Suchergebnisse

Der Verfasser setzt sich mit der Entwicklung des nationalistischen Lagers in der ukrainischen Politik seit der Unabhängigkeitserklärung des Landes im Jahr 1991 auseinander. Während nationalistische Bewegungen in anderen postkommunistischen Gesellschaften nach dem Systemwechsel einen Aufschwung erfuhren, wurde das nationalistische Lager in der Ukraine in den neunziger Jahren eher marginalisiert. Die Ursachen hierfür sieht der Verfasser im Fehlen militärischer Konflikte, in der allgemein rückläufigen politischen Partizipation, im Fehlen einer "nationalen Frage" in der Ukraine sowie in ethnischen und historischen Faktoren. Hinzu kommen politische Fehler der sich als "nationaldemokratisch" verstehenden Gruppen. (BIOst-Wpt)

THE AUTHOR EXAMINES THE FORCES PUSHING THE NEW CENTRAL ASIAN STATES -KAZAKHSTAN, UZBEKISTAN, KYRGYZSTAN, TURKMENISTAN, AND TAJIKISTAN -- TOWARDS COOPERATION AND POSSIBLE INTEGRATION. HE ALSO IDENTIFIES THOSE FORCES THAT LIMIT THE CHANCES FOR THE EMERGENCE OF A NEW TURKESTAN. DESPITE THE NUMEROUS IMPERATIVES THAT MAKE SUSTAINED COOPERATION AN ATTRACTIVE OPTION, MULTILATERAL COOPERATION AMONG THE CENTRAL ASIAN STATES -- LET ALONE INTEGRATION -- WILL REMAIN AN ELUSIVE GOAL, AT LEAST FOR THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE. THIS CAN PARTIALLY BE EXPLAINED BY RUSSIA'S POWER IN THE REGION AND ITS INTEREST IN PREVENTING CENTRAL ASIAN UNITY.

ONE SET OF ISSUES IMPORTANT IN ANY DEMOCRACY IS INTEREST GROUP FORMATION AND BEHAVIOR. TRADITIONALLY, A PLURALIST FRAMEWORK HAS BEEN USED TO DESCRIBE AND EXPLAIN INTEREST GROUP ACTIVITY. BUT PLURALISM IS NEITHER THE ONLY FORM OF INTEREST INTERMEDIATION NOR THE MOST APPROPRIATE ONE FOR THE STUDY OF POST-COMMUNIST SOCIETIES, WHICH HAVE YET TO OVERCOME ALL VESTIGES OF THE OLD PARTY-STATE SYSTEM. IN THIS ESSAY, THE AUTHOR ARGUES THAT CORPORATISM SHOULD BE USED TO CONCEPTUALIZE THE ACTIVITIES OF INTEREST GROUPS IN POST-COMMUNIST SOCIETIES. IN CONTRAST TO PLURALISM, THE CORPORATIST APPROACH EMPHASIZES STATE EFFORTS TO PENETRATE, CONTROL, OR CO-OPT INTEREST GROUPS IN ORDER TO LIMIT AND CONTAIN GROUP COMPETITION, WHICH IS DEEMED UNNECESSARY OR EVEN DANGEROUS. CORPORATIST NOTIONS FIND STRONG APPEAL AMONG POST-COMMUNIST ELITES AND PUBLICS BECAUSE OF THEIR IMPLIED PROMISE TO RECONCILE THE OFTEN CONFLICTING DEMANDS OF CHANGE AND CONTROL. IN THIS ESSAY, THE AUTHOR FOCUSES ON TRADE UNIONS AND EMERGING BUSINESS CONFEDERATIONS IN POST-SOVIET UKRAINE AND RUSSIA. IN BOTH COUNTRIES, THESE GROUPS ARE TIED IN SIGNIFICANT WAYS TO THE "ANCIEN REGIME" AND PROVIDE A SAFE HAVEN OF SORTS FOR MEMBERS OF THE OLD "NOMENKLATURA" TRYING TO PRESERVE POSITIONS OF INFLUENCE IN THE POST-COMMUNIST ENVIRONMENT.