Almost 25 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the process of “re-composition” of a Moscow-dominated political space is still under way. Under the influence of different traditions, factors, events and interests, Russia seems to have developed a new version of the “power state” that dominated European history until the 20th century’s tragedies. What was the weight of the Soviet legacy and of the crises of the 1990s in this development? What has been the influence of political leaders and intellectuals, siloviki, and economic elites on the current Russian political thought? To what extent have external factors – such as NATO enlargement, the enlargement of the European Union toward East and the ongoing crisis over Ukraine – contributed to shape this thought? What place for minorities and cultural differences does this political trend leave? How does the idea of a “power state” influence Russia’s foreign policy and international relations?

Reset-Dialogues on Civilizations is pleased to present the new Reset-DoC special issue of Seminar magazine

Reset-Dialogues on Civilizations organises two days of study and dialogue, one in Rome (December 3rd 2014) and one in Tunis (January 28th 2015). This comes after the approval of a new democratic constitution in Tunisia, after the October 2014’s general election and November-December 2014’s presidential ballot, held within the framework of the Arab Media Report project and together with Tunisian (Observatoire Arabe des Religions et des Libertés) and Italian academic partners (LUISS University).

On October 23-24, the Institute for Religion Culture and Public Life (Columbia University) and Reset-Dialogues on Civilizations, with the Ralf Bunche Institute for International Studies at the Cuny Graduate Center (City University of New York), will organize a two-days conference in New York on Religious Wars in Europe and the Contemporary Islamic Civil War: Reflections, Patterns and Comparisons.