Pe.Eu No 1(X)/2014
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
No 1(X)/2014 Price 19 PLN (w tym 5% VAT) 10 EUR 12 USD 7 GBP ISSN: 2083-7372 quarterly January-March www.neweasterneurope.eu BOOKS & REVIEWS: ANDRZEJ WAJDA, LYUDMILA ULITSKAYA, ROMAN SZPORLUK, SLAVOJ ŽIŽEK & SREĆ KO HORVAT Victoria Narizhna Mykola Riabchuk Igor Lyubashenko Taras Voznyak RUSSIA ISSN 2083-7372 A Dress Rehearsal for Democracy? www.neweasterneurope.eu 1 (X) / 14 Ayder Muzhdabayev On learned helplessness Alexander Snegirev ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Dear Reader, The beginning of every year, unavoidably, brings refl ection over what has happened in the year before and what consequences it could have on the year to come. However, while we all tend to agree that history matters, we also know how impossible it is to foresee the course of the future based on the past. And indeed, we fi nished 2013 with an incomplete chapter in Ukraine along with some disappointment with the European Union’s limited success in integration with the East. Recent events show that when it comes to this region nothing can be taken for granted, including Russia and its geopolitical aspirations. As two Lithuanian analysts, Laurynas Kasčiūnas and Vytautas Keršanskas, write in a summary of the 2013 Eastern Partnership Summit: “decision makers in the EU should take into account that the Russia-led Eurasian Customs Union is qualitatively different from all previous integration initiatives in the post-Soviet space”. A painful truth, but also one that the EU should not disregard, especially in light of the arguments made by Dominik P. Jankowski and Paweł Świeżak, Polish security experts, who state that: “Eastern Europe has become an ‘unwanted child’ for some western countries, one they would prefer to forget about.” Considering the limited attention span on this issue, we want to present you with analyses of one of the countries which probably represents the biggest victim of western misconceptions. Belarus is often easily assigned the label of “Europe’s last dictatorship”, yet seen by many others as located in the heart of Europe. While explaining the complexities of its current situation, the authors of this issue, who don’t question Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s authoritarian rule, point to the EU policies that poorly address the Belarusian people who, as an intellectual and oppositionist Alyaksandr Milinkevich writes, are not only entrepreneurial but also pro-European. The articles aim to present Belarus from various viewpoints and allow us to ask a question why we overlook this key nation too often. This issue also includes an essay by Alexander Snegirev, a Russian writer, who tackles the problem of learned hopelessness in post-Soviet societies as well as and an insightful interview with Ayder Muzhdabayev, the deputy editor- in-chief of Moskovsky Komsomolets. Lastly, in the review section, we point to the newest fi lm directed by Andrzej Wajda presenting the story of the Polish communist fi ghter – Lech Wałęsa. As always, we encourage you to join us online and via our social networks (Twitter and Facebook). The Editors 4 Contents Opinion and Analysis 8 Lessons from Vilnius 48 The Russian Orphanage Model Laurynas Kasčiūnas and Vytautas Keršanskas Alexander Snegirev The Eastern Partnership Summit in Vilnius must be seen as an opportunity 52 After the Crash to review the goals of Europe’s policy in Mykola Riabchuk the region. Thus far, the policy has been understood as the spread of European 58 Georgia’s Choice values and norms in the neighbourhood. Nika Sikharulidze But, the cases of Ukraine and Armenia show that competing integration projects could reduce the EU’s abilities to tie the 65 What Gives Us Strength? neighbouring states to Europe. Alyaksandr Milinkevich The current times cannot be called favourable for Belarus, but it is on this 14 A New Kind of Revolution anvil that the Belarusian identity is being Victoria Narizhna tempered. The Belarusians are a people with a European past and capable of 23 Euromaidan. Chronicles preserving their identity. of networked revolt Igor Lyubashenko 76 The Anatomy of Belarusian Numbness The period between November 21st and Dzmitry Hurnevich December 1st 2013 marks the beginning of a new era in Ukrainian politics. It is now possible to say with confi dence that one 84 Redefi ning Identity of the main things that took place is the Jędrzej Czerep political initiation of the new generation. 91 Between Collaboration and Confl ict 28 Europe with a View to the Future Andrzej Poczobut Adam Reichardt In Belarus, there is an economic crisis; there is social discontent; there are trade unions, but there are no worker protests. 33 The Eastern European Winter Why haven’t the trade unions become Dominik P. Jankowski and Paweł Świeżak the main agent of the change and social resistance in Belarus? 41 The Emergence of a New (Old) Eurasia 99 In Search of One Voice Adam Balcer Alena Zuikova Despite Russia’s goal to create a Eurasian Union to reintegrate the countries of the 109 Challenging Cooperation former Soviet Union, this vision will most on the Local Level likely remain on paper. The rise of China’s Miroslav Kobasa role in the region clearly demonstrates that the Eurasian Union does not constitute a 112 The Pitfalls of Eurasian Integration serious obstacle to economic and political Anna Maria Dyner cooperation between countries in the post- Soviet space and other regional powers. 5 People, Ideas, Inspiration 118 Rethinking EU Policy towards Belarus 161 Happiness Is Near? Andrei Liakhovich Aleksandra Eriksson Relations with Belarus are not a high The Russian city of Perm recently priority for the European Union. The underwent a revolutionary change from a majority of its policy is based on rusting industrial city to a cultural hot spot. containing Russia’s infl uence. The EU could have a greater impact on Belarus 169 The Evolution of the Central European City relations, but only if it wants to. For now, A Conversation with Jan Sucháček it seems to be perfectly satisfi ed with the status quo. Books and Reviews 125 So close, yet so far away 175 Ryszard Jabłoński – A Different Wajda? Evgeny Treshchenkov Wałęsa. Człowiek z nadziei (Wałęsa. Man of Hope). A fi lm directed by Andrzej Wajda Interviews 177 Filip Mazurczak – Beyond the Cold Warrior On Zbig: The Strategy and Statecraft of Zbigniew Brzezinski. Edited by Charles Gati 131 Dress Rehearsal Democracy? A conversation with Ayder Muzhdabayev 180 Ida Orzechowska – Europe “I do not believe that Navalny is a hope in the Time of Cholera of Russian democracy and a European On Slavoj Žižek and Srećko Horvat’s What type politician on the whole. And this Does Europe Want? The Union and its may also be in Putin’s interests, as he Discontents may demonstrate to the West: look 183 Andrey Miroshkin – Letters here, in case of democratisation, I could on a Post-War Country be replaced by people who encourage On Lyudmila Ulitskaya’s Детство 45–53: а Muscovites to join Nazi processions.” завтра будет счастье (Childhood 45-53: And Tomorrow There Will Be Happiness) 137 The Ukrainian Window to Europe 186 Anna Kotaleichuk An interview with Taras Voznyak – Reading Szporluk on Maidan On Roman Szporluk’s Формування модерних Reports націй:Україна – Росія – Польща (The Formation of Modern Nations: 142 Human Traffi cking in Romania Ukraine – Russia – Poland) Misha Hofl and 189 Zośka Papużanka – Unravelling the Past History On Wiesław Myśliwski’s Ostatnie rozdanie (The Last Deal) 148 Eastern Galicia Revisited 192 Dorota Sieroń-Galusek Tadeusz Iwański – The Ethos of Bridge Builders On a Handbook of Dialogue. Trust and Identity. 156 Surviving Totalitarian Regimes 194 Philip Palmer – Reframing the Debate An oral history interview On Magdalena Waligórska’s Klezmer’s with Mimi Jiránkova and Nataša Lišková Afterlife: An Ethnography of the Jewish Music Revival in Poland and Germany 198 Grzegorz Nurek – Around Polish Cinema On a series dedicated to Polish fi lm directors published Krytyka Polityczna www.neweasterneurope.eu Content with the notation (CC) is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. EDITOR AND PUBLISHER All attempts are made to give proper The Jan Nowak-Jeziorański College and appropriate attribution of Eastern Europe in Wrocław to the author and source. offi [email protected] www.kew.org.pl The Editors do not return submitted texts unless requested. The Editors reserve the right to edit and shorten submitted texts. CO-EDITOR European Solidarity Centre [email protected] www.ecs.gda.pl New Eastern Europe is co-fi nanced by the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education EDITORIAL BOARD Leonidas Donskis, Yaroslav Hrytsak, Paweł Kowal, Ivan Krastev, Georges Mink, Zdzisław Najder, The project is co-fi nanced by the Department Cornelius Ochmann, Eugeniusz Smolar, of Public and Cultural Diplomacy of the Lilia Shevtsova, Roman Szporluk, Jan Zielonka Ministry of Foreign Affairs within the framework of the grant programme – Cooperation EDITORIAL TEAM in the Area of Public Diplomacy 2013 Adam Reichardt, Editor-in-Chief Iwona Reichardt, Deputy Editor, Lead Translator All works published with grant funded from the Ministry of Foreign Giacomo Manca, Contributing Editor Affairs are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license (CC by 3.0). Any republication of materials EDITORIAL INTERN funded under this grant must be attributed in the manner Martina Cebecauerova specifi ed by the author or licensor. COPYEDITING AND PROOFREADING Circulating texts without the Editors’ permit is strictly Gina Kuhn, Filip Mazurczak forbidden. The Editors bear no responsibility for the content of advertisements. CONTRIBUTING ARTIST Andrzej Zaręba Copyright © by the Jan Nowak-Jeziorański College of Eastern Europe in Wrocław ADVERTISING (Kolegium Europy Wschodniej Wiesława Nowosad im. Jana Nowaka-Jeziorańskiego we Wrocławiu), 2014 SUBSCRIPTION Circulation: 6000 [email protected] Printing: LAYOUT AND FORMATTING Drukarnia Kolejowa Kraków Sp. z o.o. Agencja Reklamowa i Interaktywna SALON REKLAMY International Distribution: www.pineapple-media.com EDITORIAL OFFICES New Eastern Europe Printed in Poland ul.