Source description last updated: 30 August 2021

In brief: Forschungsstelle Osteuropa (Research Centre for East European Studies, FSO) is a non-university research institute attached to the University of Bremen, Germany, which provides analysis on developments in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union and conducts research on its societies.

Coverage on ecoi.net:

Belarus-Analysen, Ukraine-Analysen, Russlandanalysen, Zentralasien-Analysen, Russian Analytical Digest, Caucasus Analytical Digest.

Covered weekly on ecoi.net for countries of priorities A-C.

Mission/Mandate/Objectives:

“The Research Centre for East European Studies was founded in 1982 under Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Eichwede as a repository for Samizdat (underground literature) documents from Eastern Europe. Its task was and still is to collect materials documenting alternative thinking and social movements in Eastern Europe, to analyse them and place them in the historical, social and political context of East European structures and developments, and to publish the results of research carried out using them.” (FSO website: About the Research Centre for East European Studies, undated)

“[The FSO today combines two goals: the (re)examination of societies and cultures in the Eastern Bloc and the analysis of contemporary developments in the post-Soviet region.” (FSO website: Research Centre for East European Studies at the University of Bremen, undated)

“The Research Centre is a public-law foundation supported by the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.” (FSO website: About the Research Centre for East European Studies, undated)

“The Research Centre's work is divided into four areas: 1. archive, 2. academic research, 3. analytical digests of current events and 4. exhibitions” (FSO website: About the Research Centre for East European Studies, undated).

“Research is conducted in two departments – ‘History and Culture’ and ‘Politics and Economics’[…]. After the EU’s Eastern Enlargement, the department ‘Politics and Economics’ investigates mainly the post-Soviet region.” (FSO website: Research, undated)

“The Department of Politics and Economics is engaged in knowledge transfer foremost with the publication of country analytical digests (“Länder-Analysen”) […]. While most of the publications are in German, the Russian Analytical Digest and the Caucasus Analytical Digest are published in English.” (FSO website: Science Communication – Overview, undated)

“The Country Analytical Digests (in German ‘Länder-Analysen’) provide the interested public as well as decision makers in politics, business and civil society with regular information about countries of Central and Eastern Europe” (FSO website: Science Communication: Country Analytical Digests, undated). “The Country Analytical Digests are published by the Research Centre in collaboration with scientific institutional partners” (FSO website: Wissenstransfer: Länderanalysen, undated, working translation by ACCORD).

Funding:

The Centre “initially received financial support from the Volkswagen Foundation, but in 1986/7 the Research Centre entered the joint funding programme of the Standing Conference of Culture Ministers” (FSO website: About the Research Centre for East European Studies, undated). It is currently “funded jointly by the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs and the State of Bremen” (FSO website: Research Centre for East European Studies at the University of Bremen, undated).

A non-exhaustive list of donors and partners can be accessed via the following link:
https://www.forschungsstelle.uni-bremen.de/de/8/20110606113202/.html

Scope of reporting:

Geographic focus: Belarus, Russian Federation, Ukraine, Caucasus and Central Asia

Thematic focus: politics, economics, history and culture

Methodology:

Contributions to the Country Analytical Digests are written by academics (including doctoral students) (see, for example, FSO: Zentralasien-Analysen Nr. 136, 26 July 2019, FSO: Belarus-Analysen Nr. 43, 27 June 2019 and FSO: Zentralasien-Analysen Nr. 135, 28 June 2019) or researchers affiliated with think tanks or political foundations (see, for example, FSO: Russian Analytical Digest Nr. 238, 22. Juli 2019 und FSO: Ukraine-Analyse Nr. 220, 12. Juli 2019). „The editorial staff are academics with many years of research experience in the respective countries” (FSO website: Länder-Analysen, ohne Datum).

The Country Analytical Digests contain “brief analyses on current topics” (FSO: Zentralasien-Analysen Nr. 136, 26. Juli 2019, p. 17) which discuss the issue in narrative style. They do not contain references such as footnotes or endnotes (see, for example, FSO: Zentralasien-Analysen Nr. 136, 26 July 2019, FSO: Russian Analytical Digest Nr. 238, 22 July2019 oder FSO: Ukraine-Analyse Nr. 220, 12 July 2019). The brief analyses are “supplemented by graphics, charts and further documentation. In addition, they feature a chronology of recent events” (FSO: Zentralasien-Analysen Nr. 136, 26. Juli 2019, p. 17). The Analytical Digests are “written in language that is easily accessible” and address “a broad audience of individuals interested in these issues”. (FSO website: Länder-Analysen, undated, working translation by ACCORD)

Language(s) of publications:

English and German

All links accessed 30 August 2021.

Methodological note:

ecoi.net's source descriptions contain background information on an organisation’s mission & objective, funding and reporting methodology, as well as on how we cover the source. The descriptions were prepared after researching publicly accessible information within time constraints. Most information contained in a source description was taken from the source itself. The aim is to provide a brief introduction to the sources covered regularly, offering information on relevant aspects in one place in a systematic manner.