Table Of ContentCrises in the Post-Soviet Space
The breakup of the Soviet Union led to the creation of new states and territorial
conflicts of different levels of intensity. Scrutinising the post-Soviet period, this
volume offers explanations for both the frequency and the intensity of crises in
the region.
This book argues that the societies which emerged in the post-Soviet space
share characteristic features, and that the instability and conflict-prone nature of
the Soviet Union’s successor states can be explained by analysing the post-
independence history of the region and linking it to the emergence of overlapping
economic, political and violent crises (called ‘Intersecting Crises Phenomena’).
Transformation itself is shown to be a decisive process and, while acknowledging
specific national and regional characteristics and differences, the authors demon-
strate its shared impact. This comparison across countries and over time presents
patterns of crisis and crisis management common to all the successor states. It
disentangles the process, highlighting the multifaceted features of post-Soviet
crises and draws upon the concept of crisis to determine the tipping points of post-
Soviet development.
Especially useful for scholars and students dealing with the Soviet successor
states, this book should also prove interesting to those researching in the fields of
communist and post-communist Studies, Eurasian politics, international relations
and peace and conflict studies.
Felix Jaitner is a doctoral student at the Department of Political Science,
University of Vienna.
Tina Olteanu is a Professor of Political Science at the Department of Political
Science at the University of Vienna.
Tobias Spöri is a PhD candidate at the Department of Political Science, University
of Vienna.
Post-Soviet Politics
Series Editor – Neil Robinson
The last decade has seen rapid and fundamental change in the countries of the former
Soviet Union. Although there has been considerable academic comment on these changes
over the years, detailed empirical and theoretical research on the transformation of the
post-Soviet space is only just beginning to appear as new paradigms are developed to
explain change.
Post-Soviet Politics is a series focusing on the politics of change in the states of the
former USSR. The series publishes original work that blends theoretical development with
empirical research on post-Soviet politics. The series includes work that progresses
comparative analysis of post-Soviet politics, as well as case study research on political
change in individual post-Soviet states. The series features original research monographs,
thematically strong edited collections and specialised texts.
Uniquely, this series brings together the complete spectrum of work on post-Soviet
politics, providing a voice for academics world wide.
For more information about this series, please visit:
www.routledge.com/Post-Soviet-Politics/book-series/ASHSER1198
Systemic and Non-Systemic Opposition in the Russian Federation
Civil Society Awakens?
Edited by Cameron Ross
Autocratic and Democratic External Influences in Post-Soviet Eurasia
Edited by Anastassia Obydenkova and Alexander Libman
Religion, Politics and Nation-Building in Post-Communist Countries
Edited by Greg Simons and David Westerlund
Vocabularies of International Relations after the Crisis in Ukraine
Edited by Andrey Makarychev and Alexandra Yatsyk
Neighbourhood Perceptions of the Ukraine Crisis
From the Soviet Union into Eurasia?
Edited by Gerhard Besier and Katarzyna Stokłosa
Russia-EU Relations and the Common Neighbourhood
Coercion vs. Authority
Irina Busygina
Russian Foreign Policy in Eurasia
National Interests and Regional Integration
Lilia A.Arakelyan
The Politics and Complexities of Crisis Management in Ukraine
From a Historical Perspective
Edited by Mykola Kapitonenko,Viktor Lavrenyuk,Erik Vlaeminck and Greg Simons
Crises in the Post-Soviet Space
From the dissolution of the Soviet Union to the conflict in Ukraine
Edited by Felix Jaitner,Tina Olteanu and Tobias Spöri
Crises in the
Post-Soviet Space
From the dissolution of the Soviet
Union to the conflict in Ukraine
Edited by
Felix Jaitner, Tina Olteanu
and Tobias Spöri
First published 2018
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
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© 2018 selection and editorial matter, Felix Jaitner, Tina Olteanu and
Tobias Spöri; individual chapters, the contributors
The right of Felix Jaitner, Tina Olteanu and Tobias Spöri to be identified
as the authors of the editorial material, introduction and conclusion; and
of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in
accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents
Act 1988.
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A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
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ISBN: 978-0-815-37724-5 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-351-23446-7 (ebk)
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Contents
Figures ix
Tables xi
Contributors xiii
Preface by Peter Rutland xvii
1 Crises in the post-Soviet space:From the dissolution of the
Soviet Union to an area of ‘intersecting crises phenomena’? 1
FELIX JAITNER, TINA OLTEANU AND TOBIAS SPORI
PART I
Mapping post-Soviet crises 15
2 The dissolution of the Soviet Union and its consequences 17
DIETER SEGERT
3 Divergent social and economic consequences of transformation
in post-communist states 39
DAVID LANE
4 Divergent political-economic trajectories:Russia,Ukraine,
Belarus 61
JOACHIM BECKER
PART II
Crises of belonging 81
5 Creating the history of the future:Russian historical
memory in the era of the Ukrainian crisis 83
VICTOR APRYSHCHENKO
vi Contents
6 Ukraine:The dynamics of cross-cutting cleavages during
quadruple transition 103
OLENA PODOLIAN AND VALENTYNA ROMANOVA
7 Ethnic divides in the Baltic states:Political orientations
after the Russian–Ukrainian crisis 121
JOAKIM EKMAN AND KJETIL DUVOLD
PART III
Crises of resource accumulation 137
8 Stability’s end:The political economy of Russia’s
intersecting crises since 2009 139
ILYA MATVEEV
9 The making of Ukraine’s multilevel crisis:Transnational
capitalism,neoliberal kleptocrats,and dispossession 159
YULIYA YURCHENKO
10 Ukraine’s frozen transformation:State capture,
nationalising policies and shifting geopolitics 175
KLAUS MÜLLER
11 Decline of the demos:Latvia,the face of New Europe and
austerity’s return 195
JEFFREY SOMMERS
PART IV
Crises of political power 211
12 Chechnya:A study of a post-Soviet conflict 213
EMIL ASLAN SOULEIMANOV, JASPER SCHWAMPE
AND SOFIE BEDFORD
13 Azerbaijan between post-socialist crisis and fragile stability 225
HANNES MEISSNER
14 Kazakhstan’s political and economic development and the
role of the ruling elites 241
JULIA KUSZNIR
Contents vii
15 The Ukraine conflict as a result of post-Soviet
crises development 255
FELIX JAITNER, TINA OLTEANU AND TOBIAS SPORI
Index 263
Figures
1.1 Post-Soviet “intersecting crises phenomena” (ICP) 5
3.1 European Union member states and enlargement 41
3.2 The extent of the capitalist market and privatisation: EBRD
indicators, 1999, 2003, 2009, 2014 43
3.3 Gross National Income (per capital 2005 US PPP) 1990–2013.
Post-socialist countries 45
3.4 HD indexes 1987–2007: Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, and Armenia 47
3.5 HD indexes 1987–2007: Uzbekistan, Azerbaizhan, Kazakhstan,
and China 47
3.6 Human Development Indicators: Country ranks 1990, 2013 48
3.7 Gross National Product Index minus Human Development Index
1993–2012 49
3.8 Income Inequality: Gini coefficients selected socialist countries
1987–1988, 2004 50
3.9 Economic situation today compared to under communism 52
3.10 Who gained most from transformation? 53
8.1 GDP growth (annual per cent) 145
8.2 Gross capital formation (per cent of GDP) 145
8.3 Quarterly GDP growth 148
8.4 Poll numbers 148
