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Occasional Papers on “MAKING A
DISCIPLINE OF SLAVIC EURASIAN STUDIES”
This series of occasional papers on “MAKING A DISCIPLINE OF SLAVIC
EURASIAN STUDIES” develops interdisciplinary and trans-boundary
analyses
on the evolving Slavic Eurasian areas. Slavic Eurasia covers the
post-communist
countries and regions, first of all. However, it is not only a
geographical
term, but also works as a heuristic concept for better and more
realistic
interpretations of the changing Eurasian continent under the impacts of
globalization. Slavic Eura-sia is, according to our understanding, a
Mega-area,
consisting of Meso-areas. Meso-areas emerge from the post-communist
spaces
and their formation is in various ways and degrees influenced not only
by
their internal factors but also by external regional integration such
as
EU enlargement, Islamic recovery, or East Asian economic growth.
Therefore,
a Meso-area is not a consolidated spatial framework, but rather a
hypothetical
term to understand emerging identi-ties in a meso-level between the
local
or national level and a Mega-area level. Thus Slavic Eurasia, a
Mega-area,
in turn, loosely binds Meso-areas, sharing the communist experiences,
other
historical heritages, and politico-economic tasks to be solved in their
systemic transformation lasting at least for several decades.
Each volume of the series examines some factors of the evolving Slavic
Eura-sia, and gives credible interpretations on the dynamic relations
among Meso-areas, regional integration, the Mega-area and
globalization.
Publication of this series and the related research program entitled
“Making a Discipline of Slavic Eurasian Studies”, are financed by the
21st Century COE grants of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports,
Sciences and Technology from 2003 to 2008. These projects involve
scholars
not only domestically but also internationally, and the organizing
engine
of the program, the Slavic Research Center, Hokkaido University, serves
as a worldwide hub for creating a new ap-proach to Slavic Eurasian
Studies.
27th November, 2003
Dr. IEDA Osamu, Program Leader
Professor, Slavic Research Center
Hokkaido University
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