Special Sections: Russian Foreign Policy Towards the “Near Abroad” and Russia's Annexiation of Crimea II This special section deals with Russia’s post-Maidan foreign policy towards the so-called “near abroad,” or the former Soviet states. This is an important and timely topic, as Russia’s policy perspectives have changed dramatically since 2013/2014, as have those of its neighbors. The Kremlin today is paradoxically following an aggressive “realist” agenda that seeks to clearly delineate its sphere of influence in Europe and Eurasia while simultaneously attempting to promote “soft-power” and a historical-civilizational justification for its recent actions in Ukraine (and elsewhere). The result is an often perplexing amalgam of policy positions that are difficult to disentangle. The contributors to this special issue are all regional specialists based either in Europe or the United States.

This special issue deals with the phenomenon of violence in the post-Soviet space. It examines both political and legal discourses and practices of internal and external violence, broadly conceived, simultaneously aspiring to situate them in the broader literature on political violence and ethnic and separatist conflict, and to examine these from political, legal, and security studies perspectives. The issue approaches the problem of violence in the post-Soviet space from three perspectives: international-structural, inter-state, and domestic-political. The contributors focus on structural sources of violence, such as the relevance of the self-determination principle, the role of democratization, and the relationship between violent behavior inside and outside the state. They also analyze the role of the Russian Federation in generating, perpetuating, and mitigating political violence. Finally, they adopt a bottom-up approach, exploring how non-state actors contribute to political violence.

The Journal of Soviet and Post-Soviet Politics and Society (JSPPS) is a biannual companion journal to the Soviet and Post-Soviet Politics and Society (SPPS) book series (founded 2004 and edited by Andreas Umland). Like the book series, the journal provides an interdisciplinary forum for new original research on the Soviet and post-Soviet world. The first five issues to date have explored a diverse range of topics, including: Russian media coverage of the war in Ukraine; the experiences of Soviet Afghan war veterans in transnational perspective; discourses of memory and martyrdom in Eastern Europe; gender and anti-authoritarian protest in Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine; violence in post-Soviet space; and agency in Belarusian history, politics, and society.

This issue includes the fifth special section in the series "Issues in the History and Memory of the OUN" and the second instalment of "A Debate on 'Ustashism, ' Generic Fascism and the OUN," both guest edited by Andreas Umland and Yuliya Yurchuk.

The Journal of Soviet and Post-Soviet Politics and Society (JSPPS) is a biannual companion journal to the Soviet and Post-Soviet Politics and Society (SPPS) book series (founded 2004 and edited by Andreas Umland). Like the book series, the journal provides an interdisciplinary forum for new original research on the Soviet and post-Soviet world. The first five issues to date have explored a diverse range of topics, including: Russian media coverage of the war in Ukraine; the experiences of Soviet Afghan war veterans in transnational perspective; discourses of memory and martyrdom in Eastern Europe; gender and anti-authoritarian protest in Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine; violence in post-Soviet space; and agency in Belarusian history, politics, and society.

The Russian war in Ukraine has been accompanied, fuelled, and legitimized by a Russian information war campaign that is unprecedented in its scope and nature. This Russian state-media propaganda campaign has been surprisingly successful in disguising and distorting the nature of the war and shaping the way it is perceived and understood, both in Russia and beyond. This special inaugural issue of JSPPS sets out to launch an interdisciplinary discussion on the Russian information warfare being waged in parallel with the military war in Ukraine.The JOURNAL OF SOVIET AND POST-SOVIET POLITICS AND SOCIETY (JSPPS) is a new bi-annual journal about to be launched as a companion journal to the Soviet and Post-Soviet Politics and Society (SPPS) book series (founded 2004 and edited by Andreas Umland, Dr. phil., PhD).