Issue 1 2017: The Art of Revolution

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In this issue we explore the phenomenon of Revolutions which has played a key role in this region for centuries: revolutions. We specifically look at the question as to whether revolution in Ukraine has become a permanent feature of that country’s political culture since independence 25 years ago. In this issue we return to the thesis that Paweł Kowal and Maciej Wapiński put forward three years ago in New Eastern Europe which adds the 1990 students’ hunger strike to the sequence of revolutionary events in Ukraine. Consequently, our authors map the country’s post-Soviet transformation through the prism of revolutionary events.

Naturally, political transformations, peaceful or not, have not been limited to Ukraine. They have been occurring in many areas of the post-Soviet space. This fact has been cherished in the West. However, the picture of Armenia, as penned down by Małgorzata Nocuń illustrates how such an assumption is not entirely correct. Even once a part of the same unit, we need to look at the post-Soviet republics as states that have taken different paths in the last decades and continue to experience different pressures from Russia. To understand this further we should cautiously follow the developments within them, as well as within Russia. A good start are three texts: Sean Guillory on the failure of the Russian protests to achieve any sustainable success, Daniel Wańczyk on the changes taking place in the life of the Arctic seen in the example of Vorkuta and Wojciech Siegień who notes the indoctrination through education that is now increasingly present in the Russian Federation.

We also take a look at the importance of Polish-Ukrainian relations in the future success of the region. These are mentioned in the pieces by Georges Mink, Kostiantyn Fedorenko and George Soroka. All the authors postulate on how painful historical memories still exist between the two nations and argue the need for their resolution. A review of the recent film Wołyń by Kaja Puto is an additional point in this debate.

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WHAT’S INSIDE

OPINION AND ANALYSIS

Three Revolutions. A research project

Georges Mink, Paweł Kowal

Once a protester, always a protester

Kateryna Pryshchepa

We were acting as neighbours, as friends of Ukraine

Interview with Valdas Adamkus

New tools of the revolution

Roman Romanyuk

Beyond Maidan Nezalezhnosti

Nataliya Zubar, Vitalii Ovcharenko

High stakes in Ukraine. From revolution to reform

Kostiantyn Fedorenko

Three myths of Ukraine’s revolutions

Nataliia Pohorila

What makes a revolution (or not)

Diāna Potjomkina and Ilvija Bruģe

Whatever happened to “Russia without Putin”?

Sean Guillory

Talkin’ bout a revolution

Małgorzata Nocuń

Kyrgyzstan: a revolutionary drama

Christopher Schwartz

Putin pushing the envelope

Anton Barbashin

Consequences of Putin’s disinformation war in Europe

David Matsaberidze

Making the unreal real

Wojciech Siegeń

Combative pasts. The politics of history in post-communist Europe

George Soroka

Laying the groundwork for reconciliation

Georges Mink

INTERVIEWS

The shadow over Hungary’s history

An interview with Paul Lendvai

Shevardnadze could listen, but he did not hear

An interview with Nino Burjanadze

REPORTS

The black island of the Arctic

Daniel Wańczyk

Familiar strangers

Maxim Edwards

HISTORY AND MEMORY

Rock of ages

Jonathan Bousfield

His Highness’s life. Parallel to reality

Andrzej Zaręba

PEOPLE, IDEAS, INSPIRATION

Is it time to rebrand Eastern Europe?

A debate with Rebecca Harms, Balázs Jarábik, Cornelius Ochmann and Anastasia Sergeeva.

EASTERN CAFÉ

A film which divides Poles and Ukrainians

Kaja Puto

The spectre of neoliberalism

János Széky

A church for the state or churches for the people?

Przemysław Pazik

An unexpected focus on the South

Andriy Lyubka

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