{"title":"The Impact of Economic Crisis: Russia, Belarus and Ukraine in Comparative Perspective","authors":"D. Lane","doi":"10.1080/13523279.2011.595356","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13523279.2011.595356","url":null,"abstract":"The differential participation of the post-communist countries in the world economy both conditions and mediates the effects of shocks from the world system. Major differences exist between leading European members of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) (Russia, Belarus and Ukraine) and the post-communist New Member States (NMS) of the European Union. In responding to the financial and economic crisis of 2007 onwards, countries of the CIS were relatively less dependent on, and less integrated into, the world financial system than the NMS; consequently, direct contagion from the world financial crisis, although significant, had less impact on them compared with the NMS. While Russia, Belarus and Ukraine share some economic and structural features, they also have important differences. Economic crises were results of transformation trajectories as well as of financial contagion from the West. Future economic scenarios for Russia, Belarus and Ukraine involve not only exchange with the world system, but greater domestic development and participation in semi-autonomous economic blocs, including the wider CIS.","PeriodicalId":206400,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics","volume":"228 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124522179","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Contrasting Responses to the International Economic Crisis of 2008–10 in the 11 CIS Countries and in the 10 Post-Communist EU Member Countries","authors":"R. Bideleux","doi":"10.1080/13523279.2011.595152","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13523279.2011.595152","url":null,"abstract":"Far from being uniform and amenable to broad generalizations, the consequences of the international economic crisis of 2008–10 for the post-communist states have been strikingly diverse, and the policy responses of these countries to those crises have been correspondingly varied. The 11 Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries, and the 10 post-communist states admitted into the EU in 2004 or 2007, were affected in different ways by the economic crisis and offered different responses to it. These widely differing impacts and responses can be satisfactorily explained and conceptualized in terms of relatively concrete and tangible differences in the structures of power, resources, opportunities, incentives and constraints that have emerged in these two broad groupings of countries. The economic systems that have emerged in most of the CIS countries have diverged substantially from those of the post-communist states that joined the EU, with significant cautionary implications for future attempts to integrate or associate CIS countries with the EU.","PeriodicalId":206400,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics","volume":"34 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126783293","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Belarusian Foreign Policy in a Time of Crisis","authors":"E. Korosteleva","doi":"10.1080/13523279.2011.595167","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13523279.2011.595167","url":null,"abstract":"As with the rest of the world, Belarus has been affected by the global economic crisis. However, the main consequences for the country were less economic, but rather political in nature. Although closely connected with Russia, it was not the spill-over of the crisis, such as the reduction in its hitherto ‘miraculous’ levels of economic growth to almost nothing in one year, that hit Belarus hard. Instead, it was Russia's deliberate politics of ‘pragmatization’, directed at its ‘near abroad’ to facilitate compliance of and interdependence with its neighbours, which dramatically altered Belarus's foreign policy landscape. The two principal corollaries of the global crisis for Belarus therefore included the new and irreversible search (successful or otherwise) for diversification away from Russia, and the reinvigorated sense of sovereignty with which Belarus now attempts to rebuild itself domestically and internationally.","PeriodicalId":206400,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics","volume":"126 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114497038","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Discourses of ‘Krizis’: Economic Crisis in Russia and Regime Legitimacy","authors":"Valentina Feklyunina, S. White","doi":"10.1080/13523279.2011.595154","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13523279.2011.595154","url":null,"abstract":"By the time Vladimir Putin left presidential office in early 2008, the claim to power by the Russian authorities had been increasingly based on performance legitimacy. The financial and economic crisis that began to extend to Russia in late 2008 represented a major challenge for the Putin and Medvedev ‘tandem’. Several narratives which suggest different assessments of the causes of the crisis and its significance for Russia were presented in official discourse by sections of the political elite during the years 2008–10 in an attempt to avoid a possible deficit in the regime's legitimacy.","PeriodicalId":206400,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics","volume":"199 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132389381","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Global Recession and the Belarusian Economy: Revealing Cracks in the Model","authors":"J. Korosteleva","doi":"10.1080/13523279.2011.608329","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13523279.2011.608329","url":null,"abstract":"In resolutely pursuing their own rigid economic policies, rather than engaging with international financial agencies and mechanisms and adopting market economic measures in common with their neighbours, the Belarusian authorities seem reluctant to part with the use of administrative measures to govern the economy and have become hostage to this dogma. At the same time, in the global crisis, the general worldwide tendency to increase the role of the state in the economy, including tightening of financial regulation and resorting to trade protectionist measures, provides some justification for the Belarusian authorities' actions in delaying policy reforms. However, in the light of the worsening economic situation in the first half of 2011, privatization of some strategic assets seems to be inevitable in the near future to address severe liquidity gaps.","PeriodicalId":206400,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics","volume":"18 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114646088","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Russia and China: Against the Storm","authors":"Mikhail Korostikov","doi":"10.1080/13523279.2011.595355","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13523279.2011.595355","url":null,"abstract":"The anti-recessionary policies and popular reactions to them that were followed in Russia and China between 2008 and 2010 differed significantly, even though the responses to the crisis followed a similar pattern in the two. The authorities in China, free of a need to take public opinion into account, responded more swiftly than those in Russia, but the packages of policies differed. As China's export markets dwindled, factories closed and millions of workers lost their jobs, so the government attempted to stimulate domestic demand and invest in infrastructure. In Russia, major investment in the financial sector dominated the response, and the government faced severe social responses, including strikes and demonstrations across the country. The results were comparable, but the crisis revealed different approaches of the two regimes in markedly different socio-economic circumstances.","PeriodicalId":206400,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130660688","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"How Did the Russian Population Respond to the Global Financial Crisis?","authors":"E. Teague","doi":"10.1080/13523279.2011.596118","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13523279.2011.596118","url":null,"abstract":"The way in which the Russian population responded to the global financial crisis – hunkering down and eschewing industrial action but, as time progressed, resorting with increasing frequency to social protests – suggests that the Putin regime had indeed, as many experts have argued, concluded a tacit social contract with the Russian people. However, this was not a simple matter of trading political rights for sausage. Rather, it depended on the expectation that stability would endure and prosperity would increase. When those expectations were disappointed, Russians showed that they were ready to protest and to challenge their leaders.","PeriodicalId":206400,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics","volume":"9 1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130826841","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Democratization in Russia and the Global Financial Crisis","authors":"I. McAllister, S. White","doi":"10.1080/13523279.2011.595159","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13523279.2011.595159","url":null,"abstract":"In principle, new democracies should be at greater risk from economic crisis than established ones. And without a popular reservoir of good will for democracy, and in the absence of an electorate that has had extended experience of distinguishing between the government and the political system as a whole, they are at particular risk. The impact of the 2008–9 global financial crisis in post-communist Russia suggests that this may not apply universally. In fact, public support for democratic values has been relatively unaffected by the crisis, in spite of its direct effects on the lives of many ordinary Russians. This may be explained by a history of economic crises and a tradition of ‘getting by’ when such crises erupt; a greater popular preoccupation with who holds public office than with how effectively they govern; and the lack of a competitive party system, including an effective opposition.","PeriodicalId":206400,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics","volume":"53 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124227207","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Great Slump of 2008–9 and Ukraine's Integration with the European Union","authors":"R. Connolly, N. Copsey","doi":"10.1080/13523279.2011.595164","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13523279.2011.595164","url":null,"abstract":"For a number of years following the Orange revolution of 2004, Ukraine aspired to join the European Union. Although full integration was never a short-term prospect, European integration, through the Association Agreement and the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area, offers considerable benefits to Ukraine. However, the country was severely affected by the Great Slump of 2008–9 in the global economy, and this profoundly negative experience has shaped Ukrainian domestic and foreign policy in the subsequent period, putting paid to aspirations to EU membership and influencing the Ukrainian government's decision to seek a closer relationship with Russia immediately following the presidential election of 2010. Nevertheless, closer relations with Russia should not adversely affect Ukraine's efforts at EU integration.","PeriodicalId":206400,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics","volume":"29 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123132405","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Russian Patrimonial Capitalism and the International Financial Crisis","authors":"N. Robinson","doi":"10.1080/13523279.2011.595155","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13523279.2011.595155","url":null,"abstract":"The international financial crisis brought Russia's run of economic growth to a halt and has given a greater sense of urgency to President Medvedev's calls for modernization. This, however, does not mean that crisis has changed Russia or its political economy. Russia's economic system is a form of patrimonial capitalism, a particular form of patrimonialism created when patrimonial systems reform under the influence of global economic forces. Russian patrimonial capitalism developed in the 1990s and stabilized under Putin. This type of capitalism is hard to change and does not tend to promote economic modernization or diversification. The crisis has so far not fatally wounded this system, and this will make future reform harder to secure.","PeriodicalId":206400,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics","volume":"33 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115804290","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}