UKRAINE ON THE ANDRZEJ WAJDA RETHINKING CHESSBOARD OF HISTORY ON WAŁĘSA. MAN OF HOPE CENTRAL EUROPE No 2(XI)/2014 Price 19 PLN (w tym 5% VAT) 10 EUR 12 USD 7 GBP ISSN: 2083-7372 quarterly April-June A Tale of Three Maidans PUTIN’S POWERS Paweł Kowal Maciej Wapiński James Sherr Piotr Żochowski Andrei Tsygankov 2 (XI) / 14 / (XI) 2 ISSN 2083-7372 ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Dear Reader, Traditionally, on this page we share with you our overall interpretation of the situation in the region which, in a way, serves as the basis for editorial decisions as to which texts to include in an issue. Being a quarterly magazine we, fi rst and foremost, focus on the processes (more than breaking news stories), point to tendencies, provide deeper commentary and try to avoid simplifi ed interpretations of complex events. Being also a news journal we want to offer you stories that are relevant and refer to the current situation in the region. Finally, but also importantly, being a forum for dialogue we try to present different points of view and offer the perspectives from inside the region. In this issue, the texts have been selected based on the very same criteria as explained above. And yet now more than ever, as the events of the last few months have shown, we feel humbled with regards to any interpretation we can possibly offer to our readers on this page. Instead, we will share with you the belief that drives our everyday editorial efforts, in the times of peace or war. It is expressed in the words of the great Polish patriot and founder of the foundation that publishes New Eastern Europe, the late Jan Nowak-Jeziorański: “Peaceful relations are most effectively built at the citizens’ level.” In this very same vein, we hold today that the peoples of Central and Eastern Europe are interested in pursuing this goal, even when the contrary is assumed by politicians. We encourage you to keep this perspective in mind especially when reading the series of texts published in this issue, both on Ukraine and on Russia. Lastly, with the fast moving and dynamic course of events in the region (primarily Ukraine and Crimea), we are aware that some of the texts may already have some elements that will be out-of-date at the time of your reading. It is our hope, however, that you as a reader of New Eastern Europe will gain a deeper understanding of these events from a political, historical, cultural and social perspective that you won’t get from mainstream western media. That being said, we do invite you to also join us online, both on our website (www.neweasterneurope.eu, or www.readnee.com) and on our social networks (Facebook and Twitter), where we offer up-to-date commentary and analyses from the region. The Editors 4 Contents Opinion and Analysis 7 A Tale of Three Maidans 63 The Fa iled Lingua Franca Paweł Kowal and Maciej Wapiński of Eastern Europe? Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Ukrainians Leonidas Donskis have been coming to the contemporary Maidan Nezalezhnosti, Independence Square, in Kyiv to 72 The Omnipresent Feeling of Danger protest against the ruling elite and the situation Piotr Żochowski in the country. The Maidan as a form of protest The centralised security apparatus is the spine has now become synonymous with occupation, of the Russian state. Security policy is shaped civil disobedience and non-violent protest. through the prism of potential, often dubious threats and assumes the animosity of external 15 We Do Not Want to be Slaves players towards Russia. The question remains A conversation with Andriy Sadovyy whether this system can guarantee Russia’s safety in the long term. 25 The Soviet Union versus the EuroMaidan Milan Lelich 79 From Security Consumer Neo-fascists from western Ukraine want to force to Security Provider homosexuality throughout the whole Ukraine, ruin Wojciech Michnik the economy and spread anarchy with the support This year marks the 15th anniversary of of the United States. This was the essence of Poland’s membership in NATO, one of the the Maidan image that exists in minds of many most important achievements for the nation inhabitants of the southeast regions of Ukraine. in terms of security policy. It might seem a The pro-government propaganda struggled bit paradoxical, though, that since Poland has to enhance this distorted perception in every joined NATO and, fi ve years later, the European possible way, whereas the opposition Union, these organisations have undergone set almost nothing against it. a crisis of institution and identity. 36 The Revolution Triggered 86 The Pain of Pension Reform by Grand Political Corruption Anna Muradyan Halyna Senyk 97 New Voices in Serbia 44 Between the Past and Uncertainty Zoran Vučković Maksym Khylko 103 People Were Just People 48 Russia’s Elusive Search for Soft Power Yuri Serebrianski James Sherr Throughout recent history, Russia’s leaders have 108 A Tradition of Nationalism invested in the country’s image as much as its János Széky power. Under the watch of Vladimir Putin, “soft Today, Hungarian nationalism stands out in power” not only entered the lexicon, but attracted Central Europe. The roots of Fidesz and its political and fi nancial resources. Yet, Russia’s success are often misunderstood in the foreign understanding of soft power is markedly different press. Its main principles are based on the from western thinking and practice. narrative of the great Hungarian past and built on second-hand fragments of the pre-1944 55 Putin’s Crusade ideology and a cult of national unity. Andrei P. Tsygankov 5 116 The Myth of Central Europe People, Ideas, Inspiration Samuel Abrahám 168 Mirrors of Fate 123 Growing up in Kundera’s Central Europe Uilleam Blacker Jonathan Bousfi eld 174 Burdened by Backpacks A conversation with Magda Vášáryová Interviews 180 Russia’s Modernisation – Roman Bäcker 131 We Needed Victory, Not Heroism A discussion on Alena V. Ledeneva’s Can Interview with Andrzej Wajda Russia Modernise? Sistema, Power Networks “In the Wałęsa fi lm, we showed the political and Informal Governance events that depict Lech Wałęsa as being much wiser than many of our opposition politicians. Books and Reviews He used common sense and the instinct of a simple man; he knew that bloodshed 185 Dominik Wilczewski – A Bittersweet would mean tragedy.” Experience of War On Tangerines. A fi lm written 136 Integration is the Only Choice and directed by Zaza Urushadze Interview with David Usupashvili 186 Maryana Prokop – To Live in Europe On Yulia Shcherbakova’s Цінності об’єднаної 142 Energy Security through Cooperation Європи (The Values of a United Europe) An interview with Urban Rusnák 190 Alexandr Yakuba – Questions “After 2009, the countries that depend on oil on the Future of Europe and gas transit through Ukraine from Russia On Giuseppe D’Amato’s Развод по-советски. have learned a lot. I do not see any imminent Из сверхдержавы на задворки глобализации threat to the energy security of the Visegrad (Soviet-Style Divorce: From Superpower countries regardless of the current state of to the Periphery of Globalization). affairs between Russia and Ukraine.” 192 Magdalena Link-Lenczowska – More than an Average Zombie Thriller Reports On Igor Ostachowicz’s Noc żywych Żydów (Night of the Living Jews) 148 Made in Serbia 196 Laurynas Vaičiūnas – A History Ginanne Brownell of the Lithuanian World On Egidij us Aleksandravičius’s Karklo diegas. History Lietuvių pasaulio istorij a (The Willow Sprout: A History of the Lithuanian World) 156 An Agent of the Polish Cause 200 Filip Mazurczak – Dissecting the Reset Małgorzata Nocuń On Angela Stent’s The Limits of Partnership: U.S.-Russian Relations in the Twenty-First Century 162 A Nationalist Empire Marek Wojnar 203 Bożena Keff – Is Solidarity’s Ukrainian nationalism during the interwar Secret Still Binding? period was not only an ideology promoting a On Shana Penn’s Sekret Solidarności new model for Ukrainians. It also proposed (Solidarity’s Secret) radical political change in the region and the 206 Sławomira Walczewska – A Handbook internal reconstruction of the state. for Gender Relations On Eastern Europe: Women in Transition, edited by Irena Grudzińska-Gross and Andrzej Tymowski 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. EDITORIAL TEAM 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 Igor Lyubashenko, Contributing Editor 3.0 Unported license (CC by 3.0). Any republication of materials Filip Mazurczak, Assistant Editor funded under this grant must be attributed in the manner specifi ed by the author or licensor. EDITORIAL INTERN Martina Cebecauerova Circulating texts without the Editors’ permit is strictly forbidden. The Editors bear no responsibility PROOFREADING for the content of advertisements.