Russia and Germany: Current Situation, Lessons, and Cooperation
An international workshop, ‘Germany’s Transformation after its Unification: Current Situation and Lessons for Other Countries’ was held on September 12th and 13th, 2013 at the HSE. The workshop was organized by the HSE in collaboration with the Liberal Mission Foundation and with the support of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation.
During the plenary session, Evgeny Yasin, HSE Academic Supervisor, mentioned similar trends seen nowadays in East Germany, contemporary Russia, and other countries with a Soviet past. These include an aging population, an increase in emigration to western countries, discontent with conducted reforms, and a nostalgia for the Soviet era. Germany switched from a centrally planned economy to a market economy more quickly and easily than Russia, with the difference between our cultures affecting the process. Cultural difference is an important point not only for Russia, but also for other countries with a transitional economy, added Evgeny Yasin.
Julius von Freytag-Loringhofen, Project Director at the Friedrich Naumann Foundation in Russia and Central Asia, mentioned that processes connected with social changes are constant and endless. Petra Müller, member of the Bundestag, Spokesperson on urban development of the German Free Democratic Party, highlighted shared Russian and German problems in urban development. Alexander Chepurenko, HSE Professor of the Department of Economic Sociology, mentioned a high level of forced entrepreneurship and negative conditions for startups in countries with a transitional economy.
During the workshop, the HSE and the Hertie School of Governance (Germany) signed a cooperation agreement concerning student exchange. ‘We are glad to cooperate with such a prominent Russian university’, said Helmut Anheier, Dean of Hertie School of Governance, during the signing of the agreement.
Anastasia Chumak, Maria Selivanova, Olga Sobolevskaya, specially for HSE News Service.
Photo by Pavel Ososov