TY - JOUR A1 - Kay, Alex James T1 - The extermination of Red Army soldiers in German captivity, 1941–1945 BT - causes, patterns, dimensions JF - Journal of Slavic Military Studies N2 - Captive Red Army soldiers made up the majority of victims of Nazi Germany’s starvation policy against Soviet civilians and other non-combatants and thus constituted the largest single victim group of the German war of annihilation against the Soviet Union. Indeed, Soviet prisoners of war were the largest victim group of all National Socialist annihilation policies after the European Jews. Before the launch of Operation Barbarossa, it was clear to the Wehrmacht planning departments on exactly what scale they could expect to capture Soviet troops. Yet, they neglected to make the necessary preparations for feeding and sheltering the captured soldiers, who were viewed by the economic staffs and the military leadership alike as direct competitors of German troops and the German home front for precious food supplies. The number of extra mouths to feed was incompatible with German war aims. The obvious limitations on their freedom of movement and the relative ease with which large numbers could be segregated and their rations controlled were crucial factors in the death of over 3 million Soviet POWs, the vast majority directly or indirectly as a result of deliberate policies of neglect, undernourishment, and starvation while in the ‘care’ of the Wehrmacht. The most reliable figures for the mortality of Soviet POWs in German captivity reveal that up to 3.3 million died from a total of just over 5.7 million captured between June 1941 and February 1945 — a proportion of almost 58 percent. Of these, 2 million were already dead by the beginning of February 1942. In English, there is still neither a single monograph nor a single edited volume dedicated to the subject. This article now provides the first detailed stand-alone synthesis in that language addressing the whole period from 1941 to 1945. KW - Red Army KW - prisoners of war KW - Wehrmacht KW - extermination KW - starvation KW - Eastern Europe KW - Second World War Y1 - 2024 UR - https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13518046.2024.2340839 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1080/13518046.2024.2340839 SN - 1556-3006 SN - 1351-8046) VL - 37 IS - 1 SP - 80 EP - 104 PB - Taylor & Francis CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Neufeld, Maria A1 - Bobrova, Anastacia A1 - Davletov, Kairat A1 - Stelemekas, Mindaugas A1 - Stoppel, Relika A1 - Ferreira-Borges, Carina A1 - Breda, Joao A1 - Rehm, Jürgen T1 - Alcohol control policies in Former Soviet Union countries BT - a narrative review of three decades of policy changes and their apparent effects JF - Drug and alcohol review N2 - Issues The last Soviet anti-alcohol campaign of 1985 resulted in considerably reduced alcohol consumption and saved thousands of lives. But once the campaign's policies were abandoned and the Soviet alcohol monopoly broken up, a steep rise in mortality was observed in many of the newly formed successor countries, although some kept their monopolies. Almost 30 years after the campaign's end, the region faces diverse challenges in relation to alcohol. Approach The present narrative review sheds light on recent drinking trends and alcohol policy developments in the 15 Former Soviet Union (FSU) countries, highlighting the most important setbacks, achievements and best practices. Vignettes of alcohol control policies in Belarus, Estonia, Kazakhstan, Lithuania and Uzbekistan are presented to illustrate the recent developments.
Key Findings Over the past decade, drinking levels have declined in almost all FSU countries, paralleled by the introduction of various alcohol-control measures. The so-called three 'best buys' put forward by the World Health Organization to reduce alcohol-attributable burden (taxation and other measures to increase price, restrictions on alcohol availability and marketing) are relatively well implemented across the countries. Implications In recent years, evidence-based alcohol policies have been actively implemented as a response to the enormous alcohol-attributable burden in many of the countries, although there is big variance across and within different jurisdictions. Conclusion Strong declines in alcohol consumption were observed in the 15 FSU countries, which have introduced various alcohol control measures in recent years, resulting in a reduction of alcohol consumption in the World Health Organization European region overall. KW - alcohol KW - alcohol policy KW - Eastern Europe KW - Former Soviet Union KW - mortality Y1 - 2020 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/dar.13204 SN - 0959-5236 SN - 1465-3362 VL - 40 IS - 3 SP - 350 EP - 367 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Davydchyk, Maria A1 - Mehlhausen, Thomas A1 - Priesmeyer-Tkocz, Weronika T1 - The price of success, the benefit of setbacks BT - alternative futures of EU-Ukraine relations JF - Futures : the journal of policy, planning and futures studies N2 - This article explores the various futures of relations between the European Union (EU) and Ukraine. After distilling two major drivers we construct a future compass in order to conceive of four futures of relations between the EU and Ukraine. Our scenarios aim to challenge deep-rooted assumptions on the EU’s neighbourhood with Ukraine: How will the politico-economic challenges in the European countries influence the EU’s approach towards the East? Will more EU engagement in Ukraine contribute to enduring peace? Does peace always come with stability? Which prospects does the idea of Intermarium have? Are the pivotal transformation players in Ukraine indeed oligarchs or rather small- and medium-sized entrepreneurs? After presenting our scenarios, we propose indicators to know in the years to come, along which path future relations do develop. By unearthing surprising developments we hope to provoke innovative thoughts on Eastern Europe in times of post truth societies, confrontation between states and hybrid warfare. KW - European Union KW - Ukraine KW - Russia KW - European Neighbourhood Policy KW - Eastern Europe KW - Eurasian Economic Union Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.futures.2017.06.004 SN - 0016-3287 SN - 1873-6378 VL - 97 SP - 35 EP - 46 PB - Elsevier CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Tosun, Jale A1 - Schulze, Kai T1 - Compliance with EU biofuel targets in South-Eastern and Eastern Europe: Do interest groups matter? JF - Environment & planning : international journal of urban and regional research ; C, Government & policy N2 - The European Union requires its member states to establish national targets for the biofuel content of all diesel and petrol supplies for transport placed on the market. This study explores the adoption of this European Union policy across South-Eastern and Eastern Europe between 2003 and 2012. In theoretical terms, we are specifically interested in examining the role of interest groups for policy adoption. We argue that the oil industry in general and the producers of biofuels in particular will support the establishment of national biofuel targets because they expect economic gains. By contrast, we expect environmental groups with international and regional ties to oppose such targets because biofuels have come under attack for their potential environmental impact including deforestation, a loss in biodiversity, and food insecurity. Empirically, we concentrate on policy adoptions in 21 South-Eastern and Eastern European states with varied relations to the European Union and the Energy Community. Our analysis supports our main arguments in suggesting that a stronger presence of environmental groups decreases the chances of adopting national biofuel targets across our country sample while producer interests tend to increase adoptions. This finding holds true also when controlling for a country's European Union membership and accession perspective, membership in the Energy Community, and additional domestic-level factors. These results add more generally to our understanding about compliance with European Union policies and environmental governance. KW - Biofuels KW - Eastern Europe KW - Energy Community KW - European Union KW - lobbying KW - South-Eastern Europe Y1 - 2015 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1177/0263774X15605923 SN - 0263-774X SN - 1472-3425 VL - 33 IS - 5 SP - 950 EP - 968 PB - Sage Publ. CY - London ER -