We kindly inform you that, as long as the subject affiliation of our 300.000+ articles is in progress, you might get unsufficient or no results on your third level or second level search. In this case, please broaden your search criteria.
Answers and Contributions régarding the essay of George F. Kennan (published in issue 34 of Der Monat) by Raymond Aron, Fedor Stepun, Ernst Reuter, David J. Dallin, Max Beloff, Wilhelm Röpke,
More...
Writing about modern European history is difficult nowadays. The political conditions of the continent mock every tradition, any comparison with the past. The continuity is terminated. If the European state of the world had completely disappeared, such as the Hellenic, one could still study it as a completed, time-disguised one. It’s confusing, however, that Europe is still there, but shows a face beyond which every statesman, every historian, of the nineteenth, still the early twentieth century, would have lost his reason. Everyone feels that it can not stay the way it is. But no one knows where it's going. And as long as the near future has no recognizable Direction, how can one find meaning in the past which led to this present?
More...
After the Second War, the Great Powers decided that Poland would be in the zone of influ-ence of the Soviet Union, and will create, togetherwith other European countries, post-war inter-national order. The international situation has developed in such way (creation of NATO, German remilitarization and their memebership in Western economic and politico-military structures), that Poland and other socialist countries formed the Warsaw Pact, which was dominated by the Soviet Union – taking into account the military contribution and deciding. The Pact has become for Po-land unique and stable security system, which protected its sovereignty and inviolability of bor-ders, contested mainly by the German neighbor. That’s why Poland supported all initiatives of the Political Consultative Committee, concerning an official obligation to the peaceful settlement of disputes, arms control (especially nuclear) or respect inviolability of borders and territorial integ-rity of states. Soviet Union tried to keep the existing post-war balance, in order to continue control their sphere of influence and Poland couldn’t affordto verify its western border on the Oder and Neisse and development of armed conflict on its territory.
More...
ORIGINAL SOURCE: » The New York Times «, November 17, 1957. / ORIGINAL TITLE: » Sputniks in Sky Obscure Soviet Economic Problem «
More...
Following the decision of the Central Committee of the CPSU of February 13, 19571, a new territorial system of industrial administration was introduced in the Soviet Union by the law of May 10, 1957. The deadline for the establishment of the new administrative units or economic districts, the sovnarkhoz, was July 1, 1957—a truly Petrine reform tempo! The six months that have passed since then are of course not sufficient for a definitive assessment of the effects of this measure. On the basis of the available reports, however, one can already draw a preliminary picture of the functioning of the sovnarkhosis, in which, after a short setting out of the framework, the perspectives rather than the background of the reorganization are to be illuminated.
More...
ORIGINAL SOURCE: » Prawda «, Moscow, Dezember 21st, 1957 / ORIGINAL TITLE: » Sorok let na straze bezopasnosti Sovetskogo gosudarstva « (Forty years in the service of Soviet state security); Author: I. Serov, Chairman of the State Security Committee of the USSR Council of Ministers.
More...
ORIGINAL SOURCE: »The New York Herald Tribüne «, 28/29. December 1957 / ORIGINAL TITLE: »Russia Set to Give Brazil Aid «; Author: Joseph Newman // ORIGINAL SOURCE: » Neue Zürcher Zeitung“, January 19, 1958 ORIGINAL TITLE: » The Soviet economic offensive in South America « // ORIGINAL SOURCE: »The New York Herald Tribüne «, January 12, 1958 / ORIGINAL TITLE: »Red Bloc Offers Oil to Uruguay «; Author: Edward A. Morrow.
More...
Swiftly following World War Two, the Cold War between a Soviet-led alliance and an American-led one might appear to be a clear cut case of a continuity with Mackinder’s 1904 perspective. In practice, there was the significant intervening stage of the earlier ideological-political contest of 1918-41 between the Soviet Union and a British anti-Communist system.
More...
In the context of cultural exchanges between the hegemonic Soviet power and its satellite, Romania, a significant role was played by the exchange of experiences and the travels of a social category referred to generically as “intellectuals” during that time. Every year, dozens of Romanian-Soviet meetings took place in Romania, fostering mutual understanding among academics, writers, artists, and filmmakers. To study this phenomenon, I examined a series of institutional reports in the archives of Romania and the Russian Federation, as well as articles and brochures published by Soviet intellectuals about their travels and research in Romania. Despite the fact that most of the testimonies were written on command, we attempted to observe and contextualize details beyond the wooden language and political history clichés about “our defenders, Lenin and Stalin”. The Romanian-Soviet friendship project was not a simplistic one; it operated through numerous channels and took on multiple forms. International ideological competition led the project to gain new experiences and engage a wide range of actors, from cultural personalities to workers, collective farmers, and collectivists.
More...
The paper focuses on the relationship between socialist Yugoslavia and the American economist, intellectual, and political figure John Kenneth Galbraith. The research is based on the analysis of archival materials, periodicals, travelogues, and Galbraith’s works translated in Yugoslavia. Galbraith’s first visit to Yugoslavia in 1958 was an integral part of his study visit to Poland, financed by the Ford Foundation. Based on the travelogue Galbraith wrote after his trip, the article analyzes the picture of the Yugoslav society in the 1950s and its transformation, looking into the period until the economist’s second visit in 1989. Finally, through mapping the published monographs, this article analyzes the reception of Galbraith’s work in socialist Yugoslavia.
More...
This article deals with the analysis of the fundamental factors that contributed to the establishment of an extremely close Yugoslav-Burmese partnership during the fi rst decades of the Cold War, a relationship which had a signifi cant impact on shaping global non-alignment at the time. Aft er gaining independence from colonial rule in Burma’s case or expulsion from one of the blocs in Yugoslav case, the strong desire of both countries to assume a position outside the direct control of the great powers and their efforts to establish an authentic socio-political system at home had a decisive infl uence, not only on the character of bilateral relations, but also on the strivings of the post-colonial and non-bloc worlds to fi nd their own path in the world arena.
More...
Yugoslav and German “questions” emerged in the early 1950s as specific issues in international politics marked by the Cold War. Through them, the strengths of the opposing blocs led by the superpowers, the USA and the USSR, were measured in various ways and with different intensities. This paper attempts to reconstruct and analyze the initial phase of the relationship between Yugoslav Communists and German Social Democrats, from the establishment of closer contacts to the change in the foreign policy situation after Stalin's death. The paper is mainly based on research using unpublished archived materials from domestic sources and relevant domestic and foreign literature.
More...
Film translation is often referred to as a “necessary evil.” This is because the translated lines tend to be simplified in the process of audiovisual translation. It is estimated that the dialogue in a film translation might be shortened by up to 30–40% compared to the original text. However, it should be borne in mind that film dialogues are an integral part of the film’s image and serve not only an informative but also a poetic function. Thus, when translating the characters’ statements, one should consider not only the semantic aspect but also the stylistic elements used in the material, particularly repetitions, contrasting juxtapositions of foreground and background dialogues, and references to musical works. The article presents the conclusions of the author’s research based on five translation variants of the film Cold War into Russian.
More...
This paper describes cultural policy in Greece from the end of World War II up to the fall of the junta of colonels in 1974. The writer’s object is to show how the Cold War favoured defeated Western countries, which participated effectively in the globalisation of American culture, as in the Western world de-nazification was transformed into a purge of communism. Using the careers of three composers active in communist resistance organizations as examples (Iannis Xenakis, Mikis Theodorakis and Alecos Xenos), the writer describes the repercussions of this phenomenon in Greek musical life and creativity.
More...
Review of: Pauli A. Heikkilä: Estonia as a Captive Nation. International Cooperation in Exile within the Assembly of Captive European Nations, 1954–1972. (On the Boundary of Two Worlds, Bd. 46.) Brill Schöningh. Paderborn 2021. XXII, 296 S., Ill., Tab. ISBN 978-3- 506-79182-5. (€ 109,–.)
More...
Science communication, especially science diplomacy, is seen as a means to remain in the conversation in times of political crisis, including the Cold War era. In this paper, drawing on experiences from an ongoing oral history project within the ‘Bridging the Baltic’ network, which is interested in knowledge transfer during the Cold War and afterwards in northern Europe, we look at pitfalls of international interview projects in medicine, e.g. the influence of the chosen language in international interview projects.
More...
The article discusses the concept of totalitarianism, tracing its origins to the 20th century and examining its evolution through various political discourses. It highlights the initial use of the term by proponents like Mussolini and its later adoption by opponents to describe autocratic regimes. The study delves into the intellectual resistance against totalitarianism in the 1930s and 1940s, the role of totalitarian states during the Cold War, and the ongoing relevance of understanding totalitarian regimes to confront current and future threats. It also reflects on the nature of totalitarianism as a unique form of autocracy and the challenges it poses to political thought and freedom.
More...
Afghanistan’s history is an unbroken series of tensions and conflicts that have shaped the region. Afghanistan has been a place of deep internal political instability as a result of its ethno-religious heterogeneity, as well as regional and international geopolitical confrontations within its territories. Prominent among these is the USSR’s invasion of Afghan territory between 1979 and 1989; the fol- lowing discussion is devoted to this problem, addressing the historical and geopolitical conditions of the conflict. The causes, course and significance of the USSR’s invasion of Afghanistan are analysed. The author concludes that the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan was a complex and multifaceted event influenced by historical, geopolitical and ideological factors. Afghanistan became a battleground in the wider Cold War struggle between the USSR and the US. Soviet intervention was challenged by a range of interrelated forces – local Afghan, regional and international including the US, which funded billions of dollars in aid, weapons and training for the mujahideen, effectively turning the conflict in Afghan- istan into a proxy war between the superpowers. The conflict has contributed to the destruction of the country’s infrastructure and increased poverty levels. Moreover, the war in Afghanistan has served as a launching pad for the strengthening of Islamic fundamentalism.
More...
The author considers that the possibility of using ballistic missiles by state and non-state actors has currently become an important threat, especially given the great number of potential possessors of weapons of mass destruction (states having dictatorial regimes as well as international terrorist organisations). Therefore, important steps should be taken, at political-diplomatic level, a long time before the outbreak of an armed conflict in order to prevent irresponsible dictatorial regimes or international terrorist organisations from procuring, assembling and operationalising ballistic or cruise missiles. The author concludes that the threat of using ballistic and cruise missiles has been lately reconsidered by the main European and Euro-Atlantic bodies, air and ballistic missile defence systems being developed.
More...
The purpose of the article is to analyze why Huntington’s ideas about civilizations, which have been much criticized, misused, and abused, continue to show amazing vitality by tackling the trends of international order. His paradigm has been a good predictor of international conflicts, but at the same time a tool that allows us to accept some primordial things. Properly understood and applied, civilizational analysis, which considers one’s strengths and weaknesses, can be used, like geopolitical analysis, as an indispensable component of planning a strategic approach.
More...
