Soviet and Post-Soviet Environmental Problems

In: The Journal of social, political and economic studies, Band 18, Heft 2, S. 131-158

Abstract

Government response to ecological concerns in the USSR in the Soviet & post-Soviet eras is examined. After years of neglect, ecological concerns emerged as public issues in the USSR only in the final years of the Soviet regime as a result of glasnost & the ensuing increase in public participation in the policy process, reduction in state secrecy, & adoption of less bureaucratic styles of decision making. Changes in the decision-making process resulted in contradictory demands on the system, particularly from the emerging nationalist movements within the country; consequently, little progress in abating environmental concerns was achieved. Upon the dissolution of the USSR, the former Soviet states inherited these environmental problems, but had few resources to combat them. At present the region's economic concerns are receiving the most attention from governmental entities, & environmental concerns have low priority. D. Generoli