Issue 2018 No. 4 (57)

The object of this article is the legal policy of the Central Russian and the Astrakhan regional authorities in relation to the separate societiesy group - Astrakhan Persian merchants. As a subject of study in this article stands allegiance legal status of the Persian merchants, who lived in Astrakh ... an at the end of XVIII - begining of XIX centuries. Scientific novelty of the presented work is that the author first, based on the analysis of published and unpublished sources, has presented an objective picture allegiance relations to the Russian Empire the Persian merchants, which in the period under consideration occupied a leading position in the Russian-Asian trade in the Caspian sea. Moreover, at the modern stage of development is best for our country's trade relations through the port of Astrakhan with participation of entrepreneurs from the countries of the partners (among which in first place is Iran) is one of the most important strategic objectives. Past experience will certainly help to identify and implement the optimal options for the development of these relations at the present stage. The methodological basis of work was the principles of historicism, objectivism and the alternative that imply unbiased approach to the analysis of the problem and critical thinking data sources. The main attention is paid to the question of distribution of class legislation and of relations of the Russian allegiance on traded and lived in Astrakhan merchants of Persian origin. In the end, the author comes to the conclusion that in respect to designated groups of the Astrakhan merchants, the authorities were guided by considerations of political and economic feasibility in determining its allegiance status. Yet remained the leading role of the Persians in the Russian-Asian trade, the Russian authorities preferred to turn a blind eye to non-compliance with laws concerning allegiancerelations or a regime to the norms of Russian law.
Read more

The article is devoted to the peculiarities of international contacts of ship priests of the Russian Imperial fleet. The participation of the Navy clergy in long voyages and round-the-world voyages is considered. Special attention is paid to their international contacts with representatives of the n ... aval clergy of Greece, Italy, The German Empire and the North American United States. The conditions of service and salaries of Italian, American, German and Greek ship priests are analyzed. Provides information about the structure and management of the management of the naval clergy in the various fleets of the world. Examines the official hierarchy of foreign naval clergy. A comparison of the development of the Institute of ship priests in the Russian Empire and other countries is given. The history of the formation of the Institute of naval clergy in the world's leading Maritime powers is studied. In addition, examines the history of the Russian naval clergy in the XVIII - early XX centuries the article describes the activities of the father of the Protopresbyter of military and sea clergy. First of all, we are talking about the terms of the staffing of ships of the Russian Imperial Navy ship priests and the requirements for their level of education, imposed in the early twentieth century the article is about the international contacts of the Russian sailors with representatives of the naval forces of foreign States in the studied historical period.
Read more

The article is devoted to correlation of revolutionary ideology and determination of the phenomenon as special socio-political phenomenon - revolution. Relevance of similar researches is caused by a weak readiness of a subject and 100-year anniversary of the Russian revolution (due to this the resea ... rch and social thought comes back to unsolved and controversial issues of revolutions again). The comparative-historical method and the principle of analogies became methods of the research. The main conclusions can be grouped in the following. The template of the Great French revolution can't appear the single standard of revolutions, moreover the principles of progressiveness or retrograde have also no relation to identification of such phenomenon as revolution where it is necessary to separate the articulated slogans and a depth essence of the phenomenon. The research of ideology of revolution leads to a conclusion that the main components of revolutionary ideology are: 1) in its religiousness, 2) aspiration to creation of more perfect society - a social utopia, 3) nationalism (in a wide conceptual context) and 4) the idea of freedom. Ideological features appear cultural and territorial features which leave the mark on different revolutions, but aren't a determinant.
Read more

Authors analyze the process of cultural hybridization and transboundar communication on the contact territory of China and Russia in the urban landscape of Harbin. Within the Harbin is regarded as the administrative and political center of the Russian emigration because of its position at the crossr ... oads of various water, dry, iron and commercial roads, and as a В«intersectionВ» of various races, ethnicities and cultures. In addition to the uniqueness of the political history of Harbin, in the framework of cultural history, Harbin is a phenomenon of Russian emigration throughout the late 19th - early 20th centuries. The construction of Harbin and other settlements along theChinese Eastern Railway was a new town-building experience for the Russian Empire, a new special stage of the Russian colonization of the Far East. In the 21th century. Harbin has not lost its border nature. Current Harbin people continue to participate in the process of cross-border communication between China and Russia.
Read more

He purpose of the article is to study the measures of the Soviet government to improve the welfare of workers in the years of the new economic policy. The objective of the article is to study such aspects of the stated goal as the Directive reduction of prices in the state and cooperative trade and ... the growth of wages of industrial workers. The article considers the impact on the welfare of the population and the state of the consumer market of the all-Union campaigns to reduce prices, against the background of the growth of wages of industrial workers. Ideologically correct, but economically unjustified actions of the government led to the depreciation of the ruble and the reduction of real wages with their growth in absolute numbers. Another consequence was the shortage of essential goods at low prices. The paper shows how the issues of ideology and such a popular campaign in the Soviet period came into conflict with the economy and how it affected the financial situation of the population. The deterioration of the financial situation has led to a large turnover of qualified personnel. In the fight against this phenomenon, self-sealing campaigns began, which meant a transition to administrative and command methods of economic management.
Read more

The battle of Stalingrad was one of the largest in the history of the great Patriotic war, and after its end there was a need to restore industrial enterprises and social institutions of the city. One of the key problems of the recovery process in Stalingrad was the shortage of labor. Under these co ... nditions, the NKVD camps became the most important tool for solving economic problems, their work was subordinated to the interests of the front. Considerable attention was paid to ensuring the construction and restoration of the most important industrial enterprises that worked on the production of military products, the Saratov-Stalingrad railway and other facilities. The article deals with the features of the use of prisoners of labor camps as a labor force in the reconstruction work, shows the organization of labor in the camps, presents the daily social and domestic problems of prisoners of the NKVD camps. Considerable attention is paid to the analysis of the state policy in the field of labor organization in the labor camps of the NKVD of Stalingrad region during the war period. Its most important areas were: the solution of personnel tasks, the organization of social and medical services, the provision of prisoners with food and basic necessities, cultural, educational and propaganda work in the camps.
Read more

In this article, the author, using a civilizational approach, reveals a new factor that plays a significant role in the history of Russia, determining its historical development starting from the beginning of the XVIII century. This factor, the author conditionally calls «the inferiority complex» of ... Russia in relation to the West. The article considers the genesis of this factor, as well as how it manifested itself in the most significant events in Russian history. According to the author of the article «the inferiority complex» of Russia in relation to the West appeared at the time of «acquaintance» of Russia with the West. This «acquaintance» occurred during the reign of Peter I and included two key aspects. The first aspect implies an active exploration of Western life by the Russian political elite. In Russian historiography this phenomenon has been called «the great Embassy of Peter I». The second aspect concerns the adoption of Western military, industrial, political and cultural practices in the Russian socio-economic and political-cultural reality. In the end, the «acquaintance» with the West led to Russia overcoming its military-technical backwardness, which played a decisive role in its victory over Swedish Empire in the Great Northern War. However, this«acquaintance» gave rise to the stubborn conviction that Russia should look abroad, particularly to the West, to find answers to all domestic problems.
Read more

The author in this article analyzes the scientific activities of professor N. N. Palmov, who made a significant contribution to the formation and development of the historical science of Kalmykia. The article is presented biographical information showing the formation of N. N. Palmov as a historian- ... researcher. There are given characteristic of his works devoted to the developing of the archaeological heritage, ethnographic studies of the Kalmyk ethnos, the study of the political history of the Kalmyk Khanate and its relations with the Dzungars, Kirghiz Kaisaks, etc. There are shown the value N. N. Palmov for the popularization of historical local history in Kalmykia and his role in creating the national local history museum in the city of Elista, in preserving, generalizing and classifying the values of the material culture of the Kalmyks. There are marked the source study contribution of N. N. Palmov. He analyzed a large reservoir of historical sources, both regional and extracted from central archives, and systematized and published them. Based on the analysis of sources N. N. Palmov made conclusions about the preservation and development of local industries and the traditional economic structure of the Kalmyks, about the problems of the settlement of Kalmyks in the 17-19 centuries and about the reasons of migrate the part of the Kalmyk people to in 1771. In conclusion, there are ascertained, that professor N. N. Palmov, being the founder of Kalmyk studies, gave start to the formation and development of historical science in Kalmykia.
Read more

The subject of research is the research activity of historians of the Lower Volga universities in the second half of the 20th century. The object of research is the development of historical science in the Lower Volga region. The authors consider in detail such aspects of the topic as the formation ... of scientific schools in the universities of the region, the features and results of their research activities. Particular attention is paid to the dynamics of research priorities. It is emphasized that representatives of the scientific school of medievalists made a significant contribution to the development of Russian historical science of the period under study. The methodological basis of the research is made up of the principles of historicism, scientific objectivity, systemic and complex nature, which allow us to study the experience of the progressive development of historical knowledge in the period under study. The main conclusions of the study are the features of the historical science of the Lower Volga region in the second half of the twentieth century. A special contribution of the authors to the research of the topic is a comprehensive analysis of the research activities of historians of the Lower Volga universities in the second half of the 20th century. The novelty of the study is a rethinking of the conceptual foundations, trends and key directions of ongoing research on general history in the universities of the Lower Volga region in the second half of the twentieth century.
Read more

This article considers the actual problem of the role of bureaucracy in socio-economic development and management system. This was especially important in 19th century, when bureaucracy became an essential tool for modernization. This goal was served by the establishment of guardianship - state syst ... em aimed at elimination of suburban isolation and unification of management. The article studied the activities of the main Trustees of the Kalmyk people and their contribution to the management of Dagestan in the XIX century On the basis of legislative sources and examines their functions and powers relating to different aspects of life of the Kalmyk people, especially economic, traced the increase of their powers and role in the management of the region. Great attention is paid to consideration of the main directions of their activities, in particular, the organization of settlement roads and to transfer the Kalmyks settled. Some of these officials participated actively in the study of history and social structure of the Kalmyk society and the drafting of its reorganization. The Board considered the work of a number of senior Trustees, and concluded that their substantial contribution to the management of Kalmykia and important role in the history of the Kalmyk people.
Read more

The Relevance of the study is due to the current political situation and the use of such an actor as the politicization of religion to address domestic political issues. The authors take into account the recent events in the territory of modern Ukraine, whose leadership directly interferes in the Af ... fairs of the Church, initiating autocephaly of the Ukrainian Church. In the opinion of the authors, this situation has also become possible due to the fact that the existing international and regional legislation in the field of protection of human rights to freedom of religion-Denmark does not meet the realities of our time. The article analyzes the universal and regional international legal acts in the sphere of freedom of conscience, as well as the assessment of the main provisions of the considered acts on these issues, taking into account modern realities. In the course of the conducted research the gaps and the problems of law enforcement caused by their presence are revealed. The authors, taking into account the existing points of view and approaches, as well as relying on the existing practice, suggest ways to solve the existing problems by reforming the content of international legal norms in the field of freedom of conscience. According to the authors, it is the revision of the normative-legal content of regional and international legislation that will allow to choose the most effective vectors of building the policy of States, allowing to realize and protect the right of everyone to freedom of religion.
Read more

In the article the interaction's problems of public andpower cities'structures level are considered on an example of KrasnodarCity. The researcher's aim is to identify the degree of their effectiveness as a format urban conflict management. The research is conducted within the framework the conflict ... paradigm in studying social processes, in particular, the concept of conflict's institutionalization as a mechanism of their management is used. An analysis the activities of the Public Council under the city administration head is carried out.The tasks of this body and the possibilities their implementation in practice are analyzed. The advantages and disadvantages this format public-power interaction in the conflict's context associated with the development of urban space are highlighted. Its main characteristics are given: creation on the basis self-organization, the use of various forms of maintaining civic activity, the creation of network structures at the city level, the existence of claims to express the opinion of the urban public. The prospects for further development in this format are estimated.Recommendations for increase efficiency of activity public authorities in local government bodies.Prospects for further research in this area are associated with the identification of factors and mechanisms of activation local communities to achieve a balance in the movement interests in different segments the city's population.
Read more

The article examines the problematic field of modern economic diplomacy, its functioning at the present time, and practical application by various states. For Russia, whose economy is more focused on the export of energy resources, the development of economic diplomacy is one of the priorities, both ... in foreign and domestic policy, which is related to the objective need for export diversification and improvement of the trade balance. The task of economic diplomacy development is also connected with a new round of the sanctions war against Russia, which is interested in overcoming the artificial economic barriers. In connection with these it is economic diplomacy that can become a real mechanism for eliminating economic discrimination and needs to be actively developed.
Read more

Migration has long been a natural process for modern society, but the processes taking place in Europe in recent years make us think about the safety of the host community which invites manymigrants and refugees. Taking into consideration the mistakes of the past years associated with the weak integ ... ration of Turkish migrants, modern Germany is introducing new programs for adapting refugees to the local community. Integration from early childhood, a culture of hospitality and the active involvement of migrants in the educational process are the new tools designed to ensure successful integration today.
Read more

The article is devoted to the mechanisms of formation and usage of the personnel reserve in the countries of the Continental model (Germany, France) and the Anglo-Saxon model of public service (UK, USA). Despite various historical background, there are some similar elements of the public service of ... foreign countries including in the formation of personnel reserves. The reserve training system is built into the overall personnel resources strategyand as a result new candidates receive the default position. This system of filling vacancies with the various competitive selection procedures creates optimal conditions for the sustainability of the public administration system. In addition, the author draws attention to the essential aspects in the formation of the personnel of civil servants of foreign countries concerning the principles of selection and promotion of personnel, levels of public service, categories of positions in the table of ranks. This approach makes it possible to show more clearly the reservation tools that are used by human resources services to attract new and promote existing civil servants. The basics of the organization of work with the personnel reserve in foreign countries would be of interest to the personnel services of the Russian Federation in the organization of the search system of highly qualified employees.
Read more

This article explores the visual aspect of the conflicts emerging within the urban space. How does the visual urban space, regarded as a context, influence conflicts? The author takes an attempt to discover the complex interdependencies occurring between the visual urban space and the conflict itsel ... f when any confrontation happen all that defined by the modern visual culture. The research conducted results in some conclusions that appear to be important for the further studies in the field visual aspects of the city conflicts. The visual urban space stated as a specific urban text represents a bilateral connection to a conflict. First of all it can initiate a dispute among the authors of a text multiple and differentiated as well. On the other side urban conflicts inevitably leave their trace through the visual urban space. Some of them are infinitesimal and other ones obtain the cultural significance and become the part of the urban text. The modern conditions provide multiple levels of urban text creation and therefore the conflict between so called writers tends to fade out.
Read more

This article examines the image of Russia in American society in the late XIX - early XX centuries. Focus is made on publications and speeches of the well-known American journalist and public figure George Kennan and his influence on the formation of Russia's image in the United States. The article ... also reveals activities of the American Society of Friends of Russian Freedom (ASFRF), where Kennan was one of co-founders and active participants, as well as reasons for the support of Kennan's and ASFRF ideas in America.
Read more

This article will analyze how indigenous Balkan and Russian imperial motifs influenced Serbian national discourses from the second part of the nineteenth century until the First World War. It will focus especially on how the Russian Slavophil and Pan-Slav ideologies affected Balkan national myths, s ... uch as the Serbian myth about the Battle of Blackbird's Field (Kosovo Polje). The authors will describe main motives of the myths under study: Russia as an Orthodox brother, an �eternal ally,' and a future liberator. The article will explain how these myths, rather than being based on reality, tended to create it. Further the article will focus on the way and how these myths influenced Serbian domestic politics and foreign affairs, identity and national sympathies nowadays. The authors conclude that some features of modern Serbian political culture (such as significant support of strong political leader, great respect to authority persons) and international relations (unclear vector of the Serbian foreign policy that drifts between eurointegration and cooperation with Russia) were influenced by the studied myths.
Read more

Article provides an overview of the «power-property» concept and related theories which are closely describing industry business and authorities' relations in transformation processes assessments. The author underlines sensitivity and dependency Russia and China in terms of their energy policy. The ... great attention is paid to the conditions of the transition from the socialist to the market economy in Russia and China. The issue of distribution of assets of the oil and gas complex among members of the political elite, former politicians and officials, or affiliated with them persons and commissioners was raised. The research results show current allocation of energy assets and are represented as consequences of stakeholders' symbolic power. The features of the transition directly connected with ideological, methodological and socio-cultural specificities. Nevertheless, the main findings revealed that in Russian and Chinese transition the crucial role in property structure change were played by the influential actors' incentives. It was pointed out that the oil and gas interest groups formation and the processes of property distribution are accompanied by informal practices, lack of transparency in decision-making process and the exclusion of society.
Read more

In the framework of this article the author considers the object and the subject of the state information policy and also substantiates the thesis that the management of the information field is an integral part of the state information policy functions system.

The article is devoted to the study of the image of a woman-mother in Mahayana Buddhism, the fundamental value of which is bodhichitta as a sincere desire to achieve a state of enlightenment for the benefit of all living beings. An analysis of the Mahayana texts shows that due to faith in reincarnat ... ion, the existence of kinship ties of all living beings among themselves is recognized here. The Mahayana emphasizes that every living being was a mother to everyone else. Considering the psycho-type of a mother who unselfishly loves her child and is willing to sacrifice herself for his good, Buddhism uses this statement to cultivate bodhichitta in a soteriological context. The Oirats, who accepted the Mahayana Buddhism as the official religion, adopted this postulate. The Buddhist view of maternal love contributed to a deeper understanding of the role of women and the sacralization of the image of a mother in the Oirat culture.
Read more

The article considers jihad as a sociocultural phenomenon, interpreted and practically realized within the framework of various discourses. A valuative analysis of the jihad classification of the medieval Arab scholar and theologian Qayyim al-Jawziyya is offered. The multivaluation and variability o ... f the idea of jihad, the various spheres of its realization, as well as the irreducibility of jihad to the practice of armed resistance alone are shown.
Read more

The article is devoted to the missionary activities of the Russian Orthodox Church. Existing differences between the missionary practices of the Western and Eastern churches are examined. Analyzed the classification of the main methods of conducting the preaching of Christian missions. In the articl ... e, the author proposes to turn to the history of the East Asian missions of the Russian Orthodox Church. After all, in carrying out missionary work in the Asia-Pacific region, the Russian Orthodox Church faced serious challenges to which it responded at different historical periods with more or less success. The author considers the Korean spiritual mission in more detail, which is no exception to the general trend of Orthodox missionary work in East Asia. But the situation of the Korean mission was complicated by the influence of the foreign policy situation, which was the result of the development of unstable Russian-Korean and Russian-Japanese relations. As a result of the study, it was concluded that the large scale influence of Orthodox missionaries in Korea is impossible due to a number of unresolved problems.
Read more

The article analyzes the influence of Internet networks on the religious culture of modern Islam. In the modern world, the Internet should be considered as a means of expressing religiosity, allowing you to create your own information and communication space. Social networks are becoming not only a ... platform for dialogue between participants of communications, but also a field for missionary, educational and commercial activities. The activity of religious institutions in social media forms a religious consciousness among the audience of online communities, and aims to maintain the religious integrity of the audience. Existing religious Internet content is constantly expanding its thematic rubricator and is presented online in photos, videos and text materials. Consideration of the Islamization of Islam makes it possible to reveal the ambivalence of the influence of Internet networks, including on the religious perception of Islam and casual users.
Read more

The article is devoted to the analysis of the imaginative Other/Alien through the prism of alimentary culture, as this is one of the basic aspects of the perception of the Other. In the era of Wi-Fi and universal computerization, the World Wide Web is becoming the most accessible source of informati ... on for the masses. The authors analyze queries in the search engines of the Russian Internet to identify the most particular stereotypes about the alimony behavior of the other. In the course of the work, ethnic groups were identified for further analysis, and the most popular Internet requests related to the perception of alimentary patterns of these ethnic groups and the construction of ideas about them were chosen. This allowed us to identify 37 conventional features, the relationship between which were identified using mathematical methods of matrix construction and statistical calculations based on Pearson's formula. The analysis helped to isolate three conditional models of the Imaginary Other, two of which belong to the far Eastern region. Each image included both the real facts of alimony culture and stereotypes born of fear of alien-aggressor, which are in the planes of fear that he will eat our food, and fear that we will become his food ourselves.
Read more

The paper treats the problem of the end of history in the context of philosophy of history and philosophical anthropology. The author opposes Fukuyama's conception that involves transition to a "post-human" state as the only possibility of release from the "post-historical" reservation. The author c ... onsiders discussions conserningthe prospects of converging sciences and technologies: nano- bio- info- cognitive social and Humanities-based (NBICS-revolution). It is emphasized that the anthropo- futurological issues of present days are relevant to ideas and reasons which are put forward almost a century ago by representatives of eugenics - the direction connecting the prospects of improvement of the human being on the ground of achievements of biology. Reconstruction of anthroposophic views of N.K. Koltsov - the outstanding biologist and the leader of the Russian eugenical movement is carried out. Essential attention is paid to the historiosophical bases of the project of the cybernetic immortality offered by the Russian philosopher D.I. Dubrovsky. The author of the paper connects historical prospects of human society with prospects of a techno-bio-evolution of humans. The author considers the world «post-human» as inappropriate for result of such evolution and proves advantages of use of the term "techno-humans" as a synonym and designation of the new stage in human development. World-outlook orientations of technological progress are of especially importance in this context.
Read more

The article analyzes the comparative aspects of the interpretation of the largest Russian historians of the XVIII - early XX centuries. V. N. Tatishchev, N. M. Karamzin, V. O. Klyuchevsky - a topical controversial problem of the relationship between Russia and Europe. The evolution of historical res ... earch on this topic, the specificity and methodology of the historical and scientific approach to the analysis of the problem of «Russia - Europe», the difference between this approach and philosophical and journalistic interpretations.
Read more

The article analyzes the implementation of the principles of tolerance in social practice. The absence of a single definition of this concept can lead to the abuse of the idea of respectful attitude to the Other, the unlike way of life, going beyond the universal human values protecting the healthy ... development of society. Ideological propaganda in the countries of Western Europe as an absolute norm of such phenomena as same-sex marriages, non-traditional sexual orientations, independent choice of sex, etc. leads to an indifferent or respectful attitude to these phenomena on the part of Western society, which undermines the healthy development of the society. As a result, tolerance is transformed into tolerance - an ideology based on the distortion of the concepts of tolerance and associated with the position of forced indifference to manifestations of immorality and the destruction of historically formed spiritual and moral values. Therefore, it is important to define the boundaries of tolerance. Рђ good example of the implementation of its principles within its borders is the 1995 Declaration of Principles of Tolerance. And also learn how to critically assess the problem situation, developing its position on the basis of an analysis of heterogeneous information about the problem of interest. The development of critical thinking helps to understand the situation when messages are aimed at making an individual act or think in a certain way. In other words, do not be under the influence of mass suggestion or influence exerted by manipulating the symbols and psychology of the individual. In addition, critical thinking contributes to the fact that the individual is really able to penetrate the diversity of cultures and ways of life within the framework of universal values, without going beyond the boundaries of tolerance.
Read more

This article is the first part of the study on the analysis of theoretical and methodological approaches to the study of the phenomenon of the Other/Alien. The object of this study is the phenomenon of the Other/Alien, and the subject is the theoretical and methodological approaches to understanding ... the problem of the Other/Alien. The author of the article considers the indicated problems from the standpoint of its evolution from philosophical understanding to transformation into an object of historical and cultural discourse. Turning to the views of ancient thinkers, theological position on this issue in the Middle Ages and the theoretical substantiations of the problem in the New and Modern times, philosophers, beginning with phenomenology and ending with existentialism, the author comes to the conclusion that the phenomenon of the Other / Alien has gone a long way from the Plato's В«MirrorВ» to the Other as an object that influences the formation of the subjective existential experience of man. Unfortunately, the scope of the study does not allow the inclusion of other approaches in this article. This circumstance forces the author to continue research in this direction and to touch on the methodological approaches to investigating the Other / Alien from the standpoint of structuralism, poststructuralism, postcolonialism and the theory of small groups.
Read more

The article deals with the problem of the relationship between philosophy and theology within the confessional nature of university theological education. This issue is of particular relevance in the light of the formation and development of national university theology. The nature and content of ac ... ademic disciplines, understanding of goals and objectives in the training of specialists in theology depends on the solution of this problem. Ideas about theology can be different, so clarifying this issue will allow creating a balanced system of theological education in the framework of secular educational institutions. This issue is considered in relation to Christian theology.
Read more

The Russian heraldic system includes several elements of development: state heraldry, territorial heraldry, patrimonial and departmental heraldry. In this article Francis Santi's, activity as the Deputy King of Arms is considered. Data on F. Santi's work on the state, noble and urban heraldry of the ... Russian state are provided. Francis Santi's contribution in formation and development of the Russian gerbotvorchestvo is noted.
Read more

The political elites of Turkmenistan demonstrate their traditional uniqueness and immunity to global democratic trends. The closed nature of the Turkmen elite generates streams of unreliable information about its condition, resources, plans, and opportunities. The «game of democracy» is intended to ... create an external favorable background to existing authoritarian traditions and the personality cult of the first president of Turkmenistan S. Niyazov from the past pointed to the totalitarian character of the existing political regime here. On the example of the Turkmen elites genesis we see how the political landscape of this country changed during 1990, 2000 and 2010. An attempt to look behind the scenes of the political practice of local elite communities leads researchers to the conclusion about the authoritarian present and totalitarian past of this country. Even now in 2010 Turkmenistan continues to be one of the most specific political regimes, not only in Eurasia, but throughout the world.
Read more

This monograph is the result of cooperation between the Northern Institute of Environmental Protection and Minorities (Arctic Center, University of Lapland) and researchers from Wuhan University. The international team of scientists set a goal to identify the similarities and differences between the ... positions of Finland (as a member state of the EU) and China with regard to law and governance in the Arctic. The monograph compares the legal and political positions of Finland and China in specific policy areas related to the Arctic, including maritime sovereignty, research, marine protected areas, the Svalbard Treaty and cooperation of the Arctic Council. Based on these findings, the authors propose general conclusions on Finnish and Chinese approaches to Arctic management and international law, as well as new theoretical information about Arctic management.
Read more