Soviet and Post-Soviet Studies Commons^™

A Historical And Contextual Analysis Of Soviet And Russian "Active Measures": How Russian Political Warfare Efforts In Foreign Presidential Elections Have Transformed In The Information Age, Olivia Myers

Honors Theses

This thesis seeks to analyze the transformation of Russian active measures in targeted national elections since the Soviet era. Through a historical analysis of research on active measures and contextual analysis of active measures campaigns themselves, this thesis finds that Russian active measures techniques have not drastically changed since the Soviet era. Instead, as a result of technology, Russian active measures have utilized platforms of social media to become more targeted, continuous, and convert. Therefore, Russian active measures campaigns have been better able to successfully target specific audiences, arguably making these campaigns more effective.

The Role Of Religion In The Lives Of The Last Soviet Generation In Lithuania, Milda Ališauskienė

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

This paper contributes to the academic debates about the compatibility of religion and modernity and reveals the way Soviet modernization has affected the religious values of the last Soviet generation in Lithuania. It discusses the role and dynamic of religion, intergenerational transmission, and the manner in which religion becomes or does not become a resource for an individual’s social mobility. The article, focusing on the last Soviet generation (b. 1970–1985) living in Lithuania, is based on analysis of 88 narratives of representatives of this generation. Trends of religious individualism, critical engagement with institutional religiosity and conformity with religious ...

Was Soft Power Used During The Cold War?, Drake C. Dewey, Drake C. Dewey

Capstone Showcase

On December 25, 1991, Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as the leader of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics which resulted in the formal conclusion of the Cold War. The Cold War was an ideological battle between the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics from the mid-1940s until 1991. I have decided to put the beginning date of the Cold War as March 5, 1946, while the end date is December 25, 1991. During the Cold War, there was a new form of power which was coined by Joseph Nye. Scholars have questioned the influence of soft versus hard ...

Youth As A Leading Power Of Uzbekistan, Mukhtor Nazirov

The Light of Islam

The article examines the features of effective interaction between government agencies, NGOs, and other civil institutions on youth issues. State youth policy in Uzbekistan considers revealing the potential of young people and promoting their effective socialization. The article shows the importance of modern education and upbringing, social support of young people in Uzbekistan. The political activity of youth is an indicator of the processes taking place in modern society. The article considers youth policy, the UN international legal documents regulating the youth sphere. The urgency of the youth issue is growing in connection with the deepening of globalization. The solutions ...

The Influence Of Information Power Upon The Great Game In Cyberspace: U.S. Wins Over Russian Meddling In The 2018 Elections, Joseph H. Schafer

Military Cyber Affairs

The 2018 U.S. pivot in information and cyberspace degraded Russian operations in the 2018 election. Following pervasive Russian information power operations during the U.S. 2016 elections, the United States progressed from a policy of preparations and defense in information and cyberspace to a policy of forward engagement. U.S recognition of renewed great power competition coupled with Russia’s inability to compete diplomatically, militarily (conventionally), or economically, inspires Russia to continues to concentrate on information power operations. This great game in cyberspace was virtually uncontested by the U.S. prior to 2017. Widespread awareness of Russian aggression in ...

The Trabant And The Mercedes: A Psychological Analysis Into The Disjunction Of German Reunification, Faith Morris

Senior Theses

Ostalgie, a combination of the German words Ost (east) and Nostalgie (nostalgia), is the psychological phenomenon that describes former East Germans’ longing for a return to aspects of life from the period of communist rule. This paper explores the phenomenon of Ostalgie in reunified Germany in relation to psychological constructs of nostalgia and collective identity.

Ostalgie is essentially both a means and an end. This paper seeks to prove Ostalgie is a means of creating identity, formulated by the interplay of nostalgia and certain social conditions that combined with and aided the failure of democratic capitalism for former East Germans ...

Stephen F. Cohen, Nicholas Hayes

University Chair in Critical Thinking Publications

No abstract provided.

Urban Warfare: Emerging Geopolitical Conundrum, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Presentations

Urban warfare is as old as human history. It is becoming increasingly important in international political and military planning due to increasing global urbanization and the presence of megacities (urban areas with populations exceeding 10 million) in many global regions and being in areas of recent and potential military conflict. 2018 World Bank data notes that approximately 56% of the world's population lives in urban areas which is up from 34% in 1960. Many of these megacities, including New York City, Los Angeles, Sao Paulo, Mumbai, Shanghai, and Manila are adjacent to oceanic waters and vulnerable to trade and ...

On Both Sides Of The Wall, Christoph Schmauch

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

"Since the emphasis of this paper is to be on the Cold War and its aftermath, I will only mention that the first ten years of my life I lived in Silesia, Germany, on the outskirts of Breslau/Wroclaw during the Nazi period of World War II. I will begin with the end of WWII, 1945, my experience for two years in the mountains of Silesia under Polish administration, and from 1947 to 1950 in the Soviet zone of occupation in Germany in Görlitz, and beginning in 1950 in Ost-Berlin, the capital of the German Democratic Republic."

Report On The Visit Of Prof. And Mrs. Josef Hromádka To The U.S.A., 1966, John Heidbrink

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

Professor Josef L. Hromádka (referred to as JLH in the report) was a theologian of the Church of the Czech Brethren who took refuge in the USA during the Nazi conquest of his native Czechoslovakia and taught at Princeton Theological Seminary. He made what for many seemed a surprising decision to return to Prague after the communist coup d’etat in 1948. Soon he became the best known Protestant theologian on the other side of the “Iron Curtain” as he interpreted communism as a wave of a promising future to which Christians need to adjust in order to assist in ...

State-Sponsored Atheism: The Case Of Albania During The Enver Hoxha Era, İbrahim Karataş

Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe

This study analyzes how Enver Hoxha tried to abolish religions in Albania during the communist era. I argue that if atheism is not politicized and not exerted by force, its materialist damage is less. Yet, when atheization becomes a state policy and the government executes clergy, oppresses pious people, and destroys mosques and churches for the sake of atheism, irreligion then becomes a matter of state security. The study contends that when atheism is applied by force, atheist fundamentalism, which is no different than the religious version, emerges. Thus, irreligion becomes a threat to people’s lives and destroys society ...

Nuclear Arms Treaties: Their National Security Impact On America, Megan A. Muldoon

Liberty University Journal of Statesmanship & Public Policy

Abstract

This paper attempts to historically analyze arms treaties and arms limitation agreements between the United States and Russia. The impact of limiting and reducing strategic nuclear weapons on both countries and the ability to prevent endless proliferation is discussed. Additionally, the lack of limiting and reduction agreements on China and on tactical nuclear weapons is analyzed into projections for what the future of arms agreements or races may look like. Lastly, the extending or allowing the New START agreement and its impact on U.S. national security is assessed.

The People Who “Burn”: “Communication,” Unity, And Change In Belarusian Discourse On Public Creativity, Anton Dinerstein

Doctoral Dissertations

The main intellectual problem I address in this study is how everyday communication activates the relationship between creativity, conflict, and change. More specifically, I look at how the communication of creativity becomes a process of transformation, innovation, and change and how people are propelled to create through everyday communication practices in the face of conflict and opposition. To approach this problem, I use the case of communication in modern-day Belarus to show how creativity becomes a vehicle for and a source of new social and cultural routines among the independent grassroots communities and initiatives in Minsk.

On one level, I ...

Arctic Geopolitics Reconsidered: Pathways To Conflict And Cooperation, Christopher Tremoglie

CUREJ - College Undergraduate Research Electronic Journal

The Arctic region is widely considered to be one of the planet’s last frontiers. As the world’s countries competed for Earth’s resources, few areas of the world were left unscathed; the Arctic was one of those regions. However, as climate change accelerates the melting of sea ice in the Arctic, previously inaccessible areas, believed to contain an abundance of natural resources such as minerals, natural gas, and oil, will soon become available for extraction. This race for resources has created tension among the actors in the Arctic.

As such, this paper asks: what conditions would be necessary ...

Remittances And Development: Local Empowerment And National Dependency, Abby Foy

International Political Economy Theses

Remittances, or money that is sent by a migrant to their home country, have been increasingly viewed as a potential way to economically develop low to middle income countries. Presently, the level of remittances sent is higher than that of official developmental aid. Considering that remittances are private capital utilized by locals, the intervention of a non-profit or large international financial organization to spur developmental projects is perhaps not needed. For countries that are reliant on remittances, there are a considerable number of tradeoffs associated with this inflow of capital. Firstly, although difficult to quantify on a large scale, remittances ...

The Past And The Present: Two Paradigms Of The Sino-African Investment, Emma Weirich

International Political Economy Theses

Outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) has obvious economic and political connections between the recipient and donor countries. Such investment can benefit both sides and carry certain costs to both, whether through global scrutiny or domestic struggles. This these seeks to add to the ongoing discussion of China's OFDI to Africa by comparing China's investment during its socialist period (1949-1976) and its post-socialist era (1977 – present). This comparison reveals that China's foreign policy has transitioned from a socialist paradigm to a capitalist one in the last seven decades, which brought significant changes in its OFDI policies and practice ...

Georgia At A Crossroads: Balancing Western Aspirations, Russian Influences & Internal Divisions, Grace Ingle

Student Honors Theses By Year

This research examines Georgia’s interest in European Union and NATO membership and evaluates potential routes for ensuring progress and security while reducing Russia’s residual post-Soviet influence. While much available scholarship focuses on the prospects of Georgia’s formal integration into the Western sphere, there is far less scholarship explicitly discussing Georgia’s potential future without accession to the EU or NATO or emphasizing the significance of the EU and NATO programs with which it already cooperates. Scholarly sources, original scholar interviews and primary-source materials are synthesized in this research to reveal the complexity of Russo-Georgian relations. Russia influences ...

Tinderbox: Danish-Russian Relations, 1989-2019, Maddy Ghose

Master's Theses

This thesis documents and analyzes the major trends of the military, political, economic, and cultural relationships between Denmark and Russia from 1989 to 2019. I document the relationship from the Danish perspective, using primary sources, with the aim to conduct analysis of Danish politicians’ speeches and activities during this period. The outcome is a comprehensive image of the Danish-Russian bilateral relationship at the present time. This relationship has fluctuated widely during the time period under study. Shared economic development interests in the 1990s contributed to a positive relationship; controversy surrounding the war in Chechnya and an assertive Danish prime minister ...

Guiding Principle 28: The Unfulfilled Promise To End Protracted Displacement In Azerbaijan, Kaleigh Rose Mclaughlin

Honors Thesis

In 1998 internal displacement became a major focus of international concern with the adoption the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement by the United Nations. This seminal document outlined the rights and protections of internally displaced persons (IDPs), as well as developing policy solutions for ending displacement. In the two decades since the adoption of the Guiding Principles, there has been an explosion of research into various case studies. This paper re-examines the case of Azerbaijan within a new theoretical framework. This paper uses the work of Walter Kalin, former UN Secretary-General on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons (2004-2010 ...

The Collapse Of A Communist Giant: A Study Of Party Unity In The Soviet Union, Jillian Vice

Honors Theses

This thesis seeks to analyze the breakdown of the unity of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) over policy disputes through three case studies: the withdrawal from Afghanistan, the cooperative movements, and the concessionist policy towards nationalist movements in the Baltic republics. Through a content analysis of primary sources including meeting minutes, diaries, newspaper sources and interviews, to ascertain the positions and opinions of party members and give insight into the party dialogue and atmosphere, revealing policy disagreements tied to contending values. This thesis finds that there was a breakdown in party unity during the Gorbachev era due ...