Eastern Europe

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• SOURCE: Washington Post
  10/21/2020
  

  Ukraine Seeks UN Cultural Status for Beloved Borscht. A Culinary Spat with Russia Could be Brewing

  The latest battle between Russia and Ukraine is over which nation can claim the beet soup as its emblematic food. So far, no shots have been fired. 

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• SOURCE: The Baffler
  9/22/2020
  

  Desiring Machines

  In 1993, soon after the fall of the Soviet Union, consensual same-sex relationships were decriminalized in Russia as the economy underwent a wrenching transition away from central planning. Documentarian William E. Jones documents this moment by splicing together the non-sexual scenes from gay pornography shot in the former Soviet bloc. 

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• SOURCE: Perspectives on History
  9/2/2020
  

  Looking Out For Each Other

  by Leah Valtin-Erwin

  The wrenching transitions that East Germans faced in adapting to western commercial culture after reunification offer lessons for the COVID crisis, and a warning that the burdens of managing social change and stress often fall on retail workers. 

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• SOURCE: Times of Israel
  8/27/2020
  

  Rise of European Populists Today Echoes Dark Dreyfus Era, Jewish Historian Warns

  In new book ‘Twilight of Democracy,’ Anne Applebaum describes how her former friends helped bring about the Trump era, Brexit, and authoritarian governments in Poland and Hungary.

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• SOURCE: Foreign Policy
  4/29/2020
  

  As Putin Seeks to Reinvent History, Russia-Czech Relations Hit a New Low

  The dispute over a statue of a Soviet Army officer in Prague reflects Russian efforts to claim a heroic role in defeating fascism, eastern European nationalism, and contemporary power dynamics in the region. 

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• 9/15/19
  

  Eastern European Historian Emanuela Grama on Romania’s Heritage

  by Erik Moshe

  “The best historian is a kind of magician; one that can transform a puzzle of disparate dusty documents into a persuasive analysis and an electric narrative.”

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• SOURCE: The Conversation
  8-20-18
  

  Soviet war memorials in Eastern Europe continue to strain relations with Russia

  by Antony Kalashnikov

  Decades after the fall of the communist regimes in Eastern Europe, Soviet World War II monuments continue to arouse significant controversy in many former Eastern Bloc countries where they are either being dismantled by law or vandalised by activists.

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• SOURCE: Foreign Policy
  5-4-18
  

  Eastern European Laws on World War II History Spark Congressional Reaction

  Will a letter sent by concerned lawmakers encourage leaders to change course or further polarize politics?