30 Years since the Fall of the Berlin Wall: Turns and Twists in Economies, Politics, and Societies in the Post-Communist Countries

by Alexandr Akimov, Gennadi Kazakevitch

Overview

The year 2019 marks 30 years since the fall of the Berlin wall. This symbolic event led to German unification and the collapse of communist party rule in countries of the Soviet-led Eastern bloc. Since then, the post-communist countries of Central, Eastern and South-eastern Europe have tied their post-communist transition to deep integration into the West, including EU accession. Most of the states in Central and Eastern Europe have been able to relatively successfully transform their previous communist political and economic systems. In contrast, the non-Baltic post-Soviet states have generally been less successful in doing so. This book, with an internationally respected list of contributors, seeks to address and compare those diverse developments in communist and post-communist countries and their relationship with the West from various angles.

The book has three parts. The first part addresses the progress of post-communist transition in comparative terms, including regional focus on Eastern and South Eastern Europe, CIS and Central Asia. The second focuses on Russia and its foreign relationship, and internal politics. The third explores in detail economies and societies in Central Asia. The final part of the book draws some historical comparisons of recent issues in post-communism with the past experiences.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9789811503160
Publisher:	Springer Nature Singapore
Publication date:	01/08/2020
Series:	Palgrave Studies in Economic History
Edition description:	1st ed. 2020
Pages:	437
Product dimensions:	5.83(w) x 8.27(h) x (d)

About the Author

Alexandr Akimov is a Senior Lecturer in Banking and Finance at Griffith University, Australia. In addition to academic appointments, Alexandr has held the risk management appointments at the National Bank of Uzbekistan. He is an active member of a number of professional and research associations. He is currently a President of Australasian Association for Communist and Post-communist Studies (AACaPS) and is Australian representative at International Council for Central and Eastern European Studies (ICCEES) Executive Committee. His research expertise is in the areas of emerging market finance and economics with the particular focus on post-communist economic transition in post-Soviet Central Asia.

Gennadi Kazakevitch is a Senior Lecturer in Economics at Monash University, Australia. His research and teaching interests comprise market structures and competition in high technology industries, microeconomic reforms of public utilities, and comparative studies of economic reforms in the former communist countries. As the former Deputy Head of Monash University’s Economics department, he developed and coordinated broad department's coursework portfolio across all campuses and programs in Australia and internationally. He has extensive experience in guest lecturing on economic policy and reforms, including USA, Spain, Hungary, Estonia, Latvia and China.

Table of Contents

1. 30 Years after the Fall of the Berlin Wall: Trends and the Current State of Communism and Post-Communism in Europe and Asia.- 2. A Taxonomy of Post-Communist Economies after 30 Years of Reforms.- 3. The Central Asian Countries’ Economies in the Twenty-First Century.- 4. The Post-Communist Transition of the Western Balkans: EUropeanisation with a Small Enlargement Carrot.- 5. Oragnised Crime in—and from—Communist and Post-Communist States.- 6. US-Russia Relations in the Last 30 Years: From a Rapprochement to a Meltdown.- 7. Russia’s Growing Relationship with Iran: Strategic or Tactical?.- 8. Energy Integration in the Eurasian Economic Union: A Preliminary Study on Progress and Policy Implications.- 9. Mediating Populist Discourse in Russia via YouTube: The Case of Alexey Navalny.- 10. Why Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan Are Not Singapore: Comparing the First 25 Years of Reforms.- 11. Money Can’t Buy Me Love, But It Can Buy Apples: An Analysis of Fruit and Vegetable Demand in Uzbekistan.- 12. Squandering Remittances Income in Conspicuous Consumption?.- 13. Equal Citizenship, Ethnicity, and Language Dilemmas in the Context of the Post-Socialist Reforms in Central Asia.- 14. The Horrors of Exclusion: Zygmunt Bauman’s Sociological Journey.- 15. Failures and Successes: Soviet and Chinese State-Socialist Reforms in the Face of Global Capitalism.- 16. Legal Continuity and Change: Two Russian Revolutions and Perestroika through the Prism of Kelsen’s Grundnorm and Hart’s Secondary Rules.- 17. ‘Fleeing Communism’: Yugoslav and Vietnamese Post-War Migration to Australia and Changes to Immigration Policy.

Editorial Reviews

The book brings diverse research fields into one assemblage, including economy, history, policy, law, crime, migration, media, ethnicity, consumption, and other areas of life. …. 30 Years since the Fall of the Berlin Wall gathers some interesting and significant chapters, written by authors with different experiences and background … . The credibility of the content … might be useful for those interested in the social, political, and economic twists and turns of communist and post-communist countries … .” (Mariusz Czepczynski, Eurasian Geography and Economics, December 12, 2022)

“This edited volume is a timely reminder of the mixed consequences of the previous global ideological confrontation. Bringing together various methodologies, sources, disciplinary approaches and scholars of different backgrounds, this volume is particularly helpful for scholars, students, practitioners and policymakers interested in a comprehensive treatment of post-communist transition.” (Chi Zhang, Europe-Asia Studies, Vol. 73 (3), March 22, 2021)

From the Publisher