scholarly journals Postcolonial studies and post-Soviet societies: The possibilities and the limitations of their intersection

2015 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 458-480 ◽  
Author(s):  
Milan Subotic
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Postcolonial Theory ◽  
Postcolonial Studies ◽  
Short Review ◽  
Civilizing Mission ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Eastern European Countries ◽  
Historical Developments

Starting with a short review of the postcolonial studies? origins, this paper considers the question of their application in the study of history and contemporary state of the post-Soviet societies. Aspirations of the leading theorists of postcolonial studies not to restrict their field of research on the relation of imperial metropoles (First World) and its (post)colonial periphery (Third World) have not met with the acceptance in post-Soviet societies? academia. With the exception of the famous debates on ?the Balkans? that are not the subject of this paper, the paradigm of post-colonialism is rarely used in the interpretation of past and present of the former socialist states (Second World). Rejecting the thesis of their own (post)colonial status in most of Eastern European countries is usually based on a rejection of the assumption of the Soviet-style communism?s ?civilizing mission?. From the same perspective, the Soviet Union is not considered a colonial metropole, but an occupying force, and the epoch of socialism is interpreted as externally imposed breach of the historical developments based on the European model. On the other hand, the concept of these countries? transition opens up the issue of their (post)colonial status in relation to ?Europe? as the center of economic, political and cultural power. Therefore, the postcolonial critique of post-Soviet societies is more often focused on the thematisation of neo-imperial domination and neo-colonial dependency phenomena, than on the explanation of their socialist past. The author?s opinion is that it doesn?t mean that a number of concepts of postcolonial theory - such as ?internal colonialism? - cannot be productively used to a fuller understanding of the Soviet past, nor that in the interpretation of post-Soviet realities? ?hybrid forms? the postcolonial studies cannot be of use.

scholarly journals EU Enlargement to the Balkans: Membership Perspective to the Balkan Countries

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Rıdvan Karluk
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Eu Enlargement ◽  
Foreign Affairs ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
External Relations ◽  
Eastern European Countries ◽  
Balkan States ◽  
The Eu

After the dispersion of the Soviet Union, the European Union embarked upon an intense relationship with the Central and Eastern European Countries. The transition into capital market and democratization of these countries had been supported by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs at the beginning of 1989 before the collapse of the Soviet Union System. The European Agreements were signed between the EU and Hungary, Poland, and Czechoslovakia on December 16th, 1991. 10 Central and Eastern Europe Countries became the members of the EU on May 1st, 2004. With the accession of Bulgaria and Romania into the EU on January 1st, 2007, the number of the EU member countries reached up to 27, and finally extending to 28 with the membership of Croatia to the EU on July 1st, 2013. Removing the Western Balkan States, Serbia, Montenegro, Albania, and Bosnia and Herzegovina from the scope of external relations, the EU included these countries in the enlargement process in 2005.The European Commission has determined 2014 enlargement policy priorities as dealing with the fundamentals on preferential basis. In this context, the developments in the Balkans will be closely monitored within the scope of a new approach giving priority to the superiority of law. The enlargement process of the EU towards the Balkans and whether or not the Western Balkan States will join the Union will be analyzed.

Complete the Process of Decolonization!

2020 ◽  
pp. 5-17
Author(s):  
Leonid Fituni
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Colonial Rule ◽  
60Th Anniversary ◽  
Economic Exploitation ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Un General Assembly ◽  
New Interpretation ◽  
Extraterritorial Jurisdiction ◽  
Historical Developments ◽  
External Dependence

December 14, 1960 marks the 60th anniversary of the adoption on the initiative of the USSR of the Declaration on the granting of independence to colonial countries and peoples by the XV Session of the UN General Assembly (GA). The author analyzes the significance of this act for the subsequent process of liberation of peoples from colonial rule from the perspective of the historical developments of the next six decades. The author comes up with a new interpretation of the diplomatic tactics chosen by the Soviet Union at the UN as well as in the confronting imperialist countries elsewhere on the timing of granting independence, ensuring the territorial integrity of the emerging young states, the presence of foreign bases and zones of extraterritorial jurisdiction on their land. The article provides a comparative analysis of the texts of the declaration proposed for consideration by the GA by the Soviet Union and the adopted version of the Declaration of the UN GA Resolution 1415 (XV). The author analyzes the situation in the world after the dismemberment of the USSR, from the perspective of the degree of completion of the decolonization process. He comes to the conclusion that in place of traditional colonialism, a project of a new global coloniality is being introduced, which preserves the fundamental and essential characteristics of actual colonial rule: external dependence and economic exploitation.

scholarly journals Russia’s Foreign Policy Evolution in the New Balkan Landscape

2020 ◽  
Vol 56 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 179-199
Author(s):  
Ekaterina Entina ◽  
Alexander Pivovarenko
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Regional Security ◽  
Southeast Europe ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
Current Trends ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
The Difference

The article reflects on the issue of the foreign policy strategy of modern Russia in the Balkans region. One of the most significant aspects of this problem is the difference in views between Russia and the West. Authors show how different interpretations of the events in former Yugoslavia in the 1990s and the beginning of the 2000s predetermined the sense of mutual suspicion and mistrust which spread to other regions such as the post-Soviet space. Exploring differences between the Russian and the Western (Euro-Atlantic) views on the current matters, authors draw attention to fundamental differences in terminology: while the Western narrative promotes more narrow geographical and political definitions (such as the Western Balkan Six), traditional Russian experts are more inclined to wider or integral definitions such as “the Balkans” and “Central and Southeast Europe”. Meanwhile none of these terms are applicable for analysis of the current trends such as the growing transit role of the Balkans region and its embedding in the European regional security architecture. Therefore, a new definition is needed to overcome the differences in vision and better understand significant recent developments in the region. Conceptualizing major foreign policy events in Central and Southeast Europe during the last three decades (the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s), authors demonstrate the significance of differences in tools and methods between the Soviet Union and the modern Russia. Permanent need for adaptation to changing political and security context led to inconsistence in Russian Balkan policy in the 1990s. Nevertheless, Russia was able to preserve an integral vision of the region and even to elaborate new transregional constructive projects, which in right political circumstances may promote stability and become beneficial for both Russia and the Euro-Atlantic community.

scholarly journals Spaces of Dependence and Emancipation in Architectural and Urban Narration, a Case Study: Plac Żołnierza Polskiego and Plac Solidarności in Szczecin

Arts ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 19
Author(s):  
Izabela Kozłowska ◽  
Eryk Krasucki
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Political Environment ◽  
Economic Factors ◽  
Urban Structure ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
Authoritarian State ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Urban Narratives ◽  
Eastern European Countries

Central and Eastern European countries were subjugated to the Soviet Union in the second half of the 20th century. In this new political environment, defined as the period of dependency, the concept of space gained a new denotation as a space of dependence, in both social and physical terms. The political changes that took place after 1989 enabled these spaces to be emancipated. In this work, we aim to delineate the complex relationship between architecture and politics from the perspective of spaces of dependence and their emancipation. Through a case study of two squares, plac Żołnierza Polskiego (the Square of the Polish Soldier) and plac Solidarności (Solidarity Square) in Szczecin, we gained insights into the processes and strategies that promoted their evolution into spaces of emancipation within architectural and urban narratives. Szczecin’s space of dependence was created by an authoritarian state that had a monopoly on defining architecture and urban planning in the country and the state as a whole. In a process orchestrated by economic factors, as well as the scale of architectural and urban degradation, the squares under discussion have transitioned from spaces of dependency to spaces of emancipation. As a result, an architectural-urban structure characterized by new cultural and identity values has been created.

Out of Empire into Socialist Modernity

2021 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 56-70
Author(s):  
Steffi Marung
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Intellectual History ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
History Of ◽  
1960S And 1970S ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractIn this article the Soviet-African Modern is presented through an intellectual history of exchanges in a triangular geography, outspreading from Moscow to Paris to Port of Spain and Accra. In this geography, postcolonial conditions in Eastern Europe and Africa became interconnected. This shared postcolonial space extended from the Soviet South to Africa. The glue for the transregional imagination was an engagement with the topos of backwardness. For many of the participants in the debate, the Soviet past was the African present. Focusing on the 1960s and 1970s, three connected perspectives on the relationship between Soviet and African paths to modernity are presented: First, Soviet and Russian scholars interpreting the domestic (post)colonial condition; second, African academics revisiting the Soviet Union as a model for development; and finally, transatlantic intellectuals connecting postcolonial narratives with socialist ones. Drawing on Russian archives, the article furthermore demonstrates that Soviet repositories hold complementary records for African histories.

Remarks by Walter Glass

1973 ◽  
Vol 67 (5) ◽  
pp. 194-198
Author(s):  
Walter Glass ◽  
Patricia O. Lawry
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
The State ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
Export Policy ◽  
Legal Problems ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Eastern European Countries ◽  
East West ◽  
The U.S

I shall discuss some of the practical legal problems we have encountered in our efforts to trade with the Soviet Union and the Eastern European countries. I should like to say at the outset that ever since I began to work in this field in 1964, the U.S. Government has been very helpful. Within the framework of congressional export policy, the Department of Commerce has always endeavored to make allowance for the needs of the American businessman. The State Department has also been helpful; I recall in particular a really first-rate briefing by our embassy in Bucharest when East-West trade was a very new subject.

scholarly journals Changes in the Relationships Between Third World Countries and First World Countries

1995 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 133-144
Author(s):  
Franz J. Hinkelammert
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Third World ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
Profound Change ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Eastern European Countries ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
First World

AbstractI wish to develop some theses on the changes in the relationship between Third World countries and First World countries, which have been strongly affected by the crisis of socialism in the Soviet Union and in the Eastern European countries. It is a profound change, which came about in the '80s but which had already been developing in the decades prior to that.

Invasion and Occupation

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Prusin
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Military Power ◽  
State Of Emergency ◽  
Economic Space ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Chain Of Command ◽  
Political Economic

Examines German rule imposed on Serbia after the collapse in Yugoslavia in April 1941. Obsessed with the preparation for the war against the Soviet Union, Hitler relegated Serbia to a source-depot of food supplies and raw materials within the Third Reich’s political-economic space. As a hinterland for the German forces in the Balkans, Serbia became a “state of emergency,” whereby the system of governing was simplified to the direct chain of command from top to bottom for the purpose of fulfilling specific tasks. Initially, the April catastrophe facilitated the image of Germany as an invincible military power and seemingly extinguished popular will to resistance.

A Utopian Vision? A Modest Proposal to Prevent Nations from Causing Future Wars

1996 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 547-549
Author(s):  
Nicolae Harsanyi
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Sweet Taste ◽  
The Caucasus ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
Modest Proposal ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Collapse Of Communism ◽  
The Baltic ◽  
The Cold War

I certainly find the present times most engaging: I have had the chance to live through events that will not be neglected by historians—the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe and the subsequent end of the Cold War, the failed Moscow coup and the breathtaking aftermath of undoing “mankind's golden dream” in its very cradle, the Soviet Union. There is so much hope in the air for East Europeans to return to development which was thwarted by decades of imposed socialist dictatorship. The sweet taste of freedom and self-assertion helps people to overcome the economic hardships ravaging the area. From the Baltic to the Balkans, from the Tatra to the Caucasus and beyond, nations, nationalities, and minorities show signs of vitality and righteous affirmation of their own complex existence on territories fragmented by conventional boundaries established with or without their own consent or approval.

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