The Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region as an example of separatism in China

Author(s): Dru C. Gladney / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2021

In this paper, I will argue that the continuing incidents of violence that have occurred in the region known as the Uyghur Autonomous Region of Xinjiang, or Eastern Turkestan, are best understood as incidents of civil unrest in the public sphere, and rarely can be described as “secessionism” (fenliezhuyi) in the traditional sense of the term (which I take to mean coordinated acts of violence against the government and civilian populations for the purpose of establishing an independent state). The struggles of the Uyghur people with the Chinese nation-state that have taken place since its incorporation in 1949 are best understood in the context of efforts to attain sovereignty, not as a religious or Islam-inspired campaign. Except for the fact that the Uyghur are a Muslim people, their concerns and issues resemble that of Tibet, and the occasional violence that takes place in the Tibetan Autonomous Region in China and protests against Chinese rule, are rarely if ever described as “terrorist,” though they are often lumped together with the Uyghur incidents as “secessionist” (fenliezhuyi). At the same time, in this paper an attempt will be made to show that the region of Xinjiang, which had been extremely peaceful since the late 1990s, but then erupted in the last few years, has been caught up in an economic boom that would be the envy of any of its surrounding Central Asian states. Indeed, China should be congratulated for the enormous economic and social transformation of the region over the past two decades, but at the same time should be encouraged to find ways to preserve and promote the vibrant and extraordinary Central Asian civilization that Uyghur culture represents.

Turkey’s Identity Crisis and Its Reflections on the Turkish-Russian Relations

Author(s): Öncel Sençerman / Language(s): English Issue: 75/2022

This study examines Turkey’s western identity constructed during the early republican era following the westernization movements in Turkey that started more than 200 years ago, the identity crisis occurred in Turkey with its western identity losing power after the cold war and its reflections on Turkish-Russian relations. The aim of this study is to demonstrate that Turkey, a ‘torn country’ according to Huntington’s popular definition, pragmatically built interest-based relations with Russia, another torn country seen considered as an outsider by the West, trying to reconstruct its identity owing to domestic dynamics after facing with the identity crisis. This study demonstrates that Turkey developed its relations with Russia as a regional power by reading TurkishRussian relations through the lenses of Huntington’s torn state syndrome.

Акції примирення в сімдесяті роковини масових вбивств 1943 р. на Волині

Author(s): Tetiana Banakh / Language(s): Ukrainian Issue: 4/2022

This article analyses the initiatives aimed at Polish-Ukrainian reconciliation that took place on the 70th anniversary of the Volhynia Massacre in 2013. The study is based on published sources and interviews with the participants in the Polish-Ukrainian dialogue. Special attention is paid to escalating public debates about the Volhynia Massacre in the mid-2000s and reconciliation actions organised by intellectuals and leaders of churches in 2013. When the state could not conduct the dialogue, intellectuals and church leaders attempted to fulfil this function. The article states that the Polish-German model of reconciliation, ‘We forgive and ask for forgiveness’, transferred to Polish-Ukrainian relations, had limited success in the Volhynian issue. A significant obstacle in the process of Polish-Ukrainian reconciliation is a lack of strong institutions that would implement the initiatives of intellectuals and church leaders.

Alexandre Kojève – Filozoficzny jakobin czy nowoczesny bonapartysta?

Author(s): Damian Winczewski / Language(s): Polish Issue: 1/2023

Kojève is considered by many to be a Marxist thinker whose interpretation of Hegelianism was said to be similar to the twentieth-century ‘totalitarian’ ideologies. Historical research on his political thought has preserved his image as a ‘philosophical Jacobin’, who had an affi rmative stance toward political violence and was an apologist for revolutionary activity, the ultimate goal of which was to be ‘the end of history’. The article aims to present an alternative narrative based on new research and sources that show that his thought is much more nuanced. Firstly, it is claimed that the context of his work should be found primarily in Russian religious philosophy and relations with Russian intellectuals in exile. Secondly, the infl uence of geopolitical changes in the fi rst half of the twentieth century on the evolution of his political concepts is emphasised. Thirdly, his critical attitude to revolutionary theories is discussed. Finally, the article concludes with a presentation of the views of ‘mature’ Kojève as one of the creators of the vision of modern European universalism based on a specifi c ideal of justice and the desire for a lasting peace ending the post-Enlightenment chaos full of brutal wars and revolutions.

Gruzińskie starania o zbliżenie z Zachodem po 1991 r.

Author(s): Andrzej Furier / Language(s): Polish Issue: 4/2022

The paper presents the changes in Georgian foreign policy after the collapse of the USSR. The historical context of Georgian ties with the West and attempts to build their own security policy after 1991, which required resignation from the traditional support for Germany. The analysis covers the period from the proclamation of independence and the first free parliamentary elections in 1990 to the 2013. For the politicians of the Second Republic, relations with Russia and the support shown to the Georgian state by the United States were of key importance. The August war in 2008 inhibited Georgian activity in the international arena and restored Russian influence in that country

Куда исчезли черносотенцы? Электоральная статистика как источник для исследования национальной идентичности украинского крестьянства в начале XX в.

Author(s): A. A. Chemakin / Language(s): Russian Issue: 44/2023

The article traces the fates of the members of the Black Hundred organizations of Right-Bank Ukraine after the revolution of 1917. In 1905–1917, this region was one of the centers of the monarchist movement, and the Pochaev department of the Union of the Russian People was the most numerous black hundred organization in the Russian Empire. There is a lot of indirect evidence that after the overthrow of the monarchy, many Black Hundreds of the Right Bank found themselves in the ranks of Ukrainians and Bolsheviks, actively participating in various rebel detachments and gangs, but it is impossible to draw far-reaching conclusions based on such sources, most often of a memoir nature. To understand what happened to the former black-hundredists and in which political camp they found themselves, the author turns to electoral statistics. Comparing the data about the size of organizations of the Union of the Russian People in different settlements of the Kiev province in the 1910s with the results of the elections to the Ukrainian Constituent Assembly in 1917–1918 in the same localities, the author comes to the conclusion that the former black-hundredists did not vote for Russian nationalists and monarchists, but for the Ukrainian Social revolutionaries and occasionally for the Bolsheviks, that is, for the parties that promised a radical solution to the agrarian question. At the same time, the peasants who voted for the socialists because of the desire to divide the landowners’ land, did not support the party programs of the Ukrainian Socialist Revolutionaries and Bolsheviks on other issues, retaining elements of the black-hundred worldview. This is why during the Civil War “black-hundred sentiments” could be found both in the army of the Ukrainian People’s Re-public and in the Red Army.

Формирование «советской модерности» и региональная элита в 1960–1970-е гг.

Author(s): Viktor Viktorovich Kondrashin,Olga Aleksandrovna Sukhova / Language(s): Russian Issue: 44/2023

Based on the materials of the Penza region, the problem of the formation of “Soviet modernity” in the consciousness and practices of political management of the regional elite during the 1960s–1970s is considered. The authors agree with M. David-Fox’s position on Soviet modernity as another type of industrial society, ex-pressed through ideological and cultural representations and behavioral strategies established in the minds and psychology of the elite and society as a whole. The analysis of recruiting, social composition, mental attitudes and aspirations of the regional elite, the results of regional identity formation in the 1960s–1970s was carried out on the basis of the sources of mass origin, documents of Party and Soviet governing bodies, diary records and memoirs. The chronotope of development of the Penza region in this period was due to the later terms of the territorial organization, the processes of industrialization and regional specialization of industrial production. The general trend of changes can be characterized as a situation of unprecedented and unrestrained, in some ways rampant industrial construction, construction of housing and social and cultural facilities. The most important conditions for the formation of the local elite as carriers and generators of new attitudes and values are considered: the socio-economic transformation of the region, its transformation from a backward agricultural to one of the centers of the military-industrial complex of the USSR; as well as the process of mass promotion of leaders in the 1950s–1960s. Most of them were natives of the Penza region, people 30–40 years old, came from the workers and peasants, with higher, usually technical, education, hard military youth, about one-third — participants in the Great Patriotic War, about half — former Komsomol leaders.

ПРОБЛЕМА УСТАНОВЛЕНИЯ ЛЕГИТИМНОГО ЯЗЫКА НА ПРИМЕРЕ ВВЕДЕНИЯ ЛАТИНСКОЙ ГРАФИКИ В МОНГОЛЬСКОЙ НАРОДНОЙ РЕСПУБЛИКЕ В 30-е ГОДЫ XX ВЕКА

Author(s): K.I. Bikmaeva / Language(s): Russian Issue: 1-2/2023

In this article, the adoption of a legitimate language by the Mongolian People’s Republic following the language reform of the 1930s, which involved the switch to the Latin script, is considered. The language policy pursued by the MPR in the early 20th century is investigated from the perspective of the legitimate language theory. By that period, the traditional Mongolian script had become outdated and needed to be reformed. Furthermore, the illiteracy rate among Mongolian people was very high, and the old Mongolian script was difficult to study. Another reason is that the language turned into the main tool for promoting the new cultural and ideological values of the USSR. Thus, the shift of Mongolia to the writing system based on the Latin alphabet was a political phenomenon and played a key role in broadcasting the cultural policy of the new state. In the early years of the MPR, the Latin-based writing solved several problems at once: it promoted literacy among Mongolian people, gave greater publicity to the policy of the Mongolian People’s Revolutionary Party and the new culture, and became a plat-form to bring together Mongolia and the USSR. To substantiate the importance of the Latin graphics as the official state script, Pierre Bourdieu’s “Language and Symbolic Power” is analyzed, in which the author discusses the origin of the legitimate language and script, as well as their role in the process of nation building. Here, the documents in both Russian and Mongolian are also examined. The obtained results demonstrate that, despite various difficulties, the Latin script was adopted for a quite short period of time as legitimate in the MPR, which had a great influence on the development of the socialist culture and the Mongolian national identity.

УКРАЇНСЬКЕ КОЗАЦТВО ЯК НОСІЙ НОВИХ ЯКОСТЕЙ (РИС) ЦИВІЛІЗАЦІЙНОЇ ІДЕНТИЧНОСТІ

Author(s): Mykhailo YURIY / Language(s): Ukrainian Issue: 2/2022

The article is devoted to Cossacks as an extraordinary phenomenon in European history. Its peculiarity is that it became a separate social class with certain rights and had its own territory, independent of the state administration. The relevance of this new social force was caused primarily by the strengthening of social, economic and religious coercion of broad sections of the population. The question of archification, barbarism and civilization is raised as a social and cultural process through which it passed establishment of Cossack identity realizes the novelty of the study. The article uses the descriptive and comparative methods. Conclusions. It is emphasized that the issue of national self-assertion in the 17th century passed into the hands of the Cossacks. It was the Cossacks who had to take over the baton of the former Ukrainian “classocracy”, which for a long period was in a state of decay and destruction. The Cossacks turned out to be capable of directing the manifestations of the protest movement of different classes in the direction of the long national liberation war against Polish rule, which led to the formation of an independent Ukrainian state – Hetmanship.

Opasni stavovi Milorada Dodika - Osvrt na intervju: Čulibrk, Milan, “Milorad Dodik, predsjednik Republike Srpske: Moraju da me pošalju u zatvor da bi mi zabranili politiku”

Author(s): Rusmir Mahmutćehajić / Language(s): Bosnian Issue: 93-94/2023

Milorad Dodik uporno poriče bosanstvo srpskog naroda koji živi zajedno s drugim u Bosni te baštini i dijeli svu njenu sudbinu. Cilj takvog poricanja je daljnje razaranje povjerenja u bosanskohercegovačkom društvu i njegovoj državi. A manjkanje tog povjerenja ugrožava i bosanske Srbe u njihovoj egzistencijalnoj potrebi za boljom budućnošću. Brojne su implikacije ideologijskih sadržaja tog poricanja u bosanskohercegovačkoj politici, kulturi i ekonomiji. Jedna od važnih su i njegova nastojanja da izmašta političkog i teološkog neprijatelja koji će pravdati njegove ideologijske slike.

Recenzja książki: Stefanie Babst. (2023). Sehenden Auges. Mut zum strategischen Kurswechsel. DTV, ss. 286.

Author(s): Aleksandra Kruk / Language(s): Polish Issue: 2/2023

ÇATIŞMA ÇARKI ÇÖZÜMLEMESİ EKSENİNDE FİLİSTİN-İSRAİL SORUNU

Author(s): Zuhal ÇALIK TOPUZ / Language(s): Turkish Issue: 2/2023

In this study, the Palestinian-Israeli problem, which has not been resolved despite the efforts made since the beginning of the conflict, is based on the examination of the issue, away from speculative information. For this purpose, the conflict wheel model, which is the “meta” study analysis of Mason and Rychard, was used in the resolution of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Conflict in this context; 6 different dimensions: actors, problems, dynamics, scope/structures, causality and strategies. The study aims to contribute to the literature by analyzing the hidden roots of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict with different dimensions of conflict wheel analysis.

ÇATIŞMA HARİTALANDIRMASI BAĞLAMINDA LİBYA DEVLET-İÇİ ÇATIŞMASINDAKİ İKİNCİL AKTÖRLERİN KARŞILAŞTIRMALI ANALİZİ: POZİSYONLAR, ÇIKARLAR VE İHTİYAÇLAR

Author(s): İsmail Akşam / Language(s): Turkish Issue: 2/2023

After the civil war in 2011, Libya was exposed to a second civil war between 2014-2020. In Second Civil War, secondary actors with a regional and international profile took part, intervening in the conflict as a side of a local actor. These actors have contributed to the escalation and prolongation of the conflict and undermined its resolution. Concordantly, the analysis of the secondary actors involved in the Libyan intra-state conflict is important in terms of understanding the impact of the actors on the conflict. In the study, the actors are analyzed within the framework of the Conflict Mapping method.

ERMENİ MİLLİYETÇİLİĞİNİN KARABAĞ SORUNUNA ETKİSİ

Author(s): Tolga Otabatmaz / Language(s): Turkish Issue: 2/2023

In the article, the effect of Armenian nationalism on the Karabakh problem was examined. The aim of the article is to reveal how the concepts of identity and nationalism affect the policies of Armenia. The article argues that the elements of mentality, identity and nationalism affect Armenia's policies and seeks an answer to the question of how Armenian nationalism affects the Karabakh conflict. It has been revealed that identity is such an important concept that it causes societies to fight each other and in this context, Armenian identity and nationalism played a role in the Karabakh War.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF MESKHETIAN TURKS’ DEPORTATION AND THEIR REPATRIATION PROCESS TO GEORGIA

Author(s): Elterişhan Elçibey / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2023

The Soviet ethnic deportations are regarded as one of the biggest cruelties of the former USSR. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the titular nationalities of the former Soviet republics that became independent were predominant in their own territories. However, the conditions on the side of minorities which were deprived of their own territories such as Meskhetian Turks got worse, and thus they have been exposed to ethnic discrimination and violence. The main focus of this article will be on the historical background of Meskhetian Turks’ deportation as well as their repatriation process to Georgia.

Literature at the Service of Truth: Simone Weil and 'L’Enracinement'

Author(s): E. Jane Doering / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2023

The purpose of this article is to elaborate the many literary allusions that Simone Weil used in her ultimate work: L' Enracinement, translated as The Need for Roots, to achieve her goal of encouraging her fellow countrymen to create a new postwar society. Understanding how she used the riches of the French and Western Literary Cannon, less easily grasped by those not educated in the French Education system, enriches the understanding of Weil's purpose and skill in writing on many levels, simultaneously for different target audiences. Underlying her stress on the need for truth and honesty about a county's past and present, with discern-able respect for every person, is her foundational belief in the spiritual destiny of every human being. Examining her literary allusions in detail to show her clever subversion of traditionally accepted interpretations brings a new dimension to Simone Weil studies, while underlining the relevance of this essay to contemporary dilemmas.

Remarks on the Implementation of Ordinance 23 during the Transnistrian Governorate

Author(s): Marius Cazan / Language(s): English Issue: 16/2023

From November 1941 until the withdrawal of the Romanian administration from Transnistria, the legal framework that determined how Jews lived there was laid down in Ordinance 23 of the Transnistrian Governorate. In this article, we aim to examine how those responsible for implementing the regulations of the ordinance were held accountable after the war for their actions, decisions, and abuses committed against the Jews. The different understanding and implementation of Ordinance 23 by the gendarmes, prefects, and praetors shows that, in Transnistria, improvisation, personal projects and stakes, as well as the sensitivities and moral and ideological views of the individuals who were part of the administration were essential explanatory factors in understanding the relationship between authority and victim. Representatives of the authorities who came into direct contact with the Jews (whether they were deported to Transnistria or ghettoized local Jews) received signals and clues from their superiors that the survival of the Jews in Transnistria was not a political or administrative objective of the Romanian State.

Alienation of Civic Conscience and the Night of Democracy: A Comparative Analysis of the Holocaust in Romania and Bulgaria

Author(s): Irina Siminiceanu / Language(s): English Issue: 16/2023

A comparative analysis of how the authorities and citizens in Romania and Bulgaria reacted in the face of the “final solution” clearly demonstrates that the antisemitic measures and horrors that occurred in the 1940s, predominantly targeting Jews, could have been avoided if democratic mechanisms had been allowed to function and if the civic conscience of their fellow citizens had been genuinely active. The two nations shared certain similarities in their historical development, as both faced common challenges and conflicts over the years. They both had to deal with waves of immigrants, ethnic diversity, and the consequences of shifting borders and alliances. In this context, we can compare both nations’ collective and individual responses during moments of crisis that historical circumstances placed them in.

Discursive Strategies in the Central Press about the Revision of Romanian Citizenship (1936-1937)

Author(s): Nicolae Drăgușin / Language(s): English Issue: 16/2023

This paper aims at exploring the discursive strategies used by the central press during the third Liberal Party government led by Gh. Tătărescu (29 August 1936 – 14 November 1937), so as to make naturalizations after 1918 a matter under debate and their revision a necessary solution. The revision of citizenship was already on the agenda of the far-right parties (the National-Christian Defense League, turned into the National-Christian Party, and the “Archangel Michael” Legion) since their foundation, but it was only during the tenure of this government that the topic made its way into the central press. That happened under certain specific conditions. First of all, there was the topic of foreigners and the revival of the National-Christian slogan “Romania for the Romanians” (in the original: „România a românilor“). Secondly, press reports referred to presumed cases of fraudulent reception of citizenship by foreigners (especially Jews) and, more precisely, there was a press scandal caused by the so-called Marton Hertz case. These discursive strategies were successful, because they were followed by three normative revision initiatives. As the analysis of these initiatives, in terms of their legal content and the parliamentary and press debates that accompanied them, is complex and beyond the scope of this paper, we shall only sketch them. Starting from historical sources (the press articles of the time, the archives of the Legislative Council, the parliamentary debates), the study aims at exploring the previously unknown prehistory of Decree-Law No 169 of 21 January 1938 on the revision of citizenship in terms of the mechanisms that made it possible and prepared the public opinion, in 1938-1939, for the acceptance and effective implementation of the revision of citizenship.

Moshe Leibel, an Artist in the Vapniarka Concentration Camp

Author(s): Elionor Kroitoru,Thirer Ofelia / Language(s): English Issue: 16/2023

Vapniarka was a concentration camp in Transnistria, Romania, during the Second World War. Despite the constant threat of death, the camp’s inmates engaged in extensive artistic activities, including drawing, metal processing, and wood carving. This paper aims at drawing attention to the artwork produced in the Vapniarka camp, with a focus on five recently discovered undated drawings signed by Leibel, a camp survivor. Viewed through the perspective of time, an analysis of these drawings as postwar artistic documentation vs. the artistic efforts in real time, provides a detailed outlook on how Jewish artists created art in Vapniarka, and demonstrates the value of art in passing on memories from past to future generations.