Деятельность неправительственных организаций по урегулированию конфликтов на постсоветском пространстве

Quaestio Rossica. 2020. Т. 8. № 2. С. 428–441.

Nikitin A. I.

The article provides the analysis of the conflict-settlement efforts of the Soviet GONGOs, which transformed after the collapse of the USSR into independent NGOs. The research is based on the personal archives and the professional experience of one of the co-authors who worked for the organizations in question. The focus is on the conflicts in the USSR two years before the collapse and conflicts in the post-Soviet space after the collapse until 1995. This period of time was chosen by the authors to demonstrate the transformation of GONGOs into NGOs and their role in conflict-settlement as actors independent from the state structures, which, in their turn, to a certain extent lost initiative in the settlement of local and regional conflicts in the former Soviet republics. The current academic literature suggests that GONGOs lack agency, especially in the times of crises. The case-study of the Soviet Committee for the Defense of Peace later renamed to the Federation for Peace and Conciliation shows that during the first years after the dissolution of the USSR this organization managed to organize a vast number of conflict-settlement practical and academic events with the participation of high-ranking representatives from the Parliaments, the  governments, the political parties not only from the post-Soviet republics, but also involving representatives of the Western governments and international organizations, like NATO. The conclusion of the article is that partially the success of these activities can be explained by the openness of the representatives of authorities towards a mutual dialogue in a format of Track 1.5 (officials communicating to other officials in an informal setting in their personal capacity) initiatives and their readiness to learn from the expert community and study the best international p

Keywords: постсоветское пространство, НПО, урегулирование конфликтов