Polityka Jana Pawła II wobec Kościołów za żelazną kurtyną w drugiej połowie lat osiemdziesiątych XX wieku

Author(s): Tadeusz Kopyś / Language(s): English,Polish Issue: 1/2012

The declining years of the communist regimes towards the end of the 80s as well as the on-going process of a thaw in political relations was also reflected in the Vatican’s policy towards Christians in Eastern Europe. The task was not easy as the hierarchs of the Orthodox Church in Russia were afraid of ecumenical slogans propagated by the pope. They even presented their own, competitive ideas, whose aim was to discredit John Paul II’s diplomatic efforts. The Pope’s policy towards churches in other European countries (Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Poland) did not assume a common approach as the fate of Christians there was shaped independently from each other and even with certain respect granted by the Kremlin towards the uniqueness of each country. The key aspect of John Paul II’s policy towards the countries of Eastern Europe was the pursuit of spiritual renewal of Christianity in the East, which was supposed to be started with the pilgrimage to the USSR (Ukraine, Moscow and Lithuania).

ВОЈНА САРАДЊА СФРЈ СА СССР-ом 1965–1970.

Author(s): Nenad Ž. Petrović / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 2/2016

The article, based solely on non-military documents and on the scarce military documents that can be found in non-military archives, does not actually give a complete picture of the topic. Yet we can draw certain conclusions. First, that the policy of avoiding the commitment, and capitalizing on the unclear nature of an external political position between the two blocs and the two systems, was also being maintained from 1965 to 1970. At the same time, the policy was an incontrovertible dogma; at home and abroad, it was propagandized and praised as the first-rate Tito’s and the League’s of Communists of Yugoslavia leaderships’ wisdom. This period in Yugoslavia was fraught with internal contradictions that the League of Communists as the leading force in the society was trying to overcome. At the same time, the League of Communists itself was undergoing nationaldecentralization, assuming a form of a complicated “multi-party system” composed of six-plus-two (pertaining to the republics and the provinces) “parties.” The ongoing economic reform introduced certain capitalistic principles into the socialist economy, which only complicated the situation further, yet it did not solve the accumulated problems. At the time, a massive emigration of the workforce towards West European countries, mainly the Federal Republic of Germany, was under way. Financial loans from abroad increased, too. On the subject of culture, supposed bourgeois models were being adopted by many youth, i.e., through a massive film import (mostly from the USA), along with the popularization of fashion, music, and the lifestyle of the developed Western societies. Yet a political absurdity had occurred: in the course of the economic and cultural turn to the West, and in spite of all the doubts and fears, the weaponry for the Yugoslav People’s Army was being bought in the Soviet Union. Yugoslav leadership persisted in its uncompromising standpoint that neither military or strategic concessions, nor allegiance to “the first country of socialism,” and the bloc under Soviet control, ever emerged from the fact. Finally, the question remains: why did they buy the arms in the East, despite the ideological “narcissism of small differences”? The answer is not easy. In an exchange with Brezhnev, Tito pointed out that he could not get arms in the West. Besides, the reasons behind the purchases could also lie in the increased external policy ambitions, raised after the Movement of Non-Alignment had been established in 1961, as well as in that that the prices were lower in the East. It seems the intention of the policy was to insert itself globally, between the two already existing superpowers, in a form of a “third course,” or the “third power.”

Milenyum Sonrasi Türk Diş Politikasi: Yeni Osmanlicilik Ve Türk Avrasyaciliği Ekseninde İnşa Edilen Bir Pragmatizm

Author(s): Göktürk Tüysüzoğlu / Language(s): Turkish Issue: 3/2013

At the Post Cold War era, Turkey revealed an eagerness for overcoming the geographical determinism and securitization that embedded into its foreign policy. However, this desire roomed into a dimension of discourse because of the political and economical problems. One of the most important reasons the foreign policy understanding that stressed upon the former Ottoman geography and Eurasia falls through is the lack of theoretical dimension. The doctrinal approach of Ahmet Davutoğlu, named as Strategic Depth, is the main fulcrum of the alteration that can be seen at Turkish Foreign Policy. This doctrine is named also as Neo Ottomanism, due to its aim of making Turkey a Eurasian power by referencing the Ottoman geography and cultural cooperation. Wider region that Davutoğlu named as Afro-Eurasia and involves North Africa, Middle East, Balkans, Caucasia, Black Sea Basin and the Central Asia could be seen as the area of implementation. In this respect, the doctrine of Strategic Depth would be seen as a geopolitical initiative based on civilization in respect of the Ottoman reference. Cooperation that makes sense by history, affinity of socioculture and religion at the former Ottoman land, would be legitimized over the Turkish identity when Central Asia is discussed. This insight can be seen as a different interpretation of the Turkish Eurasianism which interiorised a pragmatist attitude by the reference of Ottoman Empire and theorized by the impact of the Russian Eurasianist notion. Hence, Strategic Depth rejects the content of the Eurasianist thought which opposes the Western civilization and aims to locate Turkey as bridge between the civilizations. This policy that named as Strategic Depth or Neo Ottomanism uses the conservative approach as a base concerning the Turkish Eurasianist notion.

Doktrina „Ograničenog suvereniteta” u hladnom ratu na primeru Čehoslovačke 1968. godine

Author(s): Nenad Ž. Petrović / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 3/2008

The best known example of practice of the doctrine of limited sovereignty is related to the intervention of the group of states, members of the Warsaw pact in Czechoslovakia in 1968. However, the author shows us that such doctrine doesn’t stop to be actual neither in the nowadays world in which a long time ago there are no more countries of the so-called real socialism neither the USSR. On the contrary, the tendencies of the establishment of a new supra-national order which is formed after the Second World War, demonstrate that such a doctrine is very possible also in the world in which the democracy as a generally accepted political ideal dominates.

Первый советский спутник как ускоритель реформы американского образования: к 60-летию исторического события

Author(s): A. S. Krymskaya / Language(s): Russian Issue: 20/2017

The Soviet Union’s October 1957 launching of Sputnik was of domestic political importance to the US. It led to a review of the US education system, which resulted in the adoption of the National Defense Education Act by the US Congress in 1958. Its purpose was to strengthen the national defense by appropriating federal financial support to increase the number of educational programs responding to critical national needs. Discussion of Sputnik’s influence on the reform of American education has continued for 60 years. In the scientific and journalistic literature various arguments have been advanced for and against satellite’s influence, which are discussed in this article. It attempts to show the satellite’s impact on accelerating negotiations for exchange agreements between the USSR and the USA in the fields of culture, technology and education, and ultimately creating a new branch of American historical scholarship — Russian Studies. Particular attention is paid to the content of Section VI of the NDEA. It provided financial support to higher education institutions that established or already had in place modern foreign languages centers. The results of the implementation of this paragraph were evident in the same year, as universities in different states began establishing Russian and East European Studies Centers. It became the starting point for a new stage in the development of Soviet-American relations in the field of science and education.Keywords: Soviet Sputnik, National Defense Education Act, USA, USSR, academic exchange, American edu- cation, Russian and East European studies.

East-West Trade and Japanese-Yugoslav Relations during the Cold War

Author(s): Jelena Glišić / Language(s): English Issue: 37/2016

Japan’s efforts to improve trade with communist countries of Eastern Europe during the Cold War may seem odd, since generally neither superpower encouraged trade between the East and the West. However, during this period of East-West confrontations in all spheres, trade included, Japan developed trade relations with the Eastern European communist countries, while pursuing her national interests. This research note discusses Japanese-Yugoslav trade relations during the Cold War, and compares them with Japan’s trade relations with the other communist countries of Eastern Europe, setting them in the broader context of East-West relations. This research begins by briefly describing the system of trade within East-West relations. It then looks into Yugoslavia’s and Japan’s respective positions within that environment. Following that, the article examines Japanese-Yugoslav trade relations with particular regard to the three main events in their bilateral relations—conclusion of the Trade and Maritime Agreement in 1959, Yugoslav President Josip Broz Tito’s visit to Japan in 1968, and establishment of a mixed-trade committee in 1972. It also discusses private-sector trade relations and a triangular type of trade.

РАДЯНСЬКО-АМЕРИКАНСЬКИЙ "ЯДЕРНИЙ ДІАЛОГ" ПЕРІОДУ ПЕРШОЇ АДМІНІСТРАЦІЇ Р. РЕЙГАНА (1981–1984 роки)

Author(s): Dmytro Krysenko / Language(s): Ukrainian Issue: 1/2013

This article is devoted to the progress and patterns of negotiations between the USA and the USSR toward the strategic weapons reduction in the beginning of 1980’s, a special attention is paid to the views of the U.S. administration on nuclear weapons as a political tool.

Graniţa de răsărit a Moldovei – un tărâm de nelinişte şi conflict

Author(s): Alexandru Budișteanu / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 1-2/2017

The paper aims to contributing to a better understanding of the complex political situation in the central part of Europe where two major forces are now opposed. One is the Russian Federation and the other consists of European countries, such as Romania a member of the EU. The situation had been generated in 1792 when Russia got a common border on Dniester river with the Romanian medieval state of Moldova. In 1812 after a war with Turkey it occupied half of Moldova and called it Bessarabia. This is presently the Republic of Moldova. Now a part of it proclaimed itself an independent state called the Moldavian Dniester Republic (Transnistria). It is recognized by no other country but Russia considering it a component part of the Russian Federation. Moreover, its army of Russian soldiers crossed illegally the Dniester into the Republic of Moldova occupying more territory and thus creating a dangerous precedent.

„Duch czasu wycisnął jednak na tej pracy swe piętno”. Historia Zagłady w badaniach Żydowskiego Instytutu Historycznego w okresie stalinowskim

Author(s): Stephan Stach / Language(s): Polish Issue: 13/2017

The Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw was probably the only research institution in the Soviet Bloc and one of very few that undertook research on the Shoah during the 1950s. This article analyses the institute’s research and working conditions against the background of the general political regime under Stalinism in Poland. It argues that despite sometimes heavy-handed political biases in its publications, the institute made an important contribution to research on the Shoah. Its work also came to the attention of Jewish centers outside the Soviet Bloc, though it was seen through the prism of the Cold War.

„Oblonul de fier”: Percepțiile unui secretar al lui Iuliu Maniu despre începutul Războiului Rece

Author(s): Oana Ionel,Dragoș Marcu / Language(s): Romanian Issue: I/2006

Nicolae Pascu, whose political memoirs are now made public for the first time, was an interesting character: lawyer, state official, journalist, entrepreneur and active member (with quite important political responsibilities) of the National Peasant party (NPP). He wrote several works dealing with the final years of the NPP. Some of the pages of his political memoirs are vivid - even if sometimes astonishingly naïve - descriptions of events and trends belonging to the early stages larger framework, we now call The Cold War: the political activities of the Soviets in Romania; the domestic political struggle between the Soviet-sponsored Romanian communist and their non-totalitarian competitors; the feeble attempts of the West to involve itself in the effort to preserve the political status quo in Romania; the important amount of wishful thinking which can be detected in the behavior of some leaders in the Peasant Party. All these elements, however sketchy, can be regarded as an important historical source, enabling the researcher to better understand the way in which Cold War started in Eastern Europe.

De la Marea Alianță la Războiul Rece: Uniunea Sovietică și Marea Britanie în documente

Author(s): Laurenţiu Constantiniu / Language(s): Romanian Issue: I/2006

Între democrație si autoritarismul ultra-dur. Câteva considerații istorice și teoretice asupra Războiului Rece

Author(s): Alina Buzăianu / Language(s): Romanian Issue: I/2006

The end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet system had, of course, the most traumatizing and durable effects on the former communist countries of Europe. The disintegration of USSR and the collapse of communism destroyed the common “ideological citizenship” which has protected some of the states of Central and Eastern Europe against the demons of racial intolerance and ethnical or national-religious tensions. Some old states have found their independence, some have perished in a peaceful way and others hurried in the chaos of civil war. From this conflict, not less serious than the one that followed the First World War, came into sight new political subjects gifted with a fictitious sovereignty, unable to operate for their own development and security: new “principalities” and “duchies” look out for a new benevolent emperor to entrust their fate with. Egocentric and provincial, the West watched with excitement on TV the wars that took place at the front door and which tossed waves of refugees on his sands but did not pay much attention to what has happened during these years, for example, on the Moldavian-Ukrainian border, in Georgia, Nagorno-Karabakh or in Chechnya. The Cold War was won both by America and Western Europe, united in the North Atlantic Alliance. But not even the winners have been absolved of the negative consequences of the post-war period. The end of the conflict had unforeseen results over their structure and the nature of the relations between them.

A PEACEFUL INTERLUDE IN THE COLD WAR - THE ESTABLISHMENT OF HUNGARIAN STUDIES AT INDIANA UNIVERSITY. A PERSONAL MEMOIR

Author(s): Denis Sinor / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2005

The memoir is the history of the Hungarian Chair at Indiana University from 1979 when the Hungarian Academy of Sciences endowed the Chair by the transfer of USD 250,000.

Fence Walls: From the Iron Curtain to the US and Hungarian Border Barriers and the Emergence of Global Walls

Author(s): Éva Eszter Szabó / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2018

This paper considers the resurgence of the Iron Curtain metaphor and its appropriateness in relation to the current border barriers in the US and the EU. It addresses the impact of the Iron Curtain both on Eastern Europe and on Western Europe, and it explores the legacy of this nearly hermetically sealed off borderland in the different border security and migration control approaches within the EU in the current era of emerging global walls. In my view, while the Iron Curtain metaphor is mistakenly applied to the current border barriers in the US and the EU alike, its legacy does contribute to the marked difference between Eastern and Western European attitudes and policies to the massive influx of migrants. From the Iron Curtain to the Hungarian border fence, the fence walls of the spatially identical border sections reflect not only the changing concepts of walls, but also the distinct historical experiences with migration. The current border barriers in Hungary and the EU, however, draw on the US–Mexican border barrier that aims to stop unauthorized entry while keeping the gates open in both directions for legal cross-border movement in contrast with the prison walls of the Iron Curtain.

«Если друзья сочтут целесообразным выдвинуть… мы поддержим»: Международные Ленинские премии мира в системе советской культурной дипломатии

Author(s): O. S. Nagornaya / Language(s): Russian Issue: 24/2018

This article is dedicated to the study of the institutional history of the International Lenin Peace Prize Committee with the aim of reconstructing the specificity of the soviet cultural diplomacy: the formation and broadcasting of peace-making passwords and methods of influence on the international community, the receptions of the soviet symbolic messages by target groups. As the source base, the author made use of archive documents and published materials of party and state bodies, press and journalism, citizens’ letters. As the methodological foundation of the analysis emerged the approaches and methods of global and transnational history, cultural history. The largely scaled staged project of Lenin’s (Stalin’s) Peace Prizes promoted by the USSR as the alternative of the Nobel Prize, was used for the aims of positioning the idea of “the soviet-style peacemaking”, the symbolic encouragement of the loyalty to the socialist camp of the remarkable actors of the Cold war, the conflicts moderation in the satellites countries, symbolic mobilization of their own population. The period of legal registration of the Committee’s activity coincided with the crisis of the pre-war cultural diplomacy’s structures under the conditions of the necessity of the Soviet Union’s representation as the winning country. The external image and the internal discussions of the Committee were burdened by the question of self-dependence and freedom of decisions. The internal documentation gives evidence of the soviet party bodies’ using not only the means of open pressure on the Committee members, but also their manipulating the body, which included the loyal to the USSR representatives of the international community. As the indirect means of the impact served the conditions of the committee members’ admission as well as its representatives’ instruction among the soviet public figures. The laureates of the Lenin Peace Prize became important links in the USSR’s cultural diplomatic networks. Their international authority was intensely used with the aim of the foreign policy representations of the soviet position in different regions of the world for strengthening the position of the certain leader. The reception of the honours project by ordinary citizens of different countries reflected the reaction of the contradiction of the soviet peace-building discourse as well as incomprehension of fast-moving often populist and inconsistent turns of the soviet foreign policy.

“Talkin’ bout a Revolution”

Author(s): Dalia Báthory / Language(s): English Issue: 7/2016

The proclamation of liberal democracy as the absolute winner of the Cold War and the emergence of “prosecutorial” history after the fall of the Eastern Communist Bloc seemed to have established a certain path for researchers with regard to postwar dictatorships in Central and Eastern Europe. A closer look at the meaning of “revolution” as well as at new research efforts reveal strong connections between the East and the West during that time, that determined changes in the pattern and style of the scientific discourse analysing the post-war decades.

INTERWENCJA WOJSK UKŁADU WARSZAWSKIEGO W CZECHOSŁOWACJI A POLITYKA WŁOSKIEJ PARTII KOMUNISTYCZNEJ

Author(s): Bartosz Gromko / Language(s): Polish Issue: 1/2018

In 1968 the process of reforms in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic had been deterred. The Italian Communist Party (ICP) was carefully observing the events of Prague Spring. The party governed by Luigi Longo associated high expectations with those events hoping for a significant change in all the countries sharing the ideological concept of People’s Democracy. The intervention by the forces of the Warsaw Treaty caused a shock among the Italian communists. Togliatti’s heirs found themselves in a difficult political situation. This article unveils the circumstances of those developments from the ICP perspective: beginning from positive relations with the representatives of the new path in Czechoslovakia, through the intervention up to normalization. Those events are analysed in the context of relations between the “vanguard of communism in the west” and USSR authorities. Can it be said that the year 1968 was decisive for ICP in terms of international politics and its autonomy from Moscow?

Visionary Worlds of the Cold War

Author(s): Ieva Astahovska / Language(s): English Issue: 01+03/2018

The art of the socialist period is still an area where Latvian art historians do not linger too long. The reason for this could be partly due to traumatic experiences of this time for many who lived under its system and later the breakdown of the system, but also due to ambiguous perceptions of this period, and methodological and other difficulties dealing with it. Still, researches, explorations and interpretations of socialist art are essential to understanding the genesis of contemporary art, as well as the complexity of modernism and its transition to postmodernism in Eastern Europe. This complexity also derives from geopolitical circumstances, which had a strong impact both on art language and on its relationships with reality. My research is an attempt to contextualise the visionary dimension in modernist and neo-avant-garde art of this region in a broader perspective, including geopolitical relations between art and reality, as well as the role of their power structures.

Remembering the past, predicting the future: John Steinbeck’s explorations of Cold War Russia in A Russian Journal

Author(s): Katarzyna Hauzer / Language(s): English Issue: 5/2017

A Russian Journal, published in 1948, is an unusual record of the great other side of Russia, wherein American Nobel Prize winner John Steinbeck and the distinguished photojournalist Robert Capa struggle to present the Soviet Union in cultural rather than political terms. The authors make a sweeping journey through the USSR, portraying the landscapes and ways of life of ordinary Russians who were emerging from the rubble of WWII with the hope of peaceful coexistence of capitalism and communism in the atomic decade. Reporting on the unknown, Steinbeck and Capa take up a delicate task of introducing simple and unexplored truths about America‘s wartime ally and its immediate postwar adversary. Consequently, A Russian Journal becomes a unique journalistic account of two countries trapped in the rigidities of the Cold War miscommunication patterns.

Cold War Redivivus?

Author(s): Ion DEACONEASCU / Language(s): English Issue: 20/2008

This article analyses Russia’s role in the today’s stage of the international relations, starting from the largely accepted idea that the old enemy could not become friend and strategic partner for the EU and the USA but also arguing that, with a huge energy potential, with reform-driven and well-intended politicians, Russia would not afford, in the years to come, to be co-substantial to the Cold War and to continuous conflicts.