Politics and government Books

Book SynopsisThe Euromaidan protests highlighted Ukraine as a state between East and West European pathways. It became obvious that Ukraines search for identity and future is deeply rooted in historical fragmentations of the country which indicate Ukraines long-standing and multiple ties beyond its borders. In this volume, distinguished scholars provide empirical analysis and theoretical reflections on Ukraines transnational embeddedness which surfaced with an unexpected intensity in the recent political conflict. The contributions focus on such phenomena as the role of international media and of diaspora communities in the Euromaidans aftermath, on the transnational roots of memories and the search for collective identity, and on transnational linkages of elites within Ukrainian political and economic regimes. The anthology demonstrates the theoretical and analytical value of the concept of transnationalism for studying the ambivalent processes of post-Soviet modernization.Table of ContentsIntroduction; Transnational Networks in & Around Ukraine: Theories & Practices; The "Novorossiya" Project & National Affiliations in Ukraine's Southeast: A Failed Attempt at Transnational Community Reconstruction?; Novorossiya & the Transnationalism of Unrecognized Post-Soviet Nations; Global Symbols & Local Meanings: The "Day of Victory" after Euromaidan; Practice-Related Transnationalism; Coming to Terms with Odessa Ukraine: The Impact of the Maidan Uprising on the Ukrainian Diaspora; Movements on the Development of Diasporic Engagement: The Case of Euromaidan & Its Impact for the Ukrainian Diaspora in Poland & Germany; The International Links of Ukrainian Oligarchs: Business Expansion & Transnational Offshore NetworksUkraine in the Russian Mass Media: Germany as an Example of Russian Information Policy; Ukrainian Nation Building & Ethnic Minority Associations: The Case of Southern Bessarabia; The Transnational "Neo-Eurasian" Network & its Preparation of Separatism in Ukraine 20052014; Ukraine & Beyond: Concluding Remarks on Transnationalism.

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Book SynopsisThis volume deals with one of the most understudied aspects of everyday life in Russian society. Its main heroes are the providers of goods and services to whom people turn for healthcare instead of official medical institutions. A wide range of agents is describedfrom network marketing companies to 'folk' journals on health as well as healers, complementary medicine specialists, and religious organizations. Krasheninnikovas book is based on rich empirical observations and avoids both positive and critical assessment of the analyzed phenomena. Her investigation pays particular attention to the legal, social, and economic status of informal healthcare providers. She demonstrates that these agents tend to flourish in bigger towns rather than in small settlements, where public healthcare is lacking. The study reveals the important role of institutions that are generally not related to alternative medicine, such as pharmacies, libraries, and church shops. The result is a vivid and thorough introduction to the world of self-medication and alternative healing in contemporary Russia. A special emphasis was made on the flexibility of boundaries between formal and informal healthcare due to the evolution of rules and regulations.Table of ContentsForeword; Goals & Tools of Informal Healthcare Sociography; Agents in the Markets For Health Products; Health From the Garden, Forest, & Market: Procuring & Selling Gifts of Nature; Shadow & Respectable Alternative Medicine: From Healers to "Complementary" Specialists; Religious Institutions: Health Concerns & Commerce on Health Problems; The "Informal Healthcare" Framework: Information Markets; Afterword.

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Book SynopsisThis timely book investigates the complex relations between the Republic of Poland and the Slovak Republic in the context of ongoing processes in the European Unions political and economic system. The basic assumption of the study is that Polish-Slovak relations are affected and shaped not only by the interaction between the two of them but also by the dynamics of the European and global international environment. The authors explore different aspects of the interconnectedness of Warsaw and Bratislava. This includes the analysis of political, economic, and social dimensions of bilateral relations in the multilateral context. One of the goals of this volume is to define areas and spheres of Polands and Slovakias common interest, as well as to point out those areas with the highest potential for development. It also defines and analyzes problematic issues in common relations that could be seen as obstacles in developing cooperation in specific areas and politically strategic areas like foreign and security policy. Moreover, the book seeks to measure the extent to which Polish-Slovak relations are affected by the European integration process.

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Book SynopsisDespite having an underdeveloped supporting infrastructure and limited resources, Kazakhstan was the first CIS country to require IFRS in 2004 for banks, and in 2005 for all public companies. What were the economic consequences of this important reform? In the 1990s, Kazakhstans capital market reforms mirrored those of Russia due to the two countries cooperating mode driven by a high level of resource interdependence and environmental uncertainty, following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Yet, by 2003, dependence on external donors (IMF, World Bank) took precedence over interdependence with Russia. As a result, Kazakhstan unilaterally proceeded with adoption of IFRS, while Russia backed up from this initiative. This study reports that Kazakhstans inflow of Foreign Direct Investments was the greatest among the CIS nations following the adoption of IFRS. In addition, in 200511, Kazakhstani public firms reporting quality was higher than that of the Russian public firms operating in a similar environment but exempt from the IFRS reporting requirement. Kazakhstan was the first CIS nation to repay its external debt ahead of schedule and to receive an investment grade from Moodys rating agency. The book concludes that Western-style capital market reformsin this emerging market with a not-so-distant communist pasthad significantly positive outcomes.Table of ContentsForeword; Introduction; Background Information; Global Adoption of IFRS; Resource Dependence Theory & its Application to Kazakhstan's Strategic Decision to Become the First & Early Adopter of IFRS within the CIS; Empirical Analyses; Future Perspectives; Conclusions; Bibliography.

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Book SynopsisReligion and magic have played important roles within Eastern European societies where social reality and socio-political balance may differ greatly from those in the West. Although often thought of as being two distinct, even antagonistic forces, religion and magic find ways to work together. By taking on various examples in the multicultural settings of post-Soviet and post-socialist spaces, this collection brings together diverse historical and ethnographic analyses of orthodoxy and heterodoxy from the pre- and post-1989 periods, studies on the relationship of religious and state institutions to individuals practicing alternative forms of spirituality, and examples of borderlands as spaces of ambiguity. This volume is at the crossroads of anthropology, history, as well as cultural memory studies. Its archival and field research results help us understand how repurposing religious and magic practices worked into the transition that countries in Eastern Europe and beyond have experienced after the end of the Cold War.

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Book SynopsisThis book is a comprehensive study of the social roots of citizen raising in contemporary Russia. It traces the development of governmental patriotic programs in recent decades, discusses how the Soviet past and political traditions influence todays system of patriotism formation, and presents numerous examples illustrating real-life processes in current patriotic education. While the topics of patriotism and patriotic education are highly politicised, this study approaches them from a sociological perspective. It identifies the basic model of patriotic education as a fairly stable structure born of the values and attitudes of different agents: teachers, school administrators, and civil servants. Patriotic education in Russia is shown as a particular example of how a political idea can lead to the formation of social structures, and how, in time, those social structures can lead to the restoration of the original political idea.

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Book SynopsisFocusing on the case of Russia during Putins first two presidential terms, this book examines media manipulation strategies in electoral authoritarian regimes. Which instruments and approaches do incumbent elites employ to skew media coverage in favour of their preferred candidate in a presidential election? What effects do these strategies have on news content? Based on two case studies of the presidential election campaigns in Russia in 2000 and in 2008, this investigation identifies the critical internal mechanisms according to which these regimes work. Looking at the same country, while it transformed from a competitive into a hegemonic authoritarian regime, allows one to make a diachronic comparison of these two regime types based on the Most-Similar Systems Design. The book explicates the subtle differences between competitive and hegemonic regimes, different types of media manipulation strategies, the diverging extent of media instrumentalisation, various interactions among state actors, large business owners, the media, and journalists, the respective effects that all these factors and interactions have on media content, and the peculiar types of bias prevalent in each type of regime. This deep exploration of post-Soviet politics is based on extensive review of documents, interviews with media professionals, and quantitative as well as qualitative content analyses of news media during two Russian presidential election campaigns.Table of ContentsIntroduction; Hybrid Regimes: Types & Measurements; Electoral Manipulations; Instrumentalisation of the Media; Strategies of Media Manipulation: The Case of Russia; Analysis of News Content: Presidential Election Campaigns 2000 & 2008; Conclusions.

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Book SynopsisUsing the Russian presidents major public addresses as the main source, Bo Petersson analyses the legitimization strategies employed during Vladimir Putins third and fourth terms in office. The argument is that these strategies have rested on Putins highly personalised blend of strongman-image projection and presentation as the embodiment of Russias great power myth. Putin appears as the only credible guarantor against renewed weakness, political chaos, and interference from abroad -- in particular from the US. After a first deep crisis of legitimacy manifested itself by the massive protests in 20112012, the annexation of Crimea led to a lengthy boost in Putins popularity figures. The book discusses how the Crimea effect is, by 2021, trailing off and Putins charismatic authority is increasingly questioned by opposition from Alexei Navalny, the effects of unpopular reforms, and poor handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, Russia is bound to head for a succession crisis as the legitimacy of the political system continues to be built on Putins projected personal characteristics and -- now apparently waning -- charisma, and since no potential heir apparent has been allowed on centre-stage. The constitutional reform of summer 2020 made it possible in theory for Putin to continue as president until 2036. Yet, this change did not address the Russian political systems fundamental future leadership dilemma.Trade ReviewThis is an important and much-needed study of a Putin regime which has evolved considerably over the years. Petersson, a leading expert on the Putin leadership and policy program, brings care and nuance to this rich study of Putins regime legitimization efforts in his third and fourth presidential terms. Those familiar with Peterssons scholarship will not be surprised that this volume is carefully crafted, it is well-grounded in a compelling analysis of Putins public addresses, and it offers significant insights about contemporary Russian politics that go beyond the standard fare. Petersson effectively juxtaposes Putins regime-legitimating efforts with the profound challenges that confront the regime in its third decade. I am excited to add Peterssons book to my personal library, and I expect to draw on this unique work for my own research needs. The Putin Predicament is a significant and welcome contribution to our scholarship. John P. Willerton, Professor of Political Science, University of Arizona, TucsonBo Petersson, one of our leading scholars of national identity in Russia, provides an original and important interpretation of Vladimir Putins approach to gaining, holding, and exercising power. His central insight, that Putins claim to authority is based on his self-presentation as the guardian of Russias great power status, puts international conflict at the center of Putins political strategy and by extension of Russian politics more broadly. The implications for the Putin succession, for the legitimacy of the Russian state after Putin, and for Russias relations with other states are sobering. Paul DAnieri, Professor of Political Science and Public Policy, University of CaliforniaThis important book tackles some of the key issues in present-day Russian politics. Bo Petersson argues that the legitimacy of the Russian political system rests heavily on Putins personal popularity. The regime, though, now finds itself confronting the Putin predicament wherein Putins charismatic authority appears to be waning in the face of new challenges, but no viable alternative leader has been allowed to emerge. Can the regime overcome this or is a succession crisis inevitable when Putin finally leaves office? This is a timely and up-to-date study that will be welcomed by all those interested in the political trajectory of contemporary Russia. Dr. Kenneth Wilson, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Dongguk University (Seoul)Table of ContentsForeword by J Paul Goode; Authors Preface and Acknowledgments; Introduction; Theoretical Points of Orientation; Legitimizing Putin; Legitimacy through Othering; Challenges from Within; Challenges from Without; The Succession Issue; Conclusion; References.

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Book SynopsisAccording to general Realist premises, after the end of the Cold War, the United States took an interest in remaining the only super power. Accordingly, it was attempting to maintain and manage unipolarity. The pursuit of this Grand Strategy, however, required the U.S. to adapt its various strategies to the various receiving states. Poland, Ukraine, and Belarus played very unalike roles in that configuration: Whilst Poland was labeled Americas best friend by President George W. Bush, Belarus was not seeking alignment with the U.S., whereas Ukraine-U.S. relations were subject to many ups and downs. The three countries diverging attitudes towards Washington led to very different policy approaches from a U.S. vantage point. As this study shows, the U.S. did not have an overall strategy for the region. Rather, Washington managed its relations with European states through a set of mainly bilateral relations. Madeleine Albright once described the tools of foreign policy as including everything from kind words to cruise missiles. This book is a comparative case study of the United States use of these tools in its approaches towards Poland, Ukraine, and Belarus after the end of the Cold War. As the only remaining superpower, Washington played a key role in the formation of post-communist Central and Eastern Europe. Yet, its actions and policies have received comparatively little attention. This book contributes to filling that gap by providing three in-depth case studies.

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Book SynopsisThis special issue provides a forum for discussion of what Belarusian Studies are today and which new approaches and questions are needed to revitalize the field in the regional and international academic arena. The major aim of the issue is to go beyond the narratives of dictatorship and authoritarianism as well as that of a never-ending story of failed Belarusian nationalism -- interpretive schemes that are frequently used for understanding Belarus in scholarly literature in Western Europe and Northern America. Bringing together ongoing research based on original empirical material from Belarusian history, politics, and society, this issue combines a discussion of the concept of autonomy/agency with its applicability to trace how individual and collective actors who define themselves as Belarusian -- or otherwise -- have manifested their agendas in various practices in spite of and in reaction to state pressure. This issue offers new approaches for interpreting Belarusian society as a dynamically changing set of agencies. In doing so, it attempts to overcome a tradition of locating present Belarusian political and social dilemmas in its socialist past.

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Book SynopsisIn post-Soviet Russian politics, Boris Nemtsov is one of the most tragic figuresand not only because he was shot dead, at the age of 56, in close vicinity to the Kremlin, the locus of Russias power. The transparency of evil in this specific case was shocking: Nemtsovs murder was filmed by a surveillance camera. The video tape confirms the demonstrative and insolent character of the assassination. His death illuminated a core feature of the current regime that tolerates, if not incites, extra-legal actions against those it considers to be foes, traitors, or members of the Fifth Column. In this volume Boris Nemtsov is commemorated from different perspectives. In addition to academic papers, it includes personal notes and reflections. The articles represent a range of assessments of Nemtsovs personality by people for whom he was one of the leading figures in post-Soviet politics and a major protagonist in Russias transformation. Some authors had direct experiences of either living in, or travelling to, Nizhny Novgorod when Nemtsov was governor there. The plurality of opinions collected in this volume matches the diversity and multiplicity of Nemtsovs political legacy. The volumes contributors include: David J. Kramer, Senior Director at the McCain Institute for International Leadership in Washington, DC; Miguel Vázquez Liñán, Associate Professor at Seville University; Yulia Kurnyshova, Research Fellow at the National Institute for Strategic Studies in Kyiv; Ekaterina Smagly, Director of the Kennan Institute in Kyiv; Henry E. Hale, Professor at The George Washington University in Washington, DC; Howard J. Wiarda (ᶧ2015), Professor at the University of Georgia; Sharon Werning Rivera, Associate Professor at Hamilton College; Tomila Lankina, Associate Professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science; Andre Mommen (ᶧ2017), Professor at the University of Amsterdam; Stefan Meister, Director at the German Council on Foreign Relations in Berlin; Vladimir Gelman, Professor at the University of Helsinki; Vladimir V. Kara-Murza, coordinator of the Open Russia movement and deputy leader of the Peoples Freedom Party of Russia.Trade ReviewMy father did not enjoy praise or even constructive analysis of his work during his lifetime especially in his last years but at least he gets it now. I would like to thank all of the authors who contributed their essays to this book and hope that their works will provide deeper insight both into my fathers political legacy and into Russia as a whole.Zhanna Nemtsova

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Book SynopsisTo this day, almost all narratives on Bosnia focus on the 1990s, the war, and the labyrinth that Daytons institutional system represents. They also tend to be imbued with a perspective that often overdoes the ethnic and religious element. The truth is that, beyond the causes of war and its manifold tragedies, we actually know very little of its forgotten consequences, once the CNN effect is long gone. As importantly, we know very little of Bosnia today: a society shaped by the past, yes, but also exposed to shifting 21st century dynamics. A society haunted not only by war tragedies but also by a long-standing and long overlooked social crisis. This revealing book thus tries to provide a somewhat different picture of Bosnia, twenty years after the war. Largely based on the authors experience in the field, it is to some extent an account of rural Bosnia, in particular of the Drina River Valley, which bore the brunt of the ethnic cleansing in the 1990s. Yet, and starting off from that isolated region of open wounds, unfinished issues and a cast of characters that range from displaced persons and victims to committed women, the book aims to overall provide a portrait of modern Bosnia as such, while also looking critically at the workings of the international community and European diplomacy. The book, with its landscape of activists, Western diplomats, and an underground world in Sarajevo for LGBT and youths, shows a country of so far failed Springs and leaders who go on with their bad governance. Meanwhile the Europe towards which Bosnia theoretically moves, drifting between a poor understanding of the country, a fear of conflict that acts as its Achilles heel, as well as lack of genuine interest, seems unable to really change things. In a way, therefore, a country in limbo.Trade Review"A thrilling, vivid reportage rich in analysisand vice versa."María Antonia Sánchez-Vallejo, Babelia, El País, May 2017"An extensive reportage on Bosnia and its problems; an essay on the consequences of war; a personal and passionate description of a trade, with elements of almost a Wild West movie, including a gallery of portraits of the region's inhabitants...and the difficulties on the ground to modernise the country."Daniel Gascón, Letras Libres, March 2017"An essay which interest lies in something a bit difficult to find in these days of effervescence and ideological packs: doubts."Álvaro González Esteban, Jot Down

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Book SynopsisUkraine drew significant media attention after the 2013-2014 Revolution of Dignity and the subsequent undeclared war waged by Russia. However, the nature of these events and their impact on the social, economic, and political development of this country remain under-studied and, hence, often misunderstood. The reader is invited to take an inside look at the recent developments in Ukraine and to search for an answer to the question of whether transition from externally to internally driven development is possible in this case. Anton Oleinik argues that Ukraine is currently going through a revolutionary period aimed at building a nation-state and its aftermath. Ukraine is a latecomer in this process, especially compared with most other European countries. Its outcomes cannot be predicted with certainty. It is yet to be seen if a current surge in volunteerism and bottom-up civic initiatives will lead to the emergence of a viable and sustainable national democratic system in this country.

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Book SynopsisThe concept of concurrences is a blanket term for challenging dominating statements of the past and present. Concurrent stories have varying claims to reality and fiction, as well as different, diverging, and at times competing claims to society, culture, identity, and historical past. Dominant Western narrations about colonial power relationships are challenged by alternative sources such as heritage objects and oral traditions, enabling the voice of minorities or subaltern groups to be heard. Concurrences is about capturing multiple voices and multiple temporalities. As such, it is both a relational and dynamic methodology and a theoretical perspective that undergirds the multiple workings of power, uncovering asymmetrical power relations. Interdisciplinary in nature, this anthology is the outcome of scholarship from the humanities and social sciences with an interest in the multiple temporality of postcolonial issues and engagements in various places across the world.Trade ReviewIf you have been asking yourself where the contributions from the humanities and the social sciences to understand the complexities of the troubled times we live in are, you may want to read this book. Revitalizing terms such as culture or history for their multiple, conflicting, contradictory, and messing meanings; by putting us in the midst of the interplay of multiple voices, agencies, and desires which make up social relations; by refining the notion that societies and histories are complex and must be analyzed in their concurrent dimensions, the essays in the anthology provide a unique operational tool to think of the present, to rethink and re-write distinct pasts that we have taken for granted, and in sum to decolonize our ways of thinking.Dr. Nuno Porto, CuratorAfrica and Latin AmericaMuseum of Anthropology, Associate, Department of Art History and Visual Art & Theory, University of British Columbia

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Book SynopsisThis unique collection from Syria presents research papers focusing on topics in cultural research that are relevant to the current Syrian situation, especially with regard to the fundamental changes in the relationship of Syrians to the society they live in and the dynamic transformations they are witnessing. Through its unique inside views, the volume offers a fascinating alternative narrative of the current societal context in Syria. Ettijahat Independent Culture is a Syrian cultural organization founded in 2011. Ettijahat seeks to involve independent culture and arts positively in the process of cultural and social change. Ettijahat supports artists and people engaged in cultural initiatives, works to build consensus and alliances between individuals and cultural institutions, promotes the arts and artists through regional and international platforms, helps Syrian communities in having access to culture and arts, and funds young researchers focusing on the current cultural and societal situation in Syria.

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Book SynopsisUkraines 20132014 Revolution of Dignity also became known as The Euromaidan, which literally means European Square and refers to the countrys Association Agreement with the European Union. Viktor Yanukovychs postponement of the signing of this large treaty preparing Ukraine for a future EU membership application triggered the initial protests leading to the upheaval. Since then, much of Western attention to Ukrainian domestic affairs has focused on reform policies and political conflicts related to the countrys Europeanization, i.e. its adoption of EU standards and legislation. In contrast, a parallel major transformation with little relation to Ukraines EU-association process -- a multidimensional local governance and territorial reform -- has been receiving less Western journalistic and scholarly attention. That is in spite of the fact that the gradual decentralisation process that Ukraines first post-Euromaidan government started in April 2014 is an exceptionally far-ranging and already advanced reform project. It redefines not only Ukrainian center-periphery interactions, but also state-society as well as government-citizen relations. This collected volume presents five narrowly focused research papers by Max Bader (Leiden University), Igor Dunayev (Kharkiv Regional Institute of Public Administration), Melanie Mierzejewski-Voznyak (Prague Institute of International Relations), Maryna Rabinovych (Mechnikov University of Odessa), and Oleksii Sydorchuk (Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation, Kyiv). It is the first book-size English scholarly publication on Ukraines decentralization, focusing on specific problems as well as repercussions of this multifaceted process and covering issues ranging from fiscal governance to party politics. It illustrates the depth and multifariousness of the impact of Ukraines ongoing local governance reform.

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Book SynopsisThis book is among the first comprehensive efforts to collectively and academically investigate the legacy of the Euromaidan in conflict-torn Ukraine within the domain of civil society broadly understood. The contributions to this book identify, describe, conceptualize, and explain various developments in Ukrainian civil society and its role in Ukraines democratization, state-building, and conflict resolution by looking at specific understudied sectors and by tracing the situation before, during, and after the Euromaidan. In doing so, this trailblazing collection highlights a number of new themes, challenges, and opportunities related to Ukrainian civil society. They include volunteerism, grassroots community-based activism, social activism of churches, civic efforts of building peace and reconciliation, civic activism of journalists and mediators, digital activism, activism of think tanks and expert coalitions, the LGBT movement, challenges of civil society relations with the state, and the closing of civic space.

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Book Synopsis"Featuring a special section on Russian Foreign Policy Towards the 'Near Abroad' Issue 4,2 deals with Russias post-Maidan foreign policy towards the so-called near abroad, or the former Soviet states. This is an important and timely topic, as Russias policy perspectives have changed dramatically since 2013/2014, as have those of its neighbors. The Kremlin today is paradoxically following an aggressive realist agenda that seeks to clearly delineate its sphere of influence in Europe and Eurasia while simultaneously attempting to promote soft-power and a historical-civilizational justification for its recent actions in Ukraine (and elsewhere). The result is an often perplexing amalgam of policy positions that are difficult to disentangle. The contributors to this special issue are all regional specialists based either in Europe or the United States. "

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Book SynopsisRussia has changed dramatically since the beginning of this decade. This volume presents a unique collection of articles by Russian scholars and experts, originally published in Russian in the journal Kontrapunkt (Counterpoint). The authors include Yulia Bederova, Andrey Desnitsky, Maria Eismont, Aleksandr Gorbachev, Tatiana Nefedova, Ella Paneyakh, Sergey Parkhomenko, Nikolay Petrov, Kirill Rogov, Sergey Sergeev, Ekaterina Sokiryanskaya, Andrey Soldatov, Svetlana Solodovnik, Anna Tolstova, Aleksandr Verkhovsky, and Natalia Zubarevich. Their essays cover a broad range of subjects from the Russian political scene and state-society relations to the politics of culture and the realm of ideas and symbols. These contributions offer fascinating insights into Russias multifaceted and complex development after the annexation of Crimea in 2014.Table of ContentsIntroduction; Crimean Syndrome; Crimea: Turning the Ukrainian Peninsula into a Russian Island; Evolution of the Russian Judicial System in 2014; The Taming of the Internet; The Relationship Between the Center and the Regions: What Has Changed in Four Years?; The Republic of Tatarstan: Reducing to the Lowest Common Denominator?; Who Will Feed the Russian Population?; Nationalism as the Foundation for Mobilization; The Russian Orthodox Church and Nationalism; Orthodox People Between the Social Church and Strict Hierarchy; Case of Dissernet: The Volunteer Network Communitys Experience of Survival in an Aggressive Political Environment; Territory Free from the State; Narrative Journalism in Russia: A Tentative History; The Art of Complexity Surrenders to the Government of Simplicity; Russia, Dont Tear Your Soul to Pieces: Im the Same as You.

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Book SynopsisThis timely book analyses soft power in the light of neoclassical realist premises as part of the foreign policy toolkit of great powers to expand their sphere of influence. Vasif Huseynov argues that if nuclear armed great powers compete against the same type of powers to expand or sustain their sphere of influence over a populated region, they use soft power as a major expansive instrument while military power remains a tool to defend themselves and back up their foreign policies. Presenting his model of soft power, the author explores the role of soft power projection by great powers in the formation of the external alignment of regional states. He focuses on the rivalries between Russia and the West (i.e. the EU and the USA) over the states located between the EU and Russia (the region known as the common [or shared] neighborhood) and on two of these regional states (Ukraine and Belarus) to test his hypotheses.

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Book SynopsisSpecial Sections: Remembering Diversity in East-Central European Cityscapes and Russias Annexation of Crimea I. Based on up-to-date field material, this issuefocuses onthe palimpsest-like environments of East-Central European borderland cities. The present shapes and contents of these urban environments derive from combinations of cultural continuities and political ruptures, present-day heritage industries and collective memories about the contentious past, expressive material forms and less conspicuous meaning-making activities of human actors; they evolve from perpetual tensions between the choices of the present and the weight of the past. The contributors address a set of key questions: What is specific about the transnationalization of memory in these urban public spaces? What are the political rationales and ramifications of the different approaches taken to the legacies of perished population groups in different cities? How do these approaches relate to European dimensions of memory and the European vector of identity-making of the contemporary urban populations?

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Book SynopsisOver the last three decades, migration management in the newly independent states which emerged from the ruins of the USSR in 1991 has become a tool for staking out zones of influence, a winning slogan for election campaigns, and a handle on the domestic population. Such an instrumentalisation of migration is widespread in all post-Soviet republics. (Geo-)political games around migration issues are also a mechanism of foreign influence and a method of destabilisation across the former USSR as well as an apology for slowing down reforms and even for transforming their character or vector. The ruling elites of the newly independent states exploit, with different degrees of intensity and success, institutions and rules of migration laws, including the granting of citizenship, asylum, temporary and permanent residence authorisation, etc., in order to advance certain foreign and domestic policies. The directions of various post-Soviet nations migration policies -- be they pro-European, pro-Asian, or pro-Russian -- are informed less by a pursuit of cultural, historical, or economic advantages for the respective countries and their populations than by the dynamics of geopolitical rivalry and often by the principle either an ally or a rival; there is no middle ground. This fascinating volume explains why shifts in migration management in the post-Soviet countries are both causes for and consequences of political changes that influence foreign and domestic policy making.

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Book SynopsisRemembering Diversity in East-Central European Cityscapes. Based on up-to-date field material, this issue focuses on the palimpsest-like environments of East-Central European borderland cities. The present shapes and contents of these urban environments derive from combinations of cultural continuities and political ruptures, present-day heritage industries and collective memories about the contentious past, expressive material forms and less conspicuous meaning-making activities of human actors; they evolve from perpetual tensions between the choices of the present and the weight of the past. The contributors address a set of key questions: What is specific about the transnationalisation of memory in these urban public spaces? What are the political rationales and ramifications of the different approaches taken to the legacies of perished population groups in different cities? How do these approaches relate to European dimensions of memory and the "European vector" of identity-making of the contemporary urban populations?

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Book SynopsisDavid Satter arrived in the Soviet Union in June, 1976 as the correspondent of the Financial Times of London and entered a country that was a giant theatre of the absurd. After 1982, he was banned from the Soviet Union but allowed back in 1990, and finally expelled in 2013 on the grounds that the secret police regarded his presence as undesirable. From 1976 to the present, he saw four different Russias, which differed from each other radically while remaining essentially the same. From 1976 to 1982, the Soviet Union was at the height of its world power and its people were in thrall to an absurd ideology. With the advent of Gorbachevs perestroika, the Soviet population was liberated from the ideology and the state hurtled to its inevitable collapse. When independent Russia emerged from the wreckage, the failure to replace the missing ideology with genuine moral values led to Russias complete criminalization. The articles in this unique collection are a chronicle of Russia from the day David Satter arrived in the Soviet Union until the present. Emigres from the states of the former Soviet Union often despair of their inability to convey the true character of their experiences to the West. Penetrating the veil of Russian mystification requires effort and the ability to understand that seeing is not always believing. The Russians have created an entire false world for our benefit. This collection reflects David Satters 40-year attempt to see them as they are.

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Book SynopsisTwenty years on from the end of war, the status of the north of Kosovo remains disputed. Ten years on from Kosovos declaration of independence from Serbia, the norths predominantly Serb population continues to resist integration. Education, health, and other vital services continue to be provided by Serbia. These latent tensions regularly surface through various forms of resistance, including protests and barricades (most notably those of 2011); resistance which has many historical precedents. Ian Bancroft provides an original ethnographic account of the reality in north Kosovo, mixing first-hand interviews and anecdotes with historical background and academic insight. He explores a diverse array of themes, including the Trepča mines, religious and cultural life, and the Main Bridge over the river Ibar, which has become a symbol of the divided town of Mitrovica. Bancroft examines memories of the war and 2004 riots, and the daily realities of local governance and politics in a post-war environment. The book also goes to the heart of the border/boundary regions, the multi-ethnic Bonjačka Mahala, and mixed areas on the periphery to tell the stories of those caught-up on the front-lines of conflict. As such, it offers valuable insights for aspiring peacebuilders into the challenges of working in a context of considerable complexity.

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Book SynopsisThe third instalment of this multi-volume project presents a selection of archival sources from the time of Ukraine's Revolution on Granite in October 1990. They include telegrams sent to participants of the Revolution from supporters in different parts of Ukraine, KGB documents such as internal notes and other records, as well as transcripts of parliamentary sessions from the time of the revolution. All materials included in the volume are published in two languages: the original language of the document (Ukrainian or Russian) and in English translation. The publication completes two earlier SPPS volumes: Three Revolutions: Mobilization and Change in Contemporary Ukraine I – Theoretical Aspects and Analyses on Religion, Memory, and Identity edited by Paweł Kowal, Georges Mink, and Iwona Reichardt (2019), and Three Revolutions: Mobilization and Change in Contemporary Ukraine II – An Oral History of the Revolution on Granite, Orange Revolution, and Revolution of Dignity edited by Paweł Kowal, Georges Mink, Iwona Reichardt, and Adam Reichardt (2019).

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Book SynopsisThis study provides an overview of current nation building processes in contested states. With a specific focus on the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic, and Kosovo, original data is presented, collected in English in a single work for the first time. Viktoria Potapkina presents an analysis and comparison of contested states from an internal perspective, looking at the processes that help legitimize such entities from within and creating support for their ongoing existence.The work strives to fill a gap in the literature on contested states, as well as to contribute to the overall understanding of nation and state building, state formation, and sovereignty. It provides a new way of looking at the puzzle that contested states are, offering insight into why they still exist in their current forms.

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Book SynopsisSpecial Section: Multilingualism in Ukraine. Rory Finnin, Ivan Kozachenko: Introduction: Ukraines Multilingualism. Taras Koznarsky: The Languages and Tongues of Mykola Markevych. Myroslav Shkandrij: Channel Switching: Language Change and the Conversion Trope in Modern Ukrainian Literature. Laada Bilaniuk: Linguistic Conversion in Ukraine: Nation-Building on the Self. Vitaly Chernetsky: Ukrainian Cinema and the Challenges of Multilingualism: From the 1930s to the Present. Iryna Shuvalova: Multilingualism in the Songs of the War in Donbas. Olenka Bilash: Multilingualism in the Academy: Language Dynamics in Ukraines Higher Education Institutions. Alina Zubkovych: Language Use among Crimean Tatars in Ukraine: Context and Practice. Special Section: Issues in the History and Memory of the OUN III. Andreas Umland, Yuliya Yurchuk: Introduction: The Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists and European Fascism During World War II. Kai Struve: The OUN(b), the Germans, and Anti-Jewish Violence in Eastern Galicia during Summer 1941. Yuri Radchenko: The Biography of the OUN(m) Activist Oleksa Babii in the Light of His Memoirs on Escaping Execution (1942). Tomislav Dulić, Goran Miljan: The Ustaas and Fascism: Abolitionism, Revolution, and Ideology (192942).

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Book SynopsisThe politico-economic reforms launched during the late twentieth century in post-Soviet Russia have led to contradictory and ambiguous results. The new economic environment and mode of governance that emerged have been subjected to serious criticism. What were the causes of these developments? Were they unavoidable for Russia due to specific factors grounded in the countrys previous experiences? Or were they an intended result of actions taken by the leaders of the country during the last few decades? The authors of this book share neither a deterministic approach, which implies that Russia is bound to fail because of the nature of its economic and political evolution, nor a voluntarist approach, which implies that these failures were caused only by the incompetence and/or malicious intentions of its leaders. Instead, this study offers a different framework for the analysis of political and economic developments in present-day Russia. It is based on four isideas, interests, institutions, and illusions.

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Book SynopsisThe book series European Studies in the Caucasus offers innovative perspectives on regional studies of the Caucasus. By embracing the South Caucasus as well as Turkey and Russia, it moves away from a traditional viewpoint of European Studies that considers the countries of the region as objects of Europeanisation. This second volume demonstrates this by looking into forms of inter-regionalism in the Black Sea-South Caucasus area in fields of economic cooperation, Europeanisation of energy and environmental policies, discussing how the region is addressed in the elaboration of a new German Eastern Policy. In the section on norm diffusion, the contributors assess the normative power strategy of the EU and its paradoxes in the region, its impact on civil society development in Armenia, and democracy promotion in Georgia. In the section on legal approximation, issues of a global climate change regime and competition law in Georgia as well as penitentiary governance reform in the South Caucasus according to EU standards and policies are analysed. All contributions also review regional or local contestations for the topics discussed here.Table of ContentsForeword; Introduction; A Wider European Challenge: The Black and Baltic Sea Disequilibrium; Interests over Norms? The European Unions Varied Black Sea Region Approach; Re-Considering the Role of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization: Still an Active Player in the Black Sea regionalization Process?; Institute and Democracy Promotion in the South Caucasus: The Example of Georgia; The Mechanisms of EU Influence in the Process of Developing Civil Society in Armenia; European Prison Standards and the South Caucasus: A General Introduction; Politics of Energy-Related Europeanization in the South Caucasus; Turkeys Compliance with European Union Environmental Policy; Advancing National Climate Law: Is there Room for Mainstreaming EU Climate Action in Georgia?; Due Process in Georgian Competition Law: Good Will of the Agency or the Right of the Undertaking?

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Book SynopsisThe biannual, peer-reviewed Journal of Romanian Studies, jointly developed by The Society for Romanian Studies and ibidem Press, examines critical issues in Romanian studies, linking work in that field to wider theoretical debates and issues of current relevance, and serving as a forum for junior and senior scholars. The journal also presents articles that connect Romania and Moldova comparatively with other states and their ethnic majorities and minorities, and with other groups by investigating the challenges of migration and globalization and the impact of the European Union. Issue No. 4 contains: Cosmin Sebastian Cercel: Reversing Liberal Legality: Romanias Path to Dictatorship 19301938 Ştefan Cristian Ionescu: Perceptions of Legality during the Antonescu Regime, 19401944 Mihaela Şerban: Litigating Identity in Fascist and Post-Fascist Romania (19401945) Monica Ciobanu: Writing History Through Trials: The Case of the National Peasant Party Emanuela Grama: Regimes of Evidence, Property Restitution, and Power (Un)making in Postcommunist Transylvania Dragoş Petrescu: Law in Action in Romania, 20082018: Context, Agency, and Innovation in the Process of Transitional Justice Simona Livescu: Institutional Memories and Transgenerational Conflicts: The House of Terror and the Memorial of the Victims of Communism and of the Resistance

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Book SynopsisUrban space is an important part of the political environment-a place where people congregate to discuss, deliberate, and interact with each other. In times of great public discontent, people often turn to urban spaces to make their opinions heard and to demand change, with varying degrees of success. How are mass protests affected by the urban public space in which they occur? This book provides a theoretical model to analyse city spaces, based on the use of theories from political science, urban planning, and sociology. Hansen's approach consists of a mapping of the causal mechanisms between spatial elements, the political environment, and their combined effects on protests. This mapping is applied to three case studies-Kyiv, Minsk, and Moscow. In addition to the spatial perspective model, Urban Protest provides new insights as to how the interactions in space occur, and demonstrates how geography can create limitations and opportunities in a large variety of ways.Trade Review"An important contribution to a complicated and multi-faced research topic which is of acute relevance in the region under study. Hansen's spatial perspective may also be fruitfully applied to cases beyond the former Soviet space." -Andrii Portnov, Professor of history, European University Viadrina (Frankfurt/Oder)"Focusing on three case studies (Moscow, Kyiv, and Minsk), Hansen presents a rich, insightful, andvaluable contribution to the research on protest and space." -Bjarge Schwenke Fors, Head of Department, The Barents Institute (Kirkenes)

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Book SynopsisThis book draws on the authors experience from 26 years of Ukrainian diplomatic service in, among others, Bonn, Berlin, Washington, and Vienna, and his work as a speechwriter to most Ukrainian foreign ministers for the last two decades. Scherbas captivating essays reflect his views of international affairs from a Ukrainian perspective. His deliberations are presented in uncomplicated, plain language. The articles assembled here have repeatedly caused discussion in Ukraine and abroad. By his opponents, Scherba is often described as being surprisingly undiplomatic and even provocative. For instance, his article Why nationalism cant be the national idea of a European Ukraine, published on a Ukrainian nationalist website, stirred considerable controversy in Ukraine. Aside from explaining Kyivs take on some key issues of international relations, these essays provide insights into Ukrainian political thinking since the start of Russias military aggression in 2014, and into the painful political intramural fights in Ukrainian society ever since.Trade ReviewEs ist eine klare, schnörkellose, deutliche Sprache, der sich Scherba in seinen Texten bedient und die keinen Raum für Interpretationen, Missverständnisse oder gar Zweifel lässt. Ein zivilisatorisches Bollwerk gegen Putin, ein Lackmustest für Europa. Freiheit oder Unfreiheit, Propaganda oder Wahrheit, Moral oder Gier. In der Ukraine, schreibt Scherba, geht es um uns alle. Es ist kein Buch, das sich per se an Ukraine-Kenner richtet. Vielmehr sei es ihm darum gegangen, die (west-)europäischen Wissenslücken über das größte Flächenland Europas zu füllen, wie er in seinem ersten Kapitel schreibt. Gegen die Mythen und Propaganda anzuschreiben, die sich so hartnäckig halten.Scherba gibt Einblicke in die Komplexität der ukrainischen Identität, die nicht so schablonenhaft verlaufen, wie man glauben könnte oder die russische Propaganda einen glauben machen will. Scherba setzt einen rhetorischen Kontrapunkt in einer öffentlichen Debatte, in der es immer nur darum geht, zu beschwichtigen, zu relativieren, einzuebnen. Eine Debatte, in der es auch im achten Kriegsjahr nicht gelungen ist, die Ukraine-Krise bei ihrem eigentlichen Namen zu nennen: Krieg mit Russland.Simone Brunner. In: Ukraine verstehen. 2021It is a clear, straightforward, unambiguous language that Scherba uses in his texts and that leaves no room for interpretation, misunderstanding, or even doubt. A civilizational bulwark against Putin, a litmus test for Europe. Freedom or lack of freedom, propaganda or truth, morality or greed. Ukraine, Scherba writes, is about all of us. It is not a book aimed per se at Ukraine experts. Rather, his aim is to fill the gaps in (Western) European knowledge about Europe's largest country, as he writes in his first chapter. Scherba provides insights into the complexity of Ukrainian identity, which is not as stereotyped as one might think - or as Russian propaganda would have one believe. Scherba provides a rhetorical counterpoint in a public debate that is always about appeasing, relativizing, leveling. A debate in which, even in in the eighth year of the war, it is called the "Ukraine crisis", not by its real name: War with Russia. Simone Brunner. In: Ukraine verstehen. 2021Table of ContentsForeword; We Will Never Be Slaves!; The Three Goodbyes; For Whom the Bell Tolls; Reconfiguring Europes Mental Map; Euromaidan. Flashback; Pandoras Box of Evils; Crimea, Donbas and the USSR 2.0; Ukraine-Russia. What Went Wrong; From Dusk Till Dawn; Going Against the Flow; Battle for Europe. Battle for the Soul; Why Nationalism Cant Be the Idea of a European Ukraine; Ukraine, the Church and the Post-Truth World; The Strasbourg Betrayal; Surkov and Emptiness; Notes on the Margin of (Yet Another) Apocalypse; What Will Bring Peace to Ukraines Soul?; Epilogue.

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Book SynopsisOn 8 December 2013, Ukraine's central Lenin monument in Kyiv was pulled down. In the following months, in what became known as the "Leninfall", Ukraine swept away hundreds of communist monuments, expressing an explicit desire to break away from the Soviet past and, implicitly, from Russia. This book examines the evolution of post-Euromaidan de-Sovietisation beyond the issues of toppling of old statues and implementation of new anti-totalitarian laws. It explores decommunisation as both a political and cultural phenomenon that exposes the multivocality of the Ukrainian population and involves various forms of dialogical interaction between ordinary citizens and the state. Posters, graffiti, or street names are physical and discursive canvases where old meanings are being contested and re-articulated, and where new political symbols that combine nationalist and democratic elements are being defined.Trade Review"Captivating and original work on decommunization of post-Euromaidan Ukraine. Passionately and persuasively written, this book is a daring analysis ... a scientific statement of interdisciplinary value." Elena Trubina, Professor of Social Theory, Ural Federal University, YekaterinburgDr. Kutkinas book, the fruit of a 7-year long ethnographic research conducted under exigent conditions, takes the reader on a fascinating interdisciplinary journey involving political science, anthropology, cultural studies, visual studies, and memory studies, navigating through the multifaceted theoretical lacunae of the borderlands, decommunization, de-Russification, post- and neo-colonialism, nationalism studies, poststructuralist and postfoundational theory as well as, in particular, the theory of hegemony and counter-hegemony, dialogism and heteroglossia, the construction of multivocality, and discourse analysis.András L. Pap, Professor of Law, Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE), BudapestTable of ContentsPreface by Juri Mykkänen; Acknowledgements; Introduction; Theory as Hegemonic Practice; The Postcolonial Soviet; Researching Methods; The Poster: Roots of the Lenin Cult; Art of the Protest; Meanings of Lenin ; Filling the Pedestal; Conclusion; References.

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Book SynopsisFrom its roots in revolution and war, Ukraine's Azov movement has grown from a militia of fringe far-right figures and football hooligans fending off Russian-backed forces into a multipronged social movement that has become the envy of the global far right. In this first English-language book on the Azov movement, Michael Colborne explains how Azov came to be and continues to exploit Ukraine's fractured social and political situation -- including the only ongoing war on European soil -- to build one of the most ambitious and dangerous far-right movements in the world.Table of ContentsIntroduction; The Roots of Azov; Ideologies and Inspirations; Azov in Action; In the Shadows; Mainstreams and Extremes; International Ambitions; The Future of Azov; Acknowledgments; References.

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Book SynopsisThis is a selection of essays and dispatches from a veteran observer of the development of Ukrainian culture and politics over the course of a decade. The volume deals with the issue of Ukrainian-Jewish relations and its historical legacy in the context of a Russian invasion of Ukraine. It charts the events that took place in Ukraine after the 2013-2014 Euromaidan Revolution and focuses on the place of Ukrainian Jewry within a quickly developing Ukrainian political nation.

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Book Synopsis"The USSRs dissolution resulted in the creation of not only fifteen recognized states but also of four non-recognized statelets: Nagorno-Karabakh, South Ossetia, Abkhazia, and Transnistria. Their polities comprise networks with state-like elements. Since the early 1990s, the four pseudo-states have been continously dependent on their sponsor countries (Russia, Armenia), and contesting the territorial integrity of their parental nation-states Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Moldova. In 2014, the outburst of Russia-backed separatism in Eastern Ukraine led to the creation of two more para-states, the Donetsk Peoples Republic (DNR) and the Luhansk Peoples Republic (LNR), whose leaders used the experience of older de facto states. In 2020, this growing network of de facto states counted an overall population of more than 4 million people. The essays collected in this volume address such questions as: How do post-Soviet de facto states survive and continue to grow? Is there anything specific about the political ecology of Eastern Europe that provides secessionism with the possibility to launch state-making processes in spite of international sanctions and counteractions of their parental states? How do secessionist movements become embedded in wider networks of separatism in Eastern and Western Europe? What is the impact of secessionism and war on the parental states? The contributors are Jan Claas Behrends, Petra Colmorgen, Bruno Coppieters, Nataliia Kasianenko, Alice Lackner, Mikhail Minakov, and Gwendolyn Sasse."Trade ReviewA valuable contribution to the growing study of post-Soviet de facto states and breakaway territories, rich in insights and new information. Thomas de Waal, Carnegie Europe"This an excellent compilation of insightful analyses on the past, present, and future of secessionist movements and entities in the post-Soviet space. Minakov, Sasse, and Isachenko have assembled an impressive collection of able contributors who offer theoretically grounded and empirically rich studies on a range of different dimensions of post-Soviet secessionism. This is a must-read for anyone interested in the dynamics and implications of secessionist politics."-Stefan Wolff, University of Birmingham"De facto regimes proliferate globally and demonstrate remarkable resilience. The volume is highly topical, it addresses the legitimacy, politics of recognition and the modus operandi of quasi-states in a comparative, not just additive manner. The authors, all renowned in their field, combine theoretical insight with original empirical research on post-Soviet de facto regimes and beyond. This volume contributes to the renewed scholarly interest in the survivability of de facto regimes."-Andreas Heinemann-Grueder,University of Bonn

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Book SynopsisFor many people, Pakistan is a rogue state, but for those who think of it as Pakistani citizens do, it is the place where they are confronted with dangers and issues to which they answer with incredible courage and dignity. This volume, a reflection on Pakistan's history from a compassionate insider's perspective, pays homage to the many Pakistanis who face with a generous and open heart the problems created by a complex geopolitical context, many ethnic and religious contradictions, a tormented path towards self-definition, independence, democracy, and freedom.Table of ContentsIntroduction; History Before Pakistan; The Founding Fathers of Pakistan; The History of Pakistan; Conclusion; Bibliography; Appendixes.

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Book SynopsisAnastasia Lysyvets's memoir Tell us about a happy life... (Skazhy pro shchaslyve zhyttia...), published in Kyiv in 2009 and now available for the first time in an English translation, is one of the most powerful testimonies of a victim of the Holodomor, the Great Famine of 1932-1933 in Ukraine. This mass starvation was organized by the Soviet regime and resulted in millions of deaths by hunger. The simple village teacher Lysyvets's testimony, written during the 1970s and 1980s without hope of publication, depicts pain, death, and hunger as few others do. In his commentary, Vitalii Ogiienko explains how traumatic traces found their way into Lysyvets's text. He proposes that the reader develops an alternative method of reading that replaces the usual ways of imagining with a focus on the body and that detects mechanisms of transmission of the original Holodomor experience through generations.Trade ReviewThrough the eyes of a ten-year-old girl, Anastasia Lysyvets delivers a terrifying testimony of the famine-genocide organized by Stalin against the Ukrainian peasantry in 19321933. With the innocent cruelty and terrible lucidity of a child, she relates the killing by starvation of her family and neighbors. At the same time, this child-turned-adult exhibits magnificent courage in testifying against the forgetfulness, denial, and destruction of memory practiced by communist regimes, which force their victims to glorify their executioners and sing of the radiant future of communism. An essential account. Stéphane Courtois, Director of Research, CNRS, ParisTable of ContentsAcknowledgements; Endorsements by Scholars; List of Illustrations; Foreword: An Unforgotten Life: On My Mothers Memoirs; Preface: If Monuments Could Speak; Speak of the Happy Life; Commentary: Secrets of Death, Life, and Survival during the Holodomor.

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Book SynopsisThe recent history of post-Soviet societies is heavily shaped by the successor nations' efforts to geopolitically re-identify themselves and to reify certain majorities in them. As a result of these fascinating processes, various new ideologies have appeared. Some are specific to the post-Soviet space while others are comparable to ideational processes in other parts of the world. In this collected volume, an international group of contributors delves deeper into recent theoretical constructions of various post-Soviet majorities, the ideologies that justify them, and some respectively formulated policy prescriptions. The first part analyzes post-Soviet state-builders' fixation on certain constructed majorities as well as on these imagined communities' symbolic self-identifications, in- or outward othering, and national languages. The second part deals specifically with post-Soviet ideas of sovereigntism and the way they define majorities as well as imply changes in internal and external policies and legal systems. These processes are analyzed in comparison to similar phenomena in Western societies. The book's contributors include (in the order of their appearance): Natalia Kudriavtseva, Petra Colmorgen, Nadiia Koval, Ivan Gomza, Augusto Dala Costa, Roman Horbyk, Yana Prymachenko, Yuliya Yurchuk, Oleksandr Fisun, Nataliya Vinnykova, Ruslan Zaporozhchenko, Mikhail Minakov, Gulnara Shaikhutdinova, and Yurii Mielkov.Table of ContentsIdeological Creativity: Introduction to Post-Soviet Ideologies; Reconfiguring Identities within the Cityscape: Ideologies of Ukraines Decommunization Renaming; The Friends So Far, the Foes So Near? Ambiguities of Georgias Othering; The Splendid School Assembled: Studying and Practicing International Relations in Independent Ukraine; Toponymy and the Issues of Memory and Identity on the Post-soviet Tbilisi Cityscape; Mediatization of History: Introducing the Concept and Key Cases from Eastern Europe; The Rise of Precarious States: A Shadow Side of Sovereignty; Sovereigntism as a Vocation and Profession: Imperial Roots, Current State, Possible Prospects; Sovereignty as a Contested Concept: The Cases of Trumpism and Putinism; Implementing International Human Rights Law: Recent Sovereigntist and Nationalist Trends; The Evolution of Sovereignty: From Nation State to Human Person; On the Authors; Index.

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Book SynopsisThis comparative study harks back to the revolutionary year of 1989 and asks two critical questions about the resulting reconfiguration of Europe in the aftermath of the collapse of communism: Why did Central and East European states display such divergent outcomes of their socio-political transitions? Why did three of those statesPoland, Bulgaria, and Russiadiffer so starkly in terms of the pace and extent of their integration into Europe? Rumena Filipova argues that Polands, Bulgarias, and Russias dominating conceptions of national identity have principally shaped these countries foreign policy behavior after 1989. Such an explanation of these three nations diverging degrees of Europeanization stands in contrast to institutionalist-rationalist, interest-based accounts of democratic transition and international integration in post-communist Europe. She thereby makes a case for the need to include ideational factors into the study of International Relations and demonstrates that identities are not easily malleable and may not be as fluid as often assumed. She proposes a theoretical middle-ground argument that calls for qualified post-positivism as an integrated perspective that combines positivist and post-positivist orientations in the study of IR.Table of ContentsAcknowledgments; Foreword by Harald Wydra; Foreword by Gergana Yankova-Dimova; Central and Eastern Europe after the 1989 Revolution: Diverging Identities in a Reunifying Era; Are the Social Sciences Indeed Sciences? Towards a Middle-Ground Methodological Perspective; Shades of Affinity: An Interactive Constructivist Theory of Self and Other in Bordering Belongingness; The Interactive Constructivist Theory of Self & Other and IR Debates: Refinement, Dialogue and Challenge; A European Trailblazer: The Thick Europeanisation of Polish Foreign Policy; Neither In, Nor Out: The Ambivalent Europeanisation of Bulgarian Foreign Policy; Europes Outlier: The Thin Europeanisation of Russian Foreign Policy; Three Limits of Europe: Poland, Bulgaria and Russia in Comparative Perspective; Epilogue: Europe Beyond the 30-year Limit; List of Abbreviations; Bibliography.

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