Suchergebnisse

In recent decades, the regions of Russia have taken different paths of regime transition. Despite the consolidation of an autocratic regime at national level and the centralization steered by Vladimir Putin's government, the variation across sub-national regimes persists. Using an innovative theoretical framework, this book explores both causes and consequences of democratization in the regions of Russia. It is the first study in the field to systematically integrate structural and agency approaches in order to account for economic, social, historical and international causes of democratization and to trace its consequences. By focusing on the challenging and under-studied topic of sub-national regimes, the book provides a unique perspective on regime transition and the new theoretical framework contributes to a better understanding of democratization world-wide. The book will be of key interest to scholars and students of democratization, sub-national regimes, East European politics, comparative politics, post-communism, and international relations.

This article serves as an introduction to the special issue devoted to historical continuities in Eurasia and different conceptualizations of the communist legacies. It highlights the main research challenges the special issue deals with and how they fit into a more general discussion about the application of the concept of "post-communism" as an analytical category. It further reviews the composition of the special issue and sums up the main scholarly insights it produced.

The war in Ukraine is challenging the very premise of Eurasian regionalism. It is increasing countries' concerns about their membership and about excessive dependence on Russia; it is making trade relations difficult because of Western sanctions; and it is pushing the entire region into a deep recession. At the same time, the unprecedented sanctions against Russia are also prompting Eurasian autocracies to question their own deep connections with the West. We review these key trends by analyzing the development of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), paying particular attention to Kazakhstan's position in the organization.