Sherman W. Garnett

Czeslaw Milosz was a poet and public writer for almost eight decades, and still remains a tremendous figure in world literature four decades after he won the Nobel Prize and two decades after his death. Milosz saw himself as an artist flying above the political fray, but he left the building blocks for an analysis of his political and social thought in plain sight. In this book, Sherman Garnett explores this crucial, neglected aspect of Milosz’s thinking by closely studying a wide range of his Polish and English writings, arguing that he held a unique, nuanced political philosophy. Milosz’s observations on totalitarianism and democracy, dissent, emigration, the United States and Soviet Union, and the “great crisis of civilization” fit coherently into his overall artistic project, and offer valuable insights for contemporary global social, humanitarian, and ecological challenges. This original book contributes to ongoing scholarly debates and offers the first full account of Milosz as a political thinker.

Above and Beyond is the first book to appear in the West by a major Ukrainian independence figure and is the first by a former Soviet general to discuss the inner workings of the USSR's military. Morozov provides behind-the-scenes insights on Yeltsin, Kuchma, Dudaev, and other important players still active today. His book will firmly alter our perception of the USSR and its demise, the Soviet military machine, and the rise of modern, independent Ukraine. In September 1991 Major General Kostiantyn Morozov informed the Soviet Armed Forces Command that he was no longer a Soviet general, but the new Ukrainian Minister of Defense. He then set out to create the Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF), mounting a brilliant campaign to remove from Ukraine military personnel who were not Ukrainian citizens and not loyal to the new Ukrainian state, taking over the Ukrainian-based assets, nuclear and otherwise, of the Soviet Army, and firmly grounding the idea of an independent UAF in the public mind. Within a year of assuming his post, he was overseeing the second-largest army in Europe and the third-largest nuclear arsenal in the world. The shock waves of his efforts would eventually lead Vladimir Zhirinovsky to put Morozov at the top of his "hit list" of those responsible for destroying the USSR. Morozov guided his forces through a minefield of intrigues as various figures sought to undermine the UAF and subordinate it to the armed forces of the CIS and, therefore, to Russia. He stood as an important figure in the political landscape for his blunt candor and total devotion to Ukrainian sovereignty. This was especially remarkable because Morozov was ethnically half-Russian (or so he thought), spoke no Ukrainian, and came from the eastern part of Ukraine, long believed to be faithful to Russia and Soviet rule.

Zwar denkt man in den trilateralen Ländern an die Staaten Zentralasiens vor allem wegen ihres Energiepotentials, doch sie sind in Wirklichkeit Bestandteil eines tiefgreifenden strategischen Wandels Eurasiens. Diese strategische Transformation zeigt sich besonders deutlich am Fall der Sowjetunion und am ablaufenden Wandel in China, hat aber auch eine zentralasiatische Dimension. Zweck dieses Berichts ist es, diese Dimen­ sion zu beschreiben und aufzuzeigen, welche strategischen Überlegungen für die trilateralen Staaten bei der Frage auf dem Spiel stehen, ob sich dort stabile Zustände entwickeln. Zu Beginn müssen die Autoren jedoch ein Dilemma erwähnen. Wir haben entschieden, uns vor allem auf die Staaten Zentralasiens zu kon­ zentrieren (Kasachstan, Kirgistan, Tadschikistan, Turkmenistan und U s­ bekistan). Diese Staaten (siehe Karte 2 nach Seite 32) gelten als eine ein­ heitliche Region, in erster Linie wegen ihrer gemeinsamen sowjetischen Vergangenheit. Sie befinden sich jedoch alle sowohl im Innern als auch in ihren Außenbeziehungen in einem Übergangszustand. Sie werden zu­ gleich zunehmend als Teil eines größeren Ganzen wahrgenommen - des Kaspischen Beckens in ihrer Eigenschaft als potentielle Energielieferan­ ten oder Zbigniew Brzezinski's "eurasischer Balkan" im Hinblick auf Quellen der Instabilität.