policies in the Soviet Union. Among the issues covered are the principles of the Soviet approach to private and communal housing, the role of the state security organs in the administration and distribution of accommodation, different types of early Soviet lodging (communal houses, family flats, Soviet Houses and Hotels, etc.), the reasons for the abandonment of cooperative housing as well as for the restrictions on building private cottages, and the role of housing for enforcing certain types of behaviour and labour desired by the Soviet government. The study, for the first time in Russian language, describes in some detail the so-called New Housing Policy largely ignored in Soviet historiography.

Diese Monographie stellt eine tiefgehende Fallstudie des 2014 begonnenen Reformprozesses in der Ukraine dar. Sie diskutiert sowohl die politisch-ökonomischen Rahmenbedingungen als auch die vielfältigen Hindernisse, welche die angelaufene tiefgehende Umgestaltung von Staat, Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft der Ukraine erschweren. Neben den Grundlagen der Transformation in Osteuropa und Ursachen für das Ausbleiben einer umfassenden Modernisierung der Ukraine vor 2014 steht die Umsetzung der Reformen seither im Mittelpunkt. Hierzu wird eine Reihe von Reformagenden aus verschiedenen Blickwinkeln diskutiert und mit den bisherigen Ergebnissen abgeglichen. Besonderes Augenmerk liegt auch auf den Anliegen der Zivilgesellschaft sowie Forderungen internationaler Akteure. So werden ¿ vier Jahre nach dem Euromaidan ¿ Erfolge und Rückschläge in den zentralen Politikfeldern nachvollziehbar. Die Untersuchung vermittelt nicht nur einen Eindruck von der Komplexität und Langfristigkeit der Transformationsprozesse. Sie ordnet auch die bisherigen Ergebnisse der Reformbemühungen in ein Gesamtbild ein und erklärt den jeweils spezifisch ukrainischen Kontext. Kernbeitrag ist eine datenbasierte Analyse der ersten Phase der begonnenen Neuformierung der öffentlichen Verwaltung, anhand derer die Schwierigkeiten einer Umsetzung weitreichender Modernisierungsvorhaben illustriert werden. Das Buch ist die erste derartige längere Studie in deutscher Sprache. Sie wendet sich in erster Linie an Entscheidungsträger, Journalisten und Forscher, die sich ein genaueres Bild über den Stand des ukrainischen Reformprozesses machen und die Ursachen für dessen oft unvorhersehbaren Verlauf besser verstehen wollen.

Ukraine of the last years has been an unpredictable country. The frequent changes of government and parliamentary coalitions as well as the contradictory foreign policy orientations of the main political actors and the switching between different modes of international integration - how can one predict the future of such a state? Are there any constants and long-term trends?The following collected volume is an excerpt from a broader collective investigation of several Ukrainian scholars conducted in 2007-2008, and revised in accordance with the new realities of 2010. On the basis of an analysis of different spheres of society, the authors propose integrated scenarios of the nearest Ukrainian future: (1) a "realistic" (inert) one, (2) an "optimistic" one, and (3) a "pessimistic" one. The real development of the coming years may comprise elements of all three scenarios. Yet the reader will be able to follow certain constant tendencies - the deepening of the socio-demographic crisis, the politicians' continued ignoring of the social capital and resources of civil society, as well as a possible loss of sovereignty in Ukraine's relations to Russia. In the introduction, Galushko presents the approaches and concepts of the study. The chapter "The Main Problems and Tendencies of Socio-Economic Development" was written by a team of sociologists under the leadership of Smola. The attempts of "development by plan" and evolution of the information sphere of Ukraine are analyzed in separate contributions by Smola. Viktor Kotigorenko considers risks of ethnic conflicts while Evgenii Magda outlines the main tendencies of political development. Elena Titova deals with the problems of a preservation of the Ukrainian cultural heritage. In conclusion, integrated scenarios are formulated by Galushko in collaboration with Smola and Magda.

Czechoslovakia played an important role within the Soviet bloc, yet its history remains under-researched. This monograph blends historical analysis of the superpowers¿ foreign policies with an assessment of their impact on Czechoslovakia and its position within the Soviet bloc. The book thereby places Czechoslovakia on the map of Cold War history, i.e. the era of ¿mutually assured destruction¿ that lasted almost half a century. It provides a lucid introduction to some milestones in international Cold War history in their relation to Czecho-Slovak history. The book¿s novel contribution is to explain Czechoslovakiäs domestic situation during the Cold War from the ¿outside¿. Drawing on extensive source materials of Slovak, Czech, American, and Russian provenance, it provides a more comprehensive understanding of post-war Czecho-Slovak history while also contributing to general knowledge about the nature and impact of the Cold War.

The book provides a detailed description of "the Russian crime of the twenty-first century" as well as a thorough examination of the eighty sessions of the nine-month-long trial (during 2016-2017) of Boris Nemtsov's alleged killers. It directs attention to the chief obstacle in determining what precisely happened shortly before midnight on February 27, 2015, on a bridge located a mere stone's throw away from the Kremlin, in an area under the active surveillance of the Russian Federal Protective Service. The glaring absence of closed circuit videos from this most heavily guarded site in Russia is underscored. Given the absence of such key evidence, those seeking to investigate the murder have been akin to blind people stumbling about in obscurity. The attempts to penetrate this man-made fog undertaken during the course of the trial by the Nemtsov family attorneys, Vadim Prokhorov and Olga Mikhailova, as well as by numerous tenacious analysts of the crime, such as former deputy Russian energy minister Vladimir Milov, former Russian presidential economics advisor Andrei Illarionov, and leading mathematician Andrei Piontkovskii, are covered in full. The uneven case mounted by the prosecution and the scrappy defense effort of the attorneys for the alleged killers, many of them ethnic Chechens, are highlighted, as is the non-unanimous verdict which was reached by the twelve jurors. The findings of this study are in agreement with those of a number of commentators who contend that the actual organizers of the crime remain at large as does the assassination's shadowy mastermind.

Much has been written on the 1917¿1920 revolution in Ukraine, on the national movement, the Makhnovists and the Bolsheviks. Yet there were others with a mass following whose role has faded from history books. One such party was the Borotbisty, the heirs of the mass Ukrainian Party of Socialist-Revolutionaries, an independent party seeking to achieve national liberation and social emancipation. Though widely known in revolutionary Europe in their day, the Borotbisty were decimated during the Stalinist holocaust in Ukraine. Out of print for over half a century, this lost text by Ivan Maistrenko, the last survivor of the Borotbisty, provides a unique account on this party and its historical role. Part memoir and part history, this is a thought-provoking book which challenges previous approaches to the revolution and shows how events in Ukraine decided the fate not only of the Russian Revolution but the upheavals in Europe at the time.

When public protests first began in Ukraine at the end of 2013, the failed promise of the Orange Revolution was still fresh in the minds of many Ukrainians. However, unlike in the aftermath of 2004/2005, the political and military crises ignited by the Euromaidan brought profound changes not only for Ukraine, but also for neighboring states and Europe more generally. The annexation of Crimea by Russia in March 2014, along with the outbreak of fighting in the Donets Basin, has resulted in a profound shift in how domestic and regional security is perceived. More broadly, these events have also called into question the durability of the post-Cold War world order, which had been based upon peaceful coexistence between states, the integrity of sovereign borders, and an acceptance of the legitimacy of international law. While the effects of the Euromaidan have already been analyzed in terms of Ukrainian politics and relations between Ukraine, Russia, and the EU, what has not yet taken place is a sustained analysis of how its legacies have reverberated throughout the post-communist region and wider Europe (and how these altered international perceptions have, in turn, affected the subsequent course of Ukraine's domestic politics). Writing from a variety of viewpoints and backgrounds, this volume's contributors seek to address these lacunae. Among other topics, they focus on Russia's dissatisfaction with the post-Cold War international order, examine issues of ontological insecurity in an increasingly networked world, assess the limits of Western leverage, evaluate Ukrainian public opinion concerning NATO and the EU, consider the broader security implications of the Euromaidan for Eastern Europe, explore the role of migration and demographic factors for Ukrainian security, and assess how contentious pasts are being utilized as tools of statecraft by both Ukrainian actors and outside forces.

Language policy and usage in the post-communist region have continually attracted wide political, media, and expert attention since the disintegration of the USSR in 1991. How are these issues politicised in contemporary Estonia, Latvia, and Ukraine? This study presents a cross-cultural qualitative and quantitative analysis of publications in leading Russian-language blogs and news websites of these three post-Soviet states in the period from 2004 to 2017. The most notable difference observed between Ukraine, on the one side, and the two Baltic countries, on the other, is that many Russian-writing users in Ukraine's internet tend to support the position that the state language, i.e. Ukrainian, is discriminated against and needs special protection by the state, whereas the majority of Russian-speaking commentators on selected Estonian and Latvian news websites advocate the establishment of Russian as a second state language. Despite attempts of Ukraine's government to ukrainianise the public space, the position of Ukrainian is still perceived, even by many Russian-writing commentators and bloggers, as being 'precarious' and 'vulnerable.' This became especially visible in debates after the 2013-2014 Revolution of Dignity, when the number of supporters of an introduction of Russian as a second state language significantly decreased. In the Russian-language segments of Estonian and Latvian news websites and blogs, in contrast, the majority of online users continue to reproduce the image of being 'victims' of their countries' nation-building. They often claim that their political, as well as economic rights are significantly limited in comparison to ethnic Estonians and Latvians.This book illustrates that-notwithstanding variations between the Estonian as well as Latvian cases, on the one hand, and Ukraine, on the other-there is an ongoing process of convergence within Ukrainian debates if compared to those held in the other two countries in terms of an increasing degree of 'discursive decommunisation' and 'derussification.'

Even before the Ukrainian crisis, neither Russia nor the EU were content with their relationship. Despite economic interdependence, strategic partnership, official declarations of belonging culturally and historically to the same 'European family' and in spite of Russia's stated interest in establishing an economic community stretching from Lisbon to Vladivostok, the two actors found it difficult to agree on important issues. The conflictual atmosphere between the EU and Russia has three main dimensions: the normative issue, energy relations, and the shared neighbourhood with the latter being particularly salient after the launch of the Eastern Partnership (EaP) in 2009. The former Soviet space is at the core of Russian foreign policy. Moscow's special interest in this area results from economic factors, diaspora issues, and, most importantly, from its perceived security need. Obsessed by a fear of being encircled by enemies, Russia sees its hegemony over the former Soviet republics as paramount to the protection of its own borders. Therefore, the rapprochement of any other actor towards this region is regarded with high suspicion.Against this background, Vasile Rotaru analyzes EU-Russia relations with a particular emphasis on the impact of the EaP on Moscow's relations with Brussels. He argues that the EaP represented a turning point in EU-Russia relations, determining Moscow to revise its attitude towards the Union. Rotaru explains that, even if the EaP was Brussels' initiative, the Partnership met the aspirations of the six former Soviet republics. Moreover, despite its opposition towards the EU's initiative, Russia itself acted involuntarily as a propeller of the EaP. By aiming to keep the former Soviet republics close, Moscow often conducts an assertive, aggressive policy in the 'near abroad.' This strategy, however, had mostly opposite effects, causing Russia's neighbors to look elsewhere for support of their sovereignty. From this perspective, the rapprochement of Moldova, Belarus, Ukraine, and the three Caucasus republics with the EU has not been determined only by Brussels' prosperity and soft-power attractiveness but also by existential fears in the former Soviet republics.The book appeals to a wide range of students, researchers, and professors specializing on Russia, the EU, and the former Soviet space in the fields of International Relations, Foreign Policy Analysis, and Security Studies as well as to think-tank analysts and policy makers.

Based on an institutional approach to ethnic conflict, Petar Cholakov highlights the idiosyncrasies of, and the challenges to, inter-ethnic relations in Bulgaria. He traces the emergence of the currently implemented Bulgarian ethnic model in its interconnection with the party system, and especially examines the ideology, political support, and mobilization tools employed by the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) party as well as the populist radical right. Cholakov presents findings from case studies on Bulgaria''s Roma, crime, and politics. He analyzes Bulgarian integration policies and assesses the role of Bulgaria''s judiciary as well as contemporary antidiscrimination legislation, in particular, of the 2004 Protection against Discrimination Act. The monograph peruses decisions of, among others, the European Court of Human Rights and uncovers patterns of discrimination against Roma. By reverse engineering the Bulgarian ethnic model, Cholakov reveals how the institutions operate and comes to the conclusion that inter-ethnic peace has been entrusted to a defective mechanism which institutionalizes ethnic cleavage and politicizes identity. On the basis of his in-depth analysis, the author makes a prognosis for the future of ethnic relations in Bulgaria and provides recommendations for reforms.

How far have universities in post-Communist states adopted the practices and habits of their branded and consumer-oriented equivalents in the English-speaking world? While not assuming that university education in those states reflects in any mechanistic way the regulated, business-led system long established in places like the US, and now being dramatically realized in countries like Britain, this edited collection identifies some marked shifts in the direction of what might best be described as 'neoliberalisation', examining its particularities in local situations where establishment ideologies were, until the early 1990s, deeply alien to all kinds of commercially driven entities. Many of the authors are concerned not only with the linked issues of commercialism, instrumentalism, bureaucracy, and managerialism, framed locally and nationally, but also with the meaning and purpose of universities outside or against their status as efficient gatherers of income. The collection makes specific reference to Lithuania, Hungary, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Georgia, and Russia, and comprises theoretical as well as empirical studies of diverse but connected subjects, including the marketization of the academy, regional reactions to globalization as expressed in the representational rhetoric of specific curricula, the role and place of civic education, comparisons between educational settings, pedagogies for a critical and ethical consciousness, corporate and state demands and their effects on academic freedom, and the positive potential of new communication technologies. In all these cases, the system of neoliberalism, or rather an uneven process of neoliberalisation, forms a backdrop to the particular issues discussed.

Recently, a renewed international interest in Russia as a world political actor has emerged. Against this background, it is useful to better understand how international relations and foreign affairs are studied in Russia and how future Russian political actors, diplomatic personnel, ministerial bureaucrats, business managers, area experts, and other officials, activists, or researchers are taught for their work on the international arena. What are the theories, approaches, and schools that guide Russian teaching on, and research of, international relations?The current state of Russian studies of International Relations (IR), to a large degree, reflects the history and development of IR research during Soviet times. However, over the past 25 years, one could also observe a number of new developments-both substantive and institutional-which are important not only for properly assessing the new state of this academic discipline in Russia, but also for better comprehending Russian foreign policy as well as various international activities of Russia's regions, businesses, media, etc.

The twentieth century began with a deep identity crisis of European parliamentarianism, pluralism, rationalism, individualism, and liberalism¿and a subsequent political revolt against the West's emerging open societies and their ideational foundation. In its radicalism, this upheaval against Western values had far-reaching consequences across the world. Its repercussions can still be felt today. Germany and Russia formed the center of this insurrection against those ideas, norms, and approaches usually associated with the West. Leonid Luks's essays deal with various causes and results of these Russian and German anti-Western uprisings in twentieth-century Europe. The book also touches upon the development of the peculiar post-Soviet Russian regime that, after the collapse of the USSR, emerged on the ruins of the Bolshevik state that had been established in 1917. What were the determinants of the erosion of the "second" Russian democracy (after the first of February 1917) that had been briefly established following the disempowerment of the CPSU in August 1991, and that existed until the rise of Vladimir Putin? Further foci of this wide-ranging collection of essays include the specific 'geopolitical trap' in which Poland-constrained by its two powerful neighbors-was caught for centuries. Finally, Luks explores the special relationship that all three countries of Central and Eastern Europe's 'fateful triangle' had with Judaism and the Jews.

Sophie Falsini presents a fascinating analysis of the current state and future prospects of Ukrainian civil society in light of the 2013¿2014 events. Since then, the country has been shaken by both socio-political disorders and a deep humanitarian emergency, also exacerbated by the crisis of internally displaced people. Yet, it is under these same premises that civil society emerged as a main societal actor in post-Euromaidan politics, development, and reform. Through its war relief work and the endeavors to lead Ukraine towards democratization, civil society has, to a considerable degree, offset the lack of an efficient state administration and activated vital components of Ukrainian social capital.In respect to these achievements, Falsini explores the way and the extent to which the events occurring in Ukraine since late 2013¿the Euromaidan revolution, the annexation of Crimea, and the war in the East¿have contributed to the growth of social capital as well as to the resulting change in the shape and in the structure of civil society in the country.Through a multidimensional approach, combining theoretical interpretation with empirical analysis, the study examines Ukraine¿s transformed civil society in terms of its social relations, societal networks and resources, and collective action. Based on the theory of social capital after Lin Nan, the empirical analysis revolves around the case studies of 12 civil society organizations active in providing help to internally displaced people. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in Kiev, Dnipro, and Kharkiv aiming to confirm or discard the thesis of a post-Euromaidan civil society powered by increased levels of social capital. The collected data show that the 2013¿2014 events did indeed contribute to the reshaping of the structure of Ukrainian civil society as they reversed people¿s preference for informal and cross-level networks, mistrust towards the system, and disappointment with public institutions. Compared to the past, Ukraine¿s ¿civil society 2.0¿ saw the rise of grassroots and voluntary movements which triggered social mobilization, and a long-term investment of resources for the benefit of the public good. These developments have significantly contributed to an increase of the level of social capital in post-Euromaidan Ukraine.

Brussels made democracy, human rights, the rule of law, and good governance its top co-operation priorities in the EU Strategy Framework towards Central Asia for 2007-2013. This book examines two interrelated questions: To what extent has EU democracy promotion in Central Asia been successful? And, to the extent that it was successful, why was it so?The book presents a comprehensive analytical framework for the evaluation of democracy promotion, including factors which may facilitate or hinder democratic development in Central Asia. It demonstrates the validity of a holistic approach to analyzing impediments of democracy promotion meaning that external pro-democratic support is affected by a variety of diverse factors whose impact can vary as international, regional, and domestic conditions change.The stable and rich authoritarian state of Kazakhstan is different from the much poorer Kyrgyzstan-a state prone to political instability, but also to democratic openings. By contrasting the success of democracy promotion in these two countries which have different strategic importance for the EU, this study provides valuable insights into how non-normative interests interfere with normatively driven policies.