Die Vergangenheit ist ein anderes Land. Politische Mythen im N achkriegseuropa

Author(s): Tony R. Judt / Language(s): German Issue: 06/1993

Seit dem Ende des Zweiten Weltkriegs bis zu den Revolutionen von 1989 wurden die Grenzen Europas und damit die verschiedenen Formen »europäischer« Identitäten von zwei beherrschenden Rücksichten bestimmt: der in Jalta vorgenommenen Aufteilung des Kontinents und dem auf beiden Seiten der Grenze bestehenden Wunsch, die jüngste Vergangenheit zu vergessen und einen neuen Kontinent zu schaffen. Im Westen strebte man zu diesem Zweck eine übernationale Einigung an, die an den Wiederaufbau und die Modernisierung der westeuropäischen Wirtschaft gekoppelt war. Im Osten wurde im Namen des gemeinsamen Interesses an der sozialen Revolution eine analoge, auf Produktivität fixierte Einheit von oben her vorgegeben. Auf beiden Seiten der Grenze hatte man gute Gründe, die Erfahrungen des Krieges und der Besatzungszeit zurückzustellen, und ein zukunftsorientiertes Vokabular der sozialen Harmonie und der materiellen Verbesserungen füllte die Lücke aus, die von älteren, polarisierenden und provinzielleren Ansprüchen und Ressentiments hinterlassen worden war.

Photographie: Belgrad 1996/1997

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): German Issue: 13/1997

Zagospodarowanie lotniska poradzieckiego w Skarbimierzu

Author(s): Aleksandra Bagińska,Robert Szmytkie / Language(s): Polish Issue: 77/2015

The article presents the current management and changes that had occurred in the area of the former airport and air base in Skarbimierz, after the Soviet Army left Poland. In the 90s of the XXth century, a number of development concepts of the airport area in Skarbimierz appeared in the local press, however, none of them went through the implementation. The main problem, which required decisive actions, was the environmental pollution in the area. The reclamation of the land was launched 1996. After its completion, on the former airfield an economic area was established, forming part of the Wałbrzych Special Economic Zone "INVEST-PARK", while the former air base was turned into a housing development - the Skarbimierz estate. The number of the inhabitants of the subdivision constantly increases for several years and in 2002 the rural municipality of Brzeg was moved there. The town is inhabited primarily by young and well educated people. Skarbimierz attracts them mainly through good housing conditions and rapidly developing industrial zone, which generates employment. In recent years, a lot of investments that facilitate the daily life of the residents were founded.

Prieštaravimai Sąjūdyje atkūrus Lietuvos nepriklausomybę

Author(s): Mindaugas Tamošaitis / Language(s): Lithuanian Issue: 3/2015

The article is the first attempt to explain why the Reform Movement of Lithuania Sąjūdis (RML), having led the Lithuanian nation to independence in 1990, lost its popularity after coming to power and was received rather controversially by the public. It reveals the internal problems of the RML, the reasons of withdrawal of some of its members, and the disappointment of Lithuanian people with Sąjūdis in general. The article focuses on the period 1990–1992 when Sąjūdis lost its popularity in the public which receives considerably less attention from researchers compared to its earlier activities.

Dilemele Republicii Moldova

Author(s): Sergiu Musteaţă / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 4/2012

In this paper author is debating the questions of the Republic of Moldova’s dilemmas. During the first part he is discussing the relation between Moldovan independency and USSR nostalgia. After that, are presented some aspects of statehood and identity developments and their relations with Soviet ideology. In the second part are debated questions about “heroes”, events, symbols and how society reacts to initiatives of removing or building new monuments. During the last part, author analyzed the recent experience on condemning totalitarian regimes, which remain to be a very sensitive aspect for Moldovan society. The totalitarian past has huge impact on Moldovan state development and its oscillations from East to West vectors. Among political and economic problems, the identity question and dealing with totalitarian past are very often present of public and political agenda. Because of various factors and realities, the society is divided in many aspects: territorial, political, economic, social and cultural.

Politikai tényezők a szlovák-magyar kapcsolatokban a demokratikus átalakulás időszakában: állapot, tendenciák, kihívások

Author(s): Grigorij Mesežnikov / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 4/2019

The relations between nations are influenced by a variety of factors, including political ones. The Slovak–Hungarian relations are no exception either. This is connected with the historical context, with the manifold forms of state-political coexistence of the two nations in the past, but also with the ongoing processes, with everything that influences the given country's overall domestic political development, the image and evolution of the transformation of the last thirty years, the results of the reforms, the state of democracy in Slovakia. Parts of the internal problems of the Slovak–Hungarian relations are the general political characteristics of the country's development, the nature of the political regime, the legal embeddedness of the human rights issue, including minority rights, the political preferences and value orientations of the population, and party activities, including those which claim that they represent the interests of the members of the Hungarian community.

Naśladowanie i bunt. Co się dzieje z Europą Wschodnią?

Author(s): Ivan Yotov Krastev,Stephen Holmes / Language(s): Polish Issue: 778/2020

Lantos Tamás levele Antall Józsefhez 1990. februárban

Author(s): Géza Jeszenszky / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 1/2019

A pozitív országimázs illúziója

Author(s): János Fodor / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 03/2021

Jeszenszky Géza: Az elveszett presztízs. Fekete Sas Kiadó, Bp., 2020.

PARALELNA VLADA RISTE MATKOVIĆA 1992. PRILOG PROUČAVANJU POLITIČKIH SUKOBA U REPUBLICI SRPSKOJ KRAJINI

Author(s): Milan Gulić / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 1/2021

In early 1992, there was a conflict between Knin and Belgrade over the acceptance of the Vance plan. The conflict also affected relations on the political scene of the Republic of Serbian Krajina. There was a split into two factions. One was headed by President Milan Babić, who was against the Vance plan, and the other was Parliament Speaker Mile Paspalj, who under pressure from Belgrade accepted the plan. In those conflicts, there was a parallelism of power, so during February, March, and April of 1992, the Krajina had two govern-ments. The focus of this paper is on the parallel government whose first minister was Risto Matković. His government was loyal to Milan Babić and had no sig-nificant support outside Knin. It held only three sessions and tried to counter the Government of Zdravko Zečević, which had the support of the Parliament of the Republic of Serbian Krajina and of official Belgrade, which was a crucial moment in the exercise of political power in the Krajina throughout its existence. The paper is based on unreleased archival materials, published documents, press, memoirs, and professional literature.

1989!

Author(s): Timothy Garton Ash / Language(s): Czech Issue: 03/2014

It is no surprise that the 20th anniversary of the events of 1989 has further laden the shelf that was already sagging under the weight of books about the year that ended the “short 20th century”. Should we include also the unification of Germany and the breakdown of the Soviet Union in 1990–1991, it would be more appropriate to speak of the three years that ended the 20th century. Books on the anniversary of 1989 include retrospective journalists’ notes with a fresh personal outlook and remarkable detail (Victor Sebestyen, György Dalos, Michael Meyer and Michel Meyer), courageous essays on the topic of historical interpretation (Stephen Kotkin and Konstantin Pleshakov) and original academic works which draw on the archival sources as well oral history (Mary Elise Sarotte and an anthology edited by Jeffrey Engel). I cannot review each of them individually. Please don’t take it as a critique of any of these authors when I say that I eventually came to dream of another book: a global, synthetic history of the year 1989 that yet has to be written.

Miért és miként bomlott fel a Szovjetunió?

Author(s): Zoltán Sz. Bíró / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 4/2018

What lead to the dissolution of the Soviet Union in late 1991? The question still occupies many people, with just as many explanations. Even dating the beginning of the process reveals significant differences. Those who see the main causes as being of an economic nature, mostly put the beginning of the endgame decades prior to the actual onset of the breakup. Others reach right back to the foundation of the Soviet Union, since they see the main cause of its disintegration in its constitutional structure. A growing distrust and selfishness between the member republics composing the Soviet Union – in other words: the failure of Moscow’s redistribution practices – explains the splintering of the federal state according to some interpretations. Yet others trace the events back to the growth and permeation of ethnic conflicts. Meanwhile, the role of Gorbachev must not be underestimated either, as he significantly loosened the tight hoops of the system and gave free way to numerous social initiatives and unquenched desires. The study sets out to give a detailed account of the causes and circumstances that played a role in the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and how they are related.

Montenegró függetlenné válása

Author(s): László Bíró / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 4/2018

With the collapse of Yugoslavia during the 1990s, only the republics of Serbia and Montenegro agreed to maintain the Yugoslav state, and established a new constitution for a new Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1992. From 1996, the first public signs of political discord between parts of Montenegrin leadership and the Serbian leadership began to appear. Montenegro created independent economic policy and turned to new political centres. The formation of a new state union of Serbia and Montenegro, following the March 2002 Belgrade Agreement, has failed to resolve the future relationship of the two republics. In 2003 the state was renamed into Serbia and Montenegro, and became a much looser union, with the fact that there was a moratorium that referendum can not be conducted until the period of three years expires. The question of the status of the relations of Serbia and Montenegro was solved by the referendum on the 21st of May 2006. The repost was 86.5%, which the biggest repost ever in the history of Montenegro, and with 55.5% of votes Montenegro voted its independence, narrowly passing the 55% threshold. The large Serbian ethnic community, making up about 30 per cent of the population, overwhelmingly voted against breaking away.

A válság ellenében. Az interkulturális nacionalizmus ereje Katalóniában

Author(s): Danielle Conversi,Sanjay Jeram / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 4/2018

Interculturalism provides the core framework for immigration-related policies in Catalonia, while remaining deeply intertwined with Catalan nationalism. We first identify ‘intercultural nationalism’ as the core doctrine through which Catalan nationalist discourse has been articulated in relation to immigration. We trace interculturalism’s origins to nationalism in Quebec and argue that, in Catalonia also, regional immigration policies have been constructed in opposition to those of the central state, while attempting to involve immigrants closely in subnational belonging and social cohesion. Second, we investigate whether interculturalism is durable during economic and political crises, arguing that intercultural policies did not change following the economic recession of the 2010s. This harmonises with broader interpretations that de-emphasise the role of economic factors in ethnic conflicts. In conclusion we note how the continuing resilience of interculturalism in Catalan policies on immigration contrasts sharply with the rise of xenophobia elsewhere.

A magyar–arab kapcsolat és a rendszerváltás

Author(s): László J. Nagy / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 04/2020

The Arab world played an important role in the foreign relations of Hungary. During the era of Pan-Arab nationalism, up to the death of Nasser, the relations were very good. In the 1980s the trade relations provided Hungary with a considerable dollar income. After that Hungary got closer to Israel, and thus the Hungarian–Arab relations have deteriorated. The change of regime deeply affected the Arab countries, but both sides declared the importance of the preservation and improvement of the relations.

THE 2000 ROMANIAN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS – BETWEEN POPULISM AND EUROPEANISM

Author(s): Marius Mureşan / Language(s): English Issue: Sp.Issue/2021

In November 2000, ten years after the fall of the communist regime and the organization of the first free elections, the Romanian population was called to decide on the future president of the country. This was the first poll that took place after the transition between power and opposition, which took place in 1996, but also in the context of a serious economic crisis with considerable effects on living conditions, which marked the activity and political destiny of PNŢCD. The elections, especially the second round, proved to be representative not so much from the perspective of political options, but especially regarding the future of the country: open to Euro-Atlantic structures or isolated, oriented towards the former Soviet space. These visions were personalized by the two candidates, Ion Iliescu and Corneliu Vadim Tudor, and the present article analyses the electoral mechanisms the two tried to use in order to promote their platforms within a Romanian society marked by the economic recession, but also by a major moral and identity crisis.

The Legacy of Division: East and West after 1989

Author(s): Petra Guasti / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2021

The Legacy of Division: East and West after 1989. Edited by Ferenc Laczó and Luka Lisjak Gabrijelčič. Budapest–New York: Central European University Press, 2020. 344 pp.

PRVI PREDSJEDNIK SLOVENIJE - Prikaz knjige: Milan Kučan – Prvi predsjednik Slovenije

Author(s): Amel Durutlić / Language(s): Montenegrine Issue: 1-2/2021

Book review Mary Elise Sarotte, Not One Inch: America, Russia, and the Making of Post-Cold War Stalemate, London, Yale University Press, 2021, 567 pp.

Author(s): Stefania Teodora Cocor / Language(s): English Issue: 5/2022

Review of: Mary Elise Sarotte, Not One Inch: America, Russia, and the Making of Post-Cold War Stalemate, London, Yale University Press, 2021, 567 pp.

Samorząd terytorialny w kryzysach III RP. Zarys problematyki

Author(s): Andrzej Piasecki / Language(s): Polish Issue: 39/2023

During the majority of Polish crises, apart from the reaction of the central authorities, the responses of the local institutions were also noticeable. The very creation of local government in 1990 materialized under conditions of the profound political, social and economic crisis. In 1997, the flood revealed the weaknesses in the administration of the commune. In turn, the strength of frustration that was accumulated in many local communities, manifested itself during the agricultural protests in 1999. The global financial crisis (2008–2009) has had the mild impact on Poland, but it caused a breakdown in many communes. Similarly, the effects of social unrest during the pandemic and the wave of refugees from across the eastern border (2020–2022) were unevenly distributed. This article is an attempt to address the questions concerning its title: did the crises turn out to be more of a threat or an opportunity for local communities? To what extent have the crises revealed the specific functioning of local government? Were local councilors and municipality staff able to work effectively under the extreme circumstances? How to assess the crisis experiences in the context of legal and institutional changes.