Hans Georg Heinrich Knihy

With its rapidly growing population of Muslim citizens and migrant workers Russia is claiming its role in the Islamic world. This volume analyzes the complexity of Russian Islam, the conflicts between the conservative clerical institutions and the grass-roots radicals as well as the highly visible Islamization of daily life in some Muslim-inhabited regions. Russia's experience with «native» Islam, whose roots go back to the Middle Ages, holds lessons for dealing with an evolving European Islam which is no longer based on immigration but is becoming a domestic phenomenon.

Despite the efforts of the international community, most of the armed conflicts triggered by the breakup of the Soviet Union have not been resolved. This volume strives to cast a fresh look at the protracted conflicts and to identify factors promoting or preventing their settlement or transformation. The authors analyze the conflicts from the vantage point of critical citizens of their home countries and draw on their experience as participants in the peace process. The lessons learned from successes and failures of the international community are galvanized into a package of policy recommendations that heed the specific character of each conflict.

The modernization of the legal systems of the post-Soviet states is a paramount objective of the EU. Nevertheless, the transfer and the integration of norms of the acquis communautaire into the local legal systems have progressed at a different pace and within different scopes. This volume compares the legal systems of Russia and the 6 countries participating in the Eastern Partnership Program and assesses the status quo with special emphasis on business law.

This volume is a synopsis of various perspectives as well as a trans-boundary and interdisciplinary analysis of the Belarusian model. It is the result of a dialogue among authors who, for various reasons, take a supportive or critical approach towards the present regime. Their views are supplemented by contributions written by authors from neighboring countries. The findings support the thesis that Belarusian society, economy and the political system have begun to adapt to the new challenges the country faces. This study marks an important step forward in the analysis of the intractable Belarusian model and helps to identify its unique and ephemeral features.