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1. WEER 2023 | Ukraine at War: Why did it happen, when will it end? (Full Issue)

Author:
Henryk Litwin, Yevgeniya Gaber, Mykola Riabchuk, Ola Hnatiuk, and Aliaksei Kazharski
Publication Date:
01-2024
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Warsaw East European Review (WEER)
Institution:
Centre for East European Studies, University of Warsaw
Abstract:
From June 28th to June 30th, 2023, the nineteenth Warsaw East European Conference “Ukraine at War” took place. It was attended by a diverse group of scholars from Belarus, Canada, Great Britain, Germany, Lithuania, Poland, the United Kingdom, Ukraine, the United States, Finland, and Estonia. The conference opened with an inaugural lecture titled “Why a Ukrainian Victory Matters?” delivered by Professor Marius Janukonis, Director of the Strategic Management and Analysis Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania. The closing presentation, titled “Russia’s War on Ukraine: Where Are We Now and What Next?”, was prepared by Professor Yevgeniya Gaber from Ukraine, representing the Atlantic Council in Turkey. The highlight of the conference was three round table discussions. On the first day, Professor David Sacko moderated a discussion on “Ukraine at War. Security in the Region.” On the second day, there was an exchange of views on “Rebuilding Ukraine. Key Challenges for the War and Post-War Period,” led by Dr. Ernest Wyciszkiewicz. Finally, on the closing day of WEEC, Professor Mykola Riabchuk chaired a round table titled “The Toxic Spell of ‘Imperial Knowledge’ and Challenges of Decolonization.” Throughout the event, there were 13 panel discussions during which 41 papers were presented. The titles of the panels reflect the breadth of thematic discussions during the conference, listed in the order they occurred: 1. Around Ukraine. Post-Soviet Space Before and During the War 2. Challenges and Diagnoses of the Future 3. Consequences of the War 4. Public Diplomacy 5. Russia towards the War 6. Ukraine – Sources of Resistance 7. Ukraine and Security Problems in the Continental Dimension 8. Ukraine in the Eyes of Russia. Ukraine in the Eyes of Europe 9. War Migrants 10. Belarusian Memory Policy. Report on “European Network for Belarus” project 11. Migration from Post-Soviet countries in Poland: trends, challenges, and prospects 12. War Narratives in the Media. Unfortunately, only a portion of the conference participants submitted their article texts to the organizers based on their presentations. Therefore, only partial materials from WEEC 2023 are published here. Readers will find the concluding lecture by Prof. Yevgeniya Gaber and a report on the round table discussions “The Toxic Spell of ‘Imperial Knowledge’ and Challenges of Decolonization,” comprising texts from the participants, containing the main theses of their presentations. Additionally, 10 articles from panel participants are included. While this compilation may not provide a comprehensive account of the conference, it serves as evidence of its thematic diversity and provides a glimpse into this significant event for Eastern European studies.
Topic:
History, Geopolitics, Colonialism, Ideology, Decolonization, Totalitarianism, Vladimir Putin, Armed Conflict, Identity, Soviet Union, Public Diplomacy, Forced Migration, and Russia-Ukraine War
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, Ukraine, Middle East, and Eastern Europe

2. Connecting the Pieces: China’s Bricolage Surveillance System

Author:
Kevin D. Haggerty
Publication Date:
09-2023
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Brown Journal of World Affairs
Institution:
Brown Journal of World Affairs
Abstract:
Over the last decade, China’s ruling Communist Party has been molding a style of governance built on advanced surveillance capabilities. In some respects, this development is not novel. Modern states have long used surveillance to identify geopolitical risks, fight crime, deliver services, and conduct wars, among other objectives.2 As such, surveillance is normatively neutral; it encompasses practices that run the gamut from appealing to appalling. However, recent developments in China fall on the shocking end of this continuum, signaling an unsettling qualitative and quantitative transformation in state-conducted surveillance. Those interested in the dynamics of governance, the contemporary international order, and the emergence of techno-totalitarianism should pay close attention. China’s surveillance measures restrict millions of peoples’ liberties and are crucial in facilitating the unfolding genocide of the Uyghur people. Furthermore, Chinese officials are globally exporting both these surveillance technologies and the repressive governmental ambitions that shape their use.3 State surveillance involves using familiar tools, such as CCTV cameras and spies, and a tremendous assortment of other devices and systems designed to make populations, processes, and places legible.4 China distinguishes itself not only by the sheer volume of its monitoring devices, but also by optimizing and integrating its computing capabilities into a system unparalleled in scope and efficiency. Since assuming the Presidency in 2012, Xi Jinping has increasingly embraced surveillance, positioning information technology as a centerpiece of China’s pursuit of national stability and enhanced geopolitical standing. Such monitoring serves diverse purposes, but a central concern of the Communist Party is to maintain “social stability.” This catch-all euphemism empowers the authorities to identify and “correct” an eclectic and extraordinarily inclusive assortment of activities through not only more surveillance, but also surveil- lance-augmented forms of shaming, intimidation, re-education, violence, and disappearance. This essay focuses on factors that have contributed to the expansion of totalitarian surveillance in China and offers a framework for interpreting these developments beyond the usual fixation on novel technological tools. While the term “totalitarian” is often used loosely as a simple condemnation, it is apt here given the scope and form of social control currently being pursued by PRC authorities. Monitoring in China has become integral to censorship, propaganda, and unvarnished repression—all tactics that advance and protect the Communist Party’s idiosyncratic vision of social stability. As a result, the Chinese state’s desire for domestic order now entails inspecting everyday life at a granular level that was previously inconceivable.
Topic:
Governance, Surveillance, Totalitarianism, Censorship, and Information Technology
Political Geography:
China and Asia

3. Things Washed Ashore

Publication Date:
03-2022
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Harriman Institute
Abstract:
One could not physically leave totalitarian autarchic Albania, but one could always escape it. Ardian Vehbiu, who has extensively written on totalitarian language and semiotics, will talk about the out-sized effects of found western objects, casual merchandise, media and images in the Albanian popular imagination. Looking at this “flotsam” that washed ashore, we will explore the relationship between these objects and images and how they shaped the imagination and experiences of Europe and of ourselves. How did these objects, images and messages reach an otherwise impervious Albania? How did they circulate once in Albania and what life and meanings did they take on? Did this relationship with the “beyond”, cherished and suffered by the citizens-inmates of a country otherwise closed to the world, lead to an inadvertent “colonization” of minds by these ethereal images built by and for Western media? Or, did these highly censored or scarcely available objects and images allow Albanians to clandestinely escape across the porous borders of the imagination?
Topic:
Authoritarianism, Media, Totalitarianism, and Identity
Political Geography:
Europe and Albania