Satellite States Research Articles

Persecution and Migrant Self-Selection: Evidence from the Collapse of the Communist Bloc

Abstract How does persecution affect who migrates? We analyze migrants' self-selection out of the USSR and its satellite states before and after the collapse of Communism using census microdata. We find that migrants arriving before and around the time of the collapse (who were more likely to have moved because of persecution) were more educated and obtained better labor market outcomes than those arriving later. This change is not fully explained by the removal of Communist-era emigration restrictions. Instead, we show both theoretically and empirically that this pattern is consistent with more positive self-selection of migrants who are motivated by persecution.

ACTIVITIES OF NATIONALIST FORMATIONS OF HUNGARY AND THE UKRAINE IN THE ESTABLISHMENT OF HITLER’S ‟NEW ORDER” IN BRYANSK REGION (1941–1943)

The adoption of Hitler’s side by the 3rd Reich satellite states’ citizens as well as representatives of a number of peoples of the USSR for active participation against the Red Army and Soviet partisans, is one of the little-studied topics of the World War II East Front history; as well as the role of those persons in war crimes against Soviet civilians. Bryansk Region was one of the occupied territories of the USSR, where such collaboration took place on a large scale. Here, together with Hitler’s Wehrmacht, such nationals as the French, Italians, Finns, Spaniards, Romanians, Greeks, Croats, the Ukraine Rusyns acted, as well as a number of Russian renegade formations. In this article, on the basis of archival documents from Bryansk archives, including recently declassified documents from the archives of the political police department of Bryansk Region, as well as on the basis of recollections of participants in fighting, casual witnesses and on the basis of testimonies of surviving victims, the participation of Hitler’s most brutal collaborators – units of the Hungarian and Ukraine units – in the destruction of the Soviet civilians, is studied. The main attention is paid to the elucidation of criminal motives and purposes of Hitler’s collaborators; to what concrete crimes against humanity they committed; and also what were the true scales of their role in the establishment and attempts to maintain Hitler’s ‘new order’ in the occupied territory of Bryansk Region.

Influences of Space Weather Forecasting Uncertainty on Satellite Conjunction Assessment

AbstractA significant increase in the number of anthropogenic objects in Earth orbit has necessitated the development of satellite conjunction assessment and collision avoidance capabilities for new spacecraft. Neutral mass density variability in the thermosphere, driven by enhanced geomagnetic activity and solar EUV absorption, is a major source of satellite propagation error. This work investigates the impacts of space weather driver forecasting uncertainty on satellite drag and collision avoidance maneuver decision‐making. Since most operational space weather driver forecasts do not offer an uncertainty assessment, the satellite operator community is left to make dangerous assumptions about the trustworthiness of the forecast models they use to perform satellite state propagation. Climatological persistence‐based forecast models are developed for F10.7 and Kp. These models accurately capture the heteroscedastic and, at times, highly non‐Gaussian uncertainty distribution on forecasts of the drivers of interest. A set of realistic satellite conjunction scenarios is simulated to demonstrate the contributions of space weather driver forecast uncertainty on the probability of collision and maneuver decisions. Improved driver forecasts, especially forecasts of F10.7, are demonstrated to be very useful for enabling durable maneuver decisions with additional lead time (up to 24 hr for the period examined), though the improvement depends on the specific conjunction scenario of interest.

Belarus’ Sovereignty in Question: Assessing its de facto Sovereign Status in the Shadow of Russia

The paper explores state sovereignty by developing a systematic framework for categorising states based on their sovereignty status. At the heart of our analysis lies the distinction between sovereign states and satellite states – a distinction that has significant implications for global security, stability, and the balance of power. While sovereign states exercise full autonomy and control over their affairs, satellite states often find themselves in a subordinate position, heavily influenced or even dominated by external powers. A theoretical framework deconstructs the concept of sovereignty into four crucial elements: authority, legitimacy, independence, and territoriality, which provide a structured assessment of the level of sovereignty in a state and serve as the basis for our analysis. To illustrate the application of our framework, we adopt a case study approach focused on Belarus. As a nation situated at the crossroads of Eastern Europe with a history marked by geopolitical contestation and strategic manoeuvring, Belarus provides a compelling context for examining sovereignty dynamics. Through a systematic analysis of Belarus’ political, economic, and military landscape, we seek to assess its sovereignty status within the framework of our analysis. While the topic of Belarus’ sovereignty and integration within Russia has been extensively explored over the years, the innovative contribution of this paper lies in purposefully designed methodology for sovereignty assessment and the use of the latest empirical data while practically applying the model for the case of Belarus.

Self-Defence As Remedial Self-Determination: Continuity in Russian Narratives to Justify Imperialism and the Use of Force

The principle of self-determination is at the centre of the Russian Federation’s (Russia’s) ‘justifications’ for using force against Ukraine and supporting the separatist entities in its eastern provinces, as demonstrated by official statements of Russia’s representatives and the oral and written submissions to the inter-state proceedings on the application of the Genocide Convention before the International Court of Justice (Ukraine v. Russia). In particular, Russia construes self-defence as an exercise of remedial self-determination, supporting territorial separation and the creation of satellite states or their annexation by the Federation. This is in continuity with Russia’s policies and argumentations utilised in other contexts such as Crimea, Abkhazia and South Ossetia. These cases differ in their context and history but share the same remedial approach to external self-determination as a purported justification to use force. This is also in partial continuity with the tradition of Soviet approaches to self-determination. Like other states’ self-indulgent ‘exceptionalism’ in international law, Russia’s cherry-picking application of self-determination reveals its instrumental usage to camouflage imperialistic aggression and expansionistic ambitions.

Neural Network-Based Formation Flying Using Aerodynamic Forces via Variable Shape Function

Conventional formation flying Earth-orbiting satellites control their orbits to perform their missions using thrusters, but the amount of propellant loaded into a satellite is limited. Therefore, the use of aerodynamic forces for orbit control has been attracting attention, particularly in low Earth orbit. The orbit control can be achieved by appropriately changing the state of satellite, such as attitude and shape, to meet the aerodynamic requirements. In modeling the relationship between satellite state and aerodynamic forces, conventional methods ignore the shielding caused by the nonconvexity of the satellite’s appearance. Ignoring the shielding creates a gap between the modeled and the real aerodynamic forces, resulting in poor control performance. To solve this problem, we propose an aerodynamic force modeling method that incorporates a neural network to estimate the shielding. We train the neural network using data from an aerodynamics simulator. The optimal state that not only generates the required aerodynamic forces but also improves controllability under various mechanical constraints is obtained by solving an optimization problem that incorporates the proposed aerodynamic model. We conduct numerical simulations for establishing and maintaining general circular orbit formations. The results show convergence and continuous stable control of the deputy satellite to the ideal orbit.

A narrativa de Hemingway na Espanha da Guerra Civil e suas implicações históricas e políticas a partir da teoria de Edward Said

This article consists in an historical analysis of three works by Ernest Hemingway that are set in the Spanish Civil War. The analysis is complemented by Edward Said’s theory called Orientalism to extract the narrative that the author proposes to be contrasted with the historical events to see how it is that the narrative that sought to unite the United States with the USSR to go together against fascism contributed to the illusion in which republican and democratic Spain of has being seen as a satellite state of the Soviet Union and, therefore, an enemy of the United States in the framework of the recently begun Cold War.

Why Did Philip Morris Stop Making Cigarettes at Auschwitz?

After the collapse of communism in the satellite states of the Soviet Union, global cigarette makers began acquiring factories throughout Eastern Europe to capitalize on this new market opportunity. Drawing on victims’ accounts of the Holocaust, this article rediscovers the Philip Morris cigarette factory at Auschwitz—a manufacturing plant once used by the SS to torture and execute prisoners from the first transports to the killing center. Confidential tobacco industry documents disgorged through litigation show that the world's largest cigarette maker was aware of this heritage prior to purchasing these factories, and made efforts to control the fallout from this potential PR blunder. During these same years, cigarette makers were publicly equating cigarettes with liberty, airing advertisements comparing smokers to the persecuted Jews of Nazi Europe. Exposing these trespasses both physical and rhetorical, this article reflects on one site where two very different atrocities collide.

동아시아 평화의 초석으로서 한일 문화적 사유 고찰

According to the traditional Balance of Power theory, the emergence of the great power results in the emergence of an anti-defeat alliance between the powers. Furthermore, there is an opinion that it is unnecessary along with the necessity of forming an anti-defeat coalition of the overwhelming one-pole system. In addition, some argue that deepening interdependence between countries through trade suppresses war, but realism's position is strong that this interdependence is not a sufficient condition for peace.
 During the Cold War, the two systems of the United States and the Soviet Union were converted to a one-nation system, but the instability of the system was revealed everywhere, and this Russian invasion of Ukraine was the trigger for a new order reorganization as a full-fledged crack signal in the world order that had been maintained since the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The Korean Peninsula is in a position to openly reject China economically and politically due to the geographical conditions sandwiched between China and the Japanese archipelago and the increased proportion of trade since diplomatic relations with the communist Chinese Communist Party began with northern diplomacy. In addition, the U.S. and Japan are demanding that Korea leave the situation behind, press Korea with the logic of its own sentiment, and leave China. This is not only a tension with the United States, but also a forceful and powerless approach to the Chinese satellite state. Specifically, it can be linked to the territorial claim of Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the Ryukyu Kingdom, which was formerly a subordinate state of China.
 At this point, we approached the cultural reality of Korea-Japan relations related to the East Asian Tunnel, focusing on the understanding of Korea-Japan cultural sentiment (情緖) and the Japanese archipelago's favor for Baekje, which reproduced the path of peace between the Korean Peninsula and the Japanese archipelago.

Conflict Resolution between Russia and Ukraine Based on an International Law Perspective

The conflict between Ukraine and Russia is not something new. The Russian invasion of Ukraine, which began on February 24, 2022, is one of the significant upheavals in the global order since World War II. The roots of the conflict between Ukraine and Russia can be traced back to Ukraine gaining independence in 1991 after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Since then, Ukraine has become one of Russia's most vital satellite states, influenced by Russian politicians, oligarchs, and businesses. The concentration of forces and military drills eventually led to the invasion conducted by Russia into the territory of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. This invasion then intensified, encouraging various efforts to resolve the conflict. This analysis aims to examine the resolution of the dispute between Russia and Ukraine from the perspective of International Law. The research employed a normative legal research approach. Several attempts to resolve the Ukraine-Russia conflict have been made, including through negotiations, efforts by Turkey, interventions by the United Nations Security Council, and mediations conducted by four countries, namely Turkey, Israel, China, and Indonesia. However, these efforts did not yield any results. Currently, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) is urgently trying to persuade Russia to cease its invasion of Ukraine, but Russia has declined to attend the hearings.

The Contribution of Czechoslovakia to Creation of the Independent State of Israel

This article examines the diplomatic relations between Czechoslovakia and the Zionist movement during the late 1940s in regard to Czechoslovakia's contribution to the establishment of the State of Israel in May 1948. The support provided by Czechoslovakia, both diplomatically and militarily, played a pivotal role in the formation of an independent Jewish state. Notably, this assistance continued even after Czechoslovakia underwent a political regime change following the communist coup d'état in February 1948. The article aims to unravel the reasons behind this exceptional cooperation between two seemingly distant actors, both geographically and ideologically. Drawing upon recently disclosed archival collections from the relevant Czech archives and providing the insight to the foreign policy of a Soviet satellite, this research aligns with the historiographic paradigm known as the New Cold War History. By focusing on the contributions of satellite states to Cold War history, it sheds light on Czechoslovakia's significant role in shaping the geopolitical landscape of the Middle East in late 1940s. Even though it might have been a somewhat marginalized story in the later decades of the Cold War due to the affiliation of the two countries with opposite ideological blocs, the history of Czechoslovakia's contribution to the creation of the State of Israel is now recognized as one of the significant narratives in the mutual relations between the two states, demonstrating the importance of past-present linkages.

Autonomous Optimal Absolute Orbit Keeping through Formation Flying Techniques

In this paper, the problem of autonomous optimal absolute orbit keeping for a satellite mission in Low Earth Orbit using electric propulsion is considered. The main peculiarity of the approach is to support small satellite missions in which the platform is equipped with a single thruster nozzle that provides acceleration on a single direction at a time. This constraint implies that an attitude maneuver is necessary before or during each thrusting arc to direct the nozzle into the desired direction. In this context, an attitude guidance algorithm specific for the orbit maneuver has been developed. A Model Predictive Control scheme is proposed, where the attitude kinematics are coupled with the orbital dynamics in order to obtain the optimal guidance profiles in terms of satellite state, reference attitude, and thrust magnitude. The proposed control scheme is developed exploiting formation flying techniques where the reference orbit is that of a virtual spacecraft that the main satellite is required to rendezvous with. In addition to the controller design, the closed-loop configuration is presented supported by numerical simulations. The efficacy of the proposed autonomous orbit-keeping approach is shown in several application scenarios.

Sharof Rashidov's Role in Cold War Diplomacy: A Soviet Uzbekistan Perspective

After World War II, the Soviet Union gained significant international prestige, which required a comprehensive approach to foreign policy. Newly liberated nations in Africa and Asia, seeking to break free from enduring colonial legacies, became a crucial battleground for Soviet propaganda. Over time, this trend gained momentum, leading to new approaches in Soviet diplomacy. Satellite states and non-Kremlin individuals played an active role in shaping Soviet foreign policy. The case of Soviet Uzbekistan, led by Sharof Rashidov, is particularly notable. Rashidov's exceptional diplomatic skills allowed him to play a prominent role in key events during the Cold War era, guiding his country for 24 years. The main goal of this study is to determine if there was a powerful and semi-autonomous actor outside of the Kremlin, shedding light on the complexities of decentralized involvement within the Soviet geopolitical landscape.

An improved robust filtering against observation and satellite state anomalies in centralized autonomous orbit determination for GNSS

Anomalies caused by the failure of ranging-related facilities and satellite orbit maneuvering will greatly affect the performance of Autonomous Orbit Determination (AOD) for Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). In view of that, we proposed an improved robust filtering named as Resisting Anomaly Robust Filtering (RARF) to improve the precision and enhance the reliability of AOD in situation of anomalies in observations and states of satellites (i.e. orbit maneuvering). We performed the centralized AOD with the RARF for a hybrid GNSS constellation using simulated observations, and analyzed its performance in cases of no anomaly, anomalies in observations only and anomalies in states of satellites only. The experimental results indicate that: (1) With anomalies in observations only, the RARF is much more robust than the extended Kalman filter (EKF), and results of AOD with the RARF are entirely free from abnormal observations; (2) In the situation of anomalies in states of satellites only, the precision of AOD with the RARF can reach to the order of 10 m after 1.5 h orbit recovery if an anchor is available. As the solving time extends, the precision of AOD can be up to dm level.

“Misguided radiations”: reactions of the political and administrative leadership from Hungary to the Chernobyl nuclear disaster

The Chernobyl disaster constituted a serious challenge, not only for the Soviet Union - embarked on the path of reforms initiated by Mikhail Gorbachev -, but also for the signatory countries of the Warsaw Pact - among which at that time was the RPU (People’s Republic Hungary – Magyar Népköztársaság). The content of the questions to which political leaders and specialists from the most different fields of activity had to find concrete and immediate answers, aimed at the manner in which a crisis situation could be treated, the effects and proportions of which could only be imagined, as there was no precedent. Under these conditions, the dissemination of information to Western countries was done, in accordance with the totalitarian practice of the time, through the propaganda apparatuses of the regimes in the satellite states of Moscow, taking into account the interests of the Kremlin. From the study of archival materials, it appears that the RPU had approaches characteristic of a dictatorship in transition.

Revisiting the case of ‘blood-brothers’: A constructivist approach in North Korea-China relations

North Korea and China’s relations have, from time to time, been addressed by the international media as ‘symbolic brothers’, and often come into the academic discussion in the context of the ‘Korean War’ (1950-1953). It is captured in the larger debate, with North Korea as a by-product or satellite state of China, but the socio-political view of a created society has not been addressed much. The major development that took place during the time was the symbolic production of terminology such as ‘blood-brothers’ or as close as ‘lips and teeth relations’ which has reciprocal leverage in each-other’s politics. In this case, social constructivism asserts that knowledge undergoes construction through human activity and individuals create meaning through their interactions. The paper takes a constructivist approach as a socio-political view on the Korean War, emphasizing the role of social factors such as identity in the construction of interest and action. It argues that it was the social construction of inter-subjective belief and shared understanding that shaped North Korea-China relations.

Description of the KLL Auger-Meitner decay spectra of argon following primary and satellite core-ionized states.

The K-edge photoelectron and KLL Auger-Meitner decay spectra of Argon have been investigated computationally at the restricted active space perturbation theory to the second order level using biorthonormally transformed orbital sets. Binding energies were computed for the Ar 1s primary ionization, as well as for satellite states originated from shake-up and shake-off processes. Based on our calculations, the contributions of shake-up and shake-off states to the KLL Auger-Meitner spectra of Argon have been completely elucidated. Our results are compared with recent state-of-the-art experimental measurements on Argon.

Hungary’s Pragmatic Diplomacy in the Age of Détente: The Case of the African Opening between 1956 and 1970

Abstract Following the change of the political systems that swept across the former Soviet Bloc region toward the end of the 1980s, it was obvious for the ex ‑satellite states that they would direct the major (re)orientation in their foreign policies towards the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. Since the 2010s, every country of the ex ‑Communist Bloc, including the Russian Federation itself, has fostered pragmatic foreign policies with African regions and states. To be able to understand present ‑day Hungary’s recently enhanced engagements with the African continent, as well as making sense of its governmental ‘Africa Strategy’ of April 2019, this paper proposes to offer a general and historical analysis of changing geopolitical landscapes and foreign policies – towards Africa in the Age of Détente, between 1956 and 1970.

Iron Curtain: A Love Story by Vesna Goldsworthy

Reviewed by: Iron Curtain: A Love Story by Vesna Goldsworthy Damjana Mraović-O'Hare VESNA GOLDSWORTHY Iron Curtain: A Love Story New York. W. W. Norton. 2023. 336 pages. MILENA URBANSKA, the main character of Vesna Goldsworthy's Iron Curtain: A Love Story, is a child of privilege. An offspring of one of the two founders of a politically restrictive Soviet satellite state, Milena's life in the 1980s is marked by indulging in foreign pop culture, designer clothes, and trips abroad. Despite having a "dismal" attendance record and average performance, she is recognized as the top college student. She and her boyfriend, a child of another high-ranking state politician, are considered the Diana and Charles of her country. Milena claims that she is a rebel, both against the system and, consequently, her father, but her trespasses amount to decadent parties, sullen moods, and verbal outbursts to her parents. Milena is misunderstood and unhappy—she claims—and yet her discomfort is rather generational than political. When Milena complains about the constant lack of toilet paper in public bathrooms, she laments that she had to "waste another handkerchief. I like the touch of silk, but it was a pity always to have to throw these things away." Milena, though, changes when Misha, her Charles, kills himself playing drunk Russian roulette after serving only a few weeks of mandatory army service. Milena did not stop the game in which she also participated, and the guilt transforms her into a dedicated student and, later, a successful translator. The second change is instigated by Jason, a visiting British poet for whom she translates at a literary conference: an intense and brief love affair is followed by plans to continue their life in London. Expectedly, when Milena finally reaches the West, nothing lives up to its promise, while Jason's ultimate betrayal can be avenged only by asking for help from those against whom Milena supposedly initially revolted: her motherland and her father. The decision to acknowledge the political power of an eastern country, however, is ironic: the novel opens in December 1990, with the fall of the Iron Curtain. Milena's happiness is unattainable, regardless of politics. In her third novel, the well-established Goldsworthy revisits some of the themes she has previously discussed in her fiction and academic work, notably the ways in which the West and the East perceive each other, as well as questions of identity and freedom. Her Inventing Ruritania: The Imperialism of the Imagination (1998) is an essential contribution to Balkan studies; Gorsky (2015) follows a Russian oligarch living in contemporary London but is inspired by The Great Gatsby; Monsieur Ka (2018) is about Anna Karenina's son in post-World War II Britain. Iron Curtain, although "just" a love story, is Goldsworthy's finest novel so far: it is nuanced, funny, and relevant in a world that seems to be actively working on a new Iron Curtain. Damjana Mraović-O'Hare Carson-Newman University Copyright © 2023 World Literature Today and the Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma

Vibrational effects on the valence electronic structure of acetaldehyde: An electron momentum spectroscopy investigation

We report an electron momentum spectroscopy investigation on the valence electronic structure of an important interstellar organic molecule acetaldehyde. The electron momentum profiles are measured using a high-sensitivity angle and energy dispersive multichannel electron momentum spectrometer at incident energy of 1200 eV plus the binding energy. The measurements are compared with the theoretical calculations by density functional theory (B3LYP) and Hartree-Fock method with 6-311++G** and aug-cc-pVTZ basis sets carried out at the equilibrium molecular geometry and by considering vibrational effects. The results exhibit significant influence of nuclear vibrational motion on the momentum profiles for valence orbitals of acetaldehyde, especially 2a′′, 8a′ and 1a′′ orbitals. Analysis of contributions of individual vibrational normal modes shows that CH3 d-deform mode v5 and CH3 d-stretch mode ν11 play dominant roles. In addition, a (6a′)−1 satellite state at ∼20.8 eV is observed.