New Eastern Europe Magazine 2 (XI) 2014: Putin's Powers Back Issue

The spring 2014 issue of New Eastern Europe offers a selection of essays on the situation in Eastern Europe from multiple perspectives: experts, journalists, activists and politicians, living both in and outside the region.

A block of texts titled “Putin’s Powers” looks at Russia’s place in the world. James Sherr, British analysts with the London-based Chatham House offers an acute breakdown of Russia’s soft power strategy. Polish expert, Piotr Żochowski, outlines the serious challenges that face Russia’s security apparatus, while San Francisco-based professor of political science, Andrei P. Tsygankov, explains how Russia’s emphasis on its distinct civilizational values drives Putin’s foreign policy agenda. Lastly, Lithuanian philosopher and human rights’ activist, Leonidas Donskis, asks the question – is the Russian language a failed lingua franca of Eastern Europe?

The issue also provides several analyses on the situation in Ukraine. Paweł Kowal and Maciej Wapiński in their tale of the three Maidans show how the latest Ukraine’s revolution was a continuation of two earlier upheavals that took place in the country after the fall of the Soviet Union. In an interview with the Mayor of Lviv, Andriy Sadovyy, the politician explains the European identity and what it will take to modernise the state. The issue also includes two articles that discuss the concept of Central Europe, revisiting Milan Kundera’s seminal essay “The Tragedy of Central Europe”, in the context of the region today.

Other highlights include:
- An interview with Polish film director Andrzej Wajda
- A discussion on Poland’s NATO membership, 15 years after the country’s accession
- A report on Armenia’s painful pension reforms
- An analysis on nationalism resurging in Hungary
- And Much more!