{"title":"Belarus and the West: From Estrangement to Honeymoon","authors":"G. Ioffe","doi":"10.1080/13523279.2011.564090","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13523279.2011.564090","url":null,"abstract":"From 1996 to 2007, the avowed goal of policies towards Belarus pursued by both the EU and the USA was to promote democracy in that country. In 2007, the EU switched from ostracizing the country's political regime to engaging with it and was accused of a double standard by the Belarusian opposition. The change in question reflects an altered appraisal of the political landscape. Whereas previously the leader of Belarus was seen as a nuisance who could be cast aside were the opposition generously funded, from 2007 to 2010 he was viewed as a tested leader and a potential ally, and Belarusian ‘democrats’ were no longer taken seriously. Thus, change in the EU's Belarusian policy pertained to the means and not the goal, which continued to be the geopolitical reorientation of Belarus. Consequently, the relationship between geopolitics and democracy-promotion closely matches that between the foreign policy's rationale and its public relations apparatus.","PeriodicalId":206400,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics","volume":"63 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-05-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126736824","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 Centrality of the United Nations in Russian Foreign Policy","authors":"R. Panagiotou","doi":"10.1080/13523279.2011.564088","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13523279.2011.564088","url":null,"abstract":"Russia's relations with and attitude towards the United Nations (UN) cannot be viewed in isolation from its greater foreign policy goals. As these goals changed and evolved throughout various periods of Soviet and Russian history, relations with the UN have reflected these changes and have adapted accordingly. One of the key components of Russia's early post-Soviet foreign policy was the desire to re-establish great power status and to reverse its post-Cold War irrelevance and decline in prestige. At the time, this could be achieved only through its status as a permanent member of an empowered Security Council. The shifting global equilibrium of the past few years – characterized by the re-emergence of a multipolar global configuration and a resurgent Russian foreign policy – suggests that Russia will no longer be relying on membership of the Security Council to assert its great power status.","PeriodicalId":206400,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics","volume":"18 4","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-05-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131894806","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":"Surkovian Narrative on the Future of Russia: Making Russia a World Leader","authors":"Sirke Mäkinen","doi":"10.1080/13523279.2011.564084","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13523279.2011.564084","url":null,"abstract":"Vladislav Surkov, the first deputy head of the Russian presidential administration and one of the key ideologists during Putin's presidency, offers an interesting insight into the Russian political elite and their narratives on Russia's past, present and future. The ultimate goal in the Surkovian narrative is to make Russia a leader in the world and guarantee the well-being of Russian citizens. Modernization should be understood as one of the main means in order to achieve this. The Surkovian narrative is strongly influenced by neo-liberal ideology and accordingly emphasizes the responsibility of citizens for their own well-being and happiness. However, Surkov assigns the state a stronger role than the conventional neo-liberal logic would suggest, thereby partly reproducing the former Russian and Soviet modernization discourses by stressing Russia's distinctive path to modernization.","PeriodicalId":206400,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics","volume":"24 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-05-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125124628","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 JCSTP Prize 2010","authors":"","doi":"10.1080/13523279.2011.544516","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13523279.2011.544516","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":206400,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics","volume":"176 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129063126","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":"Belarus in the Context of the Neighbourhood Policy: Between the EU and Russia","authors":"D. Rotman, N. Veremeeva","doi":"10.1080/13523279.2011.544384","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13523279.2011.544384","url":null,"abstract":"Belarus's location in the geographical heart of Europe places the country in a strategically important position between Russia and the European Union (EU), and the country's history – ancient and modern – reflects this reality. In the period of post-Soviet independence, positive and negative tendencies in the country's relations with those two powers have been encountered. From the inception of Belarus's sovereignty, successive governments have striven to develop a multi-vector foreign policy relationship with the outside world. However, owing to subjective and objective factors, this has not always been possible, resulting in a policy imbalance, under the external pressure of its greater neighbours. The opinions of experts and of the public reflect historical experiences, and manifest a measure of mistrust towards the EU, while also recognizing certain benefits from pursuing a more positive engagement than hitherto. As a sovereign state, Belarus has no need to dissolve its identity either in the EU project or into a greater Russia; rather, it is capable of asserting itself as a sovereign player in the international area, conscious of its national interests and priorities. Only in such circumstances of equal partnership will Belarus be appreciated and recognized in its external milieu.","PeriodicalId":206400,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics","volume":"57 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-02-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116886772","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 Eastern Partnership Initiative: A New Opportunity for Neighbours?","authors":"E. Korosteleva","doi":"10.1080/13523279.2011.544381","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13523279.2011.544381","url":null,"abstract":"The EU's relationship with its neighbours to the east has long been founded on the aspiration to build a kind of partnership that does not automatically offer the prospect of membership to former Soviet republics apart from the Baltic States. The mechanism for this was initially the European Neighbourhood Policy, embracing a wider range of countries, which has been further buttressed by the Eastern Partnership initiative (EaP) in an effort to revitalize the partnership-building process in the east. Although more differentiated and versatile, the EaP has nevertheless inherited the Neighbourhood Policy's original conceptual limitations, especially concerning the ill-defined nature of partnership. Practical limitations, on the other hand, include the policy's lack of coherence and management, as well as its low visibility and public appreciation on the ground across the board. The East European response to the EU's initiative reveals further tensions and contradictions, especially pertaining to partner countries' geopolitics and cultural and civilization differences. It is clear that the EU's ‘politics of inclusion’ needs further conceptualization in order to shift the balance away from the EU towards the partner countries themselves. Only in these circumstances of de-centring can the notion of partnership become true and effective.","PeriodicalId":206400,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics","volume":"73 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-02-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122285313","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–EU Relations, or How the Russians Really View the EU","authors":"S. Tumanov, A. Gasparishvili, E. Romanova","doi":"10.1080/13523279.2011.544387","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13523279.2011.544387","url":null,"abstract":"The recent history and the current state of relations between Russia and the European Union (EU) reflect the geopolitical competition between the two powers over their contested neighbourhood – Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova. Although prioritizing the EU as its major trade and political partner, Russia is also conscious of its strategic interests in the ‘near abroad’. While there is little discrimination in the political discourse of Russian elites in relation to the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP), in reality, as popular opinion indicates, those neighbours who openly show their allegiances to the EU – Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova – have been increasingly categorized as hostile and unfriendly towards Russia. Public opinion remains strikingly congruent with and reflective of government foreign policy preferences.","PeriodicalId":206400,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics","volume":"21 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-02-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121397591","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":"Moldova Under the European Neighbourhood Policy: ‘Falling Between Stools’","authors":"Olga Danii, Mariana Mascauteanu","doi":"10.1080/13523279.2011.544385","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13523279.2011.544385","url":null,"abstract":"Since attaining independence in 1991, Moldova has experienced complex relationships with its neighbours, including Russia and the EU. Under the European Neighbourhood Policy, it has enjoyed successes and endured difficulties in its relationship with the EU, including various forms of co-operation – ranging from legal–institutional to cultural and geopolitical – based on the perception that the two polities form a boundary around which specific politics revolve. Public perceptions and the rhetoric and actions of the elite reveal two main features of EU–Moldovan relations: the lack of political will in Moldova and the lack of commitment on the part of the EU, which in conjunction fail to provide the necessary incentives for the process of reform and the prospects of European engagement for Moldova.","PeriodicalId":206400,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics","volume":"8 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-02-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126642357","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":"Ukraine and the Eastern Partnership: ‘Lost in Translation’?","authors":"O. Stegniy","doi":"10.1080/13523279.2011.544383","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13523279.2011.544383","url":null,"abstract":"Relations between Ukraine and the European Union, under the European Neighbourhood Policy and the newly launched Eastern Partnership Initiative, have undergone considerable progress in the development of multi-faceted forms of co-operation between the two sides. These include a gradual reorientation of the Ukrainian population westwards, and their incremental appreciation of European values, including those of democracy, freedoms and human rights. The 2010 presidential election serves as a testimony to Ukraine's growing commitment to European standards. On the negative side, however, a lack of balance between EU and Ukrainian interests can still be observed, as can a certain short-sightedness on the part of Brussels officials in treating Ukraine mainly as a cordon sanitaire between Europe and the post-Soviet territories. There is also a growing lack of motivation within the Ukrainian political elite to implement practical reforms, and this suggests limited partnership and transparency in Ukraine's relationship with the EU.","PeriodicalId":206400,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics","volume":"69 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-02-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134158608","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":"Contested Neighbourhood, or How to Reconcile the Differences","authors":"T. Radchuk","doi":"10.1080/13523279.2011.544382","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/13523279.2011.544382","url":null,"abstract":"The geopolitical and cultural boundaries that exist between the European Union (EU) and its eastern neighbourhood – Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova and Russia – are subject to development as the various sides seek to construct and maintain distinctions and to delineate potential grounds for their reconciliation. Analysis of the foreign policy considerations of the countries, their relations with the EU and mutual perceptions and socio-cultural values reveals that the EU reinforces the boundaries rather than accommodating them, and much less transforming them. In contrast to the EU's ‘politics of exclusion’, the eastern neighbours are more ready to negotiate ‘disturbances’ and transform the rigid boundaries erected by the EU. The grounds of reconciliation lie in two-way positive perceptions of the various polities, and more importantly in certain cultural values that pertain to the EU but are seen by the countries' citizens as being important for their own societies.","PeriodicalId":206400,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics","volume":"9 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2011-02-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121010977","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}