23 October, 2009 n Issue 4 The annual Aleksanteri Conference brings hundreds of scholars to Helsinki in late October. See pages 4-11 for the seminar programme and keynote speakers. upcoming Seminar Focus on the caucasus The collapse of the Berlin Wall on November 9th, 1989 marked the end of the Cold War and ended the division of Europe. The Aleksanteri Institute, together with the Embassies of Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Poland and the Slovak Republic, will organise a seminar on November 9th 2009 to commemorate those events and discuss their consequences from the viewpoint of various European countries. "The way in which the war was portrayed in the West was unfair to Russia, while the way in which the war was portrayed in Russia was unfair to Georgia" said Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb in a seminar organised in Helsinki. The situation in the Caucasus and the European Neighborhood Policy was the common theme of two intensive seminars on September 9th and 10th. Read more on page 3. Read more on pages 12 -13. Europe reunited 1989 - legacy and vision seminars in Cooperation with the eurasian partnership foundation and wider europe network A 2 l e k s a n t e r i N e w s 4/2009 Face of the Month: Sari autio-sarasmo M any of us recall Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev shouting that the Soviet Union would catch up and overtake the West. (Whether he was guilty of banging a shoe to strengthen his argument remains open to debate). Nonetheless, it was during the Khrushchev era that the Soviet leadership was forced to admit that the Soviet Union was seriously lagging behind the West, and that intensive economic growth was not possible without importing technology from the West. “During the Cold War, transferring technology through the Iron Curtain was difficult but far from impossible”, says Dr Sari Autio-Sarasmo, a senior researcher at the Aleksanteri Institute. Finland played an important role in such technology transfers. In 1955 a Finnish-Soviet agreement on scientifictechnical cooperation was signed and Soviet specialists started to visit Finland. They were particularly interested in high technology, so it is hardly surprising that Nokia was one of their key interests. Both sides profited: the Soviets were able to import technology and keep abreast of recent developments in high technology, while Nokia was able to secure a market for its products. “This was particularly important during the years of economic recession and resulted in a remarkable level of growth, even during those years”, said Dr Autio-Sarasmo. In the 1980s, under the Reagan administration, the United States tightened the embargo on exports of high technology to the Soviet Union. In this chilled political climate, Nokia’s Facts about SARI AUTIO-SARASMO: n Senior Researcher at the Aleksanteri Institute and a Docent of General History in the Department of History at the University of Tampere n Expertise: Economic history, Cold War history, science and technology transfer, scientific-technical cooperation during the Cold War, Soviet history, environmental history n Coordinator in the Nordic Network Northern Europe – from the Cold War Division to Restructured Europe, funded by NordForsk 2007–2009, member of the coordination group of the Nordic and European Cold War research network Norcencowar, funded by Nordforsk 2009–2011, and coordinator of the Trade and Technology research group within the Norcencowar network. Dr Autio-Sarasmo is also a member of the scientific council of the University of Helsinki and a member of the executive board of the Finnish Graduate School for Russian and East European Studies. dealings with the Soviet Union became a much more sensitive issue. Here, however, Finland’s position as a neutral state became quite helpful. A secret agreement was established between Nokia, Finland and the United States. In exchange for Nokia having free reign to continue its trade with the Soviet Union, the company promised to disclose its business with the Soviets to the West, thus providing US authorities with information about the Soviet Union’s needs. “In a sense, Nokia and Finland more generally could both have their cake and eat it. Finnish actors were truly Photo: Anu Pöyry in-between the two blocs and really knew how to play the Cold War game”, explained Dr Autio-Sarasmo. Dr Autio-Sarasmo is the leader of the research project Knowledge through the Iron Curtain (or KIC in short), funded by the Academy of Finland, which provides new angles into the Cold War era. The Cold War is often characterised in terms of confrontation. “This is certainly true when we look at the level of superpower politics”, said Dr Autio-Sarasmo, “but a much more complex picture emerges when we start to analyse practical cooperation through the Iron Curtain. We’re used to thinking that politics and big actors, such as the two superpowers, mattered, but actually politics and ideology yielded to economic interests, and small actors turned out to be much more powerful than we have so far thought.” Anna-Maria Salmi Sari Autio-Sarasmo is Head of the Organising Committee of the 9th Annual Aleksanteri Conference, Cold War Interactions Reconsidered. n Her publications include: n ‘Khrushchev and the challenge of technological progress’ In: Khrushchev in the Kremlin. Eds. JR Smith and M. Ilic. Routledge 2010 [in print]; n ‘Soviet Economic Modernisation and Transferring Technologies from the West’ In: Modernisation and Russian Society in the 20th Century. Eds. Markku Kangaspuro and Jeremy Smith. Studia Fennica Historica 12, Finnish Literature Society (SKS), Helsinki 2006. n Understanding Russian Nature. Representations, Values and Concepts. Eds. Arja Rosenholm and Sari Autio-Sarasmo. Kikimora Publications Aleksanteri Papers 4/2005, Helsinki 2005. n Suunnitelmatalous Neuvosto-Karjalassa 1928–1941. Paikallistason rooli Neuvostoliiton teollistamisessa. [Planned economy in the Karelian ASSR. The role of the local level in the industrialisation of the Soviet Union.] Bibliotheca historica 71. SKS, Helsinki 2002 P.O. Box 42 (Unioninkatu 33), FI-00014 University of Helsinki n aleksanteri@helsinki.fi n Tel. +358 (9) 191 24175 n www.helsinki.fi/aleksanteri/english A l e k s a n t e r i N e w s 4/2009 3 Project news COMPETITION in socialist society T upcoming seminar Europe reunited 1989 - legacy and vision T he Berlin Wall collapsed on November 9th, 1989. Twenty years to the day, this seminar assembles notable persons from seven European countries to discuss the causes and consequences of the collapse of the Iron Curtain and thoughts on the future. The panellists have followed the changes from a variety of vantage points; some even actively participated in the course of events. A Finnish viewpoint will be presented by Paavo Lipponen, who will also preside over the discussion. The seminar is divided into two parts: Legacy and Vision. The panellists will be encouraged to discuss the historic events of 1989 in their respective countries and freely elaborate their views on the outcome of the change and the challenges that European countries have had to overcome. Panellists: n Mr. Wilhelm Molterer, Member of the Austrian National Council, Spokesperson on Constitutional Matters, Austrian Peoples' Party, Former Vice Chancellor, Minister of Finance and Minister of Agriculture (Austria) n Mr. Šimon Pánek, Co-chairman of the Central Students Strike Committee in 1989, Founder and General Manager of People in Need organization (Czech Republic) n Dr. Hans-Friedrich von Ploetz, Member of the Expert Group on Nato's new strategy and former Secretary of State and Ambassador, in 1989 Ambassador and German Permanent Representative on the NATO-Council (Germany) n Mr. László Kovács, Member of the European Commission, Commissioner for Taxation and Customs Union, State Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Hungary in 1989-90 (Hungary) n Dr. Czesław Bielecki, Architect, Dissident and Political activist, Adviser to the former President Lech Wałęsa, Former chairman of the Parliamentary foreign affairs commission (Poland ) n Mr. Ján Figeľ, President of the Christian-Democratic Movement, Former Commissioner (Slovak Republic) The Aleksanteri Institute is organising the seminar in cooperation with the Embassies of Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Poland and the Slovak Republic. Date and time: Monday, 9 November, 2009 at 3–5 p.m. The Aleksanteri Institute (Unioninkatu 33, third floor). Registration by Tuesday 3rd November on electronic form. For more information, please see: www.helsinki.fi/aleksanteri/english/news/events/2009/ 1109europe_reunited.html he Competition in Socialist Society project, led by Dr Katalin Miklóssy, was granted funding by the Academy of Finland for 2010 to 2012. The project investigates forms of competition adopted from the West and merged into the communist framework, a topic that will provide a significantly new angle to studies of the Cold War era. The research group will host its first network meeting together with the Civil Society group of the NORCENCOWAR (Nordic and Central European Network of Cold War Researchers) network, which will be coordinated by Professor Karl Molin during the Aleksanteri Conference on 30 October 2009. Guest lecture on 6th October Azerbaijan and Regional Dynamics Photo: Erkka Lehto T he Azerbaijan Ambassador to Sweden, Norway and Finland, Mr Rafael Ibrahimov, delivered a thoughtprovoking lecture that offered new insight on this important but relatively unknown South Caucasian country. In an historical overview, Ibrahimov pointed out the important role that the Nobel brothers (Robert and Ludwig) played in the first Baku oil boom at the turn of the 20th century. He also noted that the Baku-Batumi railway link was the first energy corridor from the South Caucasus to the outside world. Mr Ibrahimov then turned to more recent regional developments, underlining the close regional economic cooperation between Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, which extends far beyond joint oil and gas export pipeline projects. Armenia, however, remains sidelined from these projects due to Azerbaijan’s categorical withdrawal from any regional project involving Armenia. Bilateral relations between the two neighbours remain strained by unresolved conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave, which the Azeri side regards as the cradle of Azerbaijani culture. As a result of the conflict, Azerbaijan considers 20 percent of its territory – the Nagorno-Karabakh as well as seven adjacent regions of Azerbaijan proper – as being occupied by Armenia. According to Ibrahimov, Azerbaijan is seeking peaceful settlement of the conflict, in the negotiation process mediated by the Minsk group of the OSCE, based on the norms and principles of international law. As a precondition for any discussions regarding the legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan also insists on the restoration of its territorial integrity and the return of refugees and IDPs to their homes. Ibrahimov also stated that Karabakh Armenians would be offered the highest possible level of autonomy. P.O. Box 42 (Unioninkatu 33), FI-00014 University of Helsinki n aleksanteri@helsinki.fi n Tel. +358 (9) 191 24175 n www.helsinki.fi/aleksanteri/english Mikko Palonkorpi 4 A l e k s a n t e r i N e w s 4/2009 COLD WAR Interactions Reconsidered programme Thursday 29 Oct 8.30-9.30 Registration Info Desk, Entrance Hall 9:30-10:00 Opening Session n Professor Markku Kivinen: Opening words n Dr. Sari Autio-Sarasmo: Viewpoints to Cold War era in Europe Small Hall 10:00-11:00 Plenum n Chair: Sari Autio-Sarasmo n Professor Jadwiga Staniszkis: The Military Revolution and the end of Communism Small Hall AC ‘09 LEKS ONF Annual Aleksanteri Conference n Riikka Nisonen-Trnka: "Visiting the "Civilised World" travel accounts of Czechoslovak scientists from the West in the 1960s" n Lars P. Haga: Encounters across the intrasystemic border. VOKS, the European Peoples´ Democracies and Soviet Identity Auditorium XIV Linguistics and Politics during the Cold War n chair Sanna Turoma n Maxim Waldstein: Across the Iron Curtain: The Adventures of Soviet Structuralism in the West n Mika Lähteenmäki: Reading Bakhtin in the Context of the Cold War: Creation of a Myth n discussant Jonathan Platt Auditorium XI 12:45-13:45 Lunch break 11:00-11:15 Break 11.15-12.45 Session 1 13.45-15.45 Session 2 Beneath the Barricades: The Search for Cooperation Breaching the Wall: Ostpolitik/Westpolitik and Trade n chair Markku Kangaspuro n Mikhail Lipkin: Moscow Economic Conference of April 1952: An early bid for peaceful coexistence or idelogical warfare? n Juhana Aunesluoma: Watching the Finns. Finland in Western Integration Strategies 1955 - 1974 n Pauli Heikkilä: "Essential milestone in the European unification". Estonian delegation in the Central and Eastern European Conference in London January 1952 Audiorium II On the Airways: Media in the Cold War n chair Jukka Pietiläinen n Richard H. Cummings: The Crusade for Freedom, 19501960: Winning the Battle for America’s Hearts and Minds in the Struggle Against Communism n Ioana Macrea-Toma: Beyond the Cold War Linearities: Radio Free Europe and the Interplay of Distant Fantasies n James Schwoch: Finland and Cold War TV in the 1950s and 1960s n discussant Simo Mikkonen Auditorium IX Party, Flag, and Tribe: the Politics of Ethnicity n chair Anna Korhonen n Robert Knight: Ethnicity in the Cold War n Tapani Kaakkuriniemi: Multiple otherness: Yugoslav nationalities in Zwischeneuropa n discussant Juraj Buzalka Auditorium III Trans-systemic Cultural Interactions n chair Sari Autio-Sarasmo n György Péteri: "Reporting form ´Over There´: Eastern Europe´s Ford Fellows on Their Experience in the USA during 1960s" n chair and discussant Benedikt Schoenborn n Sara Tavani: Poland opens to the West: Polish-German diplomacy and Market Socialism (1970-1976) n Silviu Miloiu: Playing with the Trojan Horse? The British decision-making process regarding Romania´s adhesion to IMF and IBRD (1972) n Suvi Kansikas: Room to manoeuvre? East European CMEA countries and the European Economic Community (1969-1976) n Lisa Bicknell: Action, Reaction and Interaction: Ostpolitik and Poland, 1969-1972 Auditorium XIV NORCENCOWAR PANEL: Early Cold War Media and Propaganda: Cases from Scandinavia and Estonia n chair Vahur Made n Olaf Mertelsmann: Early Cold War Media and the Response of the Audience in a Soviet Republic n Palle Roslyng-Jensen: A Third Voice: Scandinavian Media Discourses on the Soviet Union 1945-49 n Ivo Juurvee: KGB as a History Writer? Case Study of Historiography Published in the Estonian SSR Exclusively for Est. Diaspora during the CW n Mikael Nilsson: US Propaganda Activities in Sweden during the 1950s and 1960s n discussant Valur Ingimundarson Auditorium XIII Individual Biographies in the Cold War n chair and discussant Marianne Liljeström n Tiiu Jaago: Mapping the Cold War effects in Estonian remembrance cultures n Ene Kõresaar: Mapping the Cold War effects in Estonian remembrance cultures n Mari Ristolainen: Toivo Vähä - Ivan Petrov: "The last man standing on the far side of the world" P.O. Box 42 (Unioninkatu 33), FI-00014 University of Helsinki n aleksanteri@helsinki.fi n Tel. +358 (9) 191 24175 n www.helsinki.fi/aleksanteri/english A l e k s a n t e r i n Tuulikki Kurki: One life and two perspectives separated by the border: the case of Taisto Huuskonen Auditorium II Encounters of the Third Kind: Cultural Interactions Across the Iron Curtain n chair Pia Koivunen n Simo Matias Mikkonen: Weapons or Victims? Soviet Emigration in attendance of Superpower politics n Dina Fainberg: The heirs of the future - Foreign correspondents meeting youth on the other side of the iron curtain n Tomas Tolvaisas: Cold War Communications: American Exhange Exhibitions in the USSR, 1959-1991 n discussant Tal Zalmanovich Auditorium III Èmigré Intellectuals and the Power of Literature Interaction and Cooperation n chair Hanna Ruutu n Kathleen Parté: The Weaponization of Literature: Reconsidering Russia´s Dangerous Texts n Nataša Kovačević: The Mediatization of History and Global Politics of Forgetting in Milan Kundera n Sanna Turoma: Joseph Brodsky and Oriental Identity as Discursive Strategy n discussant Irina Sandomirskaja Auditorium IX The Politics of Pedagogy: the Role of Education in the Cold War n chair Maija Jäppinen n Alla Zeide: Teaching Russian History During the Cold War: M.M. Karpovich at Harvard n Tuomas Takala, Nelli Piattoeva: Conceptions of development assistance to education in post-Soviet international discourse n Yulia Gradskova: Russian discourses on childcare and preschool education centres´ from "Soviet education is the best in the world" to what? n discussant Veronika Sušová Auditorium XI 15:45-16:15 Coffee 16.15-18.15 Session 3 Solidarnosc and the West n chair Riikka Nisonen-Trnka n Robert Brier: Poland´s Democratic Opposition and the Western Left, 1976-1980. Transnational Activism and International Symbolic Politics in the late Cold War n Bent Boel: The Socialist international and Dissidence in Eastern Europe during the Cold War n discussant Jadwiga Staniszkis Auditorium II "Beyond Peace and Friendship" - Cultural Cold War Encounters at the World Youth Festivals, 1940s - 1970s n chair Suvi Kansikas n Pia Koivunen: Bridging the East and West – Informal Interaction at the World Youth Festivals in the 1940s–60s n Tom Junes: From Stalinist hubris to generational nemesis: the 1955 Warsaw World Youth and Students Festival N e w s 4/2009 5 n Joni Krekola: Peace and Friendship or Freedom? Meaning of the Slogans at the World Youth Festival in Helsinki, 1962 n Nicholas Rutter: The Great Correction: the World Youth Festival transformed, 1968-1973 n discussant Rosa Magnusdottir Auditorium III Bringing the Post-War "Grand Narratives" together: the Cold War and the Welfare State n chair Johanna Rainio-Niemi n Klaus Petersen, Pauli Kettunen, Johanna Rainio-Niemi: Mapping contact zones between Cold War and the Welfare State n Helge Pharo: Development aid and the Norwegian historical experience: promoting growth and projecting values n Jonathan Bell: Building a Left Coast: The California Welfare State and the Challenge to Cold War Liberalism in the 1960s n discussant Marju Lauristin Auditorium XIII The Transfer of Knowledge and Changing Values n chair Jussi Lassila n Margareta Tillberg: Design in the USSR: collaboration for compatibility within and beyond the Eastern Bloc n Isabelle de Keghel: Western in style, socialist in content? Visual representations of GDR consumer culture in the "Neue Berliner Illustrierte" (1953 - 1964) n Janna Svendsen: Cold War - friendly rhetoric? Auditorium IX Picturing the Cosmic: Soviet Visual Culture in the Cold War and its Post-Soviet Afterlife n chair Jonathan Platt n Iina Kohonen: Cosmic Landscape: Photographs from the Far Side of the Moon, Earth from Space and the Art of Alexey Leonov n Cathleen S. Lewis: Screening Hope: Cosmonaut Nostalgia in Post-Soviet Film n Roman Marek: First Cosmonaut Laika: a Veteran of the Cold War Persists on Flickr, YouTube and the Infinite Space of the Internet Auditorium XI Images of Enemies: Representations and Projections n chair Kaarina Aitamurto n David Tompkins: Israel as Friend and Enemy in the Early Cold War: Constructing a Pedagogical Image in Poland and East Germany n Olga Malinova: The Idea of "the West" in Discourses of Perestroika: Stereotypes of Cold War Thinking and Transformation of Collective Identity in Late-Soviet Context n James Koranyi: Romanian German writings of Romania during the Cold War n discussant Anni Kangas Auditorium XIV P.O. Box 42 (Unioninkatu 33), FI-00014 University of Helsinki n aleksanteri@helsinki.fi n Tel. +358 (9) 191 24175 n www.helsinki.fi/aleksanteri/english 6 A l e k s a n t e r i Friday 30 Oct 8.00-9.00 registration Info Desk, Entrance Hall 9.00-11.00 Session 4 Choosing Sides: Was Neutrality Really Possible? n chair and discussant Thomas Fischer n Johanna Rainio-Niemi: New Perspectives on the Pol-icies of Neutrality: Austria, Finland and the Cold War Battle of Ideas n Norbert Götz: Witch-hunt in Cold War Sweden: The "Hjalmarson Affair" Revisited n Cecilia Notini Burch: Refugee policy and national security in Cold War Sweden (1945-1960) n A. Alexander Stummvoll: The Vatican and the Cold War, 1947-1991: Truth trumps neutrality Auditorium XIII Women and the Cold War n chair Aino Saarinen n Janou Vorderwuelbecke: Taking the "Troubles" to East Berlin: How the 1975 Womens´s World Congress became a transnational forum for the Northern Ireland conflict n Helene Carlbäck: Woman to woman. Swedish womens' magazines on the "Woman question" in the Soviet Russia during Cold War n discussant Melanie Ilic Auditorium III The Cold War's Impact on Historiography n chair and discussant Mikko Majander n Anna K. Johns: Julius and Ethel´s Ghosts: History and Memory of the Rosenbergs in American Life, 1953-2008 n Andrea Peto: Refraiming historical canon about WWII in post communist context n Brendan Humphreys: "The Lone Rider of Santa Fe", The Reagan Hagiography and the End of the Cold War Auditorium IV Silenced Voices: Tamizdat, Samizdat and PEN n chair Jouni Järvinen n Olga Zaslavskaja: On reciprocity of samizdat phenomenon and East-West communication during Cold War n Friederike Kind-Kovács: Lifestories reconnected: Tamizdat as a universal human experience across the Iron Curtain n Andrea Orzoff: The PEN and the State: Germany´s PEN Clubs and Europe´s Cold War Auditorium IX A "Cold War Culture"? Music, Radio and Documentaries across the Curtain, 1945-1989 n chair Jon Bell n Leo Goretti: ‘Amore or Dollars’? The youth policies of the Italian Communist Party and the outbreak of the Cold War (1947-1949) n Linda Risso: Don´t mention the Soviets! The short movies produced by NATO between 1949 and 1989 n Matthew Worley: One Nation under bomb: The Cold War and British Punk Auditorium X N e w s 4/2009 The Archaeologies of the Cold War's Metalanguages n chair Irina Sandomirskaja n Egle Rindzeviciute: Cybernetics as a Metalanguage of Soviet Governance: The Issues of Freedom and Critique n Aleksei Semenenko: In Search of Universal Language: The Case of Tartu-Moscow Semiotic School n Vessela Misheva: The Cold War and the Unity of Science Movement n Johan Öberg: Conseptualism across the Iron Curtain Auditorium II 11:00-11:15 Break 11:15-13:00 Plenum n Chair: Riikka Nisonen-Trnka n Professor Jessica C. E. Gienow-Hecht: What Leaders Can Learn from the Past: Cultural Diplomacy, Civil Society and the Limits of the Cold War n Mr. Yale Richmond: Cultural Exchange and the Cold War: How the West Won Small Hall 13:00-13:45 Lunch break 13.45-15.45 SESSION 5 When the War Turned Hot: Struggles and Ideology in the Third World n chair Susanna Hast n Leo Jansons: "Segregation and Immunity of African Diplomats in the U.S. During the Presidency of John F. Kennedy: Another Sharp Edge of Cold War Ideological Struggle?" n Robert J. McMahon: Reconsidering the Cold War in the Third World n Artemy Kalinovsky: Soviet Nation Building and Counter Insurgency in Afghanistan and Ethiopia n discussant Liisa Laakso Auditorium III Other Voices: Peace and Human Rights' Movements n chair Jouni Järvinen n Holger Nehring: The Last Battle of the Cold War: Peace movements and Cold War politics in the 1980s n Thomas Fischer: G2W - Faith in the Second World: Using the Helsinki Network to Overcome the East-West Divide n discussant Matti Jutila Auditorium IX Dealing with the Traumatic Past I n chair Silviu Miloiu n Tuuli Lähdesmäki: Images of President Urho Kekkonen – remembering and recontextualizing the Kekkonen era n Tomáš Bouška: Memories of Czech Political Prisoners n Aili Aarrelaid: Baltic Biographies at Historical Crossroads. Two traumas n discussant Li Bennich-Björkman Auditorium XI P.O. Box 42 (Unioninkatu 33), FI-00014 University of Helsinki n aleksanteri@helsinki.fi n Tel. +358 (9) 191 24175 n www.helsinki.fi/aleksanteri/english A l e k s a n t e r i Cold War mediators and travellers across the Iron Curtain n chair Jessica Gienow-Hecht n Piotr H. Kosicki: The travels of politically engaged Catholic intellectuals n Riikka Nisonen-Trnka: Czechoslovak scientists raising the Iron Curtain n Dora Vargha: "We love our children too". Cold War intractions in the fight against polio from a Hungarian perspective Auditorium II On the Big Screen: Cinema in the Cold War I n chair Hanna Ruutu n Andrey Shcherbenok: Iron Curtain as a Distorting Lens: The Vision of the Enemy in Soviet and American Cold War Cinemas n Oleg Riabov: Gendering the Enemy in the Soviet and the American Cold War Films n Andrei Kozovoi: "This film is harmful": obstacles in the representation of America in Soviet cinema during the Cold War n discussant Yale Richmond Auditorium XIII Law I/ The Legal Dimension in the Cold War Interactions n chair William Simons n Jane Henderson: Talking across the fence: Cold War academic cooperation in the legal sphere n Jukka Kekkonen: Cold War and legal culture in Finland n Zlata Benevolenskaya: The new political polarization of the world and the reform of state property management in Russia n discussant Pia Letto-Vanamo Auditorium IV 15:45-16:15 Coffee break 16.15-18.15 SESSION 6 Fueling Change: Europe and Cold War Trade Blocs n chair Tapani Kaakkuriniemi n Ksenia Demidova: US and Euro-Soviet gas trade in the time of energy crises of 1973-1979: issues of political leverage throug Hydrocarbons during the Cold War n Niklas Jensen-Eriksen: CoCom and Neutrality: Western export control policies, Finland and the Cold War, 1949-1958 n Suvi Kansikas: The USSR, the CMEA and the EEC challenge, 1969-1975 n discussant Barbara Zanchetta Auditorium III N e w s 4/2009 7 Backchannels of Cooperation n chair and discussant Arto Luukkanen n Mike Dennis: Over the Wall: Football and Agency in East Germany n Stefan Wiederkehr: Sport Physicians and Sport Officials between Cold War Confrontation and Co-operative Rule Setting in International Sport Bodies n Ville Jalovaara: The Churches and the Cold War - Case Solved? Auditorium IX Dealing with the Traumatic Past II n chair Katalin Miklossy n Li Bennich-Björkman: Transition from "dreaming about politics" to "doing politics" in the Baltic contexts n Jelena Obradovic: Victims, violence and "remaking worlds" after war trauma in Serbia n Nadezhda Stoyanova: Securitising Identities: the Power of Exclusion n Brendan Humphreys: The Politics of "Never Again!", from Kosovo to Munich n discussant Markku Kangaspuro Auditorium XI Transferring Technology n chair and discussant Sari Autio-Sarasmo n Frank Dittmann: The first computer communication network between East and West n Jeremy Smith: Learning from the French: The Modernisation of Soviet Winemaking, 1955-1961 n Steven E. Harris: Soviet Housing Architects and the Western Media in the Early Cold War Auditorium II On the Big Screen: Cinema in the Cold War II n chair Mark Nash n Kathleen Starck: In Love with the Other - Russian-American Relationships in Early Cold War Films n Kimmo Ahonen: Science Fiction Film and the Cold War: Red Planet Mars (1952) as an Anticommunist Fantasy n Elena V. Baraban: The Cold War and the Soviet Discourse of WWII in Cinema n discussant Tony Shaw Auditorium XIII Law II/ Round table: Remnants of Cold War Policy Making over the Past Two Decades: Has There Been Peace Dividend? n chair Jane Henderson n Matti Mikkola: Divided Europe - Divided human rights n Leena Lehtinen: Relevance of the Cold War for Russian jurisprudence: Private law n Tania Borisova/ William Simons: The other and law: Is the legal field immune from particularities in a globalizing world? n discussants Zlata Benevolenskaya, Ilmari Larjavaara, Marju Luts-Sootak, Kirsti Rissanen Auditorium IV P.O. Box 42 (Unioninkatu 33), FI-00014 University of Helsinki n aleksanteri@helsinki.fi n Tel. +358 (9) 191 24175 n www.helsinki.fi/aleksanteri/english 8 A l e k s a n t e r i Saturday 31 Oct 9.30 -11.30 SESSION 7 Constructing Post-Cold War Europe: "New Europe" and the EU n chair and discussant Henri Vogt n Laura Dib: Closing the gap - the identification of the EU institutions in relation to the East after 1989 n Benedict E. DeDominicis, Yulia Shenderovich: NeoContainment Strategy: Nationalism and Competive Interference in the Politics of European Post Communist States n Nelly Bekus-Goncharova: Constructing Post-Soviet Belarus Identity: Efficiency of the Cold War Legacy in Defining the "Belarussianness" n Martin Dangerfield: East/Central Europe and Regional Integration after the Cold War: Continuity and Change Auditorium IV Intellectual and Dissident Activism n chair and discussant Piotr Kosicki n Lars Fredrik Stöcker: Network across the Baltic Sea The activities of Polish and Estonian political émigrés in Sweden during the Cold War era n Rosa Magnusdottir: Intellectual Activism during the Cold War: Icelandic Socialists and their International Networks n Nancy Jachec: Jaroslaw Iwaszkiewicz, Jean-Paul Sartre, and ´Questions of Method`: a case study of intellectual exchange and ideological revision in the first phase of the Cold War Auditorium III The Old World Order: Reassessments and Re-conceptualisations n chair Hanna Smith n Susanna Hast: Genealogy of the Concept of Sphere of Influence: Practices of the Cold War n Anastasia Mitrofanova: Cold War Reconsidered in the Light of the Hegemonic Stability Theory n Patryk Babiracki: Soviet-East European Interactions during the Cold War: In Search for an Analytic Paradigm n Alaeddin Yalcinkaya: Cold War Nostalgia and Eurasianist Politics n discussant Tuomas Forsberg Auditorium IX The Enemy of My Enemy: The Search for Independent Socialism n chair Tapani Kaakkuriniemi n Elena Dragomir: When the other is "our elder brother". The role of perceptions in constructing the "deviant" profile of Romania´s foreign policy at the beginnig of the 1960s n Louie Milojevic: Was Tito a Tito? The Dilemma of "National Communism" for an anti-Communist Foreign Policy in the Soviet-Yugoslav Split, 1948-1958 n Stephen J. Scala: East German New Thinking? Transnationalization, Conseptual Change, and Institutional Stasis in GDR Foreign Policy Expertise n Goran Miloradovic: Anomaly of cold war: ideological character and international function of socialist Yugoslavia n discussant Kimmo Rentola Auditorium XI N e w s 4/2009 Music, Literature and Fine Arts in the Cold War Soviet Union n chair and discussant Sanna Turoma n Yelena Kalinsky: Double Distortion: Art and Politics in the Moscow Underground n Barbara-Renata Chrzan: Literature of the "iron curtain" Empire of Evil in Camp Literature n Meri Herrala: The Impact of the Cold War on Soviet Music, particularly during the Antiformalist Campaign Auditorium II ROUNDTABLE n n n n n n chair Irina Sandomirskaja Jutta Scherrer Markku Kivinen Manuel de los Reyes Garcia Markina Katalin Miklossy Joseph Pilat Auditorium XIII 11:30-12:00 Coffee break 12.00-13.30 SESSION 8 Post-Chernobyl Mobilization Beyond the State: the Cases of Belarus, Ukraine, and Germany n chair Astrid Sahm n Alexandr Dolgowskij: Perception of Chernobyl in Written Sources in Belarus n Anastasiya Leukhina: Ecological Movement in Ukraine After Chernobyl n Melanie Arndt: "Children of Chernobyl. Interweavement of civil societal initiatives in Germany and Belarus Auditorium III Communism and Post-communism: Reconstructing and Understanding the Legacies of the Past for the Politics of the Present n chair Veronika Sušová n Barbara J. Falk: The Museology of Memory and the Practice of Postcommunist Politics n Libora Oates-Indruchova: Feminism East and West: Bourgeois Ideology, a Western Import, or a "Homegrown" Blend? n Paulina Bren: Major Zeman´s Revisionist Crime-Fighting: The Politics of Memory and Media from Late Communism to Post-Communism in the Czech Republic Auditorium IV Exhibitions and the Performing Arts n chair and discussant Brendan Humphreys n Verity Clarkson: "Embassy exhibitions" and national identities: the organisation and reception of Eastern European exhibitions in Cold War Britain n Jasna Galjer: Between and out of East and West: Yugoslavia and international exhibitions as strategy of self promotion n Jonathan Rosenberg: Fighting the Cold War with Violins and Trumpets: US Symphony Orchestras and the EastWest Struggle Auditorium IX P.O. Box 42 (Unioninkatu 33), FI-00014 University of Helsinki n aleksanteri@helsinki.fi n Tel. +358 (9) 191 24175 n www.helsinki.fi/aleksanteri/english A l e k s a n t e r i Seeing Red: (de) Constructing the Russian Enemy in Western Popular Culture n chair Leonid Trofimov n Christopher Read: Peeping through the Curtain: Revealing the "Real" Russia n Simon Willmetts: Hitchcock´s Cold War: Filming the Soviet Menace n Christopher R. Moran: Russophobia and the British Spy Thriller n discussant Dina Fainberg Auditorium XI The Impact of the Cold War on Soviet Scholarship n chair and discussant Markku Kivinen n Simo Leisti: How did the Prague Spring turn into Autumn of Sociology in Moscow n Katerina Mishuris: Making the Bourgeois PseudoScience Soviet: Opinion Surveys in the late 1950s and the 1960s n Stefan Rohdewald: "Futurology - Bridge between East and West?" Western and Soviet Visions of Scientific Form of the "Fight for the Future" Auditorium II 13:30-14:30 Lunch 14:30-15:30 Plenum N e w s 4/2009 9 aleksanteri conference Keynote speakers Professor Nadia Arbatova Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO), Russia P rofessor Nadia Arbatova is the head of the Department on European Political Studies Institute for World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO) at the Russian Academy of Sciences. She has previously worked as a visiting professor at the Department for Strategic Studies of the Swedish National Defense College 1998–1999, and at the ELIAMEP, Greece, in 2003. Professor Arbatova has been the director of Policy Studies and the editor at the Committee “Russia in a United Europe” 2001–2007 and the director of the Forum “European Dialogues” in 2008. Arbatova is the author of numerous publications including four individual monographs and brochures on international relations and Russia’s foreign policy. Her professional interests include European Integration, European Security, Russian foreign policy, terrorism and conflict prevention. n Chair: Suvi Kansikas n Professor Nadia Arbatova: Russia and the West: Time to step out of the Cold War Shadow Small Hall Russia and the West: Time to Step out of the Cold War Shadow, Saturday 31st October, Plenum at 14:30 in Small Hall 15:30-16:00 Closing Session Russia and the West: Time to Step out of the Cold War Shadow n Chair: Suvi Kansikas n Closing remarks: Professor Markku Kivinen and Dr. Katalin Miklóssy Small Hall Organising Committee: n Sari Autio-Sarasmo Head of Organising Committee Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki n Suvi Kansikas Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki n Eeva Korteniemi Conference secretary Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki n Riikka Nisonen-Trnka Conference coordinator Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki n Merja Suomi Conference trainee Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki n Contact: fcree-aleksconf@helsinki.fi Summary of the Keynote Speech The recent Caucasus crisis has become a culmination of the Russia-Western security differences and raised fears of a new Cold War. Given that “Cold War” is not so much a scientific but rather a journalistic term; any serious confrontation between Russia and the West can be labeled as “a new Cold War”. It is often used to describe any heightened tension between states, but this interpretation does not indicate any starting point from which the rise in tension can be measured and its probable consequences and dangers assessed. As we know from our recent history, the Cold War was a period of conflict and competition between the US and the Soviet Union that began in the 1940s and lasted until the early 1990s. This period can be characterized by several distinguishing features which are no longer present. Nonetheless, the last decade of mutual dissatisfaction and mistrust has deeply affected Russia-Western relations. After the end of bipolarity, these relations passed through several stages beginning with euphoria in early 90s and ending with the recent flare-up in tensions between Russia and the United States during the Caucasus crisis. Why did it go wrong? And what should be done to avoid a new confrontation, whatever the name, between Russia on the one side and the United States, NATO and the European Union on the other? These fundamental questions are the main focal points of the keynote address. P.O. Box 42 (Unioninkatu 33), FI-00014 University of Helsinki n aleksanteri@helsinki.fi n Tel. +358 (9) 191 24175 n www.helsinki.fi/aleksanteri/english 10 A l e k s a n t e r i N e w s 4/2009 Mr. Yale Richmond Professor Jadwiga Staniszkis Y P USA ale Richmond, a specialist in intercultural communication, served 30 years in the U.S. Foreign Service with postings abroad as a cultural or information officer in Germany, Laos, Poland, Austria, and the Soviet Union. During the detente years of the 1970s, he was Director of the Office of Soviet and East European Exchanges in the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, U.S. Department of State. After retirement in 1979, he served three years as a Staff Consultant to the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (U.S. Congress), and eight years as a Senior Program Officer with the National Endowment for Democracy. In 1983, he was a member of the U.S. delegation to the Madrid review meeting of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe. Mr. Richmond is a graduate of Boston College from which he received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1943; Syracuse University, Bachelor of Electrical Engineering in 1947; and Columbia University, Master of Arts in History in 1957. He is the author of 10 books on intercultural communication. "Cultural Exchange and the Cold War: How the West Won", Friday 30th October, Plenum at 11.15 in the Small Hall Summary of the Keynote Speech Cultural Exchange and the Cold War: How the West Won To the many other reasons for the end of the Cold War, the author adds cultural exchange between the Soviet Union and the West, and in particular with the United States in the years 1958-1988. During those years more than 50,000 Soviet citizens traveled to the United States under cultural exchange, and many thousands more came to Western Europe. Cleared by the KGB, they came, they saw, and they realized that communism had failed them, how far behind the West the Soviet Union had fallen, and how their Soviet media had not been telling them the truth about the West. The author describes the various US-USSR exchanges, including, among others, the scholarly, motion pictures, exhibitions, political, cultural, and performing arts, and how they brought change to the Soviet Union and prepared the way for Gorbachev and his reforms. And it was done mostly with the cooperation of the Soviet Union, and at a cost that was minuscule in comparison with U.S. military expenditures for defence and intelligence over the same period of time. Poland rofessor Jadwiga Staniszkis is a Polish sociologist and political scientist, and a former professor at the University of Warsaw and the Wyższa Szkoła Biznesu (National-Louis University). During Solidarity origin in August 1980 she was one of the advisers of Strikers Committee in the Gdansk Shipyard. Staniszkis is the author of several books dealing with socialism. Most of her studies were published only after the transformation of the political system in Poland. Her works include Poland's Self-Limiting Revolution (1984), The Dynamics of the Breakthrough in Eastern Europe: The Polish Experience (1991), The Ontology of Socialism (1992) and Post-communism: Emerging Enigma (1999). “The Military Revolution and the end of Communism”, Thursday 29th October, Plenum at 10.00 in the Small Hall Summary of the Keynote Speech The Military Revolution and the end of Communism The purpose of my presentation is to analyze three separate (though interdependent) currents of the "military revolution" that took place in the communist bloc in the years 19751985, to elucidate their origin and shed light on their influence upon the process of abandoning communism and on the shape of the post-communist order. By "military revolution" I mean the process by which technological innovations in the military domain (and the consequent changes in military doctrine and organization) lead to revolutionary (albeit unintended) transformations in the spheres of politics and economy. The main current of the military revolution in the communist bloc was triggered by technological changes accumulating in the USA in the first half of the 1970's and their synthesis in the form of the Schlessiger Doctrine. The response to this doctrine was a radical reformulation of the doctrine of the General Staff of the USSR, and a reorganization of the Warsaw Pact in 1978. A "Crisis Stability Based on Attack" and the Ogarkov Plan of "controlled escalation" were articulated. The growing conflict between the political and military establishments of the USSR during the period of Brezhnev's rule led members of the former to conclude (in 1982-1983), during the rule of Andropov) that only radical political solutions (withdrawal from Central Europe, unification of Germany, dissolution of the Warsaw Pact) could prevent war in Central Europe. The implementation of this policy began in 1985. The above-mentioned shift of policy set further unintended processes in motion, that ultimately led to the end of communism in the USSR and the disintegration of the Empire. P.O. Box 42 (Unioninkatu 33), FI-00014 University of Helsinki n aleksanteri@helsinki.fi n Tel. +358 (9) 191 24175 n www.helsinki.fi/aleksanteri/english A l e k s a n t e r i Professor Jessica C. E. Gienow-Hecht University of Cologne, Germany J essica C. E. Gienow-Hecht is a Professor of International History at the University of Cologne. She has previously been a Heisenberg fellow at the Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main. She has also taught at the Universities of Virginia, Bielefeld, Heidelberg, the Universität Martin-Luther-Universität HalleWittenberg, Harvard University and the Hertie School of Foto Katrein Governance in Berlin. Her field of interest is the interplay of culture and international relations since the early modern period. Gienow-Hecht’s study Transmission Impossible: American Journalism as Cultural Diplomacy in Postwar Germany, 1945–1955 (Baton Rouge, 1999) was co-awarded the Stuart Bernath Book Prize (best first book in diplomatic history) as well as the Myrna Bernard Prize (best book in diplomatic history written by a woman), both given by the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations. Her latest study, Sound Diplomacy: Music and Emotions in German-American Relations since 1850 will be published by the University of Chicago Press in 2009. "What Leaders Can Learn from the Past: Cultural Diplomacy, Civil Society and the Limits of the Cold War", Friday 30th October, Plenum at 11.15 in the Small Hall Summary of the Keynote Speech What Leaders Can Learn from the Past: Cultural Diplomacy, Civil Society and the Limits of the Cold War What can contemporary policymakers learn from the Cold War? This paper takes a broad look at the history of cultural diplomacy since the 19th century to ask a simple question and to conclude with a central thesis. The question: how does cultural diplomacy after the Cold War and, especially after 9/11, compare to previous cultural strategies run by the state? The answer: Complicated as this history may be, cultural diplomacy in the 21st century resembles increasingly structures developed in the 19th century more than the far-reaching, cost-intensive cultural and information programs that we remember so well from the second half of the 20th century. Thanks to the rich literature on Cold War cultural diplomacy, we know quite a bit about the state-orchestrated programs developed or solidified during the period between 1945 and 1989/91 as well as their non-governmental associates; several panels at the conference will address precisely this change and this paper also highlights some of the recent research. Yet, in historical retrospect, the state-orchestrated programs around the world and notably the information and exchange programs developed by both superpowers after 1945 mark an aberration rather than the norm. N e w s 4/2009 11 Before World War One, cultural diplomacy remained an informal project. Nineteenth-century cultural expansionism in Europe involved, above all, a vast array of private and NGO interest groups. French, British and German officials offered much leeway and money to non-governmental cultural exports. Yet there were no centralized bureaucracy, no organizations such as USIS or the Goethe Häuser that would have offered themselves as a tool for cultural diplomacy. Most politicians agreed that the presentation of culture abroad should remain confined to individual interest groups and entrepreneurs. After the Cold War, the structure of public diplomacy in the United States and elsewhere is returning to a state similar to the decades prior to World War One. For example, leaders in the United States dissatisfied with America’s image abroad have devised strategies to improve their nation’s international standing with the help of private initiatives and programs. In other words, the Cold War provided an exception to the rules, motivations, and administrative procedures of cultural diplomacy. And when contemporary leaders ponder the value of civil society’s engagement in place branding, they should not look to the Cold War but to the years prior to 1914: this historical antecedent has a story to tell about the advantages but also the risks of such a shift of responsibility – most notably the risk that private interest programs can immensely harm the national image abroad. The next Aleksanteri Conference focuses on the Eurasian Energy sector F or the past several years, Russia's role as a significant provider of energy for EU consumers has been under the microscope. Owing to the increasing media attention and academic scrutiny of Russia's energy sector, the Aleksanteri Institute's 2010 Conference will focus on the nature of Russia's role in the Eurasian Energy sector. Far beyond solely providing the EU with natural gas and oil, Russia's Energy Strategy to 2030 outlines significant development of its eastern resources to fulfill Asia's anticipated demand as well as Russia's own domestic consumers. Russia's eastern trajectory adds another dimension to the debate surrounding the country's central role as an energy provider not just for the EU but conceivably for a great number of consumers on the Eurasian landmass. Therefore the conference, to be held from the 27th to the 29th of October 2010, will focus on the structure of Russia's domestic energy sector along with its potential influence over EU and Northeast Asian energy policies. P.O. Box 42 (Unioninkatu 33), FI-00014 University of Helsinki n aleksanteri@helsinki.fi n Tel. +358 (9) 191 24175 n www.helsinki.fi/aleksanteri/english 12 A l e k s a n t e r i N e w s 4/2009 Seminar with the Eurasia Partnership Foundation (EPF) Ascertaining Facts: The Georgian War and its Impact on the Media in the War-torn South Caucasus T he lack of progress in the Geneva negotiation process has resulted in Abkhazia and South Ossetia becoming deep-frozen conflicts. So said Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb, the first keynote of the seminar held on September 9th at the Aleksanteri Institute. Mr Stubb said that the way in which the war was portrayed in the West was unfair to Russia, while the way in which the war was portrayed in Russia was unfair to Georgia. YLE correspondent AnnaLena Laurén presented her new book on the Caucasus, entitled “Vuorilla ei ole herroja – Kaukasiasta ja sen kansoista”. Ms Laurén said that the situation in Dagestan, Chechnya and Ingushetia could best be described as anarchy. For the majority of the people living in the South Ossetia region – regardless of their nationalities – the August war changed their lives for Minister Alexander Stubb the worse. Deputy State Minister for the Reintegration of Georgia, David Rakviashvili, reminded attendees of a report published by the Georgian Government on the first anniversary of the war (one month before the EU-backed investigation) that presented the Georgian perspective on the conflict. Mr Rakviashvili reiterated that his government is seeking ways to engage the people of two breakaway republics, in parallel with the so-called de-occupation process. The first panel of the afternoon was moderated by EPF President George Zarubin. It focused on media perceptions and challenges in the South Caucasus, where conflicts remain unresolved, governments maintain a wartime mentality and the independent media remains in crisis. CRRC Director Hans Gutbrod discussed the public perception of major trends in the media in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia during the last two years. Levon Barseghyan from the Asparez Journalists’ Club in Armenia outlined the issues affecting the implementation of Armenia’s Freedom of Information law. Khadija Ismailova from Radio Liberty Azerbaijan talked about the media under the government’s control, and Lia Chakhunashvili, Dean of Caucasus School of Media at the Caucasus University, presented an overview of the major challenges and achievements of the Georgian media. The second panel sought to find ways to prevent widespread media bias in the South Caucasus and define the role that civil society organizations could play in the process. Shain Abasov from IREX Azerbaijan suggested ways to redress the threats faced by journalists. Ketevan Vashakidze, EPF’s Georgia Country Director, emphasised the role of the media as a watchdog institution Minister David Rakviashvili and Boris Navasardyan from the Yerevan Press Club discussed investigative journalism and the security of journalists in Armenia. In addition to the before mentioned, also Arto Luukkanen, Mikko Palonkorpi, Susanna Niinivaara, Harri Kämäräinen and Anna-Maria Salmi took the floor at the seminar. All in all, the seminar attracted close to 100 active participants, including international scholars, journalists, diplomats and officials. Mikko Palonkorpi For the full seminar programme and some of the presentations, please visit: www.helsinki.fi/aleksanteri/english/news/events/2009/0909caucasus.htm Read more about EPF at www.epfound.org Khadija Ismailova, Levon Barseghyuan, and Lia Chakhunashvili attended the panel moderated by George Zarubin (second from right) P.O. Box 42 (Unioninkatu 33), FI-00014 University of Helsinki n aleksanteri@helsinki.fi n Tel. +358 (9) 191 24175 n www.helsinki.fi/aleksanteri/english A l e k s a n t e r i N e w s 4/2009 13 Seminar with WEN & EPF From Northern Dimension to Eastern Partnership – The Evolving European Neighbourhood Policy in the East T his seminar, held on October 10th, gathered politicians, practitioners and academics to discuss the current state of affairs in the European Union’s relations with its Eastern neighbours. The keynote speech by Finnish Member of Parliament Erkki Tuomioja addressed the issue of the European Union as an actor in the global political arena. Mr Tuomioja emphasised the EU’s role as a soft power in the neighbouring region; a power whose policies are based on multilateralism and openness rather than unilateralism and exclusion. The speech provided a starting point for discussion on four Eastern dimensions of EU policies: the Northern Dimension, the Eastern Partnership, the European Neighbourhood Policy and the Russian Federation. Andrey Avetisyan and Hanna Smith The Northern Dimension (ND) policy was praised for the equal partnership on which it is based, as well as its depoliticised nature, which has allowed functional cooperation even in times of political disagreement. On the other hand, the policy was deemed too invisible and lacking in new initiatives and ideas. Although ND has the potential to become a very important tool in future RussiaEU relations, it also risks fading into the background if it is unable to attract believers and doers. Assessments were made of the Eastern Partnership (EaP) both from the EU perspective and from the point of view of the policy’s target countries. EaP, like ND, has supporters who view it as having great potential as an important tool in the EU’s Eastern relations; there are also sceptics, who criticise the policy for bringing more diversion than benefits. A central issue is Russia’s critical attitude towards the policy and its nonparticipation in its realisation. The panel on civil society’s perception of t h e European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) presented data from Georgia and Minister Erkki Tuomioja Ukraine that shows a generally positive attitude towards Western institutions and reserve towards Russia. Overall, public opinion is appreciative of political and economic progress regardless of the policy framework through which it is achieved. The ENP was criticised for its vagueness and lack of concrete objectives. Regarding Russia-EU relations in the North, both parties see a range of potentially common interests. However, opinions differ significantly about how to move forward and utilise those common interests. The Baltic Sea is seen as an important area for both Russia and the EU but there is disagreement about how to address it. In order to improve Russia-EU relations, the EU should make greater efforts to form a united front in its policy towards Russia, pushing the visa free regime issue in a new way. For its part, Russia could try to make its politics more transparent, discuss matters in a cooperative manner and stop viewing the EU as hostile. The conclusion reached at the seminar was that because of Russia and the EU’s strong interdependence, improved cooperation is the only way forward. Laura Dib & Hanna Smith Photos: Erkka Lehto Alan Mayhew, Christopher Hillion and Nathaniel Copsey discussed Eastern Partnership in a panel chaired by Alexander Wochnik (second from right) P.O. Box 42 (Unioninkatu 33), FI-00014 University of Helsinki n aleksanteri@helsinki.fi n Tel. +358 (9) 191 24175 n www.helsinki.fi/aleksanteri/english 14 A l e k s a n t e r i N e w s 4/2009 cooperation with the neru network Floating, Fun and Friends – Joint Nordic seminar T he Graduate School organised its third floating seminar in mid-September in conjunction with NERU network partners BEEGS (Södertörn University College, Sweden) and NUPI (Norway). More than 40 doctoral students, professors and research leaders participated in the two-day seminar, which was packed with lectures and workshops. A special feature of the seminar was that part of it took place on a boat travelling between Sweden and Finland. As Director Markku Kivinen said in his welcome, “This is already an institution”. The first day of the seminar was held in Helsinki, with the Swedish and Norwegian guests arriving by ferry in the morning. The first lectures were presented by Dr Pami Aalto (Jean Monnet Professor at the University of Tampere) on the question of energy relations between Russia and the EU, and Dr Alexander Etkind (Reader in Russian Literature and Cultural History at the University of Cambridge) regarding post-Soviet memories of the Soviet past. These were followed by presentations of ongoing projects at the Aleksanteri Institute, Södertörn University NERU College and NUPI. The entire group then departed for Sweden by boat, with doctoral students’ papers discussed in workshops on-board. Friday’s activities took place in Huddinge at the Södertörn University College. Lectures were delivered by two local research leaders, Dr Apostolis Papakostas, who spoke on the social production of trust, and Dr Michal Gilek, who discussed environmental risks in the Baltic Sea. Another important part of the seminar was the presentation and discussion of the future joint funding application, inaugurated by Dr Sari Autio-Sarasmo (Senior Researcher, Aleksanteri Institute). All participants wholeheartedly agreed that the Nordic cooperation is a tradition that is well worth continuing! Eeva Korteniemi & Hanna Ruutu T he NordForsk-funded NERU network (Northern Europe – From Cold War Division to Restructured Europe) is one of the organisers of the Aleksanteri Conference 2009: Cold War Interactions Reconsidered. The Aleksanteri Conference is also the closing conference of the network. network Happy Floaters posing in Huddinge, Södertörn University P.O. Box 42 (Unioninkatu 33), FI-00014 University of Helsinki n aleksanteri@helsinki.fi n Tel. +358 (9) 191 24175 n www.helsinki.fi/aleksanteri/english A l e k s a n t e r i N e w s 4/2009 15 Visiting Fellows Sociological perspectives on Russia application of the concepts of Max Weber’s sociology to Soviet political institutions. Professor Maslovskiy’s recent publications deal with the multiple modernities approach in historical sociology and its application to Soviet-type societies. The research project at the Aleksanteri Institute is devoted to the sources of legitimacy of the political regime in post-Soviet Russia. visiting fellows Mikhail Maslovskiy M ikhail Maslovskiy is Professor in the Department of Sociology and Social Work at Nizhny Novgorod State University. He graduated from Leningrad State University in 1991. Two years later he received the British Council Fellowship for a one-year study programme at the University of Warwick, where he obtained an MA in Sociology. Since 1995 he has participated in several projects aimed at developing the teaching of social sciences in Russia, which were funded by TEMPUS/TACIS, the Open Society Institute and the National Training Foundation. In 2004 he defended his PhD, on the historical sociology of socio-political transformations in Soviet Russia. In particular, he discussed the Publications include: n ‘Max Weber’s Concept of Patrimonialism and the Soviet system’. The Sociological Review. 1996. Vol. 44. No. 2. n Политическая социология бюрократии (Political Sociology of Bureaucracy). Москва: Институт социологии РАН, 1997. n Социология политики: классические и современные теории (Sociology of Politics: Classical and Contemporary Theories). Москва: Новый учебник, 2004. Fellowship period: October 2009 visiting fellows Elena Zdravomyslova E lena Zdravomyslova is Professor at the European University in St. Petersburg and Co-coordinator of the Gender Studies Programme. Her research and teaching fields include gender studies, women’s movements and qualitative research methods. Her recent publications include: n Co-editor and author of ‘Health and Trust: Gender Perspective in Reproductive Healthcare’ (2009) n Co-editor and author of ‘Novyi byt in Contemporary Russia: Gender Studies of Everyday Life’. SPb EUSPb (2008) n Co-editor and author of ‘Russian Gender Order: Sociological Perspective’. SPb EUSPb (in Russian) (2007) n ‘Soldiers’ Mothers Fighting the Military Patriarchy’ In: I. Lenz, Ch. Ullrich and B. Fersch (eds.) Gender Orders Unbound? Barbara Budrich Publishers, Oplanden & Farmington Hills. pp. 207-228 (2007) n Anna Rotkirch, Anna Temkina, and Elena Zdravomyslova: Who Helps the Degraded Housewife?: Comments on Vladimir Putin’s Demographic Speech. European Journal of Women’s Studies, # 14: 349–357 (2007) visiting fellows PROGRAMME W ith its Visiting Fellowships programme, the Aleksanteri Institute invites both established scholars and talented young researchers to work at the University of Helsinki for a period of a few months. The programme was established in 2008 with the aim of supporting the advancement of Russian and Eastern European studies and strengthening links between the international and Finnish research communities. The opportunity to undertake a short-term, grantsupported research visit to Finland has been met with great interest: 95 and 154 applications were received for the 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 academic years. The first ever Aleksanteri Visiting Fellow, Jelena Obradovic stated: “I really enjoyed my time at the Institute. It’s such an active research community and everything’s so well organised. I really liked the opportunity to teach and to present my research not only to the academic community but also to a wider audience.” For the years 2008-2009 and 2009-2010, the Aleksanteri Institute has invited 31 scholars for periods ranging from one to five months. A list of all the Visiting Fellows and their research themes can be found on the Institute’s website: www.helsinki.fi/aleksanteri/english/fellowship/ Fellowship period: November - December 2009 P.O. Box 42 (Unioninkatu 33), FI-00014 University of Helsinki n aleksanteri@helsinki.fi n Tel. +358 (9) 191 24175 n www.helsinki.fi/aleksanteri/english 16 A l e k s a n t e r i N e w s Related Kikimora publications These and more available at conference prices! Progress and Chaos: Russia as a Challenge for the Sociological Imagination by Markku Kivinen For many people in Russia today, everyday life appears to be a series of traps. This sense of being trapped arises from seemingly impersonal changes sweeping across the structure of societies. The facts of such macro processes as ”building socialism” or ”transition” are also the facts of the successes and failures of individual men and women. This analysis provides new impulses to critical sociology by shedding new light on the Russian heritage in the leftist tradition and, in so doing, by challenging all forms of left-wing fundamentalism. Kikimora Publications : Series B19. 2002, ISBN 951-45-9636-6 Recalling the Past – (Re)constructing the Past: Collective and Individual Memory of World War II in Russia and Germany Ed. by Withold Bonner and Arja Rosenholm Memories and scholarly exploration on memory have become a significant part of contemporary cultural studies. The aim of this multi- and interdisciplinary volume is to examine the fractures, interactions and intersections of private and collective memories in Germany and Russia after World War II and to facilitate understanding of how both recalling and forgetting play a significant role in constituting identities by individuals, communities and nations. Aleksanteri Series 2:2008, ISBN 978-952-10-4098-6 Russia Forever? Towards Working Pragmatism in Finnish/Russian Relations Ed. by Helena Rytövuori-Apunen The eastern enlargements of the EU and NATO have highlighted change in Russian/ European relations, which at the present are the primary context for Finnish foreign, security and defence policies. Russia’s ‘perennial dilemma’ of contention and co-operation in her Northwestern rim again represents a trait of historical and conceptual continuity in Russian/European relations. Understanding the interplay of continuity and change in a longterm perspective is essential in the contemporary political constellation in which Finland is part of the EU and European cooperation and seeks to maintain good bilateral relationships with Russia Aleksanteri Series 1:2008, ISBN 978-952-10-4095-5 4/2009 Aleksanteri Institute Finnish Centre for Russian and Eastern European Studies The Aleksanteri Institute is affiliated with the University of Helsinki and operates as a national centre of research, study and expertise pertaining to Russia and Eastern Europe, particularly in the social sciences and humanities. The institute co-ordinates and promotes co-operation and interaction between the academic world, public administration, business life and civil society in Finland and abroad. The Aleksanteri Institute was founded in 1996. It has grown rapidly into a working community of around 50 people, including doctoral students in the Institute’s Graduate School who work at their respective universities. The Institute has a board of trustees that represents the University of Helsinki and other interest groups. The Institute also has an international Advisory Board and is also guided in its various activities by the executive boards of the Master’s programme and of the Graduate School and by an editorial board. Aleksanteri Institute P.O. Box 42 (Unioninkatu 33) FI-00014 University of Helsinki aleksanteri@helsinki.fi Tel. +358 (9) 191 24175 www.helsinki.fi/aleksanteri/english Aleksanteri News is published in both electronic and printed format. Download the electronic version at www.helsinki.fi/aleksanteri/english/ news/newsletter. The next newsletter will be published in January 2010 Editor: Niina Into Writers: Laura Dib, Eeva Korteniemi, Mikko Palonkorpi, Hanna Ruutu, Hanna Smith, Anna-Maria Salmi Layout: Niina Into and Anu Pöyry Join the Aleksanteri Email List to stay informed in between the quarterly Newsletters. More information and instructions at : www.helsinki.fi/aleksanteri/english/news/aleksanteri-list.html To receive the newsletter directly to your e-mail, please send an e-mail to aleksanteri@helsinki.fi P.O. Box 42 (Unioninkatu 33), FI-00014 University of Helsinki n aleksanteri@helsinki.fi n Tel. +358 (9) 191 24175 n www.helsinki.fi/aleksanteri/english