The nationality politics of 1989 in the Soviet Union according to the Gorbachev Foundation

The developments of the year 1989 played a crucial role in the demise of the Soviet Union. Even though the „European” part of the 1989 events is widely well known to the public, the part of the story from the perspective of the Soviet Union lacks coverage. In the following article, the findings of our study of the Gorbachev Foundation’s 1989 archival documents, within the scope of the nationality politics in the Soviet Union, are presented. The review of the chains of events provoked by the Soviet intra-national conflicts will give a reader a better insider understanding of the systemic crisis of the Soviet state

In Search for the Post-Cold War Modus Vivendi in Post-Soviet Eastern Europe

The end of the 20th century was marked by a rather unexpected opening as the long-enduring Cold War came to the end and the Soviet Union collapsed, allowing fifteen new republics to appear on the political scene. Beyond the optimistic expectations of democratization and the expansion of free-market capitalism through the newly independent republics, the collapse of the Soviet Union created serious challenges for the international community in terms of international law, politics, economy, and security. One problematic challenge, which remains an open issue today, is the painful process of disintegration of the multi-ethnic Soviet federal state. By evaluating the current state of affairs of the non-NATO member, Kremlin disloyal post-Soviet states located on the western frontier of the Russian Federation, we can see that they have become a “bone of contention” between the West and Russia. By presenting brand new evidence from the Gorbachev period, once top-secret meetings of the CPSU Politburo and other Soviet governmental institutions, this article critically evaluates issues such as Gorbachev’s grand compromises in Central and Eastern Europe and the Russian problem in Ukraine and probable risks of its further aggravation, and tries to draw recommendations for solving current territorial problems in the region

Estimated intelligence quotient in anorexia nervosa: a systematic review and meta-analysis of the literature

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>It has been hypothesised that people with anorexia nervosa have a higher intelligence quotient (IQ) level than the general population. The purpose of this review was to systematically appraise the research into reported IQ levels in people with anorexia nervosa.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A search using the terms intelligence quotient, IQ, intelligence, cognition, eating disorders and anorexia was conducted in electronic databases only.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In all, 30 peer-reviewed studies written in English that used well established measures of intelligence quotient (the National Adult Reading Test and Wechsler Intelligence Scales) were identified. This review established that people with anorexia nervosa score 10.8 units and 5.9 units above the average intelligence quotient of the normative population on the National Adult Reading Test and Wechsler Intelligence Scales, respectively. An association was found between Body Mass Index and intelligence quotient, as measured by the National Adult Reading Test.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>More studies including other eating disorder categories and recovered people are needed to explore important questions regarding the role of the intelligence quotient in treatment response.</p

Structural and Conjunctural Factors of Gorbachev’s Concessionary Policies vis-à-vis East Central Europe and the Baltic Republics [védés előtt]

This dissertation studies Gorbachev’s policies vis a vis East Central Europe and the Baltic Republics, namely, the Kremlin’s gradual retreat and systematic loosening of Soviet control over these regions. According to the theoretical tradition of historical institutionalism, the study explains institutional transformations in the Kremlin. Its primary added value is utilizing up to 16 000 pages-long published Russian language primary sources and integrating the findings into the existing international scholarship. The study answers the following questions: What factors influenced the decision-makers in Moscow? Why did they decide to avert the USSR’s domestic and foreign orienteers radically and chose to follow the path that seemed like ideological and procedural heresy for the Kremlin? What was the strategy that Gorbachev’s team followed? The study’s central research question is, what factors influenced Gorbachev’s decision to give up the Kremlin’s control on East Central Europe and the Baltic Republics? Timing and sequence, alongside the phenomenon of path-dependence and contingency, played a decisive role. Gorbachev’s decisions were influenced by a complex and sometimes unexpected interplay of structural and conjunctural factors which are identified, presented, and explained in the study. The sequence of the process divided into the four main phases of the Kremlin’s retreat from its Western peripheries is also presented separately. The main prism through which the Kremlin’s gradual retreat is explained in the study is Gorbachev’s strive for the Soviet self-survival. The growing costs of the Soviet imperial overstretch increasingly hindered the already eroding national economy and put the existence of the whole state under serious jeopardy. Gorbachev tried to imitate Vladimir Lenin’s Brest-Litovsk treaty strategy and compromised Soviet peripheral territories to save the imperial center. Therefore, Gorbachev’s quid pro quo was settling all issues in contention with the West and safeguarding Western support for successfully implementing Soviet domestic reforms. Thus, the Kremlin’s liberalization policies had very pragmatic reasons, and they were not necessarily derived from Gorbachev’s unconditional strive for world peace and international humanism. We think that two policy-relevant conclusions can be derived from our research findings: 1. When global and regional powers appear in a crisis that puts at stake their existence, in a very pragmatic manner, they accept all necessary concessions for the sake of saving the imperial center - thus ensuring their self-survival. In that sense, the “divide and rule” classical principle is not the only one for great powers, but we can argue that a “concession and rule the rest” principle was also used in certain historical situations. Although Gorbachev was unlucky with the concession and rule the rest strategy, Vladimir Lenin accomplished it very successfully at the beginning of the XXth century. Moreover, the emergence of the Russian Federation on the ruins of the Soviet Union with no territorial losses, given that during the final years of Gorbachev’s leadership, several autonomous entities in the RSFSR (like Chechnya, Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, Yakutia, etc.) had separatist demands and Gorbachev was also negotiating the return of the Kuril Islands to Japan, indicates that in exchange to a concession of its control on the Union republics, the Kremlin preserved the very heart of its imperial center Besides, relatively small players in world politics can also learn something from the concession and rule the rest strategy, especially the post-Soviet states with the frozen and/or active regional conflicts on their territories. The governments and their respective populations in Kyiv, Tbilisi, and elsewhere in the post-Soviet Eastern Europe should arm themselves with pragmatic policies and, to some extent, get ready to recognize the interests of the breakaway entities and the Russian Federation for ensuring their efficient rule on the rest of their territory. 2. Democratization of a post-totalitarian multiethnic state that experienced totalitarianism for significant periods of time during its nearest past is a task with paramount difficulty. In many ways, introducing new freedoms can generate radicalization of social discourse and bring the old precipitated discontent to the surface of the political stage. In these circumstances, it is questionable whether the internal strength and cohesion of a state are strong enough to sustain this kind of series of frustrations and setbacks. Therefore, there is a reasonable risk that such kind of state’s democratization can create the emotional and doctrinaire political argument that might paralyze political life and, ultimately, an entire regime. Considering the circumstances mentioned above, the democratization of the People’s Republic of China bears more risks than prospects, and we think that is why the Communist Party of China abstains from its implementation. The similar logic applies to the democratization of Russia. President Putin and his team are seemingly aware of the risks that the resuming of Gorbachev’s policies might bring for them and for the country as a whole. We think that path dependency plays a vital role here. Promotion of the general democratization process in Russia can quickly put Putin’s leadership and the territorial integrity of the whole federation in serious jeopardy

Assessing ASD in Adolescent Females with Anorexia Nervosa using Clinical and Developmental Measures: a Preliminary Investigation

The aim of this study was to use standardised, clinical assessment tools to explore the presence of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) symptoms in a sample of adolescent females with Anorexia Nervosa (AN), receiving either day-patient or inpatient treatment for their eating disorder and to determine whether any such symptoms were present during the early developmental period, a requirement for a diagnosis of ASD. Using a cross-sectional design, 40 females aged between 12 and 18 were recruited from inpatient and day-patient eating disorder services. All participants had a diagnosis of AN and were assessed for symptoms of ASD using the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, 2nd edition (ADOS-2). If participants scored at or above clinical cut-off on the ADOS-2, their parents were asked to complete the Developmental, Dimensional and Diagnostic Interview, short version (3Di-sv). Of the 40 participants assessed, 21 scored above cut-off on the ADOS-2. When developmental history was obtained, only four participants scored above cut-off on all sub-scales of the 3Di-sv, thus meeting full research criteria for ASD. This study suggests that 10% of adolescents with AN from inpatient or day-patient settings may have diagnosable ASD, while a further 40% may show symptoms of ASD, which may arise from the ill-state of AN or are not supported by parental report

The set-shifting profiles of anorexia nervosa and autism spectrum disorder using the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Difficulties in set-shifting are commonly reported in both autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and anorexia nervosa (AN) populations. Despite this, it is not known whether this cognitive profile persists across different ages, or whether the profiles seen in ASD and AN are comparable. This systematic review and meta-analyses aimed to compare the set-shifting profiles, as measured by the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) in adults and younger people with either ASD or AN, relative to healthy controls (HCs) and to statistically compare performance on the WCST between ASD and AN. In all, 24 studies on ASD and 22 studies on AN were identified. In ASD, there were significant differences between the clinical group and HCs, with the ASD group making significantly more perseverative errors, indicating greater difficulty in set-shifting [pooled effect size of d = 0.67, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.53-0.81, p ⩽ 0.001]. This effect was consistent across the age span. For AN studies, there was a significant difference between adults with AN and HCs (d = 0.52, 95% CI 0.36-0.68, p ⩽ 0.001) but a non-significant effect in child studies (d = 0.25, 95% CI -0.05 to 0.55, z = 1.66, p = 0.096). Meta-regression indicated no effect of diagnosis (AN or ASD) on performance in adult studies but there was a non-significant trend (p = 0.053) towards children with ASD performing worse than children with AN. While difficulties with set-shifting appear to be stable in ASD, there may be differences between children and adults with AN, which warrant further investigation

Increased BOLD signal in the fusiform gyrus during implicit emotion processing in anorexia nervosa

Background The behavioural literature in anorexia nervosa (AN) has suggested impairments in psychosocial functioning and studies using facial expression processing tasks (FEPT) have reported poorer recognition and slower identification of emotions. Methods Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used alongside a FEPT, depicting neutral, mildly happy and happy faces, to examine the neural correlates of implicit emotion processing in AN. Participants were instructed to specify the gender of the faces. Levels of depression, anxiety, obsessive–compulsive symptoms and eating disorder behaviour were obtained and principal component analysis (PCA) was performed to acquire uncorrelated variables. Results fMRI analysis revealed a greater blood-oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) response in AN in the right fusiform gyrus to all facial expressions. This response showed a linear increase with the happiness of the facial expression and was found to be stronger in those not taking medication. PCA analysis revealed a single component indicating a greater level of general clinical symptoms. Conclusion Neuroimaging findings would suggest that alterations in implicit emotion processing in AN occur during early perceptual processing of social signals and illustrate greater engagement on the FEPT. The lack of separate components using PCA suggests that the questionnaires used might not be suited as predictive measures