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181. Understanding Common History Ideas for Discussion

Author:
Petr Stegniy
Publication Date:
12-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
International Affairs: A Russian Journal of World Politics, Diplomacy and International Relations
Institution:
East View Information Services
Abstract:
The evolution of the independent states that emerged following the disintegration of the Soviet Union has predictably prioritized the issue of the national-political identification of the former Union republics. However, the trend toward building national history concepts by radically revising the common experience at the expense of the former "big brother," which has been gaining momentum in a number of post-Soviet states, was less predictable - taking into account the proactive role played by Russia under Boris Yeltsin in dissolving the Soviet Empire, as well as the pledges that were made in 1991 in Belovezhskaia Pushcha.
Topic:
Cold War and Economics
Political Geography:
Russia, Ukraine, Soviet Union, and Georgia

182. Lessons from the Soviet Occupation in Afghanistan for the United States and NATO

Author:
Jonathan Gandomi
Publication Date:
05-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Woodrow Wilson School Journal of Public and International Affairs
Institution:
Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University
Abstract:
Already in its seventh year in Afghanistan, U.S. and NATO forces appear as if they will approach and likely surpass the decade-long occupation by Soviet troops. Currently, Afghanistan is far from becoming stable and even reaching the normalcy of developing-nation status. As the Spring 2008 NATO summit illustrated, it represents an important test of commitment for the trans-Atlantic alliance. This article will examine some of the military and political lessons from the Soviet experience and identify those that can be applied to the present period. Drawing on a number of transcripts from Politburo sessions and other significant Soviet documents from the 1979-1989 period, this article argues that despite the distinctions between 1988 and 2008 a number of common experiences and mistakes emerge. As the Taliban continues to fight an insurgency campaign and patience wears thin among Afghans for President Karzai's government and the international community to deliver results, these lessons might be useful in informing U.S. and NATO policy. Ultimately, Afghans, especially in rural areas, must be offered tangible gains from siding with the current government, and a political solution must accompany military efforts to overcome the challenges that confront Afghanistan and its allies.
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, United States, Taliban, and Soviet Union

183. The Experience with Regional Economic Cooperation Organizations: Lessons for Central Asia

Author:
Johannes F. Linn and Oksana Pidufala
Publication Date:
10-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Central Asia has witnessed repeated efforts to strengthen regional integration through cooperation with the establishment of a number of regional organizations with Central Asian participation. In this paper, we review the experience with regional cooperation initiatives and organizations in Central Asia and the rest of the world. Using a typology of regional organizations that we have developed for this paper, we review the functions and performance of selected regional organizations and compile evidence more generally on the experience with regional cooperation around the globe. Based on this we draw some lessons to help Central Asian countries, their partners and their regional organizations respond effectively to the opportunities and challenges of regional cooperation and integration. Central Asian countries need to realize that effective cooperation is not easy. It takes time and requires a flexible, constructive approach of all major partners. It also requires effective leadership by key countries, institutions and individuals and a careful selectivity for membership and for the mandate of the organization. Where multiple regional organizations overlap in membership and mandate, it is essential to address the risk of costly duplication. The paper concludes with an assessment of the specific implications for the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation Program.
Topic:
Development and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:
Central Asia, Asia, and Soviet Union

184. Peace support operations: The past and the future. Papers of the Ankara Seminar

Author:
Ritske Bloemendaal(ed.) and Kars de Bruijne(ed.)
Publication Date:
07-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for European Security Studies
Abstract:
The global security situation has changed fundamentally since the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact. A global war between superpowers has become less likely and new security concerns have appeared on the agenda. Smaller high- and low-intensity conflicts have erupted, largely with ethnic and religious origins, and occurring overwhelmingly within, rather than between, countries. Intrastate conflict accounts for 95% of current conflicts worldwide. As a result, mechanisms to cope with these new challenges have emerged. Methods of conflict prevention, conflict management and post-conflict programmes like Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) and Security System Reform (SSR) have gained importance.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Cold War, Peace Studies, United Nations, and War
Political Geography:
Soviet Union

185. Making the Case

Author:
Thomas Joscelyn
Publication Date:
09-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Journal of International Security Affairs
Institution:
Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs
Abstract:
In the wake of the September 11, 2001, attacks, the Bush administration faced unprecedented challenges. How could America prevent another attack? Would pursuing Osama bin Laden and his core followers in Afghanistan be enough? Or, was a more robust response, including a war to remove the Taliban, al-Qaeda’s host, necessary? Should America’s response be limited to Afghanistan? Or, should America’s new “war on terror” extend to the heart of the Middle East, where multiple regimes had long practiced the black art of sponsoring terrorism?
Topic:
War
Political Geography:
America and Soviet Union

186. Lack of Transparency in Hungary: A Persistent Cold War Legacy

Author:
April H. Foley
Publication Date:
09-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
Council of American Ambassadors
Abstract:
Hungary is a medium sized European country of approximately ten million people that shares with its Central European neighbors a common legacy of more than four decades of Soviet domination. Although a fully functioning democracy for nearly 20 years now, a member of NATO since 1999 and the European Union since 2004, Hungary still suffers from the heritage of communism. While the physical damage of this era has been largely eliminated, the less visible but longer lasting effects of the totalitarian period of Hungarian history persist in plaguing the economic and political life of the country to which I arrived in August 2006.
Political Geography:
Europe, Soviet Union, and Hungary

187. Russia and Azerbaijan: Relations after 1989

Author:
Murat Gül
Publication Date:
06-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Alternatives: Turkish Journal of International Relations
Institution:
Center for International Conflict Resolution at Yalova University
Abstract:
The sudden collapse of the Soviet Union has, on several levels, brought about many novel complexities to world politics. On the global level, the collapse of the Soviet Union ended the bi-polar world politics in the dangerous confrontations between Soviet ideology and power and that of the United States. The impact of the disintegration of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) has been seen at the regional level as well. In particular, Central Asia and Caucasus, Eastern and Central Europe, and Baltic countries have escaped from direct Soviet domination, and so new competitions for domination have arisen. However, the most important and challenging changes have been witnessed at the individual level, insofar as fifteen new independent states have emerged post-collapse. After escaping from the domination of the USSR, these emerging states have been perplexed by the challenges of nationhood, identity politics, and state-building, re-reformulating their economic system, and entering into a global situation as independent but weak states. Thus, the collapse of Pax Sovieticus has raised a series of new foreign and security challenges, posing various obstacles and dilemmas for them.
Topic:
International Relations
Political Geography:
Russia, United States, Europe, Central Asia, Asia, Soviet Union, and Azerbaijan

188. Writer Ryszard Kapuscinski: An Optimist in the Heart of Darkness

Author:
Tomasz Zalewski
Publication Date:
01-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
European Affairs
Institution:
The European Institute
Abstract:
Polish journalist Ryszard Kapuscinski was an exception in gaining an international following for his writings – in translation, of course. He succeeded by writing directly about the people in oppressed, poor continents. His humanity stemmed partly from his origins in Soviet-era Poland.
Topic:
Civil Society and History
Political Geography:
Europe, Poland, and Soviet Union

189. Unemployment and Unemployment Protection in Transition

Author:
Wayne Vroman and Vera Brusentsev
Publication Date:
04-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Urban Institute
Abstract:
Nearly twenty years have passed since the transition from a centrally-planned towards a market-oriented economy in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union (CEE-FSU). This paper documents the differing patterns of unemployment during the period 1990 to 2006 in the 28 countries that constitute the CEE-FS U group and outlines how unemployment protection programs developed in response. We also suggest some tentative explanations for the observed trends in unemployment and unemployment compensation. Our approach is novel in that we compare the performance of the CEE-FSU group to the worldwide average and to other major economies. In addition, we demonstrate important contrasts across the CEE-FSU sub-regions.
Topic:
Economics
Political Geography:
Russia, Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia, and Soviet Union

190. Deterring State Sponsorship of Nuclear Terrorism

Author:
Michael Levi
Publication Date:
09-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Council on Foreign Relations
Abstract:
The basis of nuclear doctrine during the Cold War was deterrence. Nuclear powers were deterred from attacking each other by the fear of retaliation. Today, much of the concern over possible nuclear attack comes in the context of rogue states and terrorism. And since only states are known to possess nuclear weapons, an important question is how to deter them from letting terrorists acquire a device, whether through an authorized transfer or a security breach. Michael A. Levi analyzes this aspect of deterrence in the post–Cold War world, as well as what to do if deterrence breaks down. He suggests how to discourage states from giving weapons or nuclear materials to terrorists and how to encourage states to bolster security against any accidental transfer. The report also discusses the role of nuclear attribution—the science of identifying the origin of nuclear materials—in deterring transfers, an essential link in assigning responsibility to governments for transfers of nuclear materials.
Topic:
Conflict Prevention, Security, Cold War, Nuclear Weapons, and Nuclear Power
Political Geography:
United States and Soviet Union