EAST EUROPEAN STUDIES NO. 6 - The end of an era in Eurasia? - Conflict in Eastern Ukraine and economic downturn in the post-Soviet space - In memoriam Zsuzsa Ludvig

Complex, multi-faceted socio-economic phenomena that are influenced by factors of a different nature have always been a challenge of sorts for researchers. They need, in particular, a dynamic approach that can explain how the historical legacy of a social organism transforms into a different structure from which a new entity emerges. Going into the depth of this evolution and its driving forces is to fully comprehend the real beauty of social science! The domain of Post-Soviet Studies gives us such an opportunity, as it provides an intellectual platform for sharing various and often quite different views which reflect the diversity of paths that transformation may follow. The beauty of Post- Soviet Studies springs out of this diversity. Today, many academic scholars admit that any fundamental research of social processes cannot ignore institutional foundations deeply rooted in national historical experience, cultural patterns and traditions. Together they form what institutional scientists usually refer to as “path dependency”. Taking it properly into account enables us to better understand why this or that attempt at social change was a success or, alternatively, a failure. However, this path dependency is never so pervasive as to predetermine strictly and invariably the exact trajectory of our development. There is always space left for a free construction of our social future. And this interplay of the past and the future in a process of development, in the emergence of something new, is certainly another source of aesthetic satisfaction when a researcher captures the essence. Post-Soviet Studies deal with cases of extreme complexity because they are devoted to countries and regions that are trying to accomplish fundamental changes; in fact, their path leads to a serious reprogramming or reshaping of their cultural modes of behavior. These processes are full of uncertainty and contradictions that can result in development reversals and, sometimes, even dramatic collapses. Studying all this and trying to predict certain events makes you a real participant in the historical process. The scope of my research extends far beyond the limits of post-Soviet Studies. For me, it is not the exclusive field of scientific activity but an essential element of my comprehensive research method based on the study of complexity and dynamic system changes. For me, it is not a sort of relic or antique decoration, but a tool to find answers to difficult questions about the contemporary world. For me, it is not a way to find shelter from today’s uncertainties (people often hide themselves in historical reminiscence when they do not accept certain features of modernity), but the way of integrating the past and the future. For me, it is a source of important knowledge about mistakes and delusions of the past that, if ignored, are bound to reappear in the future, with even more destructive consequences. Volodymyr Sidenko