Looking Back to the Future
Russia between History and Globalisation
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
Without Perestroika and New Thinking in the Soviet Union, the East-West conflict would not have been ended, nor would East Central Europeans have achieved their freedom. Twenty years after 1989, Russia is still searching for its political identity and its place in the world. Russia’s political elites have not gotten over the collapse of the Soviet Union. The longing for empire and a new great power consciousness stand in contradiction to the economic and demographic possibilities. In domestic politics, Russia’s path remains different from the one taken by the post-Communist states of East Central Europe. In foreign policy, a readjustment of relations with the European Union is on the agenda.
(Osteuropa 2-3/2009, pp. 133–150)