Creating a Dam National Space: Rakhmon’s Socialist Realist Promotion of Roghun
What we have inherited is the nation state as conceptualised later on in the Soviet period. It is an ethnic nationalism centered on statehood, the…
Read MorePolicy
Policy is a state’s plan to achieve a specific goal. The following articles discuss policy trajectories or outcomes. This includes diplomatic, economic, or security policies as well the theories that guide such policies. GeoHistory is particularly interested in investigating policy affecting demographics and infrastructure.
Russia’s Forest Sector and International Trade in Forest Products: Export Taxes on Roundwood, Priority Investment Projects, and WTO Accession
Wood, well made into buildings and furniture and well cared for, can last hundreds of years, but it is now routinely manufactured into products that…
The Armenian Colonies in Ukraine: Conflict, Cooperation, and Assimilation
The early modern period from 1500-1800 has been focused upon in recent scholarship as a unique era separated from the medieval and the modern. This…
Historical Context and Modern Demands: Reinterpreting Linguistic Human Rights in Ukraine
The concept of human rights in an international context and on the scale that exists today did not come into being until the 20th century….
International Relations at the Lenin Library
The following piece is taken from The Russia Reader edited by Bruce Grant and Adele Barker (Duke University Press, 2010). The book is part of…
Five Russia-Related Issues to Watch this Semester
The SRAS Newsletter has been on vacation for much of the summer. However, we’ve continued to follow the major issues surrounding Russia. To bring our…
A Sovereign Surge, Not a Soviet Resurgence: The Mutualism of Eurasian Reintegration
With the creation of the Eurasian Economic Community’s customs union (“Customs Union”) in 2010, total trade among Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan skyrocketed.[1] Emboldened by such…
The Varieties of Capitalism Dichotomy (and Beyond) in Post-Communist States
The dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 gave rise to fifteen independent states, as well as a challenge for those who study national political…
Russian MiniLessons: Землетрясения и российской помощи – Earthquakes and Russian Foreign Aid
The following bilingual Russian MiniLesson is meant to build your vocabulary by providing Russian phrases within English text. Hover over the bold Russian to reveal…
An Unfavorable Balance: Government and Human Rights in the Russian Mindset
The following was written as mid-term essay for SRAS’s cultural program in St. Petersburg, “The Russians.” Students were encouraged to draw upon not only the…
The Soviet Union in Angola: Soviet and African Perspectives on the Failed Socialist Transformation
Africa’s drive for independence came to a head by the 1960s, at the height of the Cold War. It was seen by the Soviet Union…
Ordinary Men? Collaboration and Resistance in Occupied Mogilevskaya Oblast’
The subject of collaboration and resistance in occupied Europe is one of the most controversial issues related to the history of the Second World War….
The Chinese in Russia’s Far East: A Clash of Civilizations in Vladivostok
As an American of Chinese descent, I’ve always had an interest in China. In 2008, I lived in Beijing, China studying Mandarin Chinese and business….
The State of the Russian Navy: History and Prospectives
Russia has had a long historical tradition of a strong military and a special pride in its naval forces. From Peter the Great to the…
Russians on Ice: A Brief Overview of Soviet and Russian Hockey
While Russia’s political history has been tumultuous and unpredictable, one thing has remained an unfaltering constant: Russians are good at hockey. While Brezhnev dealt with…
Russia in Space
Humanity’s space age had its beginnings in the Cold War rivalries between the US and the USSR. Both countries attempted to advance their own sciences…
Russian MiniLessons: Ссориться по-русски – Fighting in Russian
The following bilingual Russian MiniLesson is meant to build your vocabulary by providing Russian phrases within English text. Hover over the bold Russian to reveal…
Russian MiniLessons: Южная Осетия – South Ossetia
The following bilingual Russian MiniLesson is meant to build your vocabulary by providing Russian phrases within English text. Hover over the bold Russian to reveal…
Russian MiniLessons: Органы = Security Forces (FSB and Spies)
The following bilingual Russian MiniLesson is meant to build your vocabulary by providing Russian phrases within English text. Hover over the bold Russian to reveal…
US Elections Come to Moscow
The 2008 US elections promise to bring historic results. Not only will the next president be the first sitting senator elected since John F. Kennedy…