Russia and the USA: The virtual games of superpowers

An analysis of the rapid and dramatic changes in the politics and economics of the world during the twentieth century reveals that the role of science and high technology becomes extremely important for international development, security and cooperation. The consequences of fundamental research become critical for mankind, and they determine and define preventive security. International scientific and technological cooperation, coupled with the financial power of the dollar, will make it possible to avoid an ‘end of history’ or a ‘clash of civilizations’, as well as to resolve many world conflicts. The importance that science and technology hold for the future of humanity must be added to the current definition of ‘democracy’.     

Afghanistan's Military-Political Situation and Regional Security

NATO's "Operation Enduring Freedom" was launched in 2001 under the guise of the fight against terrorism and it is still the defining factor in Afghanistan today.This operation has resulted in more than 10 years of war and a substantial increase in terrorism and drugs production in Afghanistan.An agreement on strategic cooperation between Washington and Kabul aims to create a series of long-term American military bases in Afghanistan even after the withdrawal of U.S.troops planned for 2014.Many countries in the region are unhappy about this move.Such a situation has aroused suspicions that the real purpose of the U.S.' "Operation Enduring Freedom" was simply to perpetuate instability in Afghanistan and the region so as to provide a justification for a long-term U.S.military presence there. Over the last three years,Afghanistan troops,with the support of the American troops,have blocked advances by the Taliban and set up "safety zones" in many areas of the country.However the Taliban have also carved out a stronghold in the east of the country in several provinces.Both sides control roughly equal areas of territory.     

Bringing actors back in: political choices and sources of post-Soviet regime dynamics

One might summarize the state of the field of research into contemporary Russian politics as a “dismal consensus”: most observers believe that durable authoritarianism has consolidated itself, and there is very little chance of democratization in the foreseeable future. However, political regime changes are often launched and developed overtime as side effects of moves made by political actors, and their outcomes are not predetermined. This article aims to go beyond this “dismal consensus,” and revisits some of the arguments on the role of structure and agency in post-Soviet regime dynamics. Apart from the changes in structural variables, it reconsiders the role of the incentives and choices of self-interested political actors, who are not always omnipotent and well-informed strategists. The overall dismal tendencies nevertheless leave some “bias for hope” in the analysis of regime dynamics in post-Soviet Eurasia and beyond.     

Reviews

John Miller, Mikhail Gorbachev and the End of Soviet Power. Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1993, xviii + 267 pp., £45.00 h/b, £13.99 p/b.

Geoffrey A. Hosking, Jonathan Aves & Peter J. S. Duncan, The Road to Post‐Communism. Independent Political Movements in the Soviet Union, 1985–1991. London and New York: Pinter Publishers, 1992 x + 236 pp., £37.50 h/b, £12.99 p/b.

Sheila Fitzpatrick, The Cultural Front: Power and Culture in Revolutionary Russia. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1992, xx + 264 pp., $41.50 h/b, $13.95 p/b.

Ian Jeffries, Socialist Economies and the Transition to the Market: A Guide. London: Routledge, 1993. 562 pp., £70.00 h/b, £19.99 p/b.

William M. Reisinger, Energy and the Soviet Bloc: Alliance Politics after Stalin. Ithaca, NY and London: Cornell University Press, 1992, xiii + 184 pp., $37.95.

Joan DeBardeleben, ed., To Breathe Free: Eastern Europe's Environmental Crisis. Washington, DC: Woodrow Wilson Center Press, and Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1991, xviii + 266 pp., £25.00 h/b, £9.50 p/b.

Donald D. Barry, ed., Toward the ‘Rule of Law’ in Russia? Political and Legal Reform in the Transition Period. Armonk, NY and London: M. E. Sharpe, 1992, 402 pp., $90.00.

Anna Lawton, Kinoglasnost: Soviet Cinema in Our Time. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 1992, xvi + 288 pp. £35.00 h/b, £13.95 p/b.

David Pike, The Politics of Culture In Soviet‐Occupied Germany 1945–1949. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1993, 691 pp., $ 55.00.

Alec Nove, ed., The Stalin Phenomenon. London: Weidenfield & Nicolson, 1993, 216 pp., £25.00 h/b.

M. B. Broxup, ed., The North Caucasus Barrier: The Russian Advance Towards the Muslim World. London: Hurst, 1992, xxvii + 252 pp., £27.50.     

Workers' Councils in the Service of the Market: New Archival Evidence on the Origins of Self-Management in Yugoslavia 1948–1950

This article provides a new synthesis on the origins of self-management in Yugoslavia on the basis of new archival research. It rejects the dominant view in the historiography that self-management arose merely as an ideological justification for the split with Stalin's USSR in 1948. Rather, it demonstrates that the introduction of workers' councils was part of an elaborate effort on the part of the Communist leadership to return to its pre-1948, proto-‘reform Communist’ strategy that was remarkably open to interaction with the world market. This is shown to have implications for understanding Yugoslavia, Eastern Europe, the Cold War and Communism.     

Perestroyka and Soviet Statistics

The impact of perestroyka and glasnost' on the diversity and credibility of statistical coverage of the Soviet economy is discussed and analyzed. Included in the up-to-date review of such topics as reform desiderata, the institutional anatomy, key problem areas, criticism and control, and rapid advances in the release of previously unavailable statistics, is a detailed chronicle of pertinent developments since April, 1985. It is suggested that very little improvement has been observed in the quality and reliability of Soviet economic statistics, particularly in the area of prices and in the methodology of national income accounting. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: 052, 124, 221, 225, 227.     

CIA Economic Intelligence on the USSR, 1949-60

Reflecting Gorbachev's demands for glasnost' (openness), the Central Statistical Administration recently published several key statistical series which had not been available in the USSR for the last 5 to 35 years. These included data on grain harvests, life expectancy and infant mortality, and production and consumption of alcohol. The article shows that the newly available data compare well with estimates made by Western specialists. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: 052, 124, 225.     

An Uncommon Accident and Unusual Cause of Death—A Fatal Domestic Ram Attack

Domestic animal attacks are not common; their fatal attacks are even rarer. Herein, a case of a 78‐year‐old woman attacked by a ram is presented. She sustained multiple head and chest injuries. The autopsy findings and the inspection of the scene revealed that the fatal aortic injury had been caused by direct force from the front, which subsequently caused a powerful anteroposterior chest compression, resulting in an incomplete tear by flexion and compression of the aortic arch. The aortic dissection propagated in both an ante‐ and retrograde direction, with intact adventitia. However, due to a rise in pressure in the formed false lumen, dissection propagated downward to the base of the heart, and further into the subepicardial adipose tissue, forming a subepicardial hematoma. This hematoma gradually compressed the proximal sections of the coronary arteries, impairing their filling, and producing a myocardial ischemia. In addition, circulation had probably been already disturbed by the right‐sided pneumothorax, as well as a possible pneumomediastinum.