Religion, Politics and Power: Issue 3-4/2015

Click here to get instant access to exclusive content and support NEE by purchasing a subscription

The main topic of the May-August 2015 double issue of New Eastern Europe is the role of religion in Eastern Europe, especially after the EuroMaidan Revolution and the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine’s east. Concentrating mainly on Ukraine, this issue highlights the new dynamics in church-society relations. Our authors bring to light the inter-Church politics that have always existed between Ukraine and Russia, but emerged to the foreground since the onset of the Ukraine crisis.

Beyond Ukraine, the issue also looks at spirituality in other countries of the post-Soviet space including such topics as: Orthodox and non-Orthodox identity in Russia, attitudes towards Christians in Azerbaijan and an increasing presence of the Islamic State of Syria and Iraq in Central Asia.

Specifically on Russia and the recent assassination of Boris Nemtsov, we present two perspectives of the oppositionist’s final fate. They include: a reflection by British journalist Luke Harding, who himself experienced repressions from the Russian authorities, and an interview with Sergei Sokolov, deputy editor with Novaya Gazeta, an independent Russian newspaper considered one of the few critical voices of Russian politics.

The issue also includes:

– An exclusive interview with Leszek Balcerowicz Polish economist and architect of Poland’s economic reforms in the 1990s;

 – A debate on whether Ukraine is a “failed state”;

– An analysis of Russian and European security policies over the last decade;

– An essay by Tatiana Zhurzenko on the unique role that Kharkiv plays in Ukraine;

– Magdaléna Vášáryová’s essay on why Central Europe cannot unite;

– An interview with Konstantine Gamsakhurdia, son of Georgia’s first freely-elected president, Zviad Gamsakhurdia;

– And much, much more

Click here for the full table of contents and a preview of the issue: