Suchergebnisse

Abstract: Democratic Innovations in Central and Eastern EuropeAccording to Elisabeth Bakke's (University of Olso) review of Democratic Innovations in Central and Eastern Europe, Sergiu Gherghina, Joakim Ekman and Olena Podolian have edited a book on 'democratic innovations' in more or less democratic countries in Central and Eastern Europe. Bakke finds that, while several of the contributions are well written and interesting, 'democratic' may not be a particularly precise label in a context where, as it turns out, the 'innovations' do not contribute much to increasing either participation or democracy.

Abstract: Armenia and Europe: Foreign Aid and Environmental Politics in the Post-Soviet Caucasus Lene Wetteland (Norwegian Helsinki Committee) reviews Armenia and Europe: Foreign Aid and Environmental Politics in the Post-Soviet Caucasus by Dr. Pål Wilter Skedsmo. The book is a revised version of his 2017 PhD thesis in Social Anthropology. Skedsmo uses his personal experience from a project on environmental rights in Armenia in the early 2010s and Armenian civil society's application of the Aarhus Convention as case studies to discuss the issue of Europeanization of Armenia in this context.

Det seneste årti er politiske rettigheder i Rusland blevet kraftigt indskrænkede. Efterladt med et valg mellem at tie eller flytte, vælger flere civilsamfundsaktører at fortsætte deres aktiviteter uden for landets grænser. Political Dissent and Democratic Remittances:The Activities of Russian Migrants in Europe, et nyt kvalitativt, etnografisk studie undersøger aktiviteterne hos dem, der udøver systemkritik efter at have forladt Rusland.
Over the past decade, political freedoms in Russia have severely restricted. Faced with the choice between leaving the country or being left without a voice, more and more civil society actors are choosing to conduct their activities abroad. Political Dissent and Democratic Remittances:The Activities of Russian Migrants in Europe is a new qualitative ethnographic study that explores the activities of those who have Russia in order to be able to voice their political dissent.

Ingmar Oldberg reviews In the North, the East and West Meet. Festschrift for Jens Petter Nielsen, edited by Kari Aga Myklebost and Stian Bones. This book contains 26 articles in Norwegian, English and Russian, starting with a good presentation of Professor Nielsen's life and career. In keeping with his interests, the well annotated articles cover several themes; the centenary of the Russian revolution, Norwegian-Russian relations since the Middle Ages, especially in the High North, Russian arts, and scientific cooperation. The book is beautifully illustrated.

Abstract: East is East and West is West? Comparing Party System Stability in Europe 2008–2019This article compares trends in party system stability in Central/ Eastern Europe (CEE) and Western Europe, to see if recent studies indicating that the two regions have become more similar hold when the results of outcomes of several post-financial-crisis elections are taken into consideration. Further, it enquires into the underlying causes of electoral volatility and whether they differ between the two regions. In all, 82 parliamentary elections in 25 EU countries 2008–2019 are analyzed as regards electoral volatility (Pedersen's Index) and support for new parties ('volatility type A'). The results show that, when the most likely confounding variables are controlled for, a significant difference between the two regions remains, but also that there is a converging trend on both indicators. Moreover, whereas electoral volatility in the West is driven by the level of corruption together with the effective number of parties, unemployment and economic growth as well as the number of effective parties are the main factors explaining the same phenomenon in CEE. There is also evidence that volatility in CEE, unlike in Western Europe, is also driven by a path-dependent logic, where previous volatility scores explain subsequent ones. That finding may have implications for the prospects of future party system stabilization.

Abstract: Between generations: Attitudes towards family responsibilities in the East and the West of Europe The article addresses the strength and character of family responsibility norms in Eastern and Western Europe. The strength is measured by the level of support for filial and parental responsibilities (i.e., adult children's obligations towards older parents and vice-versa) and the character is indicated by the priority given to the older or the younger generation. For the analyses, we employ data from thirteen Eastern and Western European countries participating in the Generations and Gender Survey. In general, family norms are stronger in the East than in the West, but it is difficult to establish where to draw a dividing line. The contrast between the two extremes, Norway and Sweden in the north-west and Georgia in the south-east, is striking. The remaining countries line up quite close along the geographical diagonal (from Scandinavia to Georgia). The character of the norms is less clearly distributed – whereas almost all countries in Eastern Europe give priority to the older generation, the picture in the West is more mixed. The results partly confirm earlier conclusions about east-west differences in family responsibility norms, but adding more countries to the analyses has revealed a more complex and ambiguous picture than presented in previous studies.

Abstract: The Collapse of the Planned Economy – and Other Widespread Misconceptions of the Transitions in Russia and Eastern EuropeAccording to the prevailing view, the Soviet planned economy collapsed around 1990; it was a failure, because a planned economy cannot work. Comparing this common view, as it appears in numerous quotations from special and general sources, with basic empirical evidence reveals deep discrepancies. This also applies to other common conceptions regarding the transition in Russia and Eastern Europe e.g. environmental problems, agricultural crisis, poverty and inequality. The command economies in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union did not collapse; they were dismantled, and until then they functioned and delivered growth rates comparable to those of western countries. The transition after 1989 was driven by marketliberalistic enthusiasm as a short cut to imitation of western prosperity and entailed a refusal of economic planning in the East and in the West. A more realistic evaluation of the planned economy is important for how we politically and economically address our two great challenges, the global environment, and the global distribution.

Abstract: An East-West divide in late-life wellbeing in Europe? A comparative study of 12 countries This study explores late-life loneliness and depression in European countries, noting the role of micro-level differences in socioeconomic status, health, and social variables. Findings from cross-sectional, nationally representative data from 12 countries and 36,000 individuals in the Generations and Gender Survey show a marked East–West divide among older but not among younger adults. Among older adults (aged 60–80) loneliness and depression are as much as three to four times more prevalent in Eastern European (20–40%) than in Northwest European countries (10–15%). These patterns reflect economic, social, and societal issues which in turn affect the conditions for active and healthy aging. There is considerable variation among Eastern European countries, correlating with macro-level economic development and welfare spending. Generous welfare states seem to offer a buffer against, or postpone, the risk of late-life depression and loneliness. Cultural factors may also play a role: because of high expectations as to strong family and community ties, Eastern Europeans may have a lower loneliness threshold than other Europeans.

Abstract: What happened to the 'East'? An introduction and a postscriptIs it still – if it has ever been – relevant to talk about the "East" as a special region? This article introduces, frames, and concludes on the Nordisk Østforum special theme series What happened to the "East"? It provides the theoretical foundation for the four empirical studies included in the special theme series. The article discusses the historical roots and general negative connotations surrounding the notion of "East" in both the "West" and the "East" as well as the recent revival of "Eastern" identities and their relations to the surge of illiberal currents on the global scene. Before outlining the findings of the four empirical studies, the article discusses the notion of region, offering a more dynamic concept than implied by the classical focus on geographical proximity. The article concludes by discussing the continued relevance of the "East" prefix in light of the findings of the four empirical studies. While there are manifest differences between "East" and "West" we need to caution ourselves against stereotypifications that disregard the variance and dynamics within and across the members of the two regions. The demarcation between the two are in no way fixed.

Danish images of Russia in the 2010sThis article surveys how the editorial columns of five leading Danish newspapers treat Russia in the 2010s, building on an earlier study which focused on the first decade of the 2000s (Hansen 2010). The present study finds that the overall negative trajectory associated with Russia has continued, even grown more pronounced. In response, a minority position has developed on the fringes of political life in Denmark, holding that Russia is being demonized and that media coverage is too negative and essentially one-sided. The Danish newspapers surveyed focus on what is seen as an increasingly aggressive Russia violating borders and other established norms, and threatening its neighbours. The editorials reflect the gradual paradigm shift in views of Russia. They now speak openly of the need for Denmark to protect itself and its allies militarily against possible Russian aggression and to prevent Russia from wielding more power through its energy supplies to Europe, including supplies that traverse Danish territorial waters. Other topics in focus include Russia's invasion and subsequent annexation of Crimea, its involvement in the war in Eastern Ukraine as well as its military campaign in Syria.

Moderne ortodokse kirker har blivit både inaktuell och ohyggligt aktuell i och med den ryska invasionen av Ukraina 24 februari 2022, då frågor om olika ortodoxa samhörigheter kommit i fokus. Volymen består nio kapitel och behandlar nästan samtliga stora ortodoxa kyrkor i världen och många centrala frågor som nationalism, jurisdiktion, teologi och gudstjänstutövning. Boken är pålitlig när det gäller fakta, författarna är eminent kunniga, men den kan ibland bli en smula svårläst i all sin faktarikedom.
The volume has become both outdated and eerily topical after the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, as issues concerning various Eastern Orthodox affiliations have come into focus. This nine-chapter volume deals with almost all major Orthodox Churches in the world, and takes up such central questions such as nationalism, jurisdiction, theology and worship. The book is a reliable source of information, and the authors are eminently competent, but the sheer mass of facts presented can make it somewhat difficult to read.

Abstract: Russia's operationalization of a sphere of interest in the South CaucasusA central foreign policy objective of Russia is to maintain an exclusive sphere of interest in its post-Soviet neighbourhood. This article analyses how Russia employs a combination of political and military instruments in operationalizing its perceived sphere of interest in the still conflict-ridden South Caucasus. Russia is the only external power in the region to have military bases there, and is the only one seemingly ready to undertake military action. At present, Russia appears satisfied with the status quo in the South Caucasus. The unresolved conflicts in Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Nagorno-Karabakh are therefore unlikely to be resolved in the near future. Unresolved conflicts suit Russia's objectives. Russian military bases in Georgia and Armenia provide Moscow with both a key lever against Tbilisi and Yerevan and a structural advantage for potential Russian military operations in the region. Russia's military posture in the Caucasus is relevant to the potential for large-scale conflict in the Southern war theatre, including the wider Middle East, and not just local conflicts in the Caucasus.

Abstract: Security Policy and Memory Politics: Establishing the Soviet Liberation Monument in Kirkenes, 1945–1952A few kilometers from the border with Russia, in the town of Kirkenes in the easternmost corner of Northern Norway, there stands a bronze statue of a Soviet soldier looking out over the borderland. The Soviet Liberation Monument, as the statue is called, was unveiled in 1952 by the Norwegian authorities, in gratitude for the Soviet liberation of the East Finnmark area in 1944. The statue has served as a meeting place for regular commemorative ceremonies involving the Norwegian and Soviet authorities, throughout the Cold War and up until the present. This article explores the interplay between security policy and memory politics at the onset of the Cold War by examining the seven-year long process of establishing this monument. As the Iron Curtain descended over Europe, the monument and the memories attached to it became important tools with which Norway developed a critical dialogue with its great-power neighbor. The article shows how the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs learned how to use the collective memories of the Soviet liberation to ensure Norway's security-policy goal of low tension in its relations with the USSR.