Karl Schlögel: Toward a Holistic View of Ukraine
REVIEW OF: Karl Schlögel. Ukraine: A Nation on the Borderland. Translated by Gerrit Jackson, Reaktion Books, 2018. 288 pp. Illustrations. Further Reading.
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REVIEW OF: Karl Schlögel. Ukraine: A Nation on the Borderland. Translated by Gerrit Jackson, Reaktion Books, 2018. 288 pp. Illustrations. Further Reading.
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REVIEW OF: Ola Hnatiuk. Odwaga i strach [Courage and Fear]. 2nd ed., Wydawnictwo KEW, 2016. 720 pp. Illustrations. Notes. Bibliography. Index.
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The article looks at think tanks through the prism of a specific social space whose emergence is ascribable to both transnational processes and local social structures. Four processes are identified as shaping the institutionalization of the first think tanks in Belarus, founded as a tool for the “desovietization” of science and “democratization” of politics in the early 1990s: (1) the destabilization of relations between science and politics spurred by the Soviet perestroika beginning in 1986; (2) the autonomization of national elites and a political field in Belarus following the collapse of the Soviet Union; (3) the transformation of the labor market, including the crisis of state-supported research and academia, which ejected a large number of well-educated professionals; and (4) the intensification of transnational exchanges and the legitimization of references to Western practices. To systematically analyze these processes, a model consisting of the following four dimensions is proposed: configuration of relations between science and politics, position of the think tank space in the field of power, professional logics of career or competition, and transnational diffusion of resources and their local appropriation.
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Think tanks outside liberal democracies have distinctive features that go beyond the features of the original concept that emerged within the US context. Departing from this empirical observation, we investigate the sources of the organizational power of think tanks in Ukraine as a case of a limited access order (LAO), a social order where privileged individuals maintain discretionary access to societal resources, functions, and institutions. To accomplish this goal, we apply Thomas Medvetz’s analytical concept of a “boundary organization,” which allows us to highlight the hybridity and flexibility of think tanks and thus understand their methods of gaining political access in an LAO. The analysis of interviews with senior representatives of nongovernmental think tanks in Ukraine in 2016–2017 demonstrates that Ukrainian think tanks are resourceful and find indirect ways of influencing politics. These organizations publish their reports in the media and deliver assessments of Ukraine’s international commitments to the country’s donors, thereby indirectly influencing the policy process in the country. Ukrainian think tanks also comply with the expectations of a boundary organization, accumulating and converting economic, academic, and media capital into political capital, using advocacy and networking as conversion tools. One important difference between the expectations of Medvetz’s framework and our findings is that political capital seems to be the goal of think tank activity, while the three other types are used merely instrumentally.
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Throughout history, social events in different parts of the world for different reasons have brought along many changes and transformations. With the emergence of nation states, the internal fragility of the nation states has increased as a result of the drawing of new borders and the coexistence of different social, cultural, religious and economic groups within these borders. One of these countries is Iran. The fact that it has a wide variety of racial, linguistic, sect and economic groups and that it stands out with the Sunni states as the representative of Shiite Theopolitics in the Middle East and its opposition to the USA and Israel increases the risk of internal fragility, both internal and external support of Iran. Today, many different parameters can play a role in the basis of social movements that started largely on an economic basis. In this study, together with Iran's ethnic, linguistic and sectarian diversity, parameters such as the general poverty level of the people and the distribution of oil resources by the provinces were evaluated together with the AHP (Analytical Hierarchy Process) method and a provincial-based possible internal conflict risk map of Iran was created. Considering these maps, some suggestions were made for Iran and Turkey. Because, an Iranian civil war will cause refugees and border security problems for Turkey and the entire Middle East. As a matter of fact, for these reasons, it is extremely important to protect Iran's territorial integrity and internal unity.
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Terrorism is an event that has multiple social, political, economic and even spatial effects in the world. In the last 10 years, the development that most closely concerns the world and our country's public opinion in terms of terrorism is the DEASH organization that emerged in the Middle East. In a very short period of time, it gained dominance over a wide geographical area. Although its power weakens from time to time, its influence in the Middle East continues. Various researches are carried out from different branches of science on the actions and activities of DEASH. In this study, the ideological and economic orientations of the DEASH Terrorist Organization were examined, its historical development, propaganda and action methods were discussed in detail and certain analyses were made. The main purpose of the study is to reveal the activist profile of the organization and, accordingly, to reveal the propaganda activities through the journals Rumiyah, Konstantiniyye and Dabiq, which are known to represent the organization on a macro scale. Quantitative and qualitative methods were used together in the present study. Especially in the activist profile, the data taken from Gaziantep Courthouse was taken as a reference and used descriptively within the scope of the study. In the analysis of the journals, the MAXQDA 12 program was used to reveal the propaganda structure of the organization. The results obtained indicate that the DEASH Terrorist Organization actively uses propaganda to keep its members and sympathizers fit and strong. It has been found out that words such as “Allah”, “Islam”, “Muslim”, “Jihad”, “Martyr”, “Infidel”, “Apostate”, “Caliphate” and “Taghut” are used as propaganda tools in all of the journals. The basic prediction of the study is that the propaganda activities will increase from time to time and decrease from time to time in parallel with the power of the organization in the Middle East Geography. In addition, it is thought that Turkey will continue to be introduced as an enemy in the following issues of the aforementioned journals. This situation emerges as an important method in providing the basic motivation of the members of the organization.
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The distinction of "us and the other" used in explaining political and social debates of the 20th century has revealed a new consciousness of us and the other with the construction of the modern state, which points to the necessity of homogeneity. This consciousness has been built with a national security approach that will keep its citizens inside and foreigners out against all threats trying to enter its territory without permission. This understanding of national security did not only determine the boundaries of the areas containing the Western geography and Western values. At the same time, this situation has resulted in each state, each different political, social and cultural thought creating its borders and determining the area of what is normal and abnormal for itself, as it builds an immanent understanding of the political, social and cultural. Acting with the consciousness of "us" based on blood, kinship and cultural identity, the Taliban gained legitimacy by preserving its existence from those who tried to enter their lands without permission, the "unjust and illegitimate" one, the other. In Afghanistan, which is weak in terms of the existence and functionality of political and democratic institutions but has unity in terms of social identity construction, the Taliban gained its social reality through the opposition of "us and the other". In this direction, the study aims to reveal the elements that make up the "us" and the "other" for the Taliban and also make the Taliban legitimate in Afghanistan. In the study, the elements that reveal religious radicalism, as well as the Taliban; political environment, social reasons, religious-political goals, individual situation and philosophical reasons, were evaluated under five headings. Historical and descriptive research methods were used in the study.
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Tourism has an important role in protecting, promoting and transferring natural and human (cultural) values to future generations. Geotourism is a tourism activity based on the sustainable use of values that have witnessed the past history of the place in any area. Geoparks are the most important way of maintaining geotourism activities in systematically. Geoparks are private nature protection areas where the same or different types of geo-heritage or geosites are found collectively open to visitors, managed and not less than walking distance. The district of Ergani is geographically located in the Upper Euphrates Section of the Eastern Anatolia Region of Turkey. Tectonically, it was established in the south of the Maden Mountains, which belong to the Southeast Taurus Mountain belt, on the border of the border fold belt and Diyarbakır basin. There are important geopark elements originating from the geological, geomorphological, archaeological and historical features of the site. Hilar caves and Çayönü, Hendek caves, nummulitic fossil field, folds and thrust structures, volcanic and karstic shapes, mounds, Assyrian reliefs and many historical values are some of these. No study in the literature evaluates and reveals the natural (geographical) and human (cultural) values in Ergani district in terms of geopark potential. The aim of this study is to determine and evaluate the geopark potential of natural (geographical) and human (cultural) values in Ergani district. For this, literature data, 1/100,000 scaled printed geology maps, 1/250,000 scaled printed active fault maps, 1/25,000 scaled printed topography maps, 10*10 m resolution Digital Elevation Model data, Google Earth images and field study data were used. In evaluating the data, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technologies and geomorphological methods were evaluated together. As a result of this study, many geopark elements originating from geological, geomorphological, archaeological and historical features have been identified in Ergani district. Fossil sites, fold structures and thrust faults, various karstic shapes (lapia, cave), pyroclastic cones, mounds, ancient cave settlements, castles and churches can be given as examples.
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The transatlantic relationship is the foundation of a successfull collective security, the US-Europe relationship being the central vector that defines the configuration of the liberal international order created after the Second World War. The transatlantic partnership was assumed to be a reality after 1990, with the assertion of American hegemony and the construction of an expanded European security and defense geography, including new members from Central and Eastern Europe, with NATO and EU as its main pillars. This international order is currently facing strong geopolitical pressures that have intensified in the context of the pandemic crisis. Although no major transatlantic fractures have occurred, a closer look at the consequences of the pandemic shows the existence of faults with real potential to generate a much deeper crisis on the Washington-Brussels relationship.
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This article deals with the primary sources in the Ukrainian archives which pertain to the establishment and function of the networks of the Janissaries of the Crimean Khanate with their neighbors in the northern Black Sea frontier region. It demonstrates the extent to which it is possible to use this archival material in order to study the history of relations between the Janissaries of the Black Sea port-cities and the main powers of the steppeland, namely the Zaporozhian Cossacks and the Ukrainians of the Left Bank Hetmanate. The paper raises questions about the ways in which these groups were interacting with each other and at what levels, also focusing on how these established networks of the great steppe region were affected and transformed by the Ottoman-Russian struggle and the gradual expansion of the Russians to the south.
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In spite of the expansion of the Covid 19 pandemic in all Europe including the Caucasus, Azerbaijan decided to attack the Armenian forces from the separatist region Nagorno-Karabakh, with the massive diplomatic and military support given by Turkey. Since the negotiations under the umbrella of the Minsk Group did not produce a satisfactory outcome for Baku, the legal owner of the separatist area, Azerbaijan decided to use military power against Armenia, knowing that Russia will not provide military support to Armenia, which is a CSTO member, for the defense of Nagorno Karabakh since this territory is not covered by the CSTO guarantees. In the end, Russia and Turkey proved to be the main actors able to bring a peace proposal for Baku and Yerevan, while Iran remained disatisfied with the minor role it played in the conflict and during the peace negotiations.
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The myth of the promised land and the emphasis on superior race of the Jews increased their immigration to Palestine. By the 20th century, Zionism became an ideal for the Jews to establish a state rather than an ideology. Leaving the Palestine region to the British Mandate Administration after the First World War increased the Jewish migration to the region. After the British Mandate Administration established in Palestine after the First World War, the population structure in the region began to change with Jewish migration. The continuation of migration to the region brought along Arab-Jewish conflicts. While the Arab-Jewish conflicts between 1920 and 1933 generally remained local, immigration of Jews to Palestine increased remarkably as a result of Britain's attitude towards Jewish immigration and the coming to power of the Nazi administration in Germany in 1933. This migration movement was seen as dangerous by the Arabs and caused the reactions to intensify. In this context, the most severe Arab-Jewish conflict in the region emerged after 1936. This situation pushed Britain to seek a solution. In this context, the British Government established a commission called the Peel Commission (Palestine Royal Commission) to resolve the conflicts in the region. A report was prepared by this commission. With this report, also known as the Partition Report, the partition of Palestine was decided. This decision caused the reaction of the Arabs, rather than the Jews. In this context, this commission's decision was condemned and demonstrations were organised in Iraq and Syria, especially in Palestine. In Turkish archive documents, information was observed that slogans in favour of Turkey were shouted and posters were carried in these demonstrations. In addition, although the Arab communities that sought support at this point saw Turkey as the dominant power in the region and requested assistance from the Turkish Government, Turkey saw the issue as an internal matter of the British mandate administration within the framework of the Lausanne Treaty and remained out of the issue until 1947. In the study, the document analysis method, one of the qualitative research methods, was used. In the study, The Arab-Jewish conflicts in Palestine between 1929-1939 and the reaction of Arab and Jewish groups to these conflicts, the Arab calls for help from the Turkish government and its effects, the demonstrations in favor of Turkey in the region, the solution proposals presented by the British Mandate Administration and the results of all these developments was revealed.
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The aim of this study is two-fold; a) to examine the attendance of Turkey at the exhibitions, expositions and fairs held in the Balkans in order to develop commercial relations with the Balkan countries and to introduce the goods and products it produced, and b) to discuss the results achieved in this process. In this regard, Turkey’s approach to exhibitions, expositions and fairs held in Thessaloniki, Belgrade and Plovdiv, the preparation processes, and the political and economic factors that enabled this attendance were discussed. Turkey’s attendance at these economic organizations in the Balkans took place especially after the Balkan Conferences and the signing of the Balkan Pact. By attending these exhibitions, Turkey brought close political relations with the Balkan countries to the economic field. Thus, the Balkan Union was tried to be placed on an economic basis. The main sources of the study were the Republic Archive documents of Presidency State Archives and the periodical publications of the period.
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Why did Turkey shift its Middle East policy from soft power oriented approach to the security oriented one in the early 2010s? While Turkey prioritized diplomatic, commercial and economic relations during the first decade of the 2000s, it has increasingly used military means to influence the Middle East since 2011. The primary objective of this study is to ascertain the reasons behind this widely debated question in Turkish foreign policy literature. Unlike existing explanations, the main argument of the study is that the U.S. grand strategy towards Middle East appears as the most important causal factor shaping the nature of Turkey’s engagement in its region.
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When a country’s balance of trade persistently records deficits, the most important policy is to devalue the exchange rate. This article aims to explore the symmetric effect of the exchange rate and its transmission channels on the trade balance. The recently developed method of Non-linear Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) was utilized for Quarterly data from 1990 Q1 to 2019 Q4 in unexplored areas of East African Community (EAC -5) members. The study found the presence of robust symmetric and asymmetric negative effects of exchange rate changes on trade balance only in Uganda, both in the short-run and long-run. Meanwhile, there was no evidence of robust J-curve phenomena within EAC members. Generally, the application of exchange rate policy in improving trade imbalance is doubted within the EAC region.
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The place, which tries to accurately describe the character of the countryside from past to present, is the product of geography. Considering the geographical and climatic characteristics of Anatolia, the local architecture and traditional housing texture form the cultural pattern of the place. Rural settlements, shaped by the physical environment and their unique lifestyle, reflect the cultural mosaic of Anatolia. The settlements, which differ from region to region and even from village to village in the same region, are shaped by topographic structure, physical and cultural conditions. In the rural life, which represents an area that is compatible with cultural values, where natural conditions are evident, the concept of habitus, which is fed by the relationship that people establish with place, appears. The word habitus has many conceptual meanings, factual content and effects, including sociological, economic and cultural, which are very closely related to social life. Bourdieu's concept of habitus expresses the basic stock of knowledge that people have in their minds as a result of belonging to certain cultures and adopting the values of that culture. In this context, the culture of space nourished by historical details and common memory creates habitus with common belonging, architectural texture and cultural identity. In the light of the information given, the aim of the study is to evaluate the cultural adaptation of the house in the context of rural aesthetics in the synthesis of habitus and space of Ormana district located in Akseki-İbradı Basin. In this context, in the study, the boundaries of habitus were drawn in the sociological theme of the countryside and it was concluded that cultural heritage had an effect on traditional house architecture.
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Prezenta lucrare aduce dovezi noi despre prezența Sârbilor în Banatul Românesc. Așa cum s-a precizat în Ishodišta nr. 5, prezența Sârbilor în Banatul Românesc este dovedită începând cu anii 1182, odată cu sosirea călugărului Ilarie din Țârvia (= Sârbia/Serbia) – ziditorul mănăstirii Căvăranului, urmată în anii 1342 de egumenul Elefterie, cel care va zidi mănăstirea Zlatița - cu hramul Sfântului Sava -, respectiv de cneazul Lazăr Sârbu, care, după zidirea mănăstirii Vodița din anul 1371, va face danie mănăstirii zece sate din Țârvia. Lui îi urmează în anul 1438 cneazul Milan, care va zidi mănăstirea Cusici, unde se vor așeza călugării sârbi sosiți din Serbia. În anul 1486 despotul sârb Ioan Brancovici va înzestra și rezidi mănăstirea Partoșului, iar în anul 1498 Dimitri Iakcșici-Sârbul va înzestra biserică de piatră de la Hodoș. Prezenta lucrare aduce la lumină prezența Sârbilor prin trei documente imprimografiate: 1. Manuscrisul lui popa Iancu ot Iaz - 27 iulie 1604; 2. Manuscrisul egumenului Gavrilă de la mănăstirea Sfântul Gheorghe din Caransebeș - 23 septembrie 1608; 3. Manuscrisul diacului Martin din Petrovo Selo - 27 septembrie 1691, documentul face referire la una din marile migrații ale Sărbilor (Seoba Srba).
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Based on the material collected in the villages of Divič, Belobreška and Stara Moldava, this paper analyzes the use of the free genitive in the vernacular of the Banatska Klisura region in Romania. The paper examines registered confirmations of different syntactic and semantic values of the genitive case in the adnominal or adverbial position or, more specifically, those types of the free genitive which are in a competitive relation with another free case form which is not blocked either by a preposition or obligatory determiner. Based on this criterion, the analysis is conducted on the partitive, objective and subjective genitive. Deserving of special attention is the competitive relationship between the genitive case and the other case formalizer of the specific meaning, considering the peripheral position of this Serbian vernacular and the foreign, non-Slavic linguistic environment which in cases like this influences the analytization of the case system.
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The paper provides a review of syntactic features of verbs in the speech of Javorani, a village in the southeastern part of the Banja Luka region. The objective of the analysis is to draw attention to this little explored speech areal and to designate its place in the east Herzegovina dialect from that point of view. The observed syntactic features will be compared with the situation in other Serbian speeches of the east Herzegovina dialect while registering the peculiarities that set the Javorani speech apart from the rest of this dialect.
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Serbian literary historiography in previous research has prevented the formation of a proto Simeon Zikić (1878-1964) in the area of Eastern Serbia at the end of the 19th and in the first half of the 20th century. He left behind, mainly in the handwritten legacy, several works: three novels (Govor srca, Na svome poslu, Za ukazom), two books of narratives (Parohijske slike i prilike, Teška vremena), a book of discussions and articles (Pastirska reč) and an extensive autobiographical and memoir book (Moji memoari). All of these texts are mostly thematically related to the life of the Timok region of Eastern Serbia and the bordering Serb region towards Romania and Bulgaria in the last third of the 19th and early four decades of the 20th century, while in the manuscript of the memoir, a noteworthy place was also given to the description of life in Russia, where he studied from 1897. to 1905. Thanks to the textual work of Vladana Stojadinović, all these manuscripts were published in the Edict of the “Zaveštanja” of the National Library “Njegoš” from Knjaževac from 2010. to 2015, and in 2017. a collection of works was also published Sima Žikić, svedok vremena. In this way, a literary writer finally included in the serbian literary historiography of Eastern Serbia into equal parts of the serbian literature.
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