Ralph S. Clem

• Florida International University

Considerable attention has focused on Ukraine as a divided country along ethno-cultural lines. But regional economic differences and trends over time are the primary drivers that influence citizens’ wellbeing and likewise contribute to a sense of place. This article focuses on how Ukraine’s economic development has unfolded across the country durin...

Prior to the pandemic, interest in Global Health Diplomacy (GHD) as a foreign policy tool was growing, reflecting the recognition of border crossing health concerns and the effectiveness of health-focused development aid. Health assistance provided through GHD enables improvements in the quality of life, expansion of infrastructure, and strong dono...

The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic raises concerns about the capability of governments to develop policies addressing its effects. This article evaluates citizens’ attitudes about their governments’ early responses to the crisis in three post-Soviet countries (Estonia, Georgia, and Ukraine). We explore how the pandemic emerged, focusing on conn...

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, donor engagement in Global Health Diplomacy (GHD) as a foreign policy tool was in transition, reflecting new engagement in health focused development aid by Russia and China, continued engagement by the European Union and lagging participation by the United States. We explore how transitioning patterns of GHD engagem...

From the onset of the conflict in Eastern Ukraine in 2014, significant damage has been wrought to the public health infrastructure of the Donbas region. To date however, the full extent of that damage which is substantial, has not been documented: attribution of blame for that damage has not been attempted; and the implications for the region’s res...

Military action undertaken by the Russian Federation against Ukraine in 2014 has had enormous geopolitical ramifications. This resulted in what is almost certainly a permanent change in sovereign territory, with the former gaining and the latter losing the strategic Crimean peninsula. But Russia’s moves also set in motion a violent conflict in the...

This paper addresses questions concerning the territorial sovereignty of present day Ukraine in light of established concepts in political geography, international relations, and international law. A template is derived from that literature to examine the particulars of the Ukrainian state extant insofar as its origins are concerned, especially as...

In the second paper of a symposium devoted to the contemporary status of Belarus, a noted American specialist on the electoral geography of the states of the former Soviet Union challenges assertions in the preceding article (Ioffe and Yarashevich, 2011) that only Russia and Ukraine are valid comparators against which to gauge the success of the Lu...

An American political geographer and noted specialist in the electoral geography of the post-Soviet states explores the extent to which underlying social, political, and economic conditions in North African countries experiencing regime change prompted by mass political unrest (Egypt, Tunisia) resemble those prevailing in the five Central Asian sta...

An American political geographer and prominent specialist in electoral geography presents a measured and informative critique of the preceding paper by Colin Flint and Steven M. Radil (2009) on "Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism: Situating al-Qaeda and the Global War on Terror within Geopolitical Trends and Structures." Among the issues explored are...

Two American geographers specializing in the electoral geography of post-Soviet Russia and Ukraine examine the results of the two successive elections to Ukraine's national parliament, in 2006 and 2007. Their primary focus is on identifying spatial differences in voter preferences and turnout across Ukraine, and on exploring the associations betwee...

A noted specialist on the electoral geography of Russia reviews the existing body of work on the subject based on national elections, beginning with the RSFSR returns from the March 1989 voting for seats in the the USSR Congress of People's Deputies and extending to the presidential race of 2004. The author identifies major themes and methodologies...

Two American geographers and noted specialists on the electoral geography of post-Soviet Russia and Ukraine describe and analyze the three rounds of Ukraine's pivotal and highly contested presidential elections in late 2004. In an effort to shed light on the underlying demographic and socio-economic correlates of the vote (e.g., age, income, urban/...

(From the introduction). Thus, our purpose here is to describe and analyze geographical patterns within Poland of approval, disapproval, and abstention from this crucial vote on joining the EU, and to link those outcomes to the social and economic situation obtaining in the regions. From these associations we can shed additional light on how Poland...

Two experts on the electoral geography of post-Soviet Russia examine the disruption of the relatively stable pattern of political choice evident in the returns from the December 2003 elections to the Russian Duma. The paper documents major shifts, relative to three previous Duma elections, in turnout and the percentage share of vote among major par...

Two specialists on the electoral geography of post-Soviet Russia analyze spatial voting patterns from the March 2000 Russian presidential election by reference to the underlying socioeconomic traits of Russia?s regions. In an effort to gauge the extent to which regional variations in voter turnout and preferences evident from previous elections per...

Using rayon-level data from Russia's 1999 Duma election, two geographers investigate the extent to which regional variations in voters' preferences for political parties are influenced by their location along the rural-urban continuum. National party-list electoral data from almost 300 rayons draw from nine representative oblasts are investigated f...

Two specialists on the electoral geography of post-Soviet Russia analyze spatial voting patterns from the March 2000 Russian presidential election by reference to the underlying socioeconomic traits of Russia's regions. In an effort to gauge the extent to which regional variations in voter turnout and preferences evident from previous elections per...

Two specialists on the electoral geography of post-Soviet Russia analyze the spatial voting patterns of the December 1999 national parliamentary election (national party-list vote) in that country. Among the issues investigated are spatial variations in voter turnout, the geographic concentration/dispersion of voter support by party, and correlatio...

Two specialists on the electoral geography of post-Soviet Russia examine the results of the second national 1995 parliamentary election and the June and July 1996 presidential elections in the Russian Federation. The scale of analysis is the rayon level, based on a data set of roughly 300 rayons drawn from nine representative oblasts across the cou...

Two specialists on the electoral geography of post-Soviet Russia analyze the spatial voting patterns of the first and second (runoff) rounds of the Russian presidential elections of June and July 1996, assessing the degree to which the distribution of the vote among regions contributed to a Yel'tsin victory. They also examine social and economic co...

Two specialists on the electoral geography of post-Soviet Russia analyze the spatial patterns emerging from the parliamentary election held in December 1995. In addition to detailed description of the geographical aspect of the party-preference vote, comparisons are made with the previous election in December 1993. Regression analysis is undertaken...

Two specialists on the electoral geography of post-Soviet Russia present findings from the first systematic study of regional political patterns at the rayon level. Drawing on a sample of 303 rayons from nine oblasts, the analysis underscores the salience of the urban-rural divide in Russian politics, as manifested in voters' preferences for partie...

Two specialists on the electoral geography of post-Soviet Russia analyze spatial patterns emerging from parliamentary elections and a constitutional plebiscite held in December 1993. In addition to spatial patterns in the election and plebiscite returns, reference will be made in the analysis to underlying socioeconomic factors believed to influenc...

Two geographers analyze the spatial dimension of results of the historic Russian referendum of April 25, 1993, which produced dramatic regional differences in the degree of support for President Boris Yel'tsin and his economic reform policies. The paper correlates the outcome of the referendum with demographic and economic performance variables for...

Population change in the Soviet Union since World War II has not been affected by upheaval. Demographic trends are notable for significant geographical diversity, with certain regions experiencing rapid growth of population while others decline, with vast in-migration to some areas and out-migration from others, and with major spatial differentials...