Direct transfers between the former Soviet Union central budget and the republics: Past evidence and current implications

This paper examines the magnitude of direct transfers between the former Soviet Union central buget and individual republics. It shows that Kazakhstan and Central Asian republics were primary recipients of large net transfers of funds from the Soviet central budget amounting in some cases to about ten percent of their GNP. On the contrary, Russia was the single largest net donor of funds to the Soviet central budget through more transfers paid to the union budget than received from it, both in rouble terms and as a share of the GNP. With the dissolution of the central budget in November 1991, these transfers were discontinued. This has caused a dent in fiscal budgets and a large negative income shock in recipient republics. To some extent, external saving is suggested as the way to ease up the burden of the loss of income induced by the collapse of the fiscal system and the system of direct transfers within the former Soviet Union.     

Clans,politics and organized crime in Central Asia

This paper investigates the role of transnational organized crime in the democratisation process in the Central Asian area. It examines the inherent connections that exist between the leading tribal families, political elites and organized crime, and explores how criminal networks have proliferated in society and consequently in politics. The complete absence of a ruling élite and striking economic issues left unsolved were the legacy that Soviet rule would leave to the newly independent Central Asian Republics. After the fall of the former Soviet Union other, more profitable forms of transnational organized crime flourished. According to the official statistics of the UNODC and the American State Department, 92% of the world’s heroin is produced in Afghanistan. Of this, around 65% is smuggled into Europe and America along the Silk Road, and therefore through the five Central Asian Republics and Russia. High levels of corruption in Central Asia heavily affect political and economic life. The economies of the region have progressively become dominated by criminal activity with smuggling, trafficking and other activities linked to transnational organized crime as the major source of income. Central Asia’s strategic location makes this a global security concern.

Russia and Ukraine Ten Years After the Fall of the Communist Regimes: Similarities and Differences

Ukraine made a considerable contribution to the collapse of the USSR. The continued existence of the Soviet empire was unthinkable without its participation. If Ukraine had not become fully autonomous, an alliance of the three eastern Slavic peoples would have been likely—that is, an abridged version of the USSR. After the August 1991 putsch, all the union republics except Russia seceded from the Soviet Union. According to political reality, Ukraine's independence meant its separation from Russia, since the USSR had in fact already ceased to exist by the autumn of 1991. Under Yeltsin, Russia, in a sense, swallowed up the USSR.     

Dynamics of the Soviet illicit drug market

The demise of communism, Westernization, internal economic reform and the disintegration of the Soviet state create fertile soil for the growth of drug abuse and drug trafficking in (the former) USSR. Rates of drug abuse have soared since the mid-1980s, especially in the European parts of the (former) Union; also, organized interregional drug mafias have emerged to serve this rapidly expanding market. The (former) USSR does not now participate significantly in the international narcotics market as a consumer or supplier of illicit substances; however, this pattern of relative self-sufficiency could change dramatically in the 1990s. Convertibility of the ruble could result in a large flow of Western hard drugs such as cocaine, heroin or crack into European Russia. A rapid expansion of trade, travel and economic ties with Western countries will widen the pipeline for the movement of drugs. Finally, Moscow's weakening hold over the (former) Soviet Central Asian republics and Central Asia's generally bleak economic prospects correlate with an apparent massive expansion of drug crop cultivation in that region; if current trends continue, (former) Soviet Central Asia could well become a significant world supplier of hashish and opium products, during the 1990s.Research for this study was completed prior to the transformation of the USSR into the Commonwealth of Independent States.This paper was published as an occasional paper by the Kennan Institute of Advanced Soviet studies and has been updated since then.This paper was prepared for the Department of State as part of its external research program. Views or conclusions contained herein should not be interpreted as representing the official opinion or policy of the Department of State.     

Post-colonial trade between Russia and former Soviet republics: back to big brother?

We examine the developments in trade patterns between the former Soviet republics in the years following the initial breakup shock. After a huge fall following the Soviet breakup of the early 1990s, Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) trade with Russia began improving, and there have been recent formal efforts at Eurasian Economic Integration. This might be taken, a priori, as contrary to the hypothesis of gradual decline in Head, Mayer and Ries (HMR in J Int Econ 81(1):1–14, 2010)—or perhaps as evidence of the power of restored trade agreements, such as the incipient Eurasian Economic Union. We decompose the region’s trade into theory-consistent ‘gravity’ components, in order to analyze dynamic changes in the components since the Soviet era. Despite the sharp falls after 1991, trade in 1995 still shows strong ties, consistent with high dyadic (country pair) components linked to trade specialization. By contrast, in the second decade, the ties (dyads) began to weaken significantly and calibrated trade costs tend to rise, despite attempts at renewed integration. Rather, the sharp improvement in trade volumes was mainly due to the sharp recoveries in GDP levels for both Russia and many of the Central Asian Countries, associated with improvements in the global economy and economic ties with the World (especially with EU and China). We would therefore conclude that the recovery in trade between Russia and Central Asia reflects monadic factors (i.e., the regional economic recovery) and does not contradict the HMR (2010) hypothesis. Nevertheless, further, dynamic analysis shows that there are strong long-run ties within the CIS and Russia, which are not declining, and that sticky post-colonial adjustment does not appear set to eliminate the current bias of trade between these republics.

     

Eurasian Economic Union: present and future perspectives

This paper analyzes the economic and political situation in the Eurasian Economic Union. The basic question is why it was created after the failure of all previous integration projects in the Commonwealth of Independent States and Central Asian region? The paper examines the effects and opportunities for the regional economy of economic sanctions imposed on Russia and of Russian counter-sanctions. It also analyzes relations between the Eurasian Economic Union and the European Union and draws perspectives and policy implications for their future relations.     

Birthplaces,migration and identity in the 2001 census for Ukraine

Ukraine used to be one of the most ethnically mixed Soviet republics due to a high level of immigration, mostly from other parts of the Soviet Union. This article uses the sample of households available at IPUMS International to study the information about birthplaces, migration and marriage partners in recently released microdata from the 2001 census. Since Ukraine’s independence in 1991 a large emigration surplus and ethnic estrangement have turned the country into a place with a lower degree of internal migration and ethnic intermarriage. With the exception of the capital Kiev, there was relatively little interchange of migrants between the eastern, Russian-dominated regions and the western regions. The highest degree of intermarriage was among people with at least one partner born abroad, most often in Russia. There is evidence of an elite of migrants from Russia to the Russia-oriented south-eastern provinces, who may feel especially threatened by the Ukrainian nationalistic takeover of power which happened after the Maidan insurrection.     

When the World Hung by a Thread

When the Berlin Wall came down in 1989 and the East European countries threw themselves in friendship into the West's embrace, no one wanted to think about the problems and difficulties that lay ahead. A few years later, when the Soviet Union disintegrated and the Russian Federation that rose from its ruins declared a resolute transition to capitalism, everyone already knew that the transformations would be painful. This was evident in the experience of the formerly fraternal countries in Eastern and Central Europe, even as the Soviet economy was undergoing a grave crisis, from which there could be no exit without losses. However, neither in 1989 nor in 1991 did many doubt the correctness of the path chosen or that ultimately the triumph of capitalism was guaranteed. With that triumph would come an effective economy, freedom, and prosperity. Some dissenters ventured to protest, but no one wanted to listen to them.     

The Law on the Status of Deputies to the Soviets - In Action

The Law on the Status of Deputies to Soviets of Working People's Deputies in the USSR, adopted by the Supreme Soviet, has been in effect now for over a year and a half. Taking into consideration the special importance of exact and undeviating implementation of that law, the Committees on Legislative Proposals and the Mandate Committees of the two houses of the USSR Supreme Soviet have made a careful study of experience in carrying out this law and discussed this question in March 1974 at a joint meeting. A report to this meeting was presented by I. K. Lutak, deputy to the USSR Supreme Soviet and leader of a group of member-deputies of these committees who had prepared this question for consideration. G. I. Usmanov, chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic and deputy to the USSR Supreme Soviet, presented a report on experience in applying the Law on the Status of Deputies, as did N. A. Evsigneev, chairman of the Executive Committee of the Voronezh Regional Soviet of Working People's Deputies. Animated discussion arose at the meeting. Participating in it were deputies R. Kh. Abdullaeva, L. T. Torkkeli, A. N. Balandin, F. S. Kuralenok, B. P. Beshchev (USSR minister of transportation), and also S. I. Gusev, deputy procuratorgeneral of the USSR. I. V. Kapitonov, chairman of the Committee on Legislative Proposals of the Council of the Union and a secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, also spoke at the meeting.     

Soviet Political (State) Sciences Association Centers Attention on the Scientific Foundations of Politics

The decisions of the October and November 1964 plenums of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union have drawn attention, with new force, to problems of the scientific validity of political practices. Prevention of subjectivism and unjustified haste in the solution of affairs of state, and the further improvement of the efficiency of all links in the political organization of Soviet society — this is the range of problems now facing the social sciences.     

Improving National Relations in the USSR

The problem of nationalities occupied a substantial place among the wide range of social problems raised at the Twenty-seventh CPSU Congress. The Soviet Union has been a pioneer in addressing the national question which, as V. I. Lenin wrote, is a worldwide phenomenon. It is one of the most acute questions in the history of mankind: the engendering of class antagonisms that inevitably entail national oppression, the lack of equality of nationalities before the law, and their inequality. Our country has convincingly demonstrated to the entire world that with the victory of socialism antagonisms in the sphere of national relations are being overcome. As noted in the new edition of the CPSU Program, "the Soviet Union has successfully resolved the national question that was left over from the past." In the course of socialist construction, the formerly backward national hinterlands have long ago vanished; socialist nations have joined to form an international community—the Soviet people—that is new in its social parameters; there have formed common cultural traits that are characteristic of Soviet people of all nationalities; national discord is a thing of the past; and the fraternal friendship of the peoples, forged in their common creative labor and tested in the most difficult of wars, has become the standard of life.     

Editor's Introduction

The future of socialism and of the former Soviet Union is the unifying theme of this issue of Russian Politics and Law. Swedish sociologist Per Månson asks whether the historic events of 1989-91 toll the death knell of the entire era of socialism or whether they signify the end merely of the Soviet variant of an otherwise viable ideology. Any answer to this question largely depends on whether the observer regards the former Soviet Union as having been a deformation of "genuine" socialism rather than its very embodiment. Månson believes the USSR was a caricature of real socialism, which, he argues, requires democratic control of the economy, not state control. Although Månson provides an excellent summary of the contradictions of social democracy, he does not explore in depth the posited distinction between "democratic" and "state" control of the economy in a democratic state.     

Parental Rights

In December 1961 the committees on legislation of the Soviet of the Union and the Soviet of Nationalities decided to begin drafting the Principles of Legislation of the USSR and the Union Republics on Marriage and the Family. Therefore, an exchange of opinions on the content of this legislation, as well as on the future codes of the union republics on marriage and the family, must doubtless be regarded as useful. In this article we should like to deal with only one question—that of parental rights, the right of parents to raise their children themselves. The Party regards it as a most important task to assure the upbringing, from earliest childhood, of a physically-strong young generation, harmoniously developed physically and mentally, a generation prepared for active participation in the building of a communist society.     

Soviet discussion on enterprise incentives and methods of planning

For some years a discussion has been in progress among economists in the Soviet Union on methods of securing the active and positive participation of individual enterprises in a centrally planned economy. The main theme of discussion has been the problem: how to arrange the system of plan indices, prices, enterprise bonuses, etc. to encourage enterprise interest in higher plan assignments, introduction of new technology, and improvement of quality of output. On the following pages some excerpts from this debate are reproduced. However, since the problems discussed are now engaging also the Soviet political authorities, let us first quote a few sections from one of the many official statements made in this connection. The one we have chosen is from the report given by the Soviet Prime Minister N. S. Khrushchev at the CPSU Central Committee Plenary Meeting of November 19, 1962 (Pravda, November 20).     

Labor force participation in the Soviet and post-Soviet Baltic States

It is well documented that labor force participation rates fell precipitately as the economies of the former Soviet Union and Central and Eastern Europe made the transition from plan to market. However data allowing for direct comparison between the planned and transition periods of specific countries is rare. Here comparable data is used examining labor force participation in the Baltic States in 1990 (the late Soviet period), 1996, and 1999. While the data do indicate large drops in labor force participation, much of the decrease was concentrated among older individuals (those over 55) and women.     

Editor's Introduction

The Communist Party of the Soviet Union and its Central Committee are giving a great deal of attention to reinforcement of legality and maintenance of law and order within the country, and to problems of combatting lawbreaking and crime. The proceedings of the 22nd Party Congress, the decisions of the Central Committee plenums and other Party documents contain important guidelines for improving the work of the agencies of the courts and procuracy. The attention given by the Party to these problems is not accidental. Under our conditions, crime is above all a manifestation of vestiges of the past. The struggle against lawbreaking and crime signifies a further strengthening of legality in all aspects of our life.     

苏联宪法学说对中国宪法学说的影响

苏联宪法学说对中国宪法学说的影响集中体现在20世纪50年代,但其影响过程前可追溯至20世纪20年代以降,后可延续至20世纪80、90年代。其影响的方式体现为翻译出版苏联宪法的教材、著作和论文,苏联法学专家直接开设"苏维埃国家法"课程介绍苏联宪法理论;影响的内容主要表现在宪法概念、宪法作用、宪法本质、宪法与法制和法治的关系、人民权利与公民权利、宪法学体系等方面;影响的结果可归结为宪法学研究"阶级斗争范式"的形成、以国家学说为核心的宪法学体系建构以及轻视宪法基础理论的研究。     

On the Retirement of William M. Mandel

William M. Mandel began his career as an economic geographer. After wartime duty as Russian Expert for the United Press (1943-1945), he became in 1947 one of the first senior research fellows of Stanford's Hoover Institution, on the invitation of Professor Harold H. Fisher. In 1944 he published his first book, The Soviet Far East and Central Asia.     

Stopping the illegal trafficking of human beings

The transnational sex industry experienced a surge during the 1990swith the breakup of the former Soviet Union. The virtual enslavementof a growing number of women into the global prostitution market fromthis region of the world has begun to be documented in an on-goingmanner by independent non-governmental organizations that trackmigration patterns and international criminal activity. The emergenceof this phenomenon in Europe expands the study of the transnationalsex industry well beyond Southeast Asia and Asia, where it has beenexamined primarily to date. Governments and internationalgovernmental organizations such as the United Nations are also nowfocusing on this issue from local and global perspectives. In thispaper, the roles that transnational police organizations can play, andhave been playing, regarding preventing and investigating the activitiesof the transnational sex industry, are explored. After sketching thescope of the problem, identifying the players of interest, and examiningthe roles that they have been performing to date, recommendations areoffered for strengthening police response in this area.