EAST EUROPEAN BORDERS SYMPTOMATOLOGY – ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL IMPLICATIONS OF CONTEMPORARY GEOPOLITICAL CLEAVAGES

Author(s): Iulia Anghel / Language(s): English Issue: 1+2/2015

Eastern Europe is faced with increasingly numerous and severe geopolitical rifts following the conflict in Eastern Ukraine. The reopening of tension rifts, which largely reiterates the old Cold War configuration, triggers a large number of questions regarding the likely evolution of former Communist states. The study aims to identify the political and economic implications determined by the abrupt changes at the level of disputed borders, at the meeting point of two spheres of influence: Russia’s authoritarian neo-modernity and the old democratic oikumene of Central and Western Europe. The research starts from two working hypotheses. The first argues for the existence of major correlations between the reopening of geopolitical cleavages and the structural limitations of the process of modernization, whereas the second relates to the emergence of relevant connections between leadership typology and consolidation or reversibility tendencies in post-communist societies.

Après le déluge, nous

Author(s): Timothy Garton Ash / Language(s): German Issue: 01/1990

Former censors, former border guards, former apparatchiks, former secret police officers: what should happen to them? More specifically, what should happen to YOU, ONI, as the communist holders of power, big and small, were commonly called. It is a question of justice. At the highest level, it is the question of the Nuremberg trials. Should the men at the top be brought to justice for the crimes they have committed or those that have been committed among them? And if so, on what charges and according to which laws? At a lower level, it almost becomes a question of social justice. Is it fair, many wonder, that those who held comfortable office posts among the Communists still keep them today, while the little man has to tighten his belt? Is it fair that the members of the nomenklatura use the unclear legal provisions on privatization to take over as capitalists the companies that they previously commanded as communists?

1789-1917, Rückfahrkarte

Author(s): Francois Furet / Language(s): German Issue: 01/1990

The revolutions of the 20th century, which were carried out or forced under the sign of Leninist principles, left nothing to be rebuilt on. The revolution of 1789, fought under the banner of human rights, had often failed to follow its own principles due to its chaotic course; but she had staked out the terrain and defined the ideas that from then on governed modern politics for everyone, including their opponents. Even the counter-revolution still drew its temporary strength from the revolution. In contrast, the historical necessity of communism at the end of the 20th century turns out to be a catastrophic illusion. Not a single Leninist idea has stood the test of time, and the massive rejection of these ideas among peoples reveals nothing other than a simple return to the principles of 1789 - a return that will be all the more unwavering when the communist revolution once went against these principles. The suppression of the free market, the end of private entrepreneurship and the dictatorship of the unity party leave only illusions and ruins, a landscape that, especially where the regime was in power for a long time like in the Soviet Union, resembles a desert. The socialist states and societies offer the unique spectacle of nations that must restore at all costs what they thought they had to do away with, since in their recent past they no longer found a single principle on which to base themselves. This also gives her current situation something almost pathetic.

Durch die Wüste. Die Dilemmas des Übergangs

Author(s): Aleksander Smolar / Language(s): German Issue: 01/1990

It is taken for granted that the "Other Europe" is out for integration and wants to align itself with the West as quickly as possible in its political institutions, its social organization and in the economy. However, there is currently a lack of serious reflection on the possibilities of such a transition and the restrictions to which it could be subject. Schumpeter's succinctly formulated reservation has lost none of its validity to this day: »Social structures, types and behaviors are coins that do not melt easily. Once shaped, they may last for centuries.” Applied to the post-communist countries of Eastern Europe, this teaches not to underestimate the resilience of certain traditional structures and social behaviors; Pessimism seems appropriate against the hopes of a quick and painless "return" from these countries to Europe. It would be fatal not only for the countries of Eastern Europe that were breaking away from the dictatorship, but for all of Europe if the euphoria of the West, its enthusiasm for the gentle revolutions of 1989 were followed by a phase of fatigue, weariness and averting. Exaggerated hopes and misunderstandings for the implications, the drama and incomparability of the problems facing the post-communist democracies today could quickly weaken the West's willingness to help, which these countries so desperately need (and not only in material terms).

Trikolórok, farkasok és turulok földje

Author(s): Csaba Zahorán / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 1/2016

РОЛЬ ОРГАНІВ ДЕРЖАВНОЇ ВЛАДИ МИКОЛАЇВСЬКОЇ ОБЛАСТІ У КОНФЛІКТАХ МІЖ РІЗНИМИ ГІЛКАМИ ПРАВОСЛАВНОЇ ЦЕРКВИ (1991-2010 рр.)

Author(s): Yuriy Demedyuk / Language(s): Ukrainian Issue: 27/2016

In this article we are talking about the restoration and establishmen tof Orthodox churches in Southern Ukraine in 1991 - 2010 rr. The attention to conflicts that arise between different branches of the Orthodox Church in the Mykolaiv region. Also highlights the role of public authorities in resolving these conflicts. In the Mykolaiv region were represented different branches of the Diocese of the Orthodox Church, each in their perceived property issues, cooperation with local and state authorities as well as with other Orthodox areas.Ukraine gained independence after the recovery process and formation of Orthodox churches intensified. At the same strained relations between the branches of the Orthodox Church primarily property,ward influence on the press, and did so, and on society. Most conflict was the interaction between the churches of the same denomination,especially between the Ukrainian Orthodox Church Moscow Patriarchate - Ukrainian Orthodox Church Kiev Patriarchate and Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church.During 2005-2010 years held a meeting of heads of district administrations and city (cities of regional importance) heads of religious leaders the field, during which discussed the whole range of church-state relations, religious analyzed the situation and was supposed measures to support its stability. On the eve of religious holidays within conducted a meeting involving the heads of district administrations, heads of law enforcement agencies where the intended range of relevant specific measures aimed at preventing the emergence of conflicts on religious grounds In the role of buffer between the Orthodox churches were public authorities, which used different leverage to avoid conflicts in the religious sphere. In general, in the Mykolaiv region, as in Ukraine as a whole, despite the very complex confessional situation, managed to avoid significant civil conflicts on religious grounds, including through the intervention of public authorities at different levels.

Hungary in transforming Central and Eastern Europe, 1989–2008: A few debated questions

Author(s): T. Iván Berend / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2009

The paper addresses some debated questions and popular misconceptions concerning Hungary’s transformation process. These debated questions include the historical role of the Hungarian market reforms and how they helped the country in rapid transition later on; the first years of transition and the dilemma of gradual vs. shock therapy type reforms; the role of multinational companies in the Hungarian economy; the economic crisis in Hungary of the past years (2006–2008); and finally, how Hungary should proceed with reforms in the future.

About the Condition of the Romanian Journalist after 20 Years of Free Press. Elements of Context

Author(s): Xenia Negrea / Language(s): English Issue: 23/2009

In this article we presented a number of contextual factors that have assisted the creation of the consciousness of belonging to the guild of journalists. In Romania, it was only towards the end of 2009 that a single code of ethics was discussed and enforced. Its application and enforcement are themes of reflection for the coming years. So far, the Romanian journalist was in a perpetual search and attempt delineate the professional identity, having as main objective the synchronization with the values of the Western media.

The “Import” of the Rule of Law as a Democratic Tradition in Post-communist Constitutional Usage: Charting a Multi-Level Theoretical Matrix

Author(s): Anca Parmena Olimid / Language(s): English Issue: 41/2014

Analyzing the “rule of law” within the European post-communist environment generates confusions, irregularities and difficulties of interpretation and understanding, especially when political conditions rebalance the legal meaning of normative claims and the precautionary principles of transition such as: democracy, democratic and social state, democratic multiparty system, constitutional order, and social justice. The article focuses on the rule of law as a “democratic tradition squared by the basic legal principle of legal and political morality depending on a particular normative and interpretative norm. After providing a constitutional analysis of the rule of law in the former communist countries constitutions, the study identifies and replaces all relevant and common values in twosided matrices considered as a valuable theoretical condition of establishing a functional democracy. The paper uses a methodology that examines and reconstructs the legitimating status of rule of law in the constitutional provision of post-communist states. The results of the study are rather challenging. On the first place, the study is engaging in a post-communist debate on the “import” of the rule of law and its outcomes in hybrid societies and, on the second place, the study serves as an “exhibit” of the theoretical patterns facing the “post-communist thesis” and its transformations.

Citius-Altius-Fortius – Igrzyska Olimpijskie w Moskwie w 1980 roku jako strategia promocyjna radzieckiej modernizacji u schyłku epoki Breżniewa

Author(s): Marta Studenna-Skrukwa / Language(s): English,Polish Issue: 04/2018

The purpose of the article is to describe the place and role of the XXII Summer Olympic Games in the Soviet propaganda. The research problem was defined as the selection of main threads in the propaganda discourse and the determination of their content, purpose and hierarchy. The research method is that of critical analysis of propaganda discourse in representative press titles and other texts transferring the official point of view. The author puts forward the hypothesis that the Olympics ’80, alongside the resumption of the construction of the Baikal-Amur Railway, was the last „big project” of the postwar USSR. The authorities used it as a tool to promote communism not only in the capitalist world, but also in the USSR itself. Organization of a global-scale undertaking would have to convince Soviet citizens about the condition of their state. There were three main threads in the propaganda. First, the modeling of the Olympic development of Moscow as an example for the USSR and the whole world. Secondly, the Olympics as a „festival of sport and peace”. Thirdly, the construction of a whole database of texts and statements that give the impression that international public opinion affirms the high material and organizational level of life in the USSR.

Religion-Politics Interplay: The Case of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan

Author(s): Laura Yerekesheva / Language(s): English Issue: 03/2007

The article covers the problems of religion-state interaction in two Central Asian countries - Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan - and analyses how they influence each other. The methodology is based on the integral approach in the sociology of religion that presumes that the religion and the state are the social system 's vital elements influencing each other as well as the system at whole. The article argues that in spite of the general similarities in the state 's approach towards religion in the pre-Soviet and Soviet periods there are still different outputs in contemporary Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan deriving from many factors - among which are the basic difference between Kazakh and Uzbek religious identity as well as the performance and general politics of the state.

REPUBLIKA, Godina VIII (1996), Broj 133+134, februar 1-29

Author(s): Nebojša Popov,Mirko Stojčević,Vlastimir Stevanović,Jelka Imširović / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 133+134/1996

REPUBLIKA, Godina VIII (1996), Broj 135+136, mart 1-31

Author(s): Gordana Logar,Aleksandra Pošarac,Božidar Andrejić,Radivoj Cvetićanin,Radomir Licina,Mirko Tepavac,Sreten Vujović,Miroljub Radojković,Mirko Đorđević / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 135+136/1996

OGLEDI I-XVI: Jugoslavija kao zabluda. Odnos intelektualnih i političkih elita prema zajedničkoj državi

Author(s): Olivera Milosavljević / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 135+136/1996

OGLEDI I-XII: Armijska upotreba trauma

Author(s): Miroslav Hadžić / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 137/1996

OGLEDI I-VIII: Političke elite, građanski rat i raspad SFRJ

Author(s): Vladimir Goati / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 147/1996

The political conflict that led to the dissolution of the "other Yugoslavia" was only apparently occurring between the advocates of federal and confederal options, and in fact it was a conflict between the two confederal options that sought or at least agreed with the dissolution of the SFRY

REPUBLIKA, Godina VIII (1996), Broj 149, 1-15 oktobar

Author(s): Ljubomir Madžar,Gordana Logar,Vasile Popovici,Rade Veljanovski,Tamara Kaliterna,Džemal Hatibović,Predrag Čudić,Sonja Prodanović / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 149/1996

REPUBLIKA, Godina VIII (1996), Broj 150, 16-31 oktobar

Author(s): Gordana Logar,Džemal Hatibović,Dušan Mojsin,Rade Veljanovski,Ivana Spasić,Tamara Kaliterna,Vida Tučan / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 150/1996

A bársonyos forradalom első magyar dokumentumai

Author(s): László Öllös / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 4/2019

This study presents and analyzes the first declarations and programs of the Hungarian organizations of the 1989 Revolution in Slovakia. The analysis extends to the first half of 1990. The examination is based on two methodological aspects. One is the change of regime, that is, the consideration of the objectives and values that were aimed at overthrowing the former dictatorship and introducing a new constitutional democracy characteristic for the Western world. The other aspect is the improvement of the situation of Hungarians in Slovakia, i.e. the formulation of their specific rights and other national needs, and the way how to achieve these goals. Of course, the text raises the issue of combining these two aspects. The study is primarily based on contemporary documents, but it also reflects the aspects of academic literature on the subject.

Lengyelország – 1989

Author(s): János Tischler / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 12/2019

The 1981 martial law could only save the personal power of Wojciech Jaruzelski. The social acceptance of the regime was minimal, the catastrophic state of the economy remained and the living standards continued to decline. The general was not able to crush the opposition concentrated in the Solidarity movement, forced into the underground. He had to recognize, in autumn 1987 at the latest, that if he wants to avoid the repeated use of force, he has only one chance: to initiate a dialogue with the Solidarity and to share the power, in order to obtain the support for an economic and political program promising essential changes. From the perspective of society, the 1982-1987 period was one of increasing desolation. The Solidarity got tired of its prolonged illegality and has lost much of its momentum and support. While in 1981, given the methodology of the exertion of political power, Jaruzelski did not have other options than to declare martial law, an alternative has begun to emerge in 1988, due to the economic and military collapse of the Soviet Union. Although the original goal consisted in preserving the communist regime, the Solidarity led by Lech Wałęsa recognized the opportunity and managed to overthrow it without bloodshed.