Soviet Union Countries Research Articles

The Linguistic and Rhetorical Legacy of the Prague Spring: Reading the Czechoslovak Communist Party Daily, Rudé právo, from the Late 1980s

This study uses a corpus-informed lexicological approach to analyse texts published in the Czechoslovak Communist Party daily Rudé právo during the final years of Communist rule in Czechoslovakia. The analysis aims to uncover how far such texts represented a departure from or a reaffirmation of the norms of the pre-Gorbachev era and, in particular, the role that they played in the Party’s attempt to control interpretations of the 1968 Prague Spring. The investigation also considers ways in which the texts sought to construct a ‘new’ reality in the light of the changes in the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact countries. The article maintains that the ‘authoritative discourse’ model represents an especially useful analytical framework for evaluating the impact of ideological language in the context of the Communist system. The model both helps to explain the relative acquiescence of most of the population, and also to track the extent to which the ‘coded’ message of the approved discourse was successful in slowing the demise of the regime.

ОБДЕЛЕННЫЕ ВНИМАНИЕМ: УРОКИ РЕГУЛИРОВАНИЯ МИГРАЦИИ В РОССИИ И ТАДЖИКИСТАНE

This paper analyses the recent developments and general direction of migration policy in two former Soviet Union countries - Russia and Tajikistan - from the lens of the current narrative in the field of migration research, paying attention to the economic and demographic reasons for migration, its legal and political framework, and the nascent integration and inclusion programs. While explaining the roots of the existing migration policy, and distinguishing between the migration policies of sending and receiving countries, the paper defines such terms as migration regime, migration mechanisms and migration regulations. The paper concludes that Russian migration policy reflects the inconsistency between the de jure liberal principles/ norms and their de facto restrictive application. The deeply embedded desire to limit an influx of the “Other” in Russia presents a serious threat to migration policy and the future economic development of the country. By contrast, while developing a comprehensive legislation, Tajikistan lacks the political will and resources to monitor its implementation and progressively demand the delivery of the results.

Движущие факторы, ограничения и компромиссы, связанные с возвращением в оборот заброшенных пахотных земель в России, Украине и Казахстане

Further cropland expansion might be unavoidable to satisfy the growing demand for land- based products and ecosystem services. A crucial issue is thus to assess the trade-offs between social and ecological impacts and the benefits of converting additional land to cropland. In the former Soviet Union countries, where the transition from state-command to market-driven economies resulted in widespread agricultural land abandonment, cropland expansion may incur relatively low costs, especially compared with tropical regions. Our objectives were to quantify the drivers, constraints and trade-offs associated with recultivating abandoned cropland to assess the potentially available cropland in European Russia, western Siberia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan - the region where the vast majority of post- Soviet cropland abandonment took place. Using spatial panel regressions, we characterized the socio-economic determinants of cropland abandonment and recultivation. We then used recent maps of changes in cropland to 1) spatially characterize the socio-economic, accessibility and soil constraints associated with the recultivation of abandoned croplands and 2) investigate the environmental trade-offs regarding carbon stocks and habitat for biodiversity. Less cropland abandonment and more recultivation after 2000 occurred in areas with an increasing rural population and a younger labor force, but also improved yields. Synergies were observed between cropland recultivation and intensification over the 2000s. From 47.3 million hectares (Mha) of cropland abandoned in 2009, we identified only 8.5 (7.1-17.4) Mha of potentially available cropland with low environmental tradeoffs and low to moderate socio-economic or accessibility constraints that were located on high-quality soils (Chernozems). These areas represented an annual wheat production potential of 14.3 (9.6-19.5) million tons (Mt). Conversely, 8.5 (4.2-12.4) Mha had high carbon or biodiversity trade-offs, of which 10% might be attractive for cropland expansion and thus would require protection from recultivation. Agroenvironmental, accessibility, and socio-economic constraints suggested that the remaining 30.6 (25.7-30.6) Mha of abandoned croplands were unlikely to provide important contributions to future crop production at current wheat prices but could provide various ecosystem services, and some could support extensive livestock production. Political and institutional support could foster recultivation by supporting investments in agriculture and rural demographic revitalization. Reclaiming potentially available cropland in the study region could provide a notable contribution to global grain production, with relatively low environmental trade-offs compared with tropical frontiers, but is not a panacea to address global issues of food security or reduce land-use pressure on tropical ecosystems.

U.S. PUBLIC DIPLOMACY AND SECURITY OF AN INDEPENDENT STATE (“ROSE REVOLUTION” IN GEORGIA)

The programs of information, culture and education, used as part of foreign policy, which are known as public diplomacy, experience a new stage of development. First of all, this situation is explained by the states’ understanding the importance of using of public diplomacy elements to achieve foreign policy objectives, consistent with the national interests of states. Due to the rapid development of information technology has developed new methods of influence on society. In the first place, with Internet blogs and social networks. The United States of America uses the most active public diplomacy to achieve foreign policy goals. Over the past few decades due to the fact that the changed political reality in the world of public diplomacy has become a tool of democracy promotion. The most successful public diplomacy projects recently have been those that act on the territory of the former Soviet Union countries. Through training of representatives of government and parliament, the formation of political parties and participate in elections held by the United States, there were the color revolutions that led to the change of the power elite

ДИСЦИПЛИНАРНАЯ ОТВЕТСТВЕННОСТЬ СОТРУДНИКОВ УЧРЕЖДЕНИЙ И ОРГАНОВ УГОЛОВНО-ИСПОЛНИТЕЛЬНОЙ СИСТЕМЫ РОССИЙСКОЙ ФЕДЕРАЦИИ ЗА АДМИНИСТРАТИВНЫЕ ПРАВОНАРУШЕНИЯ: ТЕОРЕТИЧЕСКИЕ И ПРАКТИЧЕСКИЕ ПРОБЛЕМЫ, ПУТИ ИХ РЕШЕНИЯ И НОВЕЛЛЫ ЗАКОНОДАТЕЛЬСТВА

The research subject is the legal nature of the institute of disciplinary responsibility of staff of institutions and bodies of penal enforcement system for their administrative offenses, and also its theoretical, practical problems, ways of their solution and new law. The objects of the research are the public relations settled by rules of law that emerge in the course of establishment, development and improvement of disciplinary responsibility of staff of penal enforcement system for administrative offenses. Taking into account the achievements in the theory of administrative law and the analysis of modern practice of administrative punishments’ application, the authors review in detail administrative responsibility of special subjects: military personnel, citizens, called out for reservist training, and the law enforcement officers with special ranks. The authors draw attention to the analysis of a retrospective review, foreign experience of the former Soviet Union countries, employment and labour laws and new law of the legal phenomenon in question. The authors use general scientific and specific scientific cognitive methods, as well as special methodology: historical, formal legal, logical legal and comparative law methods. Scientific novelty of the essay is determined by interdisciplinary approach to studying the institute of disciplinary responsibility for administrative offenses. On the basis of the analysis of scientific and theoretic concepts and current legal enactments, the authors set forth their own definitions of the concept of “administrative responsibility of an employee of an institution or body of penal enforcement system (PES)”. As a result of the research, the authors come to the conclusion that the PES employees must bear administrative liability for committed administrative wrongful acts on the same basis as everyone else (as general public). Should disciplinary responsibility for the PES employees for the committed administrative offences be preserved, the authors propose: 1) to envisage conditions of the wrongdoing in their duty status; 2) to establish the obligation of jurisdiction subjects, who are granted with the right to impose administrative penalties, to forward the files on administrative offenses to bodies and institutions for bringing administrative actions, instead of imposing them themselves. On the basis of the performed analysis, the authors suggest extending Part 1, and additionally inserting Parts 3 and 4 to Article 25 “Administrative responsibility of military personnel, citizens, called out for reservist training, and persons with special ranks” of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation.

Soviet experience of underground coal gasification focusing on surface subsidence

Global coal mining activity is increasing due to demands for cheap energy and the availability of large coal deposits around the world; however, the risks associated with conventional coal mining activities remain relatively high. Underground coal gasification (UCG), also known as in-situ coal gasification (ISCG) is a promising alternative method of accessing energy resources derived from coal. UCG is a physical-chemical-geotechnical method of coal mining that has several advantages over traditional mining, for example, its applicability in areas where conventional mining methods are not suitable and the reduction of hazards associated with working underground. The main disadvantages of UCG are the possibility of underground water pollution and surface subsidence. This work is focused on the latter issue. A thorough understanding of subsidence issues is a crucial step to implement UCG on a wide scale. Scientists point out the scarce available data on strata deformations resulting from UCG. The former Soviet Union countries have a long history of developing the science related to UCG and experimenting with its application. However, the Soviet development occurred in relative isolation and this makes a modern review of the Soviet experience valuable. There are some literature sources dealing with Soviet UCG projects; however, they are neither up-to-date nor focus on aspects that are of particular importance to surface subsidence, including geological profiles, strata physical-mechanical properties, thermal properties of geomaterials, and temperature spreading. The goal of this work is to increase the knowledge on these aspects in the English-speaking science community.

The twentieth-century city: Socialist, capitalist, modern

Abstract Scholars of socialist cities have debated the extent to which the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact countries created their own socialist space distinct from capitalist space or whether capitalist and socialist spaces were simply different versions of modernity. As Kimberly Elman Zarecor, Sonia Hirt and Brigitte Le Normand discuss (each from very different vantage points), architects and planners in the early-to-mid twentieth century transcended the ideological divide and worked across geographical and temporal boundaries. They thus participated in the evolution and development of cities across the former Soviet Union and Eastern and Central Europe that have similar formal characteristics yet that function in diverse ways. Their residents have also experienced them differently depending on the intent of the ideological framework under which they were created.

Paying Out-of-Pocket and Informally for Health Care in Albania: The Impoverishing Effect on Households.

The health care system in Albania, as in all other ex-communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), is rooted in the Soviet “Semashko” model. The legacies of the Semashko system still remain visible especially in the state ownership of public healthcare institutions, public provision of the services, as well as the funding from the general tax base (especially for secondary and tertiary care) (1). WHO data show that in 2013, the total health care expenditure for the country amounted to 5.9% of its GDP (2). This is relatively high compared to other former communist CEE or Former Soviet Union (FSU) countries, but still much lower than the average 8.5% for the EU15 countries (2). However, only about 48.4% of the total health care spending in Albania comes from the general state budget (2), and the share of private expenditures and out-of-pocket expenditures is relatively high (3). The utilization of health insurance in Albania remains low (4). In addition to this, almost 19% of all patients visiting outpatient services and almost 44% of patients visiting inpatient services in 2008 pay informally as well (5). But, are out-of-pocket and informal payments in Albania catastrophic to households’ budgets? If yes, what are their effects on poverty? And more importantly, what are the main policy implications for a fast-developing country like Albania?

LABOR PRODUCTIVITY CONVERGENCE OR DIVERGENCE IN TRANSITION COUNTRIES BEFORE AND AFTER THE COLLAPSE OF SOVIET UNION

This study examines labor productivity convergence in the Former Soviet Union Countries. It is known that labor productivity is a key of measure of economic growth and national competitiveness. The study includes two periods: first period covers the 1970-1989 years, and second period includes the 1991-2010 years called as the transition period. The findings of study indicate that during the Soviet Union, the speed of labor productivity convergence for fifteen countries is almost zero. On the other hand, according to conditional convergence model labor productivity levels have slowly converged towards the steady-state levels during the transition period. The convergence speed for the transition period is 0.021 for fixed effect pooled least squares model and is 0.115 for GMM model.

Issues in Countries of the Former Soviet Union as the Driving Force for Female Migration to Turkey

The article presents the results and conclusions of a postdoctoral research project entitled “The migration of women from former Soviet Union countries to Turkey: differences, similarities, and outcomes” that has been conducted in Turkey among women from countries of the former Soviet Union with the aim of exploring the issues in these countries as the driving force for female migration to Turkey and also the causes, problems, difficulties, opportunities, prospects, achievements and outcomes of female migrants in the host country. The basis of this scientificproject was semi-structured interviews and focus groups among women from former Soviet Union countries in Turkey.

Future uncertain for Russian oil filter market

The size of the automotive oil filter market in Russia may shrink in the near future due to the crisis in the country's industry, according to industry experts. However, it is not all bad news, as the country enjoys the benefits of Free Trade Zone agreements with former Soviet Union countries – not an insignificant market.

Issues in Countries of the Former Soviet Union as the Driving Force for Female Migration to Turkey

The article presents the results and conclusions of a postdoctoral research project entitled “The migration of women from former Soviet Union countries to Turkey: differences, similarities, and outcomes” that has been conducted in Turkey among women from countries of the former Soviet Union with the aim of exploring the issues in these countries as the driving force for female migration to Turkey and also the causes, problems, difficulties, opportunities, prospects, achievements and outcomes of female migrants in the host country. The basis of this scientific project was semi-structured interviews and focus groups among women from former Soviet Union countries in Turkey.

Higher Education as a Means of Achieving Economic Growth and Development – A Comparative Analysis of Selected EU and former Soviet Union Countries

In the last twenty years, higher education policies have become increasingly important national priorities in both the developed and the developing countries. According to the endogenous growth theory, higher education and thereby accumulation of human capital is considered to be the main driver of economic competitiveness in the growing global economy founded on knowledge. Thus, as education is undoubtedly one of the main drivers of economic growth and development, an increase in the real expenditures for education is found in many countries. All this is especially evident in times of rapid technological changes. The interest of this paper is to show the relationship between GDP and public spending on education by applying the method of panel data analysis on the selected EU Member States and former Soviet Union Countries for the period 2000 – 2011. The results of the analysis showed that public expenditure for education, as well the size of the tertiary educated workforce and the number of researchers have a positive impact on GDP growth.

Current epidemiology of tuberculosis in Germany

In addition to malaria and HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis (TB) is one of the world's most important infectious diseases. Also in Germany tuberculosis still remains a relevant public health problem that needs special attention. This article provides an overview of the tuberculosis epidemiology in Germany with emphasis on drug resistance and population groups that are predominantly affected. Based on surveillance data provided in the notification system, the TB-situation in Germany is presented-particularly with respect to drug resistance, origin of patients (country of birth and nationality) and treatment outcome. Since 2009, the continuous decline in case numbers has slowed down and is now stagnating as observed in several other industrialized nations. Since 2007, the proportion of foreign-born patients has continuously increased and accounts for over half of all cases registered in Germany. Special attention deserves the current drug resistance situation: With a proportion of 3.4% in 2013, multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) has increased significantly compared to the previous year (2.1%) and the rate is therefore higher than in many other European low-incidence countries. Particularly high levels of MDR-TB were observed among foreign-born patients originating from a former Soviet Union country. On average, treatment success was observed in 79% of the cases. Thus, Germany does not reach the WHO target of 85% treatment success. Stagnating case numbers together with the observed drug resistance trend clearly indicate the need for continued efforts in tuberculosis control in Germany including focused strategies for the most affected population groups.

Bayesian phylogeographic analyses clarify the origin of the HIV-1 subtype A variant circulating in former Soviet Union’s countries

The HIV-1 subtype A variant dominating the HIV-1 epidemics in former Soviet Union (FSU) countries (AFSU) represents one of the major clades of the HIV-1 pandemic. This variant was reported to have begun spreading among injecting drug users (IDUs) in the Ukrainian city of Odessa in late 1994. Two competing hypotheses have been proposed on the ancestral origin of the AFSU variant, locating it either in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) or in the Republic of Guinea (RG). The studies supporting these hypotheses employed phylogenetic analyses to identify HIV-1 sequences collected outside FSU countries ancestrally related to AFSU. A different approach, based on Bayesian phylogenetic inference and coalescent-based population genetics, has been employed here to elucidate the ancestry of this HIV-1 variant and to improve our knowledge on its spread in FSU countries. The analyses were carried out using env (C2-V3-C3) and p24gag fragments of the HIV-1 genome. The inferred migration for the HIV-1 AFSU variant revealed only one significantly supported migration pathway from Africa to Eastern Europe, supporting the hypothesis of its origin in the DRC and estimating the upper limit of the migration of the ancestral virus from Africa around 1970. The support for an origin in the RG was negligible. The results supported the main role of Odessa as the epicenter of the AFSU epidemic, dating the tMRCA of the AFSU variant around 1984, ten years before its explosive expansion among IDUs. The estimated origin of the AFSU subcluster responsible for the IDU outbreak was also located in Odessa, with the estimated tMRCA around 1993. Statistically supported migration routes from Odessa to other cities of Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Belarus were also inferred by the Bayesian phylogeographic analysis. These results shed new light on the origin and spread of the HIV-1 AFSU variant.

Spoligotype-defined population structure of drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates in Eastern Poland

Introduction. The most detrimental impact on the epidemiology of tuberculosis (TB) in Poland may have the spread of tubercle bacilli from outside the country. This is because Poland is geographically situated in close proximity to the former Soviet Union countries, such as Latvia, Estonia, Ukraine, and Russia, where the incidence of TB, including drugresistant (DR) TB is exceptionally high. Aim. To describe the genetic diversity of DR Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates, circulating in four provinces (Lublin, Podkarpacie, Podlasie, and Warmia-Masuria) constituting the so-called “Eastern Wall” of Poland. Material and methods. A total of 44 DR M. tuberculosis isolates were spoligotyped. The results were compared with the international spoligotype database (SpolDB4). SpolDB4 and the web-based program SpotClust were used to classify isolates into phylogenetic clades. Results. Spoligotyping resulted in 25 distinct patterns, of which five were not recorded in the SpolDB4. Of the remaining 20 types, 16 (80%) had already been reported in Poland. Most of the spoligotypes (56%) identified were found to be present in Poland’s neighbors, such as Germany, the Czech Republic, Latvia, and Russia. At the phylogenetic level, the T and Haarlem families accommodated 80% of the isolates. Conclusions. The M. tuberculosis population in Eastern Poland displayed features characteristic of a European country. Given the low frequency of imported genotypes and the absence of foreign-born patients, DR-TB in Eastern Poland appears to be due to the local transmission of M. tuberculosis strains that have been active in Poland for many years, rather than to the importation of strains from neighboring countries.

The ‘Young Marx’ Myth in Interpretations of the Economic–Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844

Focusing on the dissemination and reception history of the Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844, this article will critically examine the famous controversy surrounding the relationship between Marx’s ‘early’ and ‘mature’ writings. A review of all the major books published worldwide (especially in Germany, France, the Soviet Union and English-speaking countries) on Marx’s early writings is followed by a plea for a new and rigorous reading of Marx’s Paris manuscripts, which have been wrongly considered by almost all interpreters as a finished work. Careful textual analysis of the Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844 alongside the so-called Paris notebooks makes it possible to refute conceptions of the former as a fully fledged text either prefiguring Marx’s thought as a whole (as Landshut or the French existentialists argued) or advancing a well-defined theory opposed to that of Marx’s ‘scientific’ maturity (as Marxist–Leninist orthodoxy or Althusser claimed).

Burden of substance use disorders, mental illness, and correlates of infectious diseases among soon-to-be released prisoners in Azerbaijan.

Despite low HIV prevalence in the South Caucasus region, transmission is volatile. Little data are available from this region about addiction and infectious diseases among prisoners who transition back to communities. A nation-wide randomly sampled biobehavioral health survey was conducted in 13 non-specialty Azerbaijani prisons among soon-to-be-released prisoners. After informed consent, participants underwent standardized health assessment surveys and testing for HIV, hepatitis B and C, and syphilis. Of the 510 participants (mean age = 38.2 years), 11.4% were female, and 31.9% reported pre-incarceration drug injection, primarily of heroin. Prevalence of HCV (38.2%), HIV (3.7%), syphilis (3.7%), and HBV (2.7%) was high. Among the 19 HIV-infected inmates, 14 (73.7%) were aware of their HIV status, 12 (63.2%) were receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART), and 5 (26.3%) had CD4 < 350 cells/mL (4 of these were on ART). While drug injection was the most significant independent correlate of HCV (AOR = 12.9; p = 0.001) and a significant correlate of HIV (AOR = 8.2; p = 0.001), both unprotected sex (AOR = 3.31; p = 0.049) and working in Russia/Ukraine (AOR = 4.58; p = 0.008) were also correlated with HIV. HIV and HCV epidemics are concentrated among people who inject drugs (PWIDs) in Azerbaijan, and magnified among prisoners. A transitioning HIV epidemic is emerging from migration from high endemic countries and heterosexual risk. The high diagnostic rate and ART coverage among Azerbaijani prisoners provides new evidence that HIV treatment as prevention in former Soviet Union (FSU) countries is attainable, and provides new insights for HCV diagnosis and treatment as new medications become available. Within prison evidence-based addiction treatments with linkage to community care are urgently needed.

Supporting clinical management of the difficult-to-treat TB cases: the ERS-WHO TB Consilium

Multi-drug and extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR/XDR-TB) are considered a serious threat for TB control and elimination. The outcome of these patients is still largely unsatisfactory as of today, with treatment success rates being consistently below 50% at global level.The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that management of MDR-TB cases is supported by a specialized team, including complementary medical professionals able to cover several perspectives (clinical, both for adults and children; surgical; radiological; public health; psychological; nursing, among others). Implementation of such a body (known as Consilium in most of the former Soviet Union countries) is often a pre-requisite to apply for international TB control funding and concessionally priced medicines to treat M/XDR-TB cases.The primary objective of the ERS/WHO TB Consilium is to provide clinical consultation for drug-resistant TB and other difficult-to-treat TB cases, including co-infection with HIV and paediatric cases. Through technical guidance to clinicians managing complex TB cases, the main contribution and outcome of the initiative will be a public health response aimed at achieving correct treatment of affected patients and preventing further development of drug resistance. The Consilum's secondary objective is to ensure monitoring and evaluation of clinical practices on the ground (diagnosis, treatment and prevention).

Mistrust and hegemony: Regional institutional design, the FSU-CIS, and Russia

Power inequalities and mistrust have characterized many relationships between states over the centuries. One approach that states can take to deal with these two, often interrelated, problems is to create intergovernmental institutions and arrangements designed to accommodate the interests of states with varied power capabilities. The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) embodies an interesting institutional design in an effort by former Soviet Union (FSU) countries to address these dilemmas. The CIS was not only the first multilateral FSU organization created following the collapse of the Soviet Union, but it also provided a necessary and important framework for the further construction of bilateral and multilateral relations among the former Soviet republics as they reengaged one another. CIS arrangements have been augmented by extensive bilateral negotiations and treaties and, brought together, these interconnected multilateral and bilateral instruments yield a system of cautious regional security governance and framework for international relations within the FSU. This paper analyzes three key features of this foundational CIS institutional design: (1) legalism, (2) an à la carte choice of treaty instruments, and (3) nested bilateralism, wherein many details of the regional, multilateral agreements are implemented via bilateral treaties (hence constituting a combination design feature). Empirically, the paper illuminates this institutional design using a unique dataset of all multilateral security treaties of the CIS (approximately 185) and all bilateral security treaties (more than 500) between the regional hegemon, Russia, and the smaller CIS members. We further investigate the causal mechanisms of the CIS institutional design as it copes with the conditions of hegemony and mistrust in two bilateral case studies, Russia–Armenia, and Russia–Ukraine (Black Sea Fleet status). We find the CIS institutional design, built upon by subsequent FSU regional organizations (including the Eurasian Economic Union and Shanghai Cooperation Organization), has permitted both more and less powerful states to advance their interrelated security interests in the face of considerable power asymmetry and mistrust. More than twenty years after the CIS’s formation, a patchwork of Eurasian regional organizations and numerous related bilateral treaties widen regional security and other arrangements. Meanwhile, the dramatic events surrounding the February 2014 Ukrainian coup and the joining of Crimea to the Russian Federation only reinforce the importance of understanding state treaty activity in channeling state action. Questions surround Russia respecting the 1992 treaty and protocol with Ukraine and the US on the removal of nuclear weapons from the territory of Ukraine and the joint recognition of Ukraine’s sovereign borders. But Russia’s spring 2014 actions involving Crimea and its Crimean bases accorded with the various treaties concluded with Ukraine in 1997; treaties addressing the Black Sea Fleet and the Crimean Peninsula that are a subject of our analysis.