scholarly journals “Gas pipeline wars” in the post-Soviet space: geographical aspect

2020 ◽  
Vol 159 ◽  
pp. 02008
Author(s):  
Tatyana Pototskaya

The article discusses the transformation of the territorial organization of gas pipeline transport in the post-Soviet period under the influence of the system of international relations that developed between the countries of the post-Soviet space. Notably, the author establishes the following major geographical factors affecting this process: the level of provision with natural gas and the peculiarities of the transport and geographical position of the countries. The author specifically emphasizes an active, consistent and purposeful policy on this issue in Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan, which reinforces and strengthens the geopolitical interests of these states in the examined region. Their competitive advantages are clearly indicated. Particular attention is focused on the possibility of multipurpose use of gas pipelines thanks to the connecting pipes created between them. The interest intersection of three categories of states was revealed: those of the countries in the post-Soviet space (Russia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan); those of Russia and countries located in the neighboring regions (EU, China, Turkey, Iran); those of the states actively involved in investing in geological exploration, creation of mining enterprises, gas storages, construction of compressor stations on them (USA, Great Britain, Saudi Arabia, Japan, etc.).

Author(s):  
Vsevolod V. Shimov

The article examines the features of the evolution of the civilisational approach in Russia. The historical stages of the formation of the civilisational approach in Russian political thought, starting from the pre-revolutionary times and ending with the post-Soviet period, are considered. The works of N. Danilevsky, L. Gumilyov, A. Dugin, V. Tsymbursky are analysed. It is concluded that the civilisational approach in Russia was especially in demand due to the specific nature of Russia’s relations with the Western world and within the discussion about Russia’s belonging to European civilisation. In the perspective of the world-system analysis, the development of the civilisational paradigm in Russia was due to its being on the semi-periphery of the capitalist world-system. It has always complicated relations with the Western countries belonging the world-systemic core. The findings can be used within the study of the processes of formation of national and sociocultural identity in the post-Soviet space, as well as in teaching disciplines of the socio-humanitarian block (political science, history of political doctrines).


2021 ◽  
pp. 21-34
Author(s):  
DRAGAN PETROVIĆ

After the disappearance of the USSR, Belarus and Ukraine have mostly different models of state organization at the domestic level: Belarus opted for state capitalism with a social image, close to the neo-Keynesian concept with elements of socialism-social justice. Ukraine had a number of changes in that direction, but after the February coup in 2014, it fully accepted the neoliberal model, which led to additional stratification of the population, pauperization and a serious economic crisis. In the geopolitical direction, Belarus has always been firmly connected with Russia and the integration processes in the post-Soviet space led by Moscow. Ukrai-ne is internally divided on that issue, so it had a moderated participation in the inte-gration processes in the post-Soviet space. However, after February 2014 and the conflicts that followed, Ukraine turned to the western centers of power. Belarus has very little opposition in the electorate to the existing geopolitical and pro-Russian identity issue, while Ukraine remains a divided country on a number of major issues. Western centers of power, and especially Atlanticist ones, generally support every form of distance from Russia and pro-Russian identity that exists among the popula-tion and elite in Ukraine and that appears on the border in Belarus. In Ukraine, until February 2014, pluralism influenced them to channel them-selves through elections for the institutions of the system of differences of identity and interests of the regions, so the pro-Russian and Western Ukrainian options changed in power. Since 2014, the secession of Crimea, the secession of Donetsk and Lugansk, the western Ukrainian option has an advantage. Since then, the gov-ernment in Kiev has been threatening the identity survival of the pro-Russian part of the population of Ukraine, the majority in the Southeast, in an authoritarian and un-democratic way. Official relations between Ukraine and Russia are tense.


Author(s):  
Andrei Manakov

In the post-Soviet period, there was a significant narrowing of the Russian language distribution space. The aim of the study is to identify the changes that have taken place since the collapse of the Soviet Union at the level of the post-Soviet countries in the number and proportion of people who named Russian their native language. The novelty of this study is based on the level of regions in the post-Soviet space and the analysis of the dynamics of such indicators as to the share of the non-Russian population, who named Russian their native language. Almost all post-Soviet states experienced a decrease in the number and share of the Russian-speaking population. Currently, the minimum indicators of the proportion of Russians and Russian-speaking people are characterized by the states of Transcaucasia, as well as Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan. The biggest losses in the post-Soviet period of both the Russian and Russian-speaking population, in relative terms, were experienced by Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. A special dynamics of these indicators have developed in two states — in the Republic of Belarus and Ukraine. In these countries, the part of the biethnic population that adopted the identity of the titular ethnic group retained the Russian language. Russian, for example, has declined more rapidly in Ukraine than in the categories of people who consider Russian as their native language, and this has led to a decline in the number and share of the Russian population. The situation in the Republic of Belarus, which is unique in the post-Soviet space, was the result of the 1995 referendum that established the status of the state language for Russian. As a result, along with the decrease in the Russian population in the Republic of Belarus, there has been a significant increase in the category of citizens who named Russian their native language.


Author(s):  
Elena A. Kosovan ◽  

The author of the publication reviews the photobook “Palimpsests”, published in 2018 in the publishing house “Ad Marginem Press” with the support of the Heinrich Böll Foundation. The book presents photos of post-Soviet cities taken by M. Sher. Preface, the author of which is the coordinator of the “Democracy” program of the Heinrich Böll Foundation in Russia N. Fatykhova, as well as articles by M. Trudolyubov and K. Bush, which accompany these photos, contain explanation of the peculiarities of urban space formation and patterns of its habitation in the Soviet Union times and in the post-Soviet period. The author of the publication highly appreciates the publication under review. Analyzing the photographic works of M. Sher and their interpretation undertaken in the articles, the author of the publication agrees with the main conclusions of N. Fatykhova, M. Trudolyubov and K. Bush with regards to the importance of the role of the state in the processes of urban development and urbanization in the Soviet and post-Soviet space, but points out that the second factor that has a key influence on these processes is ownership relations. The paper positively assesses the approach proposed by the authors of the photobook to the study of the post-Soviet city as an architectural and landscape palimpsest consisting mainly of two layers, “socialist” and “capitalist”. The author of the publication specifically emphasizes the importance of analyzing the archetypal component of this palimpsest, pointing out that the articles published in the reviewed book do not pay sufficient attention to this issue. Particular importance is attributed by the author to the issue of metageography of post-Soviet cities and meta-geographical approach to their exploration. Emphasizing that the urban palimpsest is a system of realities, each in turn including a multitude of ideas, meanings, symbols, and interpretations, the author points out that the photobook “Palimpsests” is actually an invitation to a scientific game with space, which should start a new direction in the study of post-Soviet urban space.


2020 ◽  

The authors of the book analyze domestic political processes and international relations in the post-Soviet space. They examine the balance of political forces in Belarus after the presidential elections in August 2020, and transformations of political systems in Ukraine and Moldova. The main features of formation of the political institutions in the countries of South Caucasus and Central Asia and the latest trends in their devel-opment are analyzed. Attention is paid to the Karabakh and Donbass conflicts. The book examines the policy of major non-regional actors (USA, EU, China, Turkey) in the post-Soviet space. The results of develop-ment of the EAEU have been summed up. The role in the political processes in the post-Soviet space of a number of international organizations and associations (the CIS, the Union State of Russia and Belarus, the CSTO etc.) is revealed.


2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 81-110
Author(s):  
David Erkomaishvili

The fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 allowed independent states, which emerged in its place, to construct their own alignments. The choice of the case for empirical analysis had been made based on several unique characteristics. Orthodox Alliance Theory had almost never properly addressed alignments in the post-Soviet space due to the lack of access to information during the Soviet period - along with the structure of the state: only Soviet alignment policies were taken into consideration, instead of those of its constituent republics as well - and modest interest of alliance theorists in the region. Continued disintegration of the post-Soviet space, which has not stopped with the collapse of the Soviet Union but keeps fragmenting further, creates a unique setting for researching the adequacy of Alliance Theory's classic assumptions as well as developing new approaches. This work traces the development of the post-Soviet system of collective security and its subsequent transformation into a series of bilateral security relations, along with the shortfall of multilateralism.


Author(s):  
Evgeny Petrischev

The relevance of this article is determined by the need to identify and concretize the challenges and threats to the regional security of the post-Soviet space and the national security of modern Russia. One of the insuffi ciently studied aspects of the modern theory of international relations is the problem of fi nding an adequate answer to the external information and psychological impact on the national interests of the Russian Federation in its “near abroad”.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 132-145
Author(s):  
A. Szeptycki

This article analyzes Poland’s policy towards the former Soviet space (Poland’s Eastern policy) through the assumptions of the realist theory of international relations. The fi rst part of the article examines the realist theory in international relations (IR). The second – deals with the existing literature on Poland’s foreign policy. The third part analyses the determinants and the goals of Poland’s policy towards the post-Soviet states (history of its relations with the region, ideological determinants, security concerns, etc.). The last part inquires about the evolution of Poland’s policy till current times. The Russian Federation is perceived as a signifi cant threat by Poland. In that context, since the early 1990s, Poland has been seeking solutions to strengthen its security. It aimed to join the North Atlantic Alliance and establish a close partnership with the United States (bandwagoning). This strategy brought substantial eff ects – in 1999, Poland joined NATO, and since it has hosted allied troops. Poland also wanted to develop cooperation with Ukraine (to a lesser degree also with its other post-Soviet neighbors) and bring them closer to the Euro-Atlantic structures. This policy was, in particular, at weakening Russia’s infl uence in the region (balancing). The results of this strategy have been somewhat ambiguous, though. Ukraine has rejected Russia’s sponsored reintegration projects in the post-Soviet space. The process of reforms in that country, however, is slow and uncertain. As for other post-Soviet states, Poland has largely proven unable to infl uence the desired changes.


Author(s):  
Natalia Eremina

Regional integration creates a common economic, social, and political space, which is based on interstate dialogue. A common integration space forms the territory of security, since the security sphere is not only to solve specific tasks, but also to create permanent instruments for preventing various risks. The Post-Soviet space remains a complex territory, the states of which have gone through a period of political destabilization, faced various threats, and come to the idea that only collective security mechanisms in the framework of constant cooperation are capable of preventing risks. Therefore, the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) is not only an economic project, it is a project that forms a common security space for all participants, and not only for its member states. In this regard, this chapter is structured around two key problems: established conceptual approaches in the field of security in relation to integration processes and tools of the EAEU for the formation of a common and indivisible security space for all its participants.


2020 ◽  
Vol 70 (2) ◽  
pp. 285-289
Author(s):  
K. E. Tauenov ◽  
◽  
T.T. Espenova ◽  

The article is devoted to the analysis of scientific works devoted to the adaptation of older people to modern reality, their adaptation in nursing homes, as well as the consideration of criteria for successful adaptation consisting of several stages including the time of adaptation and post-adaptation period. In the scientific works of foreign, Soviet and domestic scientists, the key problem of studying the condition of elderly people in nursing homes, difficulties of adaptation, factors affecting adaptation, is to solve the problem of adaptation of older people to modern conditions. The complex political and economic change that occurred in the former Soviet Union countries living in the post-Soviet space is the source of the problem under consideration. Therefore, studying the adaptation of older people to the new situation in a changing society in the next 30 years is one of the most pressing issues.


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