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Joint REDEM/RUCARR seminar: «The importance of solving the problems of internally displaced persons by local authorities and protecting their rights in the administrative courts in Ukraine

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Joint REDEM/RUCARR seminar: «The importance of solving the problems of internally displaced persons by local authorities and protecting their rights in the administrative courts in Ukraine

Seminar given by Olena Miliienko, British Academy Fellow at the Politics & International Studies Department of the University of Warwick UK

When? October 3rd, 15:15-17:00

Where? https://mau-se.zoom.us/j/62892878581

Abstract: In Ukraine, since 2014 (the beginning of Russia’s armed aggression in the east of the country and illegal annexation of Crimea), a significant number of people have become internally displaced persons who have repeatedly suffered violations of their rights, including the right to life, basic social services, medical care, education, access to housing. Resolving these issues requires effective intervention by administrative courts to protect the rights of IDPs. The purpose of the study was to reveal the mechanisms and effectiveness of administrative courts’ intervention in resolving internal displacement issues, and to identify problems and shortcomings of government policies that encourage internally displaced persons to apply to the court. It was found that administrative courts play an important role in resolving issues of internal displacement in case of possible shortcomings in government policy. They provide legal protection and support for those in need of internal displacement and can influence the improvement of government policies in this area.

The study highlights the need to change government policies, systematically assess and develop effective internal displacement strategies. The study has practical implications for understanding the impact of administrative courts on internal displacement and government policies. There is a need to improve coordination and cooperation among various government bodies to ensure appropriate conditions and protect the rights of persons in need of internal displacement. In this way, court decisions can be a catalyst for changes in government policy and force the government to provide adequate protection and support to affected individuals.

       

 

SEMINAR JUNE 13th, Striving towards democracy? Political participation in post-Soviet countries by Viktor Tuzov

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When? Tuesday 13th of June, 15:15-17:00

Where: Zoom-link: https://mau-se.zoom.us/j/69779449463

Striving towards democracy? Political participation in post-Soviet countries by Viktor Tuzov,  Ph.D Candidate in Media and Communication, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR

The formation of political systems in the post-Soviet region remains a relevant topic even thirty years after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Due to the social, economic and cultural factors, the political regimes continue to move from the general communist in the past towards different political futures dominated by authoritarian or democratic frames. Our study aims to analyze the patterns of political participation and political culture, focusing on the binary categorization of political regimes across post-Soviet countries and the impact of media trust. It focuses on eight post-soviet countries equally divided into authoritarian and hybrid political regimes using WVS/EVS 2017-2020 survey. The results highlight the importance of media in the formation of political participation habits across countries with unconsolidated democracy. The people with higher media trust tend to participate in non-institutional political actions less frequently but have a higher willingness to vote during the national elections. The freedom index has also been integrated into the research as a moderator due to the importance of freedom for the media to mobilize society. The moderation analysis has revealed the distinctive patterns of political participation in countries with lower and higher levels of freedom.

 

RUCARR presentation at IRES, Uppsala University

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Prof. Karina Vamling presented RUCARR and Caucasus Studies to alumni and MA students at IRES Institute for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Uppsala University – by invitation from TSARES, The student association of Russian and Eurasian studies (here together with Fabian, vice chair of the association). Great initiative!

https://www.ires.uu.se/education/master-programme-russian-and-eurasian-studies-/

 

Cause without Rebels? Rise and Fall of the Talish-Mughan Republic in South-Eastern Azerbaijan – Seminar May 23

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Christofer Berglund, Associate Professor, Dept. of Global Political Studies, Malmö University and Karli Storm, Karelian Institute & Centre for Russian and Border Studies, University of Eastern Finland: Cause without Rebels? Rise and Fall of the Talish-Mughan Republic in South-Eastern Azerbaijan.

When: May 23, 15.15-17.00 CET

Where: Zoom link https://mau-se.zoom.us/j/62439537993

Abstract

The summer of 1993 was a particularly turbulent time for newly independent post-Soviet Azerbaijan. It was during this brief period that the Talysh-Mughan (Autonomous) Republic was briefly established before being swiftly and brutally crushed beneath the heel of Heydar Aliyev. This paper examines the key reasons for the Republic’s failure as well as the circumstances surrounding the undermining of its key figures. The authors make use of the case of the Talysh-Mughan Republic to illustrate both the merits and shortcomings of several prominent theories in the realm of state secession that seek to explain the successes and failures of break-away states in the contemporary international arena.

 

Cyberwarfare and our resistance to aggression: key insights from 2022, seminar with Prof. Potii, May 16

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Prof. Oleksandr Potii, Brigadier General the Deputy Chairman of the State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection of Ukraine since September 2020, will give a prsentation at the RUCARR seminar:

Cyberwarfare and our resistance to aggression: key insights from 2022

When: May 16, 15.16-17.00
Where: Zoom – https://mau-se.zoom.us/j/68914039402

Bio

Prof. Potii is an expert on information protection standards, on the development of personnel potential in the field of cyberdefense, and on the protection of critical information infrastructure, information security and cryptography. From 2019 to 2020, Deputy Chief Designer of Systems and Means of Cryptographic Information Protection at the Private Joint Stock Company “Institute of Information Technology”. From 2014 to 2019, Professor of Security Information Systems and Technologies, Faculty of Computer Science, the Kharkiv National University. Earlier served in the Air Force of Ukraine for 25 years.

 

Seminar April 25th, 15:15-17:00: Internet freedom in Russia: An infrastructural approach by Dr Mariëlle Wijermars

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Internet freedom in Russia: An infrastructural approach, by Dr Mariëlle Wijermars, University of Helsinki

When: April 25th, 15:15-17:00

Where: https://mau-se.zoom.us/j/69356487660

Description: Over the past decade, internet freedom in Russia has dramatically declined as a result of the state’s repressive policies and enhanced digital surveillance and censorship capacities. Yet, looking at the Russian state provides only a partial picture and risks obscuring the agency of various domestic and foreign (private) actors in shaping these processes. This talk shifts focus to the implementation and enforcement of restrictive Internet policies in Russia to examine how the actions of, among others, platform companies can enable, shape or constrain how these policies impact internet freedom.

Bio

Dr Mariëlle Wijermars is a CORE Fellow at the Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies of the University of Helsinki, on leave from her position as Assistant Professor in Cyber-Security and Politics at Maastricht University. Her research focuses on the human rights’ implications of internet policy and platform governance, in particular in authoritarian states.  Her work has been published in, e.g., Post-Soviet Affairs, Digital Journalism, New Media & Society, and Information, Communication & Society. She is the editor (with Daria Gritsenko and Mikhail Kopotev) of The Palgrave Handbook of Digital Russia Studies, published by Palgrave Macmillan (2021), and Freedom of Expression in Russia’s New Mediasphere (with Katja Lehtisaari), published by Routledge (2020).

Seminar May 11 – The Impact of the War in Ukraine on Russia and China in Central Asia

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Welcome to the RUCARR seminar on May 11, 10.00-11.30 with Ass.Prof. Edward Lemon, Bush School of Government and Public Service, Texas A&M University and Dr Oleg Antonov, researcher at Södertörn University and RUCARR, Malmö University.

Sign-up for zoom link 

 

The Impact of the War in Ukraine on Russia and China in Central Asia

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 led many analysts to predict that its role in Central Asia would decline. While there have been moments of pushback against Russia from the region’s governments, political, economic and security ties remain strong and resilient to change. At the same time, China is capitalizing on Russia’s distraction to make further inroads in Central Asia, becoming less deferential to Moscow, accelerating a trend that existed before February 2022. The speakers will discuss how the region is being affected by the war in Ukraine and what this tells us about the influence of Russia and China.

About the speakers

Dr. Edward Lemon is a Research Assistant Professor at the Bush School of Government and Public Service, Texas A&M University. He previously held positions at the Wilson Center and Columbia University. His research focuses on Russia and China’s influence, authoritarianism and security in Central Asia

Dr. Oleg Antonov is a Researcher at the Department of Global Political Studies, the Faculty of Culture and Society, with Russia, Ukraine and the Caucasus Regional Research (RUCARR), Malmö University (supported by the Crafoord Foundation) ant at the same time a Researcher at the Department of Political Science, Södertörn University. His research focuses on authoritarian governance in Central Asia, in particular Russia and China’s influence in the region. He has previously held positions at Uppsala University, University of Amsterdam, University of Gothenburg, University of Heidelberg and University of Fribourg.

RUCARR seminar with Evgeny Romanovskiy, April 11

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National Historiography, Élite Ideology, and Nation-Building in the Northern Caucasus

Very welcome to join our next RUCARR  seminar on April 11 with Evgeny Romanovskiy, Charles University.

WHEN: April 11, 15.15-17.00

WHERE: Sign-up here for zoom link 

Abstract

The Caucasus has always been a mystical region for researchers not only from abroad, but also for Russians, where “traditional methods did not work.” Nevertheless, in this study, the author will lift the veil of the secrets of the formation and development of state policy in nation- and identity building in two republics of the North Caucasus: Chechnya and Dagestan. While Chechnya is a traditional mono-ethnic and mono-religious republic within Russia that has given rise to a “special” kind of nationalism, Dagestan is a «Babel tower of languages and cultures” that represents a different type of nationalism, or lack of it. While using modern social theories, the author of this study [in both cases] will try to prove that the Caucasus went through a difficult, but the same way of forming national identities as other regions of the Earth. This seminar will help to better understand the Caucasus, as well as the processes that took place and are taking place there and that have shaped the image of this region as we know it.

Short bio

Evgeny Romanovskiy has an MA in Political Science from the University of Vienna, and currently he is a PhD student at Charles University, and also affiliate both at Queens University and CEU. His research interests are ethno-conflicts, border and visual studies, nationalism and Europeanization. He is the author of several scientific articles, with working experience in several think tank centres and media agencies in both Russia and Europe.
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RUCARR meeting in Tallinn

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Members of RUCARR’s advisory board and other colleagues met in Tallinn on March 16-17. Chair of RUCARR’s advisory board, Sweden’s ambassador to Estonia, Ms Ingrid Tersman, hosted the group at Sweden’s Embassy to Estonia. The group was also invited to an evening at the Residence. Thank you for a fruitful and great meeting. Day 2 was devoted to a very interesting meeting at The NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (https://ccdcoe.org/) in Tallinn.