Eastern European Studies Commons^™

Human Rights Challenges In Georgia, Latife Bulur

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Since the Rose Revolution of 2003, human rights problems in Georgia have been improving. Economically and socially, Georgia has been reaching milestones as it continues to improve different facets of the state. In contrast to past research, current writing on Georgia has become increasingly more positive. Many pieces written on Georgia tell of a growing and thriving country that has gone to great lengths to strengthen national pride and to gain positive global recognition.

Human Rights In Russia And The Former Soviet Republics: Introduction, Arianna Nowakowski

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, a state of political, economic, and social disarray was accompanied by a renewed hope for improved human rights conditions in Russia and the former Soviet Republics. However, transitions toward more democratic forms of governance and market economies have faced many obstacles, and have not necessarily facilitated the protection of such rights. As this eclectic compilation of essays and bibliographies in the current digest reveals, many legacies of Soviet rule persist and continue to plague the region today.

Human Rights And The War On Terror: Complete 2005 - 2007 Topical Research Digest, Jack Donnelly, Simon Amajuru, Susannah Compton, Robin Davey, Syd Dillard, Amanda Donahoe, Charles Hess, Sydney Fisher, Kelley Laird, Victoria Lowdon, Chris Maggard, Alexandra Nichols, Travis Ning, Toni Panetta, Greg Sanders, James Smithwick, Angela Woolliams, Chris Saeger, Sarah Bania-Dobyns, Eric Dibbern, David Gillespie, Latife Bulur, Katie Friesen, Arika Long, Arianna Nowakowski, Joel R. Pruce

Human Rights & Human Welfare

“9/11 changed everything.” Not really. In fact, there has been far more continuity than change over the past six years in both international and domestic politics. Nonetheless, human rights often have been harmed—although not by terrorism but by “the war on terror.”

Prospects For Democracy, Nick Stokes

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Upon the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991, the countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia that had hitherto lived behind the Iron Curtain inherited new independence and uncertain political futures. Since then, the world has watched a political entity that once covered 8.6 million square miles shatter into 15 new nation-states, each with the potential to throw off the shackles of the past and forge new democracies. Fifteen years after the fall, we see elections at state and local levels, multi-party systems, and constitutions touting freedoms of press and religion. While these elements are vital to the survival …

Repatriation Of Ethnic Groups, Kirsten Benites

Human Rights & Human Welfare

From 1943 to 1949, almost 1.5 million ethnic minorities were deported from their homes in the southern USSR to Central Asia. Thousands died either during the trip or within the first few years after their arrival. For years, it was as if they had simply disappeared off the face of the earth. It was not until 1956 that the deportations were even acknowledged by the Soviet government, and only recently has repatriation begun. While some groups have had a relatively successful repatriation experience, others have experienced ethnic discrimination, making the return to their homelands difficult and in some cases impossible.

Chechnya: Human Rights Issues, Latife Bulur

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Chechnya is a country plagued by terrorism and human rights abuses. A primary source of these issues is the unsettled situation between local insurgents and the Russian military. This conflict, increasing in magnitude over time, makes it incredibly difficult to negotiate the terms of Chechnya’s independence perpetuating the crisis. Rising violence fuels Russia’s frustration in addressing the conflict with Chechen groups. Russia has and continues to employ various tactics to minimize the violence, but such tactics have all so far been unsuccessful.

Violations Of Human Rights In The Russian Military, Cathy Smith

Human Rights & Human Welfare

In 2005, an estimated 450 deaths were caused by injuries due to internal military violence. The degradation inflicted on Russian soldiers within their regime necessitates reformation by the government and implementation of resolutions. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Russian military has been experiencing heightened levels of personnel decline despite the compulsory draft. The prestige that the Soviet Army of the 1950s received through the late 1980s is dwindling rapidly. Despite the military code of conduct, today’s army is afflicted with perpetual violations of human rights. For the future of the Russian military, extensive action must include systemic …

The Roma: During And After Communism, Florinda Lucero, Jill Collum

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The Roma are an interconnected ethnic and cultural group that migrated out of India more than ten centuries ago. In the Czech Republic, they may have been present since the 15th century. Although relations within Czech lands began honorably, they quickly disintegrated into enmity and within a century Czechs could kill the Roma with impunity. Legislation restricting Roma movement came about in 1927 with Law 117: the “Law on Wandering Gypsies,” which stated that the Roma were now required to seek permission to stay overnight in any given location. In the run-up to World War II, parallel restrictions to those …

Ethnic Conflict, Kristina Libby

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Since the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia has experienced high levels of ethnic conflict with regard to exit claims by former satellite states that no longer want to be part of the federation. Exit claims often antagonize the state. However, political leaders of titular ethnicities maximize ethnic revivals to keep traditions alive, and to minimize the amount of exclusion vis-à-vis the center. Massive human rights violations have resulted because of misperceptions between the center and the periphery, especially in Chechnya, the Volga-Ural’s Region and Eastern Siberia.

Violations Of Human Rights During Military Operations In Chechnya, Federico Sperotto

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The case-law of the European Court of Human Rights concerning violations of human rights law during armed conflict has been extended after the first decisions on cases arose from violations, committed during the war in Chechnya between 1999 and 2000. In the words of the Court, at that time the situation called for exceptional measures, in order to regain control over the Republic and suppress an illegal armed insurgency. The Court has been ready to admit those measures, including the deployment of army units equipped with heavy combat weapons, military aviation and artillery, were necessary to counter the aggressiveness of …

Party Groups And Policy Positions In The European Parliament, Gall Mcelroy, Kenneth Benoit

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

As the legislative body of the European Union (EU), the European Parliament (EP) comprises 732 elected representatives from over 150 national political parties from 25 member states. At the EP level, these members are affiliated with seven major party groups representing distinct policy positions. Here we provide precise estimates of these policy positions based on expert surveys, in addition to characterizing the dimensionality of policy competition in the EP. Our results suggest not only that party groups have identifiable and differentiated positions on multiple issues of policy, but also that these positions group broadly into two orthogonal dimensions: one consisting …

Ownership And Wages: Estimating Public-Private And Foreign-Domestic Differentials With Leed From Hungary, 1986-2003, John S. Earle, Álmos Telegdy

Upjohn Institute Working Papers

How do state, domestic, private, and foreign ownership of firms differ in average wages? We address these questions using linked employer-employee panel data containing 1.35mln worker-year observations for 21,238 firms from 1986 to 2003 in Hungary. Our econometric methods exploit the long panel together with the presence of 3,700 switches of ownership type in the postsocialist Hungarian transition to estimate these wage differentials.

Quo Vadis? Polish-Ukrainian Relations In The Enlarging Europe, 1991–2004, Anna Makhorkina

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation seeks to analyze the development of Polish-Ukrainian relations in the context of the EU and NATO enlargements. It examines changes in the relationship during 1991-2004, and evaluates major factors that influenced it. The study of Polish-Ukrainian relations in 1991-2004 is important not only from an historical and geopolitical perspective, but also within the context of institutionally enlarging Europe. Poland has been a NATO-member since 1999 and an EU-member since 2004. Ukraine is a member of neither. This turns the Polish-Ukrainian relationship into a relationship between two states, where one side is an "insider" and the other an "outsider" …

The State‐Led Transition To Liberal Capitalism: Neoliberal, Organizational, World‐Systems, And Social Structural Explanations Of Poland’S Economic Success, Lawrence P. King, Aleksandra Sznajder Lee

Political Science Faculty Publications

Neoliberals argue that rapid liberalization and privatization can transform postcommunist economies into Western-style capitalist systems. Organizational sociologists argue that these policies produce a unique variety of capitalism, while world-systems theorists argue that they lead to underdevelopment. This article advances a social structural alternative in a crucial case. Poland’s relative economic success resulted from prolonged state ownership and an interventionist state employing various industrial policy tools that facilitated efficiency-enhancing market-oriented restructuring before ushering in beneficial foreign direct investment. The resulting capitalist system closely resembles the typical pattern found in most late industrializers.

Report Of The Communications Service Of The Department For External Church Relations Of The Moscow Patriarchate On The Work Of The Commission For The Investigation Of The Crisis In The Diocese Of Sourozh, Commission Investigating The Crisis In The Diocese Of Sourozh

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

The present report has been compiled from materials gathered by the Commission investigating the crisis in the Diocese of Sourozh. This is connected with the decision of the Diocesan Administrator, Bishop Basil of Sergievo, to go over to the Patriarchate of Constantinople. The Commission was appointed by decree of His Holiness Alexis, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, on 9 May 2006, and approved in the Minutes of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church of 7 June 2006. The temporary Administrator of the Diocese of Sourozh, Archbishop Innokenty of Korsun, was appointed Chairman of the Commission. Other members …

Will The Ecumenical Ship Sink?, Bishop Hilarion

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Ecumenical Attributes Of Methodism In The Czech Lands, Joyce Michael

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Coleman's "Russian Baptists & Spiritual Revolution 1905-1929" - Book Review, Walter Sawatsky

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

The Role Of Religion In Coping With The Trauma Of Political Persecution: The Case Of Estonia, Tonu Lehtsaar, Heino Noor

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Inventing Ecumenism? Inter-Confessional Dialogue In Transylvania, Romania In The 1960s, Anca Sincan

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Sawatsky's And Penner's, Eds. "Mission In The Former Soviet Union" - Book Review, John E. White

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Finding A Balance Between Church And Academia: Baptist Theological Education In Estonia, Toivo Pilli

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Policy Competition In The 2002 French Legislative And Presidential Elections, Michael Laver, Kenneth Benoit, Nicolas Sauger

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The French two-round system of presidential elections forces candidates to choose strategies designed to maximize their votes in two different, potentially conflicting strategic contexts: a first round contest between many candidates, and a second round between (typically) a left- and a right-oriented candidate. Following a constitutional change in 2000, furthermore, presidential elections are synchronized with legislative elections, more tightly linking presidential candidates to the policy platforms of the parties they represent. This article examines the consequences of policy positioning by presidential candidates, measuring, comparing and assessing positioning in the legislative elections and in the first and second presidential election rounds. …

Final Project Report: Plan For A Model Pims, Christopher J. O'Leary, Lillian Vesic-Petrovic

Upjohn Institute Technical Reports

Development of the performance information and management systems (PIMS) to monitor labor market outcomes of program participants, and guide program management of active labor market programs (ALMPs).

Kidnapping Terrorists: Extraterritorial Forcible Abductions In The Global War On Terrorism, Matthew R. Mcnabb

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

For those who have an interest in targeting, neutralizing, detaining, and adjudicating terrorists amidst the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT), few tools are more poorly understood than the acquisition and subsequent movement of the alleged terrorists. Rendition is that process by which the body of an individual is taken from State A to State B. It may occur in either a “regular” or an “irregular” form. Regular rendition occurs when the individual is moved pursuant to the express terms and procedures of a given extradition treaty. Irregular rendition, on the other hand, is principally comprised of the rare instances in …

The Food Fight Between The United States And Europe: Why Gmos Divide The West, Sarah A. Delude

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) have quickly become an abundant source of food, especially in the United States. But as GMOs have grown, Europeans have raised major concerns over health and environment issues posed by GMOs. In 1998 the European Union imposed a moratorium restricting the approval of any new GMOs in Europe. But the United States saw this as a block to free and fair trade and has taken a case up with the World Trade Organization to resolve the matter. The final decision is past due, but the EU has already lifted the moratorium. Instead, it has imposed rules …

Understanding Al-Qaeda: History, Ideology And Infrastructure, Sarah Dickens

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

Understanding al-Qaeda: History, Ideology, and Infrastructure is a critical analysis of the formation and evolution of the global terrorist organization commonly referred to as al-Qaeda. The work provides a foundation for understanding al-Qaeda’s operations and organizational strategies by detailing its historical origins, ideological framework, and infrastructural installations.

The thesis is divided into three segments, each containing two chapters. The first segment is devoted to a discussion of al-Qaeda’s historical formation. The initial chapter relies on the investigation of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and the hunt for terrorist Ramzi Yousef as a point of departure in understanding al-Qaeda. This …

Religious Freedom Since 1905 - Any Progress In Russia?, Irina Budkina

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.

Representation Of Middle Eastern Culture Through Belly Dance In The Us, Elisabeth Johnson

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

In light of the myriad misunderstandings about the Middle East and its people, this paper will seek to analyze how Middle Eastern culture has been represented in the US through the art of belly dance. This project examines what is currently known about the roots of belly dance, especially in relation to how such origins may be presented within the dance, and the first exposures that the American public may have had to belly dance through literary accounts, theatre, and design in the late 19^th century and the early 20^th century. The representative accuracy and impact of these …

The Bulgarian Orthodox Church And The Holocaust: Addressing Common Misconceptions, Pavel Stefanov

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

No abstract provided.