Crises in the Post‐Soviet Space

Crises in the Post‐Soviet Space
Author: Felix Jaitner
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 461
Release: 2018-06-13
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1351234447

The breakup of the Soviet Union led to the creation of new states and territorial conflicts of different levels of intensity. Scrutinising the post‐Soviet period, this volume offers explanations for both the frequency and the intensity of crises in the region. This book argues that the societies which emerged in the post-Soviet space share characteristic features, and that the instability and conflict-prone nature of the Soviet Union’s successor states can be explained by analysing the post-independence history of the region and linking it to the emergence of overlapping economic, political and violent crises (called 'Intersecting Crises Phenomena’). Transformation itself is shown to be a decisive process and, while acknowledging specific national and regional characteristics and differences, the authors demonstrate its shared impact. This comparison across countries and over time presents patterns of crisis and crisis management common to all the successor states. It disentangles the process, highlighting the multifaceted features of post-Soviet crises and draws upon the concept of crisis to determine the tipping points of post-Soviet development. Especially useful for scholars and students dealing with the Soviet successor states, this book should also prove interesting to those researching in the fields of communist and post‐communist Studies, Eurasian politics, international relations and peace and conflict studies.

Post-Soviet Conflicts

Post-Soviet Conflicts
Author: Ali Askerov
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 399
Release: 2020-10-07
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 149859655X

In the 30 years since the emergence of the post-Soviet conflicts things have both changed and remained the same – continuities and changes in post-Soviet conflicts are the primary themes of this volume – it addresses all major wars, civil wars, and rebellions in the former Soviet Union. The volume focuses on factors that have contributed or may contribute to the resolution of the post-Soviet conflicts, most of which have represented rather long and damaging crises. In all conflict cases Moscow has been guided by Russian state interests – some have been instigated or fueled, others driven to a frozen state, and still a couple of others have been constructively resolved due to Moscow’s intervention. Russia has used a long-term strategy for the resolution of those conflicts that have taken place on its soil, but in regards to the conflicts in other post-Soviet states, there is no long-term solution in sight. As such, the conflicts in Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova, and Nagorniy Karabakh, remain unresolved involving not only the named states, but Russia as well. They may represent localized national or regional crisis impacting only the states involved, but for the Russian Federation they epitomize one huge post-Soviet crisis with no obvious end.

Post-Soviet Conflicts

Post-Soviet Conflicts
Author: Ali Askerov
Publisher: Lexington Books
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2022-09-15
Genre:
ISBN: 9781498596565

Thirty years have passed since the emergence of the first conflicts in the Soviet Union. Some of them have been successfully resolved, but those that persist promise no peace for Russia and its neighbors.

Post-Soviet Conflict Potentials

Post-Soviet Conflict Potentials
Author: Cindy Wittke
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 119
Release: 2022-08-18
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1000641120

Instead of resurrecting old images and nourishing new narratives about a ‘New Cold War’, Post-Soviet Conflict Potentials features politically and legally oriented critical investigations into conflict potentials and dynamics in the post-Soviet region and beyond. Contributions coming from the disciplinary perspectives of international relations, international law, and comparative political science are linked to investigations dealing with international, transnational, regional and local levels of the dynamics between conflict and cooperation in the region. Despite the diversity of perspectives, the authors of this volume take a shared critical view on an alleged ‘New Cold War’ as their point of departure, observing that contemporary post-Soviet conflict potentials are produced through various discursive practices ranging from intentional choices of belligerent language to unintentional misinterpretations. The chapters in this volume seek to shed light on conflict potentials from different angles as well as on processes that increase or decrease the probability of political and violent conflicts in the post-Soviet region. Together, the authors offer individual and shared outside-the-box approaches to the study of conflict dynamics and potentials in the post-Soviet space. The book draws connections to conflict potentials on the cross-regional and global levels, providing varied perspectives on what can be learned in and from the post-Soviet region. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of Europe-Asia Studies.

Russia and the Former Soviet Space

Russia and the Former Soviet Space
Author: Vasile Rotaru
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
Total Pages: 374
Release: 2018-01-23
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1527507475

This book represents a fresh contribution to the contemporary academic debate regarding the determinants of current Russian foreign policy assertiveness. More precisely, it addresses the ways in which perceived security threats have been used by Russia to legitimize its interventions in the former Soviet Space. It is argued here that the security dimension has been successfully used by the Kremlin for the domestic justification of its aggressive actions in neighbouring countries, and that the narrative of the ‘besieged fortress’ was applied to both the war in Georgia and the intervention in Ukraine. Bringing together a number of authors from Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia, Moldova, Romania, Germany and the UK, the volume presents both local, regional and Western European perspectives on the various events analysed here. It will appeal to a wide range of students and professors specialized in Russia and the former Soviet space in the fields of international relations, international law, foreign policy analysis and security studies, as well as to think tanks and policy makers.

The Dynamics of Emerging De-Facto States

The Dynamics of Emerging De-Facto States
Author: Tetyana Malyarenko
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 112
Release: 2019-01-02
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0429827598

What are the causes and consequences of the crisis in Ukraine, and what has been the nature of local, national, and external actors’ involvement in it? These are the questions that the authors examine in this comprehensive analysis of the situation in Ukraine. The crisis evolved from peaceful protests to full-scale military conflict and to an unstable ceasefire frequently interrupted by, at times, intense clashes between government forces and separatist rebels. Tracing the emergence of two new de-facto state entities in the post-Soviet space—the self-declared Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics—from the chaos of the early days after Russia’s annexation of Crimea in Spring 2014 to the second Minsk Agreement in February 2015, and focusing on the actions of the immediate conflict parties and their external backers, the authors investigate the feasibility and viability of several prominent ‘scenarios’ for a possible future settlement of the conflict. As an in-depth case study of the complex dynamics of the conflict at local, national, regional, and global levels of analysis, the book complements and advances existing scholarship on civil war and international crisis management and also provides insights for the policy community and the wider interested public.

Everyone Loses

Everyone Loses
Author: Samuel Charap
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 133
Release: 2018-10-09
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0429626681

Disorder erupted in Ukraine in 2014, involving the overthrow of a sitting government, the Russian annexation of the Crimean peninsula, and a violent insurrection, supported by Moscow, in the east of the country. This Adelphi book argues that the crisis has yielded a ruinous outcome, in which all the parties are worse off and international security has deteriorated. This negative-sum scenario resulted from years of zero-sum behaviour on the part of Russia and the West in post-Soviet Eurasia, which the authors rigorously analyse. The rivalry was manageable in the early period after the Cold War, only to become entrenched and bitter a decade later. The upshot has been systematic losses for Russia, the West and the countries caught in between. All the governments involved must recognise that long-standing policies aimed at achieving one-sided advantage have reached a dead end, Charap and Colton argue, and commit to finding mutually acceptable alternatives through patient negotiation.

Russia After the Global Economic Crisis

Russia After the Global Economic Crisis
Author: Anders Åslund
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Total Pages: 319
Release: 2010-06-15
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0881325147

Russia After the Global Economic Crisis examines this important country after the financial crisis of 2007–09. The second book from The Russia Balance Sheet Project, a collaboration of two of the world's preeminent research institutions, the Peterson Institute for International Economics and the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), not only assesses Russia's international and domestic policy challenges but also provides an all-encompassing review of this important country's foreign and domestic issues. The authors consider foreign policy, Russia and its neighbors, climate change, Russia's role in the world, domestic politics, and corruption.

Post-Cold War Borders

Post-Cold War Borders
Author: Jussi Laine
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 431
Release: 2018-09-24
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0429957106

In the aftermath of the Ukraine crises, borders within the wider post-Cold War and post-Soviet context have become a key issue for international relations and public political debate. These borders are frequently viewed in terms of military preparedness and confrontation, but behind armed territorial conflicts there has been a broader shift in the regional balance of power and sovereignty. This book explores border conflicts in the EU’s eastern neighbourhood via a detailed focus on state power and sovereignty, set in the context of post-Cold war politics and international relations. By identifying changing definitions of sovereignty and political space the authors highlight competing strategies of legitimising and challenging borders that have emerged as a result of geopolitical transformations of the last three decades. This book uses comparative studies to examine country specific variation in border negotiation and conflict, and pays close attention to shifts in political debates that have taken place between the end of State Socialism, the collapse of the Soviet Union and the outbreak of the Ukraine crises. From this angle, Post-Cold War Borders sheds new light on change and variation in the political rhetoric of the EU, the Russian Federation, Ukraine and neighbouring EU member countries. Ultimately, the book aims to provide a new interpretation of changes in international order and how they relate to shifting concepts of sovereignty and territoriality in post-Cold war Europe. Shedding new light on negotiation and conflict over post-Soviet borders, this book will be of interest to students, researchers and policy makers in the fields of Russian and East European studies, international relations, geography, border studies and politics.