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Gunnar Nygren, professor emeritus at Södertörn University, Stockholm, reviews Freedom of Expression in Russia's New Mediasphere edited by Marielle Wijermars and Katja Lehtisaari.

The EU lacks a single legislation on port matters, except for provisions concerning port facilities and the operations of certain technical port services. Europe has more than 1200 ports, of which 319 are global and basic, integrated into the TransEuropean Transport Networks as a whole. Ports play an essential role in the EU trade and passenger services, as they are key nodes in global trade networks. 74% of non-EU trade takes place through ports. The European port sector is not homogeneous and is based on different organizational models. European port diversity (in term of size and type of organizational) makes it difficult to define a joint strategy. This work addresses the analysis of progress in the construction of a common port policy, as well as the different cross-conceptions of the maritime port business agents. ; La Unión Europea carece de una legislación única en materia portuaria, salvo disposiciones relativas a las instalaciones portuarias y al funcionamiento de determinados servicios técnico-náuticos. Europa cuenta con más de 1.200 puertos, de los que 319 entre globales y básicos están integrados en el conjunto de las Redes Transeuropeas de Transporte. Los puertos desempeñan un rol esencial en lo que se refiere a los intercambios comerciales de la UE y en lo que concierne al servicio de pasajeros en la medida que son nodos clave en la red comercial mundial. Así, el 74% de las mercancías extracomunitarias se envían a través de los puertos. El sector portuario europeo no es homogéneo y reposa sobre diversos modelos organizativos. La diversidad portuaria europea, con diferenciación significativa en cuanto a tamaño, tipo, organización y forma de conectarse, hace difícil definir una estrategia conjunta para afrontar los grandes retos actuales. El trabajo aborda el análisis de los avances en la construcción de una política común portuaria y al mismo tiempo se exponen las distintas concepciones cruzadas de los actores del negocio marítimo y portuario. ; A Unión Europea carece dunha lexislación única en materia portuaria, agás disposicións relativas ás instalacións portuarias e ao funcionamento de determinados servizos técnico-náuticos. Europa conta con máis de 1.200 portos, dos que 319 entre glo-bais e básicos están integrados no conxunto das Redes Transeuropeas de Transporte. Os portos desempeñan un rol esencial no tocante aos intercambios comerciais da UE e no que concirne ao servizo de pasaxeiros na medida en que son nós claves na rede comercial mundial. Así, o 74% das mercadorías extracomunitarias envíanse a través dos portos. O sector portuario eu-ropeo non é homoxéneo e repousa sobre diversos modelos organizativos. A diversidade portuaria europea, con diferencia-ción significativa en canto a tamaño, tipo, organización e forma de conectarse, fai difícil definir unha estratexia conxunta para afrontar os grandes retos actuais. O traballo aborda a análise dos avances na construción dunha política común portuaria e asemade expóñense as distintas concepcións cruzadas dos actores do negocio marítimo e portuario.

Este texto analiza as causas principais da crise actual da democracia, froito esencialmente da globalización, así como sobre o seu futuro, achegando unha visión positiva, sendo unha actualización e ampliación doutros textos propios sobre esta temática. ; Este texto analiza las causas principales de la crisis actual de la democracia, fruto esencialmente de la globalización, así como sobre su futuro, aportando una visión positiva, siendo una actualización y ampliación de otros textos propios sobre esta temática. ; This paper analyzes the main causes of the current crisis of democracy, in the context of globalization, as the future of this.

Helge Ø. Pharo, University of Oslo, reviews The Logic of Fear. The Cold War - a New Global History 1917-1961, by Poul Villaume (Gads forlag 2020).

Abstract: Security and Vulnerability After Armenia's Velvet Revolution: Elite Perceptions on Gender Equality, Human Rights and Conflict ResolutionThe Velvet Revolution in spring 2018 and the snap elections that followed in December 2018 shook Armenia. This article examines the country's new political elite and other central social elites, and their affective and evaluative beliefs with respect to human security, drawing on an elite survey conducted in 2017 and 2019, complemented by in-depth interviews. The aim is to shed light on whether Armenia's elite-level political culture is headed for progressive change concerning the rights of disadvantaged groups, primarily women and sexual minorities – an expectation among the young and educated in Yerevan. This study finds that, as regards reducing vulnerability and increasing the security and freedom of choice for those traditionally disadvantaged in Armenian society, the values and judgments of the new elites have remained basically traditional.

Contemporary Russian Conservativism consists of 15 chapters by diverse hands but nevertheless has a high degree of coherence. The volume rightly highlights the role of the Russian Orthodox Church in the promotion of conservativism and "traditional values". Many of the participants in the media debates around this issue no doubt hold sincere views while, as the editors argue, Putin and his entourage most likely adopted this new ideology for pragmatic reasons.

Abstract: The Child as an Instrument: Criticism of Titoist Discourse in Aleksandar Hemon's 'Islands' and Alma Lazarevska's 'Blagdan krunice'Especially since the war in the 1990s, much Bosnian-Herzegovinian fiction has employed the perspective of the child in order to express criticism of dominant ideological narratives. This article views the child figure as a political device that exposes the mechanisms of certain dominant discourses and that offers new, deviating angles on well-established conceptions within these discourses. The analysis of Alexander Hemon's short story 'Islands' (2000) stresses the grotesque imagery associated with the perception of the boy narrator as a way of 'unlearning' notions of Yugoslav modernity as idyllic, even paradisiac. And in Alma Lazarevska's 2003 'Blagdan krunice' (The Feast of the Rosary) the focus is not so much on the perspective of the boy protagonist as on his function as an arena for projecting narratives of the heroic soldier on the threshold between Yugoslav and post-Yugoslav discourse.

In 2019, the Swedish government officially switched terminology from using the traditional endogenous term Vitryssland to the exogenous Belarus. Vitryssland (lit: White Russia) had been in use in the Swedish language since the 17th century, and the decision was neither easy nor swift. There was no consensus about the utility of the change, and significant opposition from linguists and editors against abandoning a term which had emerged and become established over centuries of contact. The debate preceding the switch was often shrill, led by activists and steeped in identity politics. In fact, controversies regarding what to call the country were nothing new, highlighting diverging visions of its geopolitical and cultural position between East and West. Discussions mirrored the far more emotional and polarized discussions among Belarusian nationalists in the 20th century, which at times became violent. Kryvia, Byelorussia, Greatlitva were but some of contenders. This article is an attempt to place discussions about the Swedish terminology in the larger context of history, memory, geopolitics and identity politics.

[Resumo] Facer arquitectura é significar, é un acto político; ten unha dimensión social. O entendemento social da produción arquitectónica significa abordar o estudo dos grupos sociais en relación á disciplina. Nun contexto de desigualdade, identificar os sesgos culturais resulta clave á hora de promover valores contemplados nos dereitos humanos como a igualdade de xénero. Nesta procura, a chegada das TIC supoñen un punto de inflexión: a democratización das tecnoloxías da información e o nacemento de novos espazos globais de comunicación veñen representando unha oportunidade inédita para a difusión e o encontro de arquitectas, investigadoras e activistas na posta en cuestión do discurso oficial da arquitectura.[Abstract] To make architecture supposes giving meaning, it is a political action; it has a social dimension. The social understanding of architectonic production means tackling the study of social groups in relation to discipline. In an inequality context, identifying cultural bias becomes key just to promote human rights like gender equality. In this pursue, the emergence of ICT means an inflexion point: the democratization of information technologies and the appearance of new global communication spaces that represent an unprecedented opportunity for diffusion and meeting of women architects, investigators and activists joined questioning the official architectural discourse

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.

Armenia's Velvet Revolution - Why So Overdue? In early April 2018 Armenia completed the transition from semi-presidential rule to a parliamentary republic. Under the slogan 'More power to the people', the ruling Republican Party had paved the way for the incumbent president, Serzh Sargsyan, to continue in power, now as prime minister as his second and final term of presidency was drawing to an end. However, the ensuing events ended with popular protests, the 'Velvet Revolution', which forced Sargsyan and the Republicans out of office. The new administration, led by the former opposition leader Nikol Pashinyan, has ousted several influential leaders and initiated an ambitious anti-corruption programme. Nonetheless, one significant issue remains: early elections that are supposed not only to reflect the prevailing political landscape in Armenia but also reform the country's election laws. What triggered the spring 2018 uprising, when corruption and social discontent have been both well-known and prevalent in Armenia over the past two decades? This article offers insights into the background to the popular uprising, and the relation between Armenia and its large and influential diaspora, citing two main factors for the delay since independence in 1991 – the historical legacy of the perils of internal disunity, together with the effects of the unresolved Karabakh conflict. It concludes with some reflections on the way forward.