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20872. "Assembling" a Civic Nation in Kazakhstan: The Nation-Building Role of the Assembly of the Peoples of Kazakhstan
- Author:
- Nathan Paul Jones
- Publication Date:
- 03-2010
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- The Caucasian Review of International Affairs
- Institution:
- The Caucasian Review of International Affairs
- Abstract:
- The countries of the former Soviet Union inherited a unique system for managing the needs of ethnic minorities. The question is how these countries utilize Soviet constructs to develop policies suitable for their distinct political contexts. Kazakhstan's leaders have chosen to fashion a multiethnic civic nation and established the Assembly of the Peoples of Kazakhstan to oversee the work of creating a uniform national identity. This paper discusses major theories pertaining to civic nation-building, highlights the Soviet approach to building a civic nation, and describes how the ideology, form, and activities of the Assembly contribute to civic nation-building in Kazakhstan. Finally, it describes the author's own ethnographic research demonstrating how people react to Kazakhstan's civic nation-building efforts. The paper argues that Kazakhstan's attempts to create a civic national identity are failing because it has not yet provided a consolidating national discourse as strong as socialism was during the Soviet period.
- Political Geography:
- Kazakhstan and Soviet Union
20873. Climbing the Mountain of Languages: Language Learning in Georgia
- Author:
- Hans Gutbrod and Malte Viefhues
- Publication Date:
- 03-2010
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- The Caucasian Review of International Affairs
- Institution:
- The Caucasian Review of International Affairs
- Abstract:
- In 2008, CRRC-Georgia and the American Councils conducted a small online census among mostly English-native, engaged expatriates who are either currently living in Georgia, or did so in the past. The questions were about attitudes toward and aptitude for learning Georgian or Russian, and the importance of these languages in Georgia. With 90 completed questionnaires the number of respondents was small, and the findings cannot be generalized to cover the whole expatriate community. However, they provide insight into the incentives to language learning, and the importance of Georgian and Russian for foreigners in Georgia. The results show that Georgian is important for daily life in Georgia, while Russian is more useful in a professional context. On average, the respondents have a better level in Russian than in Georgian. In addition, knowing one language did not keep the respondents from learning the other: 87 percent of the respondents with Russian skills also know some Georgian.
- Political Geography:
- Russia, America, and Georgia
20874. New Geopolitics of the South Caucasus
- Author:
- Fareed Shafee
- Publication Date:
- 03-2010
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- The Caucasian Review of International Affairs
- Institution:
- The Caucasian Review of International Affairs
- Abstract:
- The article examines new trends and development in the South Caucasus. The author identifies five factors which affect the foreign policy of regional countries as well as regional powers. These factors are the Georgian-Russian war of 2008, the US-Russian “reset”, the global financial crisis, the political transformation in the countries which have undergone “color revolutions”, and the Armenian-Turkish rapprochement. The author believes that the change in the geopolitical layout of the region will turn the countries of the South Caucasus further from the West. At the same time, they are not going to be fully embraced by Russia. A balancing act between the US, EU and Russia will be most likely their policy choice.
- Political Geography:
- Russia, United States, Ukraine, Caucasus, and Georgia
20875. "Conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, Abkhazia and South Ossetia. A Legal Appraisal"
- Author:
- Lala Jumayeva
- Publication Date:
- 03-2010
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- The Caucasian Review of International Affairs
- Institution:
- The Caucasian Review of International Affairs
- Abstract:
- The book under review was the author's dissertation paper submitted in 1998 and later published as a book in 2001. In order to make it more appropriate for publishing, Potier improved it by adding a one-page preface and a short additional final section under the heading “Since submission”, which covers the period September 1, 1 998, to April, 30, 2000. Some syntax and grammar corrections have also been made. The book, therefore, consists of a preface, an introduction, thirteen chapters, a conclusion and a final addition.
- Political Geography:
- South Ossetia
20876. "Dramatic changes in the political order are typically not the province of democracies"
- Author:
- Dr. Julie A. George
- Publication Date:
- 03-2010
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- The Caucasian Review of International Affairs
- Institution:
- The Caucasian Review of International Affairs
- Abstract:
- My book examines separatist politics, looking for explanations for the outbreak of conflict in some post-Soviet autonomous republics and oblasts and not others. It also examines the waxing and waning conditions of conflicts over time, trying to nudge out similarities and differences in experiences to explain stability or absence of stability. So it looked at the politics of Chechnya, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia and their respective relationships with the Russia and Georgia from 1990-2008. (It actually looked at a broader swath of cases to include non-conflictual republics: Achara, Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, Ingushetia, and Dagestan.) I'm particularly interested in the effects of state weakness and regional wealth on bargaining over autonomy. I started with the argument that state weakness in both Russia and Georgia after the Soviet collapsed created conditions for regional ac tors – particularly in the so-called ethnic republics – for bargaining for greater position in the new political environment. In Georgia, this enhanced bargaining position was true for Achara as well as South Ossetia and Abkhazia, even though Achara might not be construed as an "ethnic" region.
- Political Geography:
- Russia, Soviet Union, and Georgia
20877. Foreword
- Author:
- General Raimund Schittenhelm
- Publication Date:
- 06-2010
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Connections
- Institution:
- Partnership for Peace Consortium of Defense Academies and Security Studies Institutes
- Abstract:
- The Republic of Austria joined the Partnership for Peace Consortium of Defense Academies and Security Studies Institutes through its Ministry of Defense in 1999. Right from the beginning, Austria's primary interest centered on the issues of security policy and crisis management, with a special focus on the Western Balkans region. As a consequence, the Austrian National Defense Academy promoted the establishment of a Study Group on Regional Stability in South East Europe (RSSEE) jointly with Croatia and Bulgaria at the Consortium's second annual conference in Sofia in December 1999.
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Austria
20878. Lessons from NATO's Military Missions in the Western Balkans
- Author:
- Dennis Blease
- Publication Date:
- 06-2010
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Connections
- Institution:
- Partnership for Peace Consortium of Defense Academies and Security Studies Institutes
- Abstract:
- The subject of learning lessons is fraught with difficulties, not least because lessons, like beauty, are often in the eye of the beholder. It has been the author's experience that many lessons that are formally identified as such are not learned. The reasons for this are varied: those identifying the lessons may be biased; the resources to enable learning may be lacking; and the lessons simply may not "stick." Nonetheless, those lessons that do become embedded in the human and organizational psyche are those that have created new doctrines, reshaped institutions, become an integral part of new training standards, and demonstrably shown an improvement in the conduct of business.
- Topic:
- NATO
- Political Geography:
- Balkans
20879. The Dynamics of Russia's Response to the Piracy Threat
- Author:
- Simon Saradzhyan
- Publication Date:
- 06-2010
- Content Type:
- Journal Article
- Journal:
- Connections
- Institution:
- Partnership for Peace Consortium of Defense Academies and Security Studies Institutes
- Abstract:
- Russia's Maritime Doctrine describes "maritime shipments" as being of "vital importance" to the country. Maritime shipments have accounted for 60 percent of Russia's foreign trade shipments in the recent years. However, vessels bearing the Russian flag account only for 4 percent of Russia's foreign trade shipments. And the Russian fishing fleet remains relatively near to Russia's shores, not venturing into the Indian and South Pacific Oceans.
- Political Geography:
- Russia
20880. Prime Minister of Portugal, José Sócrates
- Author:
- José Sócrates
- Publication Date:
- 09-2010
- Content Type:
- Video
- Institution:
- Columbia University World Leaders Forum
- Abstract:
- "Energy Policy and the Portuguese New Growth Agenda" This event will feature an address by Prime Minister of Portugal, José Sócrates. Followed by a question and answer session with the audience.
- Topic:
- Climate Change and Energy Policy
- Political Geography:
- Europe