Lyubin Valery

Post-Imperial Society Unreadiness for Democracy (Winkler H.A. Weimar 1918–1933: History of the First German Democracy / Translated from German by E.E.Zemskovaya, A.I.Savin. – M.: ROSSPEN, 2013)

According to V.Lyubin’s conclusion, the work by H.A.Winkler represents a deep study of the failed democracy in the Weimar Republic, on the example of which he clearly shows how the actions of politicians can lead the country to a national catastrophe. The monograph can be rightfully considered one of the best works on the subject, and the results obtained by Winkler must be taken into account in discussions on the post-imperial society and prospects of its democratization.

DOI: 10.30570/2078-5089-2013-71-4-176-190

EU’s Eastern neighbourhood in the eyes of German political scientists. Piehl H., Schulze P.W., Timmermann H. Die offene Flanke der Europ?ischen Union: Russische F?deration, Belarus, Ukraine und Moldau. Berliner Wissenschafts-Verlag, 2005. 557 S. (Э.Пиль, П.Шульце, Х.Тиммерманн. Открытый фланг Европейского союза: Российская Федерация, Беларусь, Украина и Молдавия – Берлин, 2005, 557 с.)

The author qualifies the new book written by four well-know German scholars on Eastern Europe as a noticeable contribution to the discussion on the ways that takes post-Soviet modernization and the future of Europe. According to V.Lyubin, the views stated in the book under review allow one to reveal the differences in Western and domestic political interpreters’ approaches and assessments.

Analyzing separately each of the book’s four chapters, the author pays specific attention to such issues as how long the ‘political vacuum’ (Ukraine, Moldova and Byelorussia) between Russia and the European Union can exist; to what extent the EU that still finds it difficult to ‘digest’ its 10 new members is capable of further enlargement in the nearest future.

DOI: 10.30570/2078-5089-2004-35-4-181-189

Pages: 181-189

Dilemma of Russian reality. (Galkin A.A., Krasin You.A. Russia: Quo Vadis? – M.: Institute of sociology of RAS, 2003. – 274 p.

The review gives a very positive evaluation of two well-known Russian political scientists’ new work on the results of the fifteen-year reform period. V.Lyubin thinks that although the new trends do not promise any great prospects, the authors do not use an alarmist tonality. During a weighed analysis A.Galkin and Y.Krasin examine the initial basis of reforms (the potential we had in the beginning of ‘perestroika’), existing alternatives, and, finally, prospects of Russian society’s development. The authors hold that the society will most probably transform according to a special model of ‘pulsating’ development, where reformist outbursts will be alternated by pauses, retreats and even recurrences of the past.

DOI: 10.30570/2078-5089-2004-32-233-239

Pages: 233-239