The Vision and the Reality in the Taiga of Karelia and the Arkhangelsk Oblast

2020 ◽  
pp. 206-222
Author(s):  
Alan D. Roe
Keyword(s):  
College Student ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Religious Revival ◽  
Orthodox Christian ◽  
Arkhangelsk Oblast ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Christian Culture ◽  
To Come ◽  
National Transformation

As the spirit of reform pulsated throughout the Soviet Union, an idealistic college student from the Ukrainian SSR named Oleg Cherviakov took a fateful trip down the Ileks River into Vodlozero Lake in Arkhangelsk Oblast and Karelia. Entranced by the area’s beauty and intrigued by traditional Orthodox Christian culture, Cherviakov envisioned a national park that he believed not only would protect the region’s forests but would bring about a regional religious revival. After serving as Vodlozero National Park’s director for nearly fifteen years, Cherviakov realized that few wanted to go back to the old ways. Moreover, he concluded that tourism’s economic benefits would never materialize when few tourists wanted to come to this region and with the state little interested in developing the park’s infrastructure. Vodlozero National Park’s history marks perhaps the apotheosis of utopian proposals for parks conceived during a time of national transformation and the nadir of disillusionment among park founders.

Southern Baptists and Northern Evangelicals: Cultural Factors and the Nature of Religious Alliances

1997 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 271-298
Author(s):  
Barry Hankins
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Common Ground ◽  
The United States ◽  
Cultural Factors ◽  
Southern Baptists ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
Free Church ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
To Come

At times in history, groups of people with very different ideologies have allied with one another because of a common threat. The most striking example of this was the World War II alliance of the United States and the Soviet Union. In a religious matter, Baptists and other free-church evangelicals in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries joined with deists like Thomas Jefferson to combat the threat to religious liberty posed by the establishment of religion. At other times, groups with similar ideas have been unable to come together because they did not share similar attitudes toward or positions within their cultures. This essay is concerned with the latter phenomenon and uses Southern Baptists and northern evangelicals as a case study. The historical relationship of these two groups illustrates something profound about the very nature of religious alliances; specifically, it illustrates how cultural factors and intuitive notions of uneasiness about theological security determine whether or not religious groups with great theological similarities can find common ground.

Barbarism or Socialism: 1917–2017–2050 (?)

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 263-286 ◽  
Author(s):  
Minqi Li
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Political Legitimacy ◽  
First Century ◽  
New Era ◽  
Working Classes ◽  
The Great Recession ◽  
Unique Character ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Twenty First Century ◽  
To Come

Two decades after the end of the Soviet Union, the global capitalist economy narrowly escaped total collapse in the ‘Great Recession’ of 2008–2009. The world in the twenty-first century has entered into a new era of crisis, which is economic, political and environmental. What will happen between now and the mid-twenty-first century that may shape and largely determine the future of humanity for centuries to come. On the occasion of the centennial anniversary of the October Revolution, this article re-evaluates the trajectory of the twentieth century socialism and identifies its legacies. It also considers the unique character of contemporary contradictions and argues that the formation of new industrial working classes may fatally undermine the system’s political legitimacy and raise again the ‘spectre of communism’ that Marx and Engels predicted, this time not only in Europe but also in the entire globe.

Arms Control and Nuclear Safety: The National and International Politics of Russia's Nuclear Arsenal

1995 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 510-532
Author(s):  
Christoph Bluth
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Russian Federation ◽  
Security Policy ◽  
The United States ◽  
National Interests ◽  
Independent State ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Foreign And Security Policy ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
To Come

RUSSIAN FOREIGN POLICY IS STILL IN A STATE OF FLUX. LIKE the other former republics of the Soviet Union, the Russian Federation seeks to come to terms with being an independent state needing to define its national interests and foreign and security policy objectives.The principal element in the new frame of reference for Moscow is the disintegration of the Warsaw Pact and the Soviet Union itself. For forty years, most of the territories controlled by Moscow were adjacent to territories protected by the United States, or else to China. The Russian Federation is now virtually surrounded by former Soviet republics, all with deep political, social and economic problems, and some of which are highly unstable and subject to violent civil conflicts. The territory of the Russian Federation itself, about 75 per cent of the territory of the former USSR with about 60 per cent of its population, is still not properly defined, given that significant sections of the borders are purely notional, and the degree of control that Moscow can exercise over the entire Federation is uncertain.

Drawing Between Reportage and Memory: Diego Rivera's Moscow Sketchbook

October ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 145 ◽  
pp. 67-84
Author(s):  
Maria Gough
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Public Space ◽  
Cultural Diplomacy ◽  
Wall Painting ◽  
New Venture ◽  
Daily Newspaper ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
To Come ◽  
Political Demonstrations

The extraordinary proliferation of political demonstrations around the world over the past several years has reminded us once again of the phenomenal power of the real-time convergence of people in public space, a power to which Diego Rivera's Moscow Sketchbook—a corpus of forty-five small watercolor drawings—bears graphic witness. The sketchbook dates from Rivera's seven- or eight-month sojourn in Moscow, which began in early November 1927 with his direct participation in the celebration of the tenth anniversary of the revolution as a delegate to the inaugural internat ional Congress of Friends. Publicly announcing the artist's arrival in Moscow on November 3, the Communist Party's national daily newspaper Pravda discussed his “extraordinary frescoes” in the new Secretar iat of Public Educat ion in Mexico City—which the poet Vladimir Mayakovski had earlier lauded as “the world's first Communist mural”—and went on to explain that, as a revolutionary artist, Rivera now prefers the collective address of “wall painting” over the private easel picture to which he had devoted himself for a decade or so in Paris before 1921. A new venture in Soviet cultural diplomacy, the Congress of Friends had as its objective the forging of a broad, cross-party international alliance of those willing and able to come to the defense of the Soviet Union in their home countries. Rivera, a member of the Mexican Communist Party at the time, participated in the congress at the invitation of the Comintern, which was responsible for hosting notable foreign communists when they were in town and, as such, played a major role in the organization of the three-day meeting. On the first day of the congress the artist was elected—from a pool of 947 delegates—to its Presidium (governing board) and press bureau as a member of the foreign intelligentsia.

Bibliographic Article: Baltic Émigré Publishing and Scholarship in the Western World

1988 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 225-241
Author(s):  
David Crowe
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Western World ◽  
Ethnic Communities ◽  
World War ◽  
The West ◽  
Academic Field ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
History Of ◽  
To Come

The Soviet absorption of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania during World War II caused hundreds of thousands of Baltic immigrants to come to the West, where they established strong, viable ethnic communities, often in league with groups that had left the region earlier. At first, Baltic publishing and publications centered almost exclusively on nationalistic themes that decried the loss of Baltic independence and attacked the Soviet Union for its role in this matter. In time, however, serious scholarship began to replace some of the passionate outpourings, and a strong, academic field of Baltic scholarship emerged in the West that dealt with all aspects of Baltic history, politics, culture, language, and other matters, regardless of its political or nationalistic implications. Over the past sixteen years, these efforts have produced a new body of Baltic publishing that has revived a strong interest in Baltic studies and has insured that regardless of the continued Soviet-domination of the region, the study of the culture and history of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania will remain a set fixture in Western scholarship on Eastern Europe.

The Shape of Things to Come: The Russian Federation and the Northern Sea Route in 2011

2013 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 255-269
Author(s):  
Erik Franckx
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Satellite Measurements ◽  
External Interference ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
To Come ◽  
Arctic Navigation ◽  
Global Agenda ◽  
Heating Up

Abstract The Arctic has recently been catapulted from the back burner of international attention to the forefront of the global agenda. The dissolution of the Soviet Union as well as climate change seem to be responsible for a marked heating up not only of its physical environment, but also of the political tensions concerning the exact legal regime to be applied there. While the universal 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea has been accepted by the five Arctic rim countries as the applicable legal framework, on the regional level these same states have tried to ward off possible external interference as much as possible by means of the Ilulissat Declaration of 2008. Shipping has been at the heart of these developments, especially in view of the fact that the year 2007 was characterized by the most extensive summer melt ever since satellite measurements started in 1979, which in turn undoubtedly enhanced the attractiveness of Arctic navigation. It will be argued that the increased interest in promoting Arctic navigation, as evidenced by a thorough analysis of the 2011 shipping season along the Eurasian continent, stands in stark contrast with the applicable Russian legal framework, which in essence dates back to the 1990s, a time when this route had not yet been used for international commercial trade linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans (the secrecy still surrounding the icebreaking fees at present being a case in point).

scholarly journals Island Communities’ Viability in the Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russian Arctic: The Role of Livelihoods and Social Capital

2021 ◽  
pp. 13-31
Author(s):  
Julia OLSEN ◽  
◽  
Marina V. NENASHEVA ◽  
Grete K. HOVELSRUD ◽  
Gjermund WOLLAN ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Russian Arctic ◽  
Employment Opportunities ◽  
Arkhangelsk Oblast ◽  
Local Livelihoods ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Economic Support ◽  
Island Communities

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, local communities have been adapting to new political and socioeconomic realities. These changes have prompted dramatic outmigration among rural populations, especially in the Russian Arctic. Despite these changes, some communities remain viable, with some residents exploring new economic opportunities. This study uses findings from qualitative interviews to understand what factors shape community viability, interviewing residents and relevant regional stakeholders in two case areas in the Arkhangelsk oblast: the Solovetsky Archipelago in the White Sea and islands in the delta of the Northern Dvina River. The results indicate that community viability and the reluctance of community members to leave their traditional settlements are shaped by livelihoods, employment opportunities, and social capital. Social capital is characterized by such empirically identified factors as shared perceptions of change and a willingness to address changes, place attachment, and local values. We conclude that further development or enhancement of community viability and support for local livelihoods also depends on 1) bottom-up initiatives of engaged individuals and their access to economic support and 2) top-down investments that contribute to local value creation and employment opportunities.

scholarly journals Re-branding Landscapes of Forgotten Resorts. Case of the Healing Resort Kemeri in Latvia

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 57-64
Author(s):  
Natalija Nitavska ◽  
Daiga Skujane
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Regional Government ◽  
Aesthetic Quality ◽  
Field Surveys ◽  
Development Scenarios ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Potential Development ◽  
Health Resorts ◽  
Sulphur Spring

Health resorts have been important landscape identity elements and economy drivers in European cities since the beginning of their development. The sea coastal area in Latvia is rich in sulphur springs that have been used for health procedures since 19th century. Kemeri resort in Jurmala City is known as a unique place that got its name from the forester house Kemeres where the first health procedures were performed by using sulphur spring mud. In 1836 Kemeri was declared as a resort and became known in the whole Russian Empire and later also in the Soviet Union. Significant landscape changes occurred after Latvia regained its independence in 1990, when the ownership of the land changed from the state to the private. Affected by disagreements between the new owners, lack of private and state investments, decrease of visitors from former Soviet Republics, insufficient capacity for competing with European resorts, the resorts in Latvia often became abandoned and forgotten. Historically valuable buildings and parks of the resorts were degraded, the number of inhabitants and visitors decreased. Today the regional government has found opportunities for re-development of Kemeri resort by searching for a new identity and re-branding the place. Re-branding has been used to enhance attractiveness of the place and increase economic benefits. Therefore, the aim of the study is to identify historic heritage values suitable for re-branding of the place and to analyse a potential development of the resort Kemeri. Assessment part of the article is based on historic heritage study by comparing historic and modern photography, field surveys to identify historic heritage values of the place and their influence on possible development scenarios. Historic heritage values were identified according to the Historicity and authenticity; Aesthetic quality and integrity; Social meaning. The other parts of the article are addressed to re-branding of the place that includes involvement of identified historic heritage values into the new identity to enhance functionality, recognisability and attractiveness of the resort Kemeri.

The Cold War and American Religion

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dianne Kirby
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
American Exceptionalism ◽  
Power Struggle ◽  
Religious Revival ◽  
Religious Wars ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
Good And Evil ◽  
Religious Landscape

American propaganda cast the Cold War as one of history’s great religious wars, between the godless and the God-fearing, between good and evil. It was a simplistic depiction that was supported and promoted in the highest echelons of government and by the leaders of America’s key institutions. During the course of the presidencies of Harry S. Truman and Dwight Eisenhower, U.S.-Soviet rivalry was transformed from a traditional great power struggle into a morality play that drew on firmly entrenched notions rooted in the American past, above all American exceptionalism and its sense of mission. Truman made religion America’s ideological justification for abandoning America’s wartime cooperation with the Soviet Union. Eisenhower used religion to persuade the world that America was a force for good in the international arena. The resulting anti-communist crusade was to have profound consequences for Christian America, contributing to both religious revival and religious repression in the early Cold War period. Over time it caused irrevocable alterations to America’s religious landscape. The anti-communist dynamic unleashed embraced anti-liberalism and was a factor in the rise of the Christian Right and the decline in America’s mainstream churches. In addition, the image of a godless and evil enemy dictated an irreconcilable conflict that precluded the very modes of diplomacy and discourse that might have helped avoid the worst excesses, costs, and consequences of the Cold War.

International Wheat Council

1948 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 400-401
Keyword(s):  
International Trade ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
International Cooperation ◽  
Special Session ◽  
Multilateral Agreement ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Wheat Market ◽  
The World ◽  
To Come

The special session of the International Wheat Council which began in Washington on January 28, 1948, announced on March 6 the successful conclusion of a five-year International Wheat Agreement fixing a range of prices within which 500 million bushels of wheat would flow annually through the channels of international trade. The agreement was signed by some 36 nations, including all the major wheat-importing and wheat-exporting countries of the world with the exception of Argentina and the Soviet Union. Subject to the ratification of the signatory states, the multilateral agreement — the first of its kind in history — was to come into force on August 1, 1948, climaxing many years of effort to stabilize the world wheat market through international cooperation. The agreement provided maximum and minimum prices for each of the five years of its duration and specified quantities to be purchased or sold by each of the importing and exporting nations. While transactions outside the prescribed range were permitted, they would not apply toward the fulfillment of each member's quota under the agreement.

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