scholarly journals Civilisational Conflict, Renewal, or Transformation: Potential Role of the OIC

ICR Journal ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 579-600
Author(s):  
Abdullahil Ahsan
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
Former Soviet Union ◽  
Clash Of Civilizations ◽  
The West ◽  
Transformation Potential ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
Islamic Values ◽  
Do So

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) came into existence at the end of the 20th century during the Cold War, a period that also witnessed concerns among many Western intellectuals about the decline of the West. By the end of the century and the collapse of the former Soviet Union, the “clash of civilizations” thesis had placed Islamic civilisation at the center of international politics, once again raising questions about world peace and co-existence between civilisations. Could Islamic civilisation as represented by the OIC play a role at this juncture of history? Does it possess the capacity and know-how to meet this challenge? Such questions relate also to ideas of worldview: the Renaissance worldview of the West may be seen to have been tainted by Darwinism and Freudianism while the Islamic worldview appears corrupted by extremism. Can the OIC revive the universal Islamic values such as those upheld by Muhammad Iqbal-the 20th century student of Rumi? Can it do so in the context of tumultuous intra-Muslim relations? These questions frame our discussion in this paper.

Kinship and Crisis: Embedded Economic Pressures and Gender Ideals in Postsocialist International Matchmaking

Slavic Review ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Patico
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Former Soviet Union ◽  
The United States ◽  
Transnational Marriage ◽  
Gender Ideals ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
East West

The rise of the international matchmaking industry has been particularly rapid and noticeable in the former Soviet Union, where the end of the Cold War has intersected with daily socioeconomic pressures to make cross-cultural romance and marriage newly possible and newly desirable for some women of Russia, Ukraine, and other post-Soviet states. Less acknowledged than the role of economics in women's decision making, however, is the fact that postsocialist financial strains are not experienced in social vacuums but are mediated by ideals of gender and marriage, such that the search for a foreign spouse is unlikely to be experienced as a simple desire for increased material comfort. Instead, discourses of gender “crisis” in the home country inform the desires for transnational kinship for both women from the former Soviet Union and men from the United States. When both women's and men's narratives of “crisis” (and how transnational marriage might alleviate it) are taken into account, they significantly complicate our understandings of east-west relations of “commodification” and power.

scholarly journals Voci libere in URSS

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Soviet Regime ◽  
International Level ◽  
The West ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The Many ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
Conceptual Overview

Free Voices in the USSR is a project dedicated to the myriad of independent voices present in the culture of dissent in the Soviet Union in the second half of the twentieth century. Its aim is to offer a conceptual overview of the many forms of dissent by exploring two main thematic areas, the first devoted to “free voices” in the USSR and the second focused on reception in the West. The different manifestations of the USSR’s ‘Second Culture’, which was non-official and independent, spread thanks to the samizdat (the clandestine publication and circulation of texts within the USSR) and the tamizdat (the publication of texts forbidden in the USSR in the West). The reception of non-official forms of expression in the West is explored in the context of the debates arising from the Cold War; the role of the West in engaging with the literary, cultural and artistic challenges to the Soviet regime from within its own borders proved fundamental. Contributions to this website including critical essays, bio-bibliographic entries, archive information and the review and cataloguing of magazines are the result of coordinated research by a group of specialists at an international level.

Victory

2019 ◽  
pp. 221-242
Author(s):  
Melvyn P. Leffler
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Cold War ◽  
Social Democracy ◽  
The West ◽  
Role Of Government ◽  
Democratic Capitalism ◽  
The World ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
Do So

This chapter argues that the West “won” the Cold War because statesmen made systems of democratic capitalism and social democracy work effectively. The challenge for democratic leaders throughout the world was to thwart the appeal of communism and co-opt revolutionary nationalist movements. To do so, they had to reinvent the role of government—not to supplant markets, but to make markets work more effectively and equitably. They avoided intracapitalist conflict, won the support of their own peoples, and created a culture of consumption that engendered the envy of peoples everywhere. In this contest over rival systems of political economy, the role of government was not the problem; it was part of the solution. But it had to be calibrated carefully.

The West and Elections in Nigeria

1999 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-37
Author(s):  
Amadu Sesay ◽  
Charles Ukeje
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Cold War ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Former Soviet Union ◽  
Socialist Country ◽  
The United States ◽  
The West ◽  
Essential Component ◽  
The World ◽  
The Cold War

The end of the cold war has made democratization, and its barest essential component elections, imperative for all nondemocratic forms of government. This is to be expected, given the dismal failure of the socialist alternative even in the first socialist country, the former Soviet Union. The United States, which is not only the foremost democracy in the world but also the only superpower, has been in the vanguard of democracy salesmanship. Africa, the continent with the least democratic space, has not been left out, as witnessed by President Bill Clinton’s unprecedented tour of the continent in March 1998.Understandably, Nigeria, arguably the most important country in Africa, was left out of the tour, since it was then under the obnoxious, undemocratic, and oppressive military regime of the late General Sani Abacha.

scholarly journals Foreign Threats to Ukraine’s Independence and the Challenge Posed to Polish National Security

2021 ◽  
pp. 77-98
Author(s):  
Orest Krasivskyy
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
National Security ◽  
Former Soviet Union ◽  
Divide And Conquer ◽  
Strategic Partnership ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
The West ◽  
Eurasian Continent ◽  
The Cold War

The purpose of the article is to examine the Russian threat to Ukraine’s state sovereignty and its impact on Poland’s national security; to underline that Russia intends to take revenge for its defeat in the Cold War, to regain control over the former Soviet Union republics, to defeat the USA and EU, and to establish control in the territory of the Eurasian continent. The research hypothesis is that the main purpose of Russia’s foreign policy is the reconstruction of a neo-imperial state, Ukraine’s reintegration into the post-Soviet space, and ensuring Russia’s domination in the region. The research task was completed using the research methods of a detailed study of sources and literature and a critical analysis of the information available to the author. Conclusions: Russia is trying to take revenge for its defeat in the Cold War, to regain control over the former Soviet Union republics, to defeat the West, and to establish control over the Eurasian continent. Russia considers Ukraine and Poland as dangerous agents of Atlanticism. That is why the Russian Eurasian geopolitical project aims for the Ukrainian and Polish states to be neutralized in a radical way. To this end, Russia has started a “hybrid war” against Ukraine. Poland and the Baltic countries will be the next targets of Russian aggression. It is profitable for Russian neo-imperialism to destroy trust and the strategic partnership between Poland and Ukraine, and to act in accordance with the divide-and-conquer algorithm. In such circumstances, Ukraine and Poland need to work out a new “Doctrine of restraining Russia’s aggression,” to pursue gradual and coordinated policy for the sake of the victory over Russian neo-imperialism and the dismantlement of the Russian imperial social system. The article describes the peculiarities of the modernization of the Russian imperial system at the present stage, analyzes the content of the Russian neo-imperialistic policy against Ukraine, Poland and the West, the reasons for the failure of Ukraine to neutralize Russian expansion, and also shows possible geopolitical consequences for the national security of Poland in the event of the successful implementation of Russia’s geopolitical strategy.

scholarly journals Kosovo: A False Pretext for Russian Regional Paternalism

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 119
Author(s):  
Dr.Sc. Samet Dalipi
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Cold War ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Former Soviet Union ◽  
Russian Foreign Policy ◽  
The West ◽  
South Ossetia ◽  
Direct Involvement ◽  
Russian Speakers ◽  
The Cold War

The Cold War, characterized by its bipolar ideological rivalry, did not resolve centuries-old hostilities between the West and Russia. In order to regain the lost influence and reincarnation of regional hegemony, President Putin wanted a casus-belli. The international humanitarian intervention in Kosovo and the latter’s declaration of independence were Russia’s weak justifications for resuming the old clashes. Interventions in the territories of the former Soviet Union inhabited by Russian speakers, the annexation of Crimea, and direct involvement in the interethnic disputes in the eastern part of Ukraine and the Syrian wars show that Russia is determined to challenge and test the Western commitment to the spread of democracy. The similarities between Kosovo and Crimea, loudly echoed by Russia and their supporters, cannot be academically binding, except in some aspects of tertiary nature.The brutal prevention of Chechnya’s independence in the 1990s and failure to recognize Kosovo while applauding the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia present Putin’s political inconsistency and Real politic orientation. The Russian annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, and threats to destabilize countries that “do not respect” the rights and interests of Russians wherever they are, exemplify Putin’s policy.The article aims to analyze the volatility of Russian foreign policy by comparing the case of Kosovo’s independence to the annexation of Crimea and Russia’s paternalist intentions abroad. 

scholarly journals The pre-history of quantum computation

2004 ◽  
Vol 23 (1/2) ◽  
pp. 2-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. H. Potgieter
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Quantum Computation ◽  
Former Soviet Union ◽  
The West ◽  
Technical Literature ◽  
History Of Thought ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Main Ideas

The main ideas behind developments in the theory and technology of quantum computation were formulated in the late 1970s and early 1980s by two physicists in the West and a mathematician in the former Soviet Union. It is not generally known in the West that the subject has roots in the Russian technical literature. The idea, as propagated by Benioff and (especially) Feynman, is reviewed along with the proposition of a foundation for this kind of computation by Manin in the Russian literature. The author hopes to present as impartial a synthesis as possible of the early history of thought on this subject. The role of reversible and irreversible computational processes will be examined briefly as it relates to the origins of quantum computing and the so-called Information Paradox in physics. Information theory and physics, as this paradox shows, have much to communicate to each other.

scholarly journals "There Are No Invalids in the USSR!" A Missing Soviet Chapter in the New Disability History

2009 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah D. Phillips
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
Former Soviet Union ◽  
People With Disabilities ◽  
Disability Rights ◽  
The West ◽  
Disability History ◽  
Personal Experiences ◽  
History Of ◽  
Rights Issues

This article presents an overview of disability rights issues in the context of state socialism in the former Soviet Union, especially the Russian and Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republics. The Soviet state’s governmentality of disability, and the little-known history of Soviet-era disability rights movements, produced important legacies that shape disability policy and discourses, rights movements, and experiences of disability in the region today. By focusing on Soviet approaches to housing, education, rehabilitation, and work vis-à-vis people with disabilities, and documenting the varied responses of disability communities, this article contributes a missing Soviet chapter to the new disability history. This approach encourages readers to reconsider some assumptions about the evolution of disability rights outside the West. Especially, I interweave discussions of Soviet-era state policy with descriptions of people’s personal experiences to emphasize the ways that people with disabilities in the former Soviet Union have been active agents--if not organized advocates--across the 20th century.

The West and Elections in Nigeria

1999 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-37
Author(s):  
Amadu Sesay ◽  
Charles Ukeje
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Cold War ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Former Soviet Union ◽  
Socialist Country ◽  
The United States ◽  
The West ◽  
Essential Component ◽  
The World ◽  
The Cold War

The end of the cold war has made democratization, and its barest essential component elections, imperative for all nondemocratic forms of government. This is to be expected, given the dismal failure of the socialist alternative even in the first socialist country, the former Soviet Union. The United States, which is not only the foremost democracy in the world but also the only superpower, has been in the vanguard of democracy salesmanship. Africa, the continent with the least democratic space, has not been left out, as witnessed by President Bill Clinton’s unprecedented tour of the continent in March 1998. Understandably, Nigeria, arguably the most important country in Africa, was left out of the tour, since it was then under the obnoxious, undemocratic, and oppressive military regime of the late General Sani Abacha.

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