scholarly journals Astronomy in the former Soviet Union 15 years after the breakup of the USSR

2006 ◽  
Vol 2 (SPS5) ◽  
pp. 149-158
Author(s):  
Nikolai G. Bochkarev
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Former Soviet Union ◽  
Russian Language ◽  
Soviet Period ◽  
Baltic States ◽  
School Students ◽  
International Astronomical ◽  
High Fraction ◽  
The Baltic ◽  
Regional Authorities

AbstractDuring the immediate post-Soviet period, the main infrastructure of astronomy over the territory of the former Soviet Union (FSU) was saved, in spite of dramatic decreases in financial support. Overall the situation for FSU astronomy is now stable. In Latvia, the 32-m radio-dish is in working order. This allows it to participate in VLBI programmes. In Russia, all three 32-metre radio dishes of the QUASAR VLBI system are operational, as well as the 2-m telescope with a high-resolution spectrograph (up to resolution R≃ 500 000) and the horizontal solar telescope (R= 320 000) of the Russian-Ukrainian Observatory on Peak Terskol (Caucasus, altitude 3100 m). However the situation with the observatory itself is worrying, because of the regional authorities' attempt to privatize its infrastructure.The process of equipping a number of Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) (including Russian) observatories with CCD-cameras is in progress. To solve staff problems, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan have begun to prepare national specialists in astronomy, and the Baltic States, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russia, and Ukraine continue to prepare astronomers.Teaching of astronomy at schools is obligatory only in the Ukraine and partially in the Baltic states. To maintain a “common astronomical area”, the Eurasian Astronomical Society (EAAS) continues its programme of reduced-price subscription to Russian-language astronomical journals and magazines in the territory of FSU, the organization of international conferences and Olympiads for school students, and lectures for school teachers and planetarium lecturers, etc.Telescopes in Russia and other CIS territories permit to monitor an object more then 12 hours and can be used in global monitoring programmes. The Central Asian sites have some of the very best astro-climates in the world. They are similar to (or a little better than) the well known Chilean sites (median seeing 0.7′′, very high fraction of clear nights, no light pollution and no high wind). It is imperative that these sites be protected and intensively used by the international astronomical community.

From Nationalism to Nation-Building: Latvian Politics and Minority Policy

2006 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 383-406 ◽  
Author(s):  
David J. Galbreath
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Relative Deprivation ◽  
Minority Group ◽  
Soviet Period ◽  
Baltic States ◽  
Nationalist Movement ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Baltic

With the collapse of the Soviet Union and the subsequent independence of Latvia, a minority group became a majority and a majority group became a minority. This has been the situation for Latvians and Russians after August 1991. The Baltic States led the way towards first autonomy and then independence. The nationalist movement in the Latvian SSR was primarily a minority nationalist movement. Why do minorities mobilise? Gurr finds that minorities rebel for two reasons: relative deprivation and group mobilisation. Relative deprivation answers the question of why and it characterizes the status of the Latvian language and culture vis-à-vis that of Russia during the Soviet period. While relative deprivation has come under considerable criticism because of its inability to explain when a group will mobilise, the notion can be found in the nationalist rhetoric before and since the restoration of Latvian independence. Group mobilisation goes further in explaining when minorities may assert political claims. Considered in terms of changes in the political opportunity structure, the changing politics of glasnost allowed the nationalist movements to mobilise in the Baltic States.

scholarly journals Surveillance of anti-tuberculosis drug resistance in Europe, 1999

2002 ◽  
Vol 7 (6) ◽  
pp. 93-100 ◽  
Author(s):  
A Infuso ◽  
D Antoine ◽  
P Barboza ◽  
D Falzon ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Drug Resistance ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Former Soviet Union ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Previous Treatment ◽  
Foreign Born ◽  
Baltic States ◽  
Representative Data ◽  
Foreign Origin ◽  
The Baltic

With the exception of Israel, representative data from Western and Central Europe indicate consistently low levels of resistance to isoniazid (0-9,3%) or rifampicin (0-2,1%) and of multidrug resistance (0-2,1%) among new tuberculosis (TB) cases. Resistance is more frequent among previously treated cases, but comparisons of data should be done cautiously, as criteria for inclusion in TB notifications may vary across countries. In Western Europe, drug resistance is more frequent among cases of foreign origin, a group with high TB incidence. In 1999, cases of foreign origin accounted for over 90% of the MDR cases in the West, and for all MDR cases notified in Israel. The majority of foreign born cases notified originated from Africa or Asia. In the East, representative data from the Baltic States show that overall, 15% of TB cases notified in 1999 were MDR, among the highest proportion worldwide and indicating inadequacies in previous treatment programmes. In the other countries of the former Soviet Union, non-representative data show high levels of resistance which, along with data from the Baltic states and results of surveys, are very alarming.

Political Europeanization since 1989

2019 ◽  
pp. 62-87
Author(s):  
Katherine Graney
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Central Asia ◽  
Former Soviet Union ◽  
The Other ◽  
Baltic States ◽  
Central European ◽  
Eu Membership ◽  
The Baltic ◽  
Balkan States ◽  
The Eu

This chapter examines the process of EU expansion into the former Soviet Union since 1989, identifying the different criteria that have been used to judge candidates for EU membership. The Central European and Baltic states successfully made arguments about their “intrinsic Europeanness” and “belonging” to Europe and the EU, while the Balkan states have had a harder time proving their suitability for Europe. Unlike the Baltic states, the other ex-Soviet republics, like Ukraine and Georgia, have had a harder time convincing the EU of their fitness for membership, that is, their “intrinsic Europeanness,” and have had to settle for being made “Eastern Partners” of the EU and signers of Association Agreements with the EU. Russia has sought a form of partnership with the EU, while rejecting any idea of conditionality. Finally, the EU shows little concern for the ex-Soviet states of Central Asia, not seeing them as fundamentally European in any way.

scholarly journals Ethnocultural images in postcolonial publications in the Russian-language prose of the Korean diaspora

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 275-285
Author(s):  
Lyudmila Safronova ◽  
Aygerim Bekmuratova
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Former Soviet Union ◽  
Russian Language ◽  
Soviet Period ◽  
Feminist Literature ◽  
Korean Diaspora ◽  
National Characteristics ◽  
Soviet Literature ◽  
Literary Images ◽  
The Russian Language

The literature of the Korean diaspora of the former Soviet Union combines the national characteristics of the Korean culture of the metropolis, the Korean national mentality, and at the same time reflects the historical realities and difficult, sometimes tragic fates of all peoples of the USSR and post-Soviet period. In this respect, the evolution of the literature of the Korean diaspora, leading from the prose in Korean to the first settlers from Korea to Sakhalin, was shown, which later were deported by Stalin’s decree to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. The literature of the Korean diaspora in Kazakhstan goes through all stages of the development of Soviet literature – from anti-Stalin prose, romanticized thaw literature and “quiet” stagnation prose, to postmodern and feminist literature. Moreover, Confucianism and Christian motives, Buddhism and Taoism, shamanism and Russian traditional literary images, motives, and themes are organically intertwined in the work of Russian and Kazakhstani Koreans. However, crosscutting issue through all the work of Korean writers who find themselves outside their homeland, it is an appeal to national identity, attempts to acquiring, preserving or tragedy and the pain of loss.

Negotiations in the Former Soviet Union: New Structure, New Dimensions

1996 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 351-364
Author(s):  
Victor A. Kremenyuk
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Former Soviet Union ◽  
Baltic States ◽  
Commonwealth Of Independent States ◽  
The Future ◽  
New States ◽  
Independent States ◽  
The Baltic

AbstractDespite a heritage of suspicion toward negotiation, the new states of the Former Soviet Union (FSU) have negotiated among themselves (and in Russia's case, within itself) to resolve the issues of the Soviet Union's dissolution and to create a new structure of relations and institutions for the future. Special situations have occurred in relations with the Baltic states, which are not members of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), and Chechnya, which is a restive part of Russia. Past and future issues need to be distinguished, a new structure for the CIS worked out, and new relations established with the outside world.

scholarly journals Sovietization of the Baltic States: Independence Negotiated, Then Stolen

Elements ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
William Sadd
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Former Soviet Union ◽  
Legal Aspects ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Baltic States ◽  
Contemporary World ◽  
Eastern Front ◽  
The Baltic ◽  
Peacekeeping Missions

This article examines the forces and circumstances of the early 1940s during which a unique climate was created for the Sovietization of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. It also considers the legal aspects of the case, namely the integration of these three independent, sovereign states into the Soviet Union which violated nearly all measures of international law. This, however, was met with little resistance from the international community, primarily because of the rise of Nazi Germany, the general chaos in the early years of World War II, and the shifting alliances along the Eastern Front. With many former Soviet republics in the spotlight today struggling to stabliize as independent states, and with the Russian Federation still occupying several territories of the former Soviet Union under the auspices of peacekeeping missions, the relatively settled case of the Baltic states serves as example to analyze processes of Sovietization, and should aid in fostering greater interest in the various ways by which desovietization is occurring in the contemporary world.

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