Rethinking The Post Soviet Experience

Written in 1985, this book cuts through the Cold War stereotypes of the Soviet Union to arrive at fresh interpretations of that country's traumatic history and later political realities. The author probes Soviet history, society, and politics to explain how the U.S.S.R. remained stable from revolution through the mid-1980s.

In this unique contribution to economic sociology, Jeffrey Hass examines the impact of culture, norms and political authority on Russia's post-socialist transition. The interactions and contradictions of moral economies and market relations are examined, exploring the often overlooked social dimension to market-building in Russia.

This text is informed by the view that part of the answer to the conundrum - Did we fail to anticipate the end of the Cold War? - lies in a dissection of the ways in which the USSR was theorized by its leading practitioners in the West.

Today, there is plenty of evidence that Russia has become a prominent external actor in Latin America and the Caribbean. Yet, few books have attempted to better understand the reasons behind Russia ́s return and Moscow’s continuous engagement in the region. In order to fill the gap, this volume offers the first interdisciplinary study of Russian-Latin American relations after the end of the Cold War. Across 16 chapters, leading experts from Russia, Europe, the United States, and Latin America collectively re-examine the Soviet legacy to reveal the conditions in which Russia operates today and identify the key trends of contemporary Russian relations with this part of the world. The book then moves on to provide a detailed case study analysis of Russia’s bilateral relations with Venezuela, Cuba, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, and Colombia, identifying the most critical dimensions of Russian engagement. Rethinking Post Cold-War Russian-Latin American Relations allows readers to identify the fundamental driving forces of Russia’s renewed commitment to the area, its strategies and experiences. The book will be of interest to readers of international relations and area studies, historians of modern Latin America, migration studies, political economy, and any political scientists interested in Russian decision-making.

Environment and Post-Soviet Transformation in Kazakhstan's Aral Sea Region explores how the sea's retreat and partial return has impacted the lives of people living in the area.

Recent political developments in post-Soviet countries have raised novel issues regarding the stability of the post-Cold War world order. A new direction in policy has been exemplified by the recent bolstering of a number of post-Soviet political and economic institutions - such as CSTO, SCO and the Eurasian Economic Union - in which the role of Kazakhstan is considerable. In addition to its unique geopolitical location, Kazakhstan’s importance in regional integration structures and international relations more broadly is reinforced by its rich oil and uranium deposits. This book centres on an exploration of the changing relations between Russia and Kazakhstan and their impact on post-Soviet interactions with the rest of the world. The role of specific factors in the formation of the post-Soviet regional system will be explored in historical perspective. The multifaceted relations between Kazakhstan and Russia from 1991 to the contemporary period will be analysed in terms of relations in several spheres: political, military and security, Kazakhstan’s nuclear withdrawal, ethnicity and national identity, economic, foreign policies, regionalism and international trends and the impact of historic trends. An important analysis of Kazakhstan, the second largest country in the post-Soviet world, this book is of interest to researchers of International Relations, Post-Soviet Studies and Central Asia Studies.

This book presents an account of war settlement in Georgia and Tajikistan as local actors maneuvered in the shadow of a Russian-led military intervention. Combining ethnography and game theory and quantitative and qualitative methods, this book presents a revisionist account of the post-Soviet wars and their settlement.

In order to understand today's Russia and former Soviet republics, it is vital to consider their socialist past. Caroline Humphrey, one of anthropology's most highly regarded thinkers on a number of topics including consumption, identity, and ritual, is the ideal guide to the intricacies of post-Soviet culture. The Unmaking of Soviet Life brings together ten of Humphrey's best essays, which cover, geographically, Central Russia, Siberia, and Mongolia; and thematically, the politics of locality, property, and persons.Bridging the strongest of Humphrey's work from 1991 to 2001, the essays do a great deal to demystify the sensational topics of mafia, barter, bribery, and the new shamanism by locating them in the lived experiences of a wide range of subjects. The Unmaking of Soviet Life includes a foreword and introductory paragraphs by Bruce Grant and Nancy Ries that precede each essay.