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According to elite and mass surveys, the late-Soviet sociopolitical and economic order was largely perceived as the only viable alternative to domestic political and economic status quo in Russia before 2022. Political elites invested significant efforts and funds into deliberative promotion of a complex of ideational legacies through different tools (including cinematography). This complex, labeled a "Good Soviet Union," is an imagined sociopolitical and economic order, which somehow resembles that of the late-Soviet past, while lacking its inherent flaws. Elements of the Soviet legacy were selectively chosen for the sake of preservation of the politico-economic status quo. They include the hierarchical mechanism of governance, low circulation of elites and their privileged status, state control over media, and repressions toward organized dissent. Meanwhile, other elements of the late-Soviet past, such as relatively low inequality and certain state social guarantees, have been discarded. A "Good Soviet Union" model includes not only market economy and no shortages of goods and services, but also a lack of institutional constraints on rent-seeking and legalization of wealth and status of elites. In this article, we consider a "Good Soviet Union" as a socially constructed legacy of the past and focus on mechanisms of translation of this legacy into Russia's current agenda through the use of modern Russian cinematography and analysis of policy preferences on the part of political elites. We further consider its effects on politics and policy-making, as well as its limitations and constraints. Some implications of the social construction of Soviet legacies are discussed in the conclusion.

Which factors lead states to apply for observer status in the Arctic Council (AC)? What explains the acceptance of those applications? In 2013, the AC underwent its most significant change since its foundation in 1996, with its formalization through the creation of a secretariat, the confirmation of eight observers, and acceptance of other five states, including China, with the same status. This study explores geopolitical and economic interests of actors of regional environmental governance that impact both applications and their acceptance as observer states. Based on probit models and case studies, we identify that states that mostly increase their carbon-equivalent emissions through consumption and production are less likely to join the AC as observers and to be accepted as such. Models also yield statistically significant correlations between states that import a high amount of goods from China and the pursuit of observer status in the AC. Models that disregard the impact of Beijing on observership in the intergovernmental organization reveal that applicants tend to have higher international status than the average and tend to be accepted as observer states for increasing the AC's prestige. Unsuccessful attempts of joining the AC as observers also suggest that concerns with the environment, science, and technology impact observership demand and supply. Yet, acceptance of observer states may also be contingent on geopolitical and economic considerations by member states of the AC.

This paper addresses the impact of political regimes on carbon emissions (CO2) from a historical perspective, covering the period of 1970-2015. Our sample consists of 153 countries that we follow for 20 years before the transition (1970-1990) and 26 years after it (1990-2015). During transition, post-Communist states experienced a decline in CO2, when controlling for economic variables. Transition had a positive impact on the environment only in cases when it was associated with democratization. When transition has led to consolidation of autocratic regimes, CO2 has increased.

How do international organisations (IOs) legitimise their right to rule in times of a Pandemic? Where are their previously made environmental commitments on their agenda during a crisis? What are the differences in self-legitimation, if any, across different types of IOs? These questions have gathered renewed urgency during the ongoing COVID-19 and climate change crises posing a threat to the legitimacy not only of national governments but also of IOs. The paper aims to address these questions through the analysis of environmental commitments made in legal documents of three IOs (the EU, the EAEU, and the AIIB) and through the analysis of their respective social media between 2017 and 2021. Among other issues, we find significant differences in self-legitimation strategies of these three IOs as reflected by their social media and some evidence of mimicry across these IOs that should remain on the agenda for further studies.

How are environmental conflicts managed in China and Russia? Both states are territorially large non-democracies affected by environmental degradation due to industrialisation and economic growth, and both are characterised by collectivist culture resulting from pronounced historical legacies and Communism. Our analysis of China indicates the important role played by local governments often supporting local people; and role of the negotiation between the central and the local governments. In contrast, in Russia local governments ally with businesses involved in environmental conflicts; or tend to support central government view on the conflict. However, the environmentalists' movements in Russia are better connected to external (international) support. In contrast, China exhibits more isolation of environmental movements that are less influenced by Western environmentalism, if at all. The paper aspires to bring further insights in understanding of the public environmentalism and management of environmental conflicts in Eurasia.

Small hydropower plants (SHPs), despite being a renewable energy source, could have negative environmental effects. Nonetheless, many countries have promoted and subsidised them, leading to a rise in the number of environmental conflicts. How was the issue of SHPs framed in Serbia by the proponents and the opponents? How did the framing strategy change over time and why? And which factors increased attention to the topic, eventually leading a change of governmental policy? To address these questions, we analyse the Serbian mass media's environmental framing of SHPs and conduct a content analysis of 359 articles written between 2000-2020 and published by major national online newspapers and news portals. We use the Discourse Network Analyser to demonstrate changes in framing strategies that, together with increased public pressure, contributed to a re-evaluation of the impact of SHPs and ultimately changed the government's and the public's standing on this issue.

Regional international organizations (IOs) are considered to be among the most efficient platforms in promoting an environmental agenda at global, regional, and national levels. Yet, the dialogue between studies of global environmental politics and comparative regionalism is quite recent. The emergence of non-democratic regional organizations (NDROs) is among the most recent discoveries in comparative regionalism and their implications for environmental politics are to be considered. How do NDROs matter in promoting an environmental agenda? How do IOs advance the environmental agenda across the post-Communist region? This Special Issue aspires us to answer these questions through establishing a deeper dialogue between studies of environmental regionalism and authoritarian regionalism. This introduction lays out the theoretical ground for the collection of articles in this Special Issue. It proposes a definition and typology of environmental regionalism (ER) that distinguishes between democratic and autocratic ER. It then analyzes the contributions to the Special Issue within this new theoretical framework.

Do women exhibit a different pattern of entrepreneurial behavior as compared to men in post-Communist societies? This paper addresses this question using survey data from 25 Eastern Europe and Central Asian states. The sample consists of 11,617 private firms. As a result of 11,000 observations and multiple robustness checks, we find that female owners are more likely to introduce new marketing strategies than males. We demonstrate that firm innovation increases among top female managers with the increase in democratization. Democratization eliminates the gender disadvantages in firm innovation for most types of firm innovation.

The literature on environmental politics and regional governance has mainly been dedicated to the role played by the European Union (EU). The analysis of environmental agenda and politics of other regional international organisations (IOs) remained in the shadows compared to studies of European actors. This special issue aims to address the following questions: How do various regional IOs matter in promoting and sustaining an environmental agenda? What challenges do they face? The first perspective developed in this Forward to special issue looks into European IOs comparatively to Eurasian IOs. The second perspective unfolds various environmental issues within the EU and across post-Communist EU members and candidate states. The analysis of these two perspectives discloses multiple dimensions in the nexus of political and economic developments, and contribute to better understanding of the role of IOs in sustainable development.

Democracy is generally associated with governmental accountability, better public policy choices and public health. However, there is limited evidence about how political regime transition impacts public health. We use two samples of the states around the world to trace the impact of regime transition on public health: the first sample comprises 29 post-communist states, along with 20 consolidated democracies, for the period of 1970-2014; the second sample is a subsample of the same 29 post-communist states but only for the period of transition, 1990-2014. We find that the post-communist states experienced some decline in life expectancy in the first few years of transition (1990-1995). Yet, with a steady increase in the measure of democracy from 1995 onwards, life expectancy significantly improved and infant mortality decreased. Therefore, in the long run, democratization has had a positive impact on both the life expectancy and infant mortality of citizens of the post-communist states.