Religion and Forced Displacement in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia

This book examines the social and political mobilisation of religious communities towards forced displacement in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia. It analyses religious strategies in relation to tolerance and transitory environments as a result of the breakup of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia in the early 1990s, the post-2011 Syrian crisis and the 2014 Russian takeover of Crimea. How do religious actors and state bodies engage with refugees and migrants? What are the mechanisms of religious support towards forcibly displaced communities? The book argues that when states do not act as providers of human security, religious communities, as representatives of civil society and often closer to the grass roots level, can be well placed to serve populations in need. The book brings together scholars from across the region and provides a comprehensive overview of the ways in which religious communities tackle humanitarian crises in contemporary Armenia, Bulgaria, Greece, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Poland, Russia, Serbia, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.

Study on the Impacts of Emergency on Economic, Environmental and Social Areas Using Mixed Methods Research

Mixed methods research methodology appears to be a suitable approach for researching complex phenomena such as emergencies. Researchers study the impacts on different areas such as economy, society, or environment, mostly in separate studies. To better understand the reality of emergencies, it is necessary to study the problem in the broadest possible context. So, examining those impacts in one single study is a challenge. The objective of this article is to process a comprehensive assessment of an emergency that has the potential to establish the basis of a robust tool for public managers to support their decision-making, using mixed methods research methodology. The crisis is an explosion of an ammunition storage site in the Czech Republic - the former satellite country of the Soviet Union. The sub-methods used in mixed methods research are analysis of data, interviews, questionnaire surveys, and field research. The main findings include that in the economic area, growth of public budget expenditures was found; in the environmental area, primary and inducted impacts have been proved. Survey also confirms that the emergency reduced the personal sense of security and trust in public institutions in the affected community. Doi: 10.28991/ESJ-2022-06-01-07 Full Text: PDF

Israel's Moment

Israel's Moment is a major new account of how a Jewish state came to be forged in the shadow of World War Two and the Holocaust and the onset of the Cold War. Drawing on new research in government, public and private archives, Jeffrey Herf exposes the political realities that underpinned support for and opposition to Zionist aspirations in Palestine. In an unprecedented international account, he explores the role of the United States, the Arab States, the Palestine Arabs, the Zionists, and key European governments from Britain and France to the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia and Poland. His findings reveal a spectrum of support and opposition that stood in sharp contrast to the political coordinates that emerged during the Cold War, shedding new light on how and why the state of Israel was established in 1948 and challenging conventional associations of left and right, imperialism and anti-imperialism, and racism and anti-racism.

The last day in life of the Soviet Union. The first day of the existence of the Russian Federation

Статья посвящена истории одного дня в Московском Кремле. Это был последний день существования СССР – 25 декабря 1991 года. На фоне показа исторических событий того времени рассказывается о смене Государственного флага СССР на Государственный флаг Российской Федерации. Впервые публикуется уникальный документ – акт о замене флага, написанный непосредственно после этого события и подписанный всеми участниками. The article is devoted to the history of one day in the Moscow Kremlin. It was the last day of the USSR's existence – December 25, 1991. The events of that time create a perfect background, the Soviet flag was lowered from Kremlin and then replaced by the three-color Russian Federation flag. For the first time published is a unique document — the Act of flag replacement written shortly after the events and signed by all participants.

Dasar Pandang ke Timur India: Pengukuhan Hubungan India-ASEAN

ABSTRAK Kajian ini membincangkan pembentukan Dasar Pandang ke Timur India (India’s Look East Policy) dan kesannya terhadap hubungan India dengan ASEAN. Hubungan India dengan negara-negara Asia Tenggara telah lama terjalin melalui pelbagai bentuk. Namun demikian, pada era Perang Dingin khususnya pada tahun-tahun 1970an dan 1980an hubungan India dengan rantau Asia Tenggara agak suram disebabkan India tidak meletakkan rantau ini sebagai rantau keutamaan dalam dasar luarnya. Namun demikian, tamatnya Perang Dingin dengan kejatuhan Soviet Union telah menyebabkan India perlu mencari hala tuju baharu dalam dasar luarnya. Dalam situasi ekonomi India yang tidak memberangsangkan ini India mula melihat peningkatan ekonomi negara-negara anggota ASEAN sebagai sesuatu yang positif untuk India. Oleh itu, pada tahun 1991 Dasar Pandang ke Timur India dibentuk bertujuan untuk meningkatkan hubungan dengan negara jiran timurnya. Kertas ini membincangkan pembentukan dan perkembangan Dasar Pandang ke Timur ini serta kepentingan ASEAN dalam dasar tersebut. Analisis dilakukan berasaskan pendekatan sejarah dengan meneliti sumber primer seperti rekod pertubuhan ASEAN, dokumen dari Kementerian Luar India, akhbar serta sumber sekunder. Kajian mendapati dasar ini telah mengukuhkan hubungan India dengan ASEAN dan ditingkatkan lagi dengan dimensi yang lebih luas melalui Dasar Bertindak ke Timur (India’s Act East Policy). Kata kunci: Dasar Pandang ke Timur India; ASEAN; dasar luar; India; Asia Tenggara

The Chinese Latin Alphabet: A Revolutionary Script in the Global Information Age

This article rethinks the history of Chinese script reforms and proposes a new genealogy for the Chinese Latin Alphabet (CLA), invented in 1931 by Chinese and Russian revolutionaries in the Soviet Union. Situating script reforms within a global information age that emerged out of the nineteenth-century communications revolution, the article historicizes the CLA within a technologically and ideologically contrived Sino-Soviet space. In particular, it shows the intimate links between the CLA and the Unified New Turkic Alphabet (UNTA), which grew out of a latinization movement based in Baku, Azerbaijan. The primary purpose of the UNTA was to latinize the Arabic script of the Turkic people living in Soviet Central Asia, but it was immediately exported to the non-Turkic world as well in an effort to latinize languages across Eurasia and ignite revolutionary internationalism. This article investigates the forgotten figures involved in carrying the Latin alphabet from Baku to Shanghai and offers a new framework to scrutinize the history of language, scripts, and knowledge production across Eurasia.

The link between company performance and supply chain orientation from the perspective of halal SMEs

PurposeThis study aims to examine the links between company performance (CP) and supply chain (SC) orientation considering halal small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Kazakhstan. The SC orientation framework integrates three aspects to determine CP, i.e. credibility, commitment and top management support.Design/methodology/approachHalal SMEs were reviewed; 271 valid responses were obtained and scrutinised, employing the partial least squares structural equation modelling technique.FindingsThe credibility of SC stakeholders performs the main impact on the CP of halal SMEs in Kazakhstan. Meanwhile, commitment and top management support show fewer influences, although they significantly impact CP.Originality/valueThis study confirms the relationships between SC orientation and CP from the perspective of halal SMEs. The social capital theory was applied to explain these relationships. It is the initial attempt to investigate such relationships in a post-Soviet Union country.

Risk Factors Associated With Various Severities of Suicidal and Non-Suicidal Self-Harm Among Israel Defense Forces Soldiers—A Nested Case–Control Study

ABSTRACT Objective Severe suicide attempt is a major risk factor for completed suicide. The aim of the present study was to focus on suicide behavior and timing to gain better understanding of these populations. Method The nested case–control retrospective study based on medical records of 246,866 soldiers, who demonstrated suicide attempts of varying severity, including death by suicide were compared with soldiers who did not demonstrate such behavior. Results Risk for death by suicide was associated with males, military seniority of less than 12 months. High frequency of visits with mental health care professionals was associated with being severe suicide attempters (SAs). Moderate suicide attempts were associated with being a male, visiting a primary care physician frequently, and belonging to one of the two latest immigrant groups in Israel (Ethiopians and former Soviet Union). Mild suicide attempts were associated with having a psychiatric diagnosis on the enlistment day, visiting a mental health care professional at high or average frequency, visiting a primary care physician at high or average frequency, being a male, and being born in the former Soviet Union. While the proportion of males demonstrating suicidal behavior was higher than the females’, severe SAs were higher among females. There was a clear tendency of female suicide attempters at all levels to act toward the end of their military service. Conclusions Although half of the SAs were females, their characteristics may be similar to those of the male SAs, contrary to the sex differences in suicide behavior among civilians.