scholarly journals Regime and state breakdown: dissolution of the Soviet Union

2020 ◽  
pp. 309-322
Author(s):  
Fei Haiting
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Political Science ◽  
The State ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
Political Regime ◽  
The Political ◽  
Loss Of Control ◽  
National Interests ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
State Breakdown

The mechanism of causality between the breakdown of political regime and the disintegration of a state is an important topic in political science. The dissolution of the Soviet Union is a typical example. The aim of perestroika was the transformation of the political regime by renewing the top elite and inclusion of mass groups in the system of government. The initiators of the reform planned to achieve their goals through the general reconstruction of relations between the CPSU and the Soviet state, the redistribution of power from the party elite to the Soviet one concentrated in the Councils of People’s Deputies at various levels. In practice, the implementation of two reforms at once (distancing the party from the authorities and optimizing governance) led to the split of the entire political elite. The struggle of opposing elite groups for dominance led to the paralysis of state power, the loss of control over what was happening in the country. As a result, the interests of elite groups began to prevail over the national interests and ultimately led to the destruction of the state. Thus the authorsubstantiates the thesis that the destabilization of a regime as a result of the inter-elite struggle leads to the destruction of a state. The problem of elite renewal and consolidation and the transfer powers from the party elite to the state one becomes important.

scholarly journals Religious diplomacy of the Soviet Union in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1948-1953 in the context of international situation of the USSR

2021 ◽  
pp. 10-21
Author(s):  
Nikodim Olegovich Pashkov ◽  
Oleg Alekssevich Novikov
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
Political Regime ◽  
The Political ◽  
Practical Implementation ◽  
Russian Orthodox ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
Russian Orthodox Church ◽  
The Soviet Union

The subject of this article is a historical-political research of the key vectors of state-confessional policy of the USSR in the countries of the “people's democracy”, which received practical implementation within the framework of prevailing legal practices. Special attention is given to the analysis of intervention of Soviet diplomacy into state-confessional relations in the territory of the socialist Yugoslavia. After the end of the World War II, one of the largest religious organizations of the Yugoslav State, the Serbian Orthodox Church, faced multiple historical challenges. The course of historical process yielded this religious organization to opposition against the political elite of Yugoslavia. The outside “actors”, including Soviet Union, which relations with Yugoslavia deteriorated significantly during this period, sought to benefit from such situation. The novelty of article consists in tracing the correlation between the political-ideological discourses of state-confessional relations of middle of the XX century and modern practices of state-confessional policy of the Russian Federation. Examination of the genesis and practical implementation of the key vectors of “confessional diplomacy” of the Soviet Union is first and foremost associated with the practical implementation of Marxist political legal ideas in the area of “political compromise” with the “capitalist world”. The conclusion is made that historically, in the international “confessional diplomacy” of the Soviet Union, the Russian Orthodox Church promoted the interests of the prevailing in USSR political regime, which affected the position of the Russian Orthodox Church on the international arena, as well as its internal affairs.

On the Reform, Measures and Evolution of the Journalism System in Late Soviet Union

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 393-414
Author(s):  
Zhang Juxi ◽  
Wang Wenjuan
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Development Process ◽  
Social Background ◽  
The State ◽  
Economic Situation ◽  
The Political ◽  
Literature Analysis ◽  
Historical Legacy ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Expansion Stage

Abstract Using a combination of literature analysis and historical literature comparison methods, the study analyzes the international and domestic social background of Glasnost and journalism reform, reviews and studies Gorbachev’s objectives, measures and development process of carrying out journalism reform. Journalism reform is a part of Glasnost and also a method demand of other reforms within socialism. The implementation of the reform of the journalism has taken a variety of measures, and has gone through three historical stages: impediment stage, expansion stage and development of liberalization stage. The results show that the failure of journalism reform and the disintegration of the state are caused by the political and economic situation in the Soviet Union and the historical legacy problems. However, a series of improper measures carried out by the journalism reform undoubtedly accelerated the disintegration of the Soviet Union.

scholarly journals Отражение событий августа 1991 года в Мурманской области.

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1-2020) ◽  
pp. 140-149
Author(s):  
Alexander V. Shekh ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
The Political ◽  
State Of Emergency ◽  
Political Situation ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Electoral Support ◽  
Murmansk Region ◽  
History Of ◽  
Wait And See

The attempt to remove from power in August 1991, M.S. Gorbachev actually marked the end of the history of the Soviet Union. The August events forced the peoples of the republics of the USSR to unite around republican elites who defended the achievements of perestroika. The socio-political situation in the Murmansk region in August 1991 is considered on the material of the regional press.It reflects a specific feature of those events in the region. Despite the differences in the positions of different groups of the population, in General, electoral support for the legitimate authorities was reflected. The highest degree of tension in the labor collectives of the region fell on the morning of August 21. The political elite of the region took a wait-and-see attitude. The Soviet authorities in one of the militarized regions of the country managed to prevent clashes, not to give reasons to the top leadership to enter troops in localities, and to declarea state of emergency in the region.

THE POLITICAL HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF THE 1989 GDR REFUGEES PASSING THROUGH HUNGARY

2021 ◽  
Vol 79 (2) ◽  
pp. 145-16
Author(s):  
Stelian TAMPU
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
The United States ◽  
Historical Background ◽  
The Political ◽  
World War ◽  
National Interests ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Raising Awareness ◽  
German Nation

Raising awareness on the political-historical background of the popular movements of the 20th century is very important because behind the stories there were often ill-considered political decisions. It is interesting to see how the last century leaders of the great powers represented their self-interests, and what political games they had developed to achieve their political goals. The interests of nations living in countries were often not interesting to take into consideration. The Soviet Union was not a nation-state, but neither was the United States of America, while at that time most of the European states were nationstates, and along this were nations that sought to assert their national interests, by force when necessary. However, the post-World War II political settlements did not serve the interests of the German nation, but divided its population and turned them against one other. This is why the movement of German citizens within Germany has occurred.

scholarly journals Religious myths and legitimation of Power

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 339-349
Author(s):  
Vyacheslav S. Polosin
Keyword(s):  
The State ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
Political Regime ◽  
The Political ◽  
Popular Opinion ◽  
Religious Thinking ◽  
Geopolitical Context

The article deals with the superstitions and biased opinion regarding the State and its structre. The superstitions are usually used by the society both to legitimize the political regime and to represent politicians as heroes in the popular opinion. In the article are analyzed methods which enable the religious thinking to shape popular ideas about the state and its government. The author also enlightens the role of political elite in creating the rulers’ image. The article also comprises an analysis of Islamic influence in the geopolitical context.

scholarly journals The United Nations and the Soviet Union: Diplomacy and Propaganda in the Twilight of the Cold War

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Zapariy
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
The United States ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
The Political ◽  
Berlin Crisis ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Russian State ◽  
Specific Material ◽  
Multilateral Diplomacy ◽  
The Cold War

Referring to the preparation of Soviet diplomacy for the 3rd session of the UN General Assembly, this article examines the process behind the development of the political line of the Soviet delegation, as well as the principles of covering the “UN” theme by the press, informing the population and shaping public opinion on major international problems. On the basis of specific material, the author demonstrates the principles of Soviet diplomats’ work on the preparation of analytical materials, the development of recommendations, and the implementation of propaganda measures at the UN in response to the changing international situation. Archival materials allow us to understand the attitude of the Soviet political elite to multilateral diplomacy and reconstruct the USSR’s assessment of the effectiveness of the organisation’s activities both in the field of maintaining international security and in the non-political sphere. Referring to the analysis of materials from the Russian Foreign Policy Archive (AVP RF) and the Russian State Social and Political Archive (RGASPI), the author reconstructs the rationale behind the propaganda campaign in the Soviet press against Trygve Lie, the first UN Secretary-General, in connection with the publication of the annual report on the organisation’s work between 1947 and 1948. Coordinated criticism of the world’s highest-ranking diplomat became an integral part of the political game in connection with the settlement of the Berlin crisis, as well as an important element in the strategy of a massive propaganda offensive against the United States, aimed at portraying the Truman administration as the culprit of the imminent split in Europe and Germany.

scholarly journals Looking back at the past: image of the Soviet Union in the politics of memory the parties (by the example of materials of elections to the State Duma of the Russian Federation of the VI and VII convocations)

2021 ◽  
pp. 37-52
Author(s):  
Ekaterina Leonidovna Timshina
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
The State ◽  
Soviet Period ◽  
The Political ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Major Party ◽  
Politics Of Memory ◽  
Soviet History ◽  
The Soviet Union

Almost three decades have passed since the dissolution of the Soviet Union; however, there is still no unity towards its history – various political actors interpret it differently. Analysis is conducted on the politics of memory of the parties that participated in the last two election campaigns in reference to the Soviet period. The goal of article is to determine the parties with own politics of memory; assess the attitude of the political parties on the Soviet history as a whole and isolated key events; as well as describe experience of using the politics of memory in electoral cycle. The opposition parties – the CPRF, LDPR, Yabloko, PARNAS, and the Communists of Russia – most actively referred to the politics of memory. The center of political attention became the history of the Soviet period, to which different approaches were applied. The liberal parties criticized the USSR and advocated decommunization, while the left-wing parties notices only positive aspects in the Soviet history. The LDPR offered to separate the attitude towards the Soviet regime, and the attitude towards the state. Although the political parties have not fully fulfilled their potential as the actors of the politics of memory, the development of the own strategies of interpretation of history is traced clearly. The politics of memory may evolve into a separate vector of major party politics.

scholarly journals Sergey Rumyancev, Ускользающая современность: постсоветская модернизация Азербайджана / Vanishing Modernity: The Post-Soviet Modernization of Azerbaijan

2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 136-147
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Political Regime ◽  
The Political ◽  
Modern State ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
History Of ◽  
Oil And Natural Gas

The article focuses on the debates situation of post-soviet modernization and transformation of Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani economy failed to become a market economy, and remains instead predominantly based on the extraction and sale of oil and natural gas. Cities are being ruralised instead of the urbanization of rural areas. In its turn, industrialization ended together with the Soviet Union. A more or less tangible individualization and fragmentation of social life are not part of the history of post-Soviet Azerbaijan either. The political and economic systems of Azerbaijan are an imitation of a modern state. It is an example of a simulacrum state and a total imitation of modern political institutions and relations. In other words: The political regime in Azerbaijan is a complex of imitative practices, relations and “institutional camouflages” that enable a broad international presentation of Azerbaijan, effectively privatized by a small group of people, as a modern state that exists in reality.

scholarly journals The 1982 Reorganization of Agricultural Administration in the Soviet Union: The Role of the Communist Party in Agenda Setting

1992 ◽  
pp. 58
Author(s):  
Barbara Ann Chotiner
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Policy Change ◽  
Communist Party ◽  
Broad Spectrum ◽  
Agenda Setting ◽  
Political Regime ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Political Scene

Soviet politics under Mikhail S. Gorbachev became the arena for wide-ranging institutional and policy change across a broad spectrum of issue areas. These alterations were supported and opposed by sometimes unpredictable coalitions; victories were engineered using novel as well as familiar techniques. As a consequence, there has often been a tendency to treat the political scene in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) from March 1985 through August 1991 as almost sui generis. In many respects, the period of Gorbachev's General Secretaryship of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) has been treated as the antithesis of the political regime during the so-called "era of stagnation" under Leonid I. Brezhnev.

Cuba's Perilous Political Transition to the Post-Castro Era

2015 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 377-405 ◽  
Author(s):  
WILLIAM M. LEOGRANDE
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
Political Transition ◽  
The Political ◽  
Socialist Economy ◽  
Major Transitions ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Political Challenge ◽  
Social Autonomy

AbstractIn the years since Raúl Castro took office as president following Fidel Castro's illness and retirement, Cuba has embarked on four major transitions almost simultaneously: a restructuring of elite decision-making; a transformation of Cuba's centrally-planned economy into a market socialist economy; a relaxation of tight social control, providing greater social autonomy for civil society and even a degree of political decompression; and, a transition from the founding generation of the political elite (los históricos) to a successor generation, when neither Castro will hold power. Each of these processes by itself entails political risk; unfolding together, they constitute the greatest political challenge the Cuban regime has faced since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

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