The Struggle For Baltic History

Low levels of social protection under the framework of neo-liberal ideology have characterized Baltic welfare regimes since the 1991 restoration of independence in these countries. The policies’ negative social consequences intensified during the years of austerity, 2007–2009. Although there have been trade union protests against the measures, these have been powerless and scattered. About 10% of the Latvian and Lithuanian workforce fled the country during the first decade of the 2000s, whereas an even greater proportion of the Estonian workforce has temporarily done so. In Albert O. Hirschman’s terms, “exit” occurs in the absence of “voice”. Moreover, disillusionment caused by deteriorating conditions and limited political choices generate a particular type of loyalty without a sense of influence.     

An Examination of Local Climate Change Policies in the Great Plains

As the United States struggles with national solutions to address climate change, state and local governments have become leaders in both mitigation and adaptation policy. Although a significant and growing body of research targets these policies, most studies have assumed common factors motivating both adaptation and mitigation policy adoption. There remains a need for more research on cities of all sizes, their adoption of specific local policies, the factors motivating those choices, and whether the influences for mitigation differ from those that motivate adaptation. The paper uses data from a new survey of over 200 local governments in eleven states of the Great Plains region, including measures distinguishing between mitigation and adaptation policies. These data are employed to test the relative influence of factors from three areas: the policy environment, the attitudes of governmental actors, and community atmosphere, in explaining observed variation in the adoption of climate change policies.     

Break Out of Russia: Miķelis Valters and the National Issue in Early Latvian Socialism

This article deals with the political thought of Mi?elis Valters (1874–1968), whose early writings are considered to contain the first clearly articulated argument for independent and democratic Latvia. Until now, Valters's writings haven′t been analyzed in their own historical and intellectual context, being subjected to Marxist and nationalist ‘proleptic mythologies’ instead. However, such an analysis provides us with important insights about the intellectual origins of Latvian political nationalism. Valters's early argument for independent Latvia derives much from the legacy of Russian narodnichestvo and from German liberal legal theory, rather than from Austro-Marxism, as suggested by previous commentators.     

Unthawed: post-Cold War economic ties between Kaliningrad and Europe

ABSTRACT

Kaliningrad’s post-Soviet economic interconnection with Europe is encountering obstacles due to specific Russian governmental idiosyncrasies as well as its particular regional challenges. In essence, the Kremlin’s direct control from afar and European misgivings have influenced the territory’s economic development in relation to Europe. The distance of the region from Russia, exclave status, large size for an exclave, and conflicted history subject the area to contradictory forces. On the one hand, it links Kaliningrad to Europe because of a shared history and geography. On the other, it promotes a sense of political instability and geographical isolation that discourages economic integration with Europe.     

Cultural Prototypes of the Successful Entrepreneur: Comparison of Estonia and the United States

This study compares and contrasts perceptions of entrepreneurship success factors in Estonia and the USA. The 115-item E-World survey is used to highlight differences of implicit beliefs about behaviors and characteristics of successful entrepreneurs between the USA, a country with a long history of entrepreneurial development, and Estonia, a small economy where entrepreneurship has played an important role in the transition from a command to a market economy. Cultural differences and the institutional context emerge as key models in interpreting the social obligations of entrepreneurs, thus linking future orientation and communication, and entrepreneurs’ perceptions of entrepreneurial risks and challenges.     

Population displacement in the baltic region in the twentieth century: from ‘refugee studies’ to refugee history

This article explores how Baltic migration, and particularly the experience of forced migration, relates to broader comparative and methodological issues and debates in the emerging field of refugee history. Attention is given to the impact of two world wars and their aftermath in the Baltic, with particular emphasis on the ways in which refugees from the Baltic and elsewhere have related their experiences. The article concludes by drawing attention to the multiple readings of population displacement that historians need to entertain.     

Culture and Symbols as Tools of Resistance

In 1918, when Estonia was proclaimed an independent republic, nearly one-sixth of all Estonians were living beyond its eastern border. The possibility of returning to Estonia was offered to these tens of thousands of people with the conclusion of the Peace Treaty of Tartu between Estonia and Soviet Russia in February 1920. The Republic of Estonia, which had just emerged from a war and was only beginning to rebuild its public sector, had to arrange this vast re-emigration. This article illustrates the problems that arose for Estonian state authorities in connection with offering citizenship to Estonians living in Soviet Russia and arranging their re-emigration in 1920–1923.     

浅析国家及其财产管辖豁免中关于国有企业和商业行为判断的问题

国家及其财产豁免是国际法中的一项重要原则,随着绝对国家豁免理论逐渐受到挑战,绝对豁免原则逐渐走向相对豁免原则。国有企业能否成为国家及其财产管辖豁免的主体,属于国家豁免原则例外的商业行为应如何界定,一直是国际法学界长期关注的热点问题。本文结合最近通过的《联合国国家及其财产管辖豁免公约》之内容以及美国最新案例法的发展趋势,对此问题进行了理论与实践的探讨,并在分析我国国情的基础上提出了应对策略。     

Report on the conference on the Baltic area in World War II

Time and space serve as key identity markers of a nation. This article focuses on the construction of historical space in Estonian history textbooks. The aim of this analysis is to follow the trajectory of post-Soviet understanding of Estonia’s location on the European map. Rejecting the Soviet idea that Estonia belongs to the Russian Civilization, the post-Soviet Estonian national elite has offered the Baltic Sea region as a plausible alternative regional identity. The present analysis suggests that the last two decades are marked by an increasing tendency in Estonian history textbooks to present the Baltic Sea region as the nation’s historical space.     

论国际法强制执行的法理基础

国际法的强制执行具有充分的法理基础。国家意志是国际法强制执行的根据。强制执行规则的制定、措施的选择、执行或者放弃都由国家决定。强行法是国际法强制执行的规范基础。它要求国际法必须是可被强制执行的。相互原则是国际法强制执行的基本机制，通过剥夺违法国的权利的方式发挥作用。国际组织的制裁是国际法强制执行的集中机制，由国际组织集体决定并授权国家采取强制措施。