Event Recordings

Russia’s invasion of its neighbour Ukraine came as a shock to many people in Germany, even though a Russian-backed war had been smouldering in the east of the country for years. What are the defining characteristics of this country that the Russian leadership calls a ‘brother nation’ and on which it is at the same time inflicting a brutal war?

The protests in Belarus after the 2020 presidential elections were marked by solidarity and concern for fellow citizens. Have the ideas of the protests against the authoritarian regimes in Belarus and Russia changed? How does this manifest itself in new forms of protest and how does it influence societies?

The “wild 90s” have become a trope in Russian public and political discourse to discredit democracy. We discussed insights from the various projects that the Yeltsin Centre has developed to try and shape the memory of that era, embed these in the wider political and public context and its shift over time, and illuminated how the wider Russian society relates to that era.

8 December marks the thirtieth anniversary of the end of the Soviet Union. The break-up into independent states continues to shape the region and the power structure of geopolitics to this day. Gwendolyn Sasse explained in the context of a digital journey why we urgently need to concern ourselves more with "the East".

2020 and 2021 have been turbulent and transformative years for the societies in the South Caucasus and for EU-South Caucasus relations. The purpose of this roundtable is to discuss whether the recent “resilience turn” in EU foreign policy is the right response to the aggravated challenges, and how we could understand the practical application of this new policy concept.

From the mid-1980s, the highly integrated Soviet economic space started to dissolve. We discussed the dynamics of post-Soviet economic (dis-)integration and its consequences for Russia's significance as a regional power vis-à-vis other external players like China and the EU.

Olga Grjasnowa reads from her latest novel ‘Der verlorene Sohn’ [The Prodigal Son] and talks to us about the illusions, fears, and hopes of people living in transcultural and transnational spaces. The evening event is part of ‘Jews Along the Silk Road’, an international conference at the Jewish Museum Berlin.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia in the 1990s, new states with new social and political orders emerged.The disintegration of these two multiethnic states and the emergence of new independent countries sparked wars, protracted conflicts and disputes over borderlines and allegiances. The authors Lana Bastašić and Andrey Kurkov read from their works and then take part in a discussion with the audience.

1990/91 marked the end of the division of Europe and the onset of a new era of radical political and social change. In the context of the thematic year #30PostSovietYears ZOiS, in co-operation with FES Regional Office for Cooperation and Peace in Europe, took a critical look ahead. The aim was to shed light on diverging perspectives based on the development since then.

With the collapse of the Soviet Union and the new-found religious freedom, spiritual life has re-emerged in unprecedented diversity in the atheist former Soviet Union. Yet, the legacy of the negotiations on religious freedom continues to imprint itself on inter-faith relations and interactions with a largely secular society.