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Abstract  China, Russia, and India are playing an increasingly important role in global nanotechnology research and development (R&D). This paper comparatively inspects the paper and patent publications by these three countries in the Thomson Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI) database and United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) database (1976–2007). Bibliographic, content map, and citation network analyses are used to evaluate country productivity, dominant research topics, and knowledge diffusion patterns. Significant and consistent growth in nanotechnology papers are noted in the three countries. Between 2000 and 2007, the average annual growth rate was 31.43% in China, 11.88% in Russia, and 33.51% in India. During the same time, the growth patterns were less consistent in patent publications: the corresponding average rates are 31.13, 10.41, and 5.96%. The three countries’ paper impact measured by the average number of citations has been lower than the world average. However, from 2000 to 2007, it experienced rapid increases of about 12.8 times in China, 8 times in India, and 1.6 times in Russia. The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), and the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) were the most productive institutions in paper publication, with 12,334, 6,773, and 1,831 papers, respectively. The three countries emphasized some common research topics such as “Quantum dots,” “Carbon nanotubes,” “Atomic force microscopy,” and “Scanning electron microscopy,” while Russia and India reported more research on nano-devices as compared with China. CAS, RAS, and IIT played key roles in the respective domestic knowledge diffusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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As the governments of the United States, Russia, and China signal a renewed emphasis on great power competition, tensions among three leading military and nuclear powers are rising. Mounting tensions portend an increase in proxy conflicts, raising concerns about support for possible atrocity crimes of proxies. As states formulate their approaches to great power proxy conflict, they would do well to consider the possibility of their officials facing liability for aiding and abetting atrocity crimes. This paper focuses on aiding and abetting liability under international criminal law through the lens of great power proxy conflict. It argues that proxy conflict among great powers is likely, that it will probably contribute to atrocity crimes, and that states have not taken sufficient measures to ensure they do not contribute to the commission of atrocities. While this paper deals with the United States, Russia, and China, it especially focuses on recommendations and implications for the U.S. government. Section I discusses the rise of great power competition as the driving force in international politics, argues that great power competition will likely manifest as proxy conflict between great powers, and discusses the relationship between proxy conflict and liability for atrocity crimes. Section H analyzes the elements of aiding and abetting liability through the lens of three debates among legal scholars and judges that bear particular relevance for individual liability in the context of proxy conflict among great powers. Section III examines the relationships between the governments of the United States, Russia, and China and the International Criminal Court. The Section then outlines the ongoing legal debate regarding whether the ICC can properly assert jurisdiction over the nationals of those and other non-party states as a matter of customary international law. Section IV reflects on the practical implications of the paper's findings and recommends policies that the United States should adopt in light of those findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Faced with ongoing large-scale cyber espionage and the rising prominence of information operations targeting social media, the cyber conflict scholarship has entered into a renewed debate over how to characterise the role and place of cyberspace conflict in broader patterns of international security. In response to these empirical challenges, this paper argues that the current scholarship is limited because it uses the 'cyberspace domain' – a doctrinal concept originating in the U.S. military – as a conceptual foundation. This paper argues that the cyberspace domain should be replaced with a holistic conception of "information competition" of which there are three paradigms: cyberspace domain, mixed, and information. All states seek to intervene in the flow and storage of information across domestic and international contexts; information competition is better able to capture information-related interactions between states and observed empirical variation in how states approach information technology and conflict. For example, China and Russia centre 'information' as the core organising framework for their approach to information technology and conflict. This paper also demonstrates how an information competition framework better clarifies the role that the U.S. has played in shaping Russian and Chinese approaches to information competition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work discusses the differences in the removal efficiency of heavy metals in soils along the China-Russia crude oil pipeline in different vegetation backgrounds. In this paper, two representative forest types, birch forest and larch forest, were selected for replicated sampling and experimental study in the soil of disturbed and undisturbed areas along the pipeline, respectively. The results showed that after ten years of vegetation restoration, the amount of heavy metals in the soil of birch and larch forests decreased, the Cu content in the soil under the background of the birch forest was higher than that of the larch forest, while the Zn, Mn and Pb contents were lower than that of the larch forest. The order of decreasing magnitude was Mn, Pb, Zn and Cu, and the overall decreasing rate of heavy metal content in larch forest soil was more obvious. The above conclusions indicate that vegetation restoration is an effective measure to alleviate soil heavy metal pollution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Scholars have been debating the geopolitical importance of the strengthening China-Russia relationship for some time, noting that the relationship does not constitute a full alliance, but still might have great significance for world politics. This paper aims to improve on this scholarship by examining the evolution of China-Russia cooperation as it relates to the future of North Korea, especially in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Design, Methodology, Approach: This scholarship represents a methodological advance over most previous discussions of the China-Russia relationship. It embraces the historical development of this relationship, probes structural arrangements in relationship to regional stability, and also draws upon extensive Russian and Chinese language data sets which constitute the material for a “discourse analysis,” to achieve a deeper understanding of this relationship as it pertains to the Korean Peninsula. Findings: Overall, this study documents substantial cooperation between Beijing and Moscow with respect to Korean affairs. While some disagreements between China and Russia do exist in this sphere, the main implication of these developments is the trend toward a hardening of the bipolar structure in Northeast Asia, informed by the growing influence of patriotic and nationalistic elite groups within both China and Russia. However, the study points out a paradox in that this hardening of bipolarity could actually help to stabilize the spiraling tensions that have surrounded North Korea in recent decades. Practical Implications: This paper may help students and policymakers alike in Northeast Asia evaluate the significance of the China-Russia quasi-alliance. Overall, this paper supports the conclusion that the dangers of the China-Russia quasi-alliance need not be exaggerated. Originality Value: This paper is innovative insofar as it gives balanced attention to both China’s and Russia’s discourses and policies toward North Korea and evaluates the influence of Moscow-Beijing’s growing cooperation in the context of the Russia-Ukraine war, as it may impact the future of North Korea and the wider region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research in security studies contends that information warfare (IW) is becoming a critical element in states' overall security strategies. Additionally, many researchers posit that artificial intelligence (AI) is quickly emerging as an important component of digital communications and states' military applications worldwide. However, less is known regarding how states are incorporating AI in their information warfare and influence operations (IWIO). Thus, given the growing importance of AI and IW in global security, this paper examines how the United States, China, and Russia are incorporating AI in their IWIO strategies and tactics. We find that the US, China, and Russia are utilizing AI in their IWIO approaches in significant ways depending on each state's overall IW strategy, with important implications for international security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper will explore the purpose, system of subjects, principal tools and consequences of neo-authoritarian intervention. The peculiarities of the neo-authoritarian regime, neo-authoritarian intervention, and export of neo-authoritarianism are clarified. China and Russia are selected as the main cases for analysis. The purpose of neo-authoritarian intervention is defined as the intention to strengthen the internal stability of non-democratic regimes and to broaden their influence on international processes, the effort being to change the world order and destroy liberaldemocratic values. It is argued that the key subjects of neoauthoritarian intervention are the governments of neoauthoritarian states and a great number of actors (puppet parties; government-organized non-governmental organizations; marginal, ultra-radical social and political movements; statecontrolled media; unscrupulous analytical centres; and international multilingual networks of TV, radio broadcasts, news agencies, which are financed by neo-authoritarian governments). The system of tools of neo-authoritarian influence includes tools of: power; influence within the soft power; subversion; value modification; election tampeering; and pressure on international organizations. The tools of neo-authoritarian intervention are based on the classic tools of authoritarianism, but are modernized due to digitalization, information and communication progress, and the other technologies. Neo-authoritarian intervention is proven to increase the risks to global security. The main consequences of the strengthening of neo-authoritarian intervention on a global scale are the growth of threats to democracy, the risks of changing the world agenda. The consequence of neo-authoritarian interference in the internal affairs of non-democratic states is the growth of dependence on neo-authoritarian exporter states, further socio-political instability, increased use of force in solving socio-political problems. The research states that in the case of neo-authoritarian intervention in the affairs of democratic states, the consequences may include both effective counteraction to neo-authoritarian interventions and thus strengthening of the quality of democracy, and destructive tendencies including the growth of populism, radicalism, corruption, and hate speech. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Russia is China's main log supplier and has implemented a series of log export control policies. The implementation of Russia's export control policy has inevitably had an impact on China's timber processing industry. This paper uses breakpoint regression to analyse the impact of the increase in the import price of logs under the Russian log export control policy on the market price of timber products in China. The results show that under the control policy, the increase in log import prices had a significant positive impact on the timber product market when April 2008, January 2010 and January 2019 were the breakpoints. Due to the lag effects in price transmission, the impact on China's timber product market was not reflected when July 2007 and January 2018 were the breakpoints. Based on the research conclusions, this paper puts forward some suggestions from the perspective of China's log supply security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the potential of the forest sector in China and Russia over the past decade to identify the main trends and prospects for developing international timber business between the countries. The research showed that further development of foreign economic cooperation between the countries requires reindustrialization of the Russian forest industry sector in processing and manufacturing wood products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As two influential countries in the global grain production and marketing system, China and Russia have increasingly strengthened their agricultural, economic, and trade cooperation. There are few papers that have considered trade relations from the perspective of the growth effect of grain exports, and it is necessary to fill this gap by systematically sorting the grain trade between the two countries and clarifying the growth effect and influencing factors in this paper. By comparing and analyzing the quantitative and structural characteristics of grain trade between China and Russia between 1996 and 2020, this study used the H–K marginal analysis method to explore the growth path and influencing factors of the export trade of grain products between China and Russia. The results show that the main driving force of the export growth of Russian and Chinese grain products is the price margin, which presents a growth pattern dominated by price and complemented by type and quantity. The empirical analysis of the gravity model shows that the size of the agricultural economy, grain productivity, trade cost, and economic shocks have significant impacts on bilateral trade. In view of this, the status of international agricultural cooperation between China and Russia will be further optimized if they can optimize trade policies to improve the quality of trade development, build cross-border cooperation parks to construct the layout of the whole industrial chain, strengthen infrastructure construction, and deepen and expand interconnectivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As humanity reaches the 5.0 industrial revolution, education plays a critical role in boosting the quality of human resources. This paper reports bibliometric research on emerging TiP during 1993-2022 in the educational field to analyse its development on any level of education during the last three decades. This study employed a Scopus database. The findings are that the trend of TiP publication in educational fields has tended to increase every year during the past three decades and conference paper became the most published document type, the USA is the country which produces the most publications; "Students" being the most occurrences keyword and total link strength. The publication of the TiP is ranked to the Quartile 1, which implies that a publication with the cited performance is a publication with credibility because the publisher has a good reputation. Researchers can find the topics most relevant to other metadata sources such as Web of Science, Publish, and Perish.

BACKGROUND: Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WRMSDs) and ergonomic risk factors are very common in bakery workers. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to (1) assess the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders among bakers because they use automated machines or traditional baking, and (2) to determine the strategies to prevent musculoskeletal disorders in bakers. METHODS: A systematic review of PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science was conducted from the beginning to February 4, 2022, based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Mesh keywords and phrases were used to execute the search strategy. Information on MSDs and ergonomic risk factors in bakery workers was collected. Two reviewers worked independently on study selection, data extraction, and paper quality ranking. RESULTS: This study identified 14 papers from seven countries. Although the prevalence of MSDs in bakery workers has been studied, only a handful of them have been studied ergonomic risk factors, and the findings have been very limited. The association between different risk factors and MSDs seemed significant compared to many other occupational diseases. The traditional bread-baking system and lack of mechanization may increase the risk of MSDs in bakery workers. CONCLUSION: WRMSDs for bakery workers have been less studied than other occupational diseases. Our systematic review found several significant relations between the factors influencing the prevalence of MSDs. This study also showed the comparison of traditional and modern cooking systems with diseases of the upper limbs, shoulders, and back pain as possible fields for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In many countries, the rapid evolution of digital platform technology has triggered significant shifts in competition law. Many have interpreted China's recent moves as signaling a broader crackdown on private entrepreneurship. In Russia, even before the invasion of Ukraine, government policy became increasingly restrictive toward foreign internet platforms. This paper analyzes the development and enforcement of competition law in Russia and China. We show that both technologically driven changes in the ability of digital platform firms to exercise market power and changes in the external political environment affect the relative strength and coalitions of interested bureaucratic actors and influence policy outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global economy appears the trend of anti-globalization under the influence of COVID-19. Based on the input-output table of lead database from 2006 to 2020, this paper divides the factors that affect the development of financial industry in China, the United States and Russia into six aspects: price, intermediate input, household consumption, government consumption, export and import. ADGA-BP neural network model is proposed in this paper, which is based on six aspects of price, intermediate input, consumer, government consumption, export and import. The intermediate input is decomposed from the perspective of industrial structure to study the interrelationship between financial industry and other industries in the three countries. The results show that the intermediate input is the main factor in the development of financial industry in the three countries, but the source industries of the intermediate input are not the same; the two factors of household consumption and price are closely related to the development of financial industry in the three countries, and they all play a role in promoting China, while the relationship between household consumption and the United States and between price and Russia is reverse; Government consumption only has a significant impact on Russia; from the perspective of mutual influence, the mutual investment between the financial industry of China and the United States is relatively large, while the relationship between the Russian financial industry and the two countries is relatively weak. It shows that under the background of covid-19, the development of financial industry is affected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we propose a conditional autoregressive range-mixed-data sampling (CARR-MIDAS) model that incorporates economic policy uncertainty (EPU) to predict the crude oil futures price volatility (range). We apply the proposed model to West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil futures price ranges and four EPU indices, namely the Global EPU, US EPU, China EPU and Russia EPU. Empirical results show that all the four EPU indices have a significantly negative impact on the oil futures price volatility, and the EPU indices are informative for forecasting the oil futures price volatility. Moreover, the China EPU index outperforms the other EPU indices in forecasting the oil futures price volatility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The acquisition of clandestine human sources – or agents – inside Russia and China likely remains the key priority for Western HUMINT agencies, and yet their ability to do this safely is quickly waning. This paper considers the utility of cyberspace for espionage recruitment in these two hard target states, and assesses its value as a potential solution to emerging surveillance threats. With the aid of history, this paper proposes that hard target espionage is fundamentally afflicted by a tradecraft paradox, one that will severely curtail the utility of cyberspace to agent recruitment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two sources of geopolitical tension – G7 sanctions on Russia and conflict between the United States and China – have the potential to reshape the global monetary system. This short paper argues that only the second is likely to have far-reaching, and heavily negative, consequences if allowed to develop further. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The soft power literature has indicated that American soft power use has been declining while Russian and Chinese soft power use has been increasing. Until now, the only way scholars could test such claims was to compare these countries' soft power rankings. This paper uses a new soft power dataset that can evaluate countries' soft power use. Using this dataset, this paper tests three hypothesis regarding China's, Russia's and the US' soft power use for the time-period of 1995–2015. The findings indicate that surprisingly the US is still using more soft power than Russia and China. The data analysis also reveals that the US is leading in economic soft power actions over China and in military soft power actions over Russia as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The qualitative and quantitative balance in strategic nuclear capabilities between major global nuclear-armed states had been the subject of a longstanding international bilateral and multilateral treaty regime, which since the onset of the 21st century has undergone a process of continual degradation. With the gradual establishment of a more confrontational multipolar world order, the treaty regime as well as the guarantees it provided for international security have come into further peril. The present paper will examine the defining characteristics of the nuclear treaty regime, the factors leading to a point of balance in preceding decades between the nuclear superpowers of the United States of America and the Russian Federation, and the transformational factors, which have destabilised the balance in contemporary times. Furthermore, the paper will extend the discussion on the future of nuclear arms control to the changing geopolitical landscape and the rise of new major global powers such as the People's Republic of China. Ultimately the paper, attempts to establish the framework of the future evolution of the nuclear arms debate and the possibilities of reaching a new point of stability and deterrence between the mentioned state actors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has been found that people with disabilities remain at the margin as far as the different aspects of their lives are concerned. This paper tests the hypothesis that disability leads to lower quality of life among older adults in low and middle-income countries. The data from the Study on Global Ageing and Adult Health (SAGE) was used in this study which was conducted in Ghana, China, India, Russia, South Africa and Mexico. The disability scores have been made utilising Item Response Theory, Partial Credit Model and are centered on eight functioning and health areas. Bivariate analysis, binary logistic regression and pooled regression analysis have been used to fulfil the objectives of the paper. The findings reveal that disability acts as a hindrance in attaining a high quality of life (HQOL) amongst the older adults in the above mentioned low and middle-income countries. The older adults with disability are as much as 60% less likely to enjoy an HQOL with respect to the older adults without disability. Better socio-economic development like improved health care for disabled older adults with disability enhanced living standards for both abled and disabled, efficient pension schemes for older adults with disability and effective social service schemes would be very much essential to improve overall QOL among older adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Sino–Russian Arctic energy cooperation is a successful example based on the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries. In order to analyze the impact of Sino–Russian oil and gas resources cooperation in the Arctic on China's energy security, this paper selects 11 influencing factors such as energy self-sufficiency rate and uses the energy security index method to evaluate the three dimensions of energy supply, demand, and environmental security. The assessment results show that China's energy security is mainly affected by the over concentration of energy import sources. At the same time, energy demand and environmental security will also have an important impact on China's energy security. However, relative to energy demand, environmental security factors such as the proportion of clean energy consumption and channel safety factor have a greater impact on China's energy security. After China and Russia strengthen cooperation in oil and gas resources in the Arctic, China's energy security index is expected to increase from 0.4419 in 2020 to 0.5412 in 2025. Therefore, China can use technology, funds, scientific research, and other support to carry out all-round cooperation with Russia in the Arctic waterway, oil and gas exploration and development, and Arctic scientific research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last two decades, views regarding cyberspace and the usage of digital means by governments shifted from hopes of cyber-utopias to fears of cyberdystopias, fuelled by increasingly heavy limitations imposed on Internet freedoms and online privacy rights worldwide, a tightening grip of authoritarian regimes on cyberspace, disinformation campaigns, censorship, internet shutdowns, digitally-enabled mass surveillance both online and offline and so on. Thus, the discussion will be centred on Russia's and China's usage and export of digital authoritarianism, while also considering steps taken by liberal democracies to counter such actions, focusing on the role of the US and of the E U a nd i ts m ember-states. This paper will start with a literature review regarding digital authoritarianism and an exploration of how Russia and China are using and exporting it. States such as Russia and China are using digital means to bolster and expand their authoritarian regimes, while also exporting digital authoritarianism to other like-minded governments around the world, creating an unignorable challenge for liberal democracies and civil society groups everywhere. Finally, the paper will also address potential courses of action and policies that liberal democracies and international organisations can take for countering digital authoritarianism. For instance, they should promote an alternative model for digital governance and governance through digital means, starting by promoting digital liberties and privacy rights instead of trying to limit them for national security purposes (e.g., the case of encryption). Thus, liberal democracies should respond to digital authoritarianism by further bolstering democracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By studying the integration of the Daur into the Russian and Qing imperial administration from the seventeenth to the nineteenth century, this paper sheds light on the construction of ethnicity in the Qing and Russian imperial framework. This paper reexamines the vanishing of the Daur in the Russian Empire and the imperial impact on today's ethnic groups in Russia and China. Framed as a process of transfer and re-shaping of internal organization structures, the paper re-examines today's Daur ethnicity under the impact of imperial administration and ethnic categorization into easily governed ethnic units in a central administrative bureaucracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper will attempt to show the Jesuits' situation in China and Russia through Fr Louis de Poirot (1735-1813 ...) 's life. He was the last remaining Jesuit in China (the new Jesuits returned to mainland China on 11 June 1842), and was a link between the Old Jesuits and New Jesuits.The first section will introduce his life in the Chinese court. He was the last of the Western painters who worked for Qianlong along with Father Giuseppe Panzi. The two painters replaced the more famous fathers Giuseppe Castiglione and Jean-Denis Attiret. He was also in charge of the translation between Latin and Manchu for the diplomatic correspondence between Pekin and Saint Petersburg. He was the first to translate most of the Bible into Chinese and Manchu. The paper will show the attitude of Chinese Emperor and other official's attitude to the suppression, Did they even care about the suppression of the Jesuits? What's of any concern to them? The second section will present a precious letter received from Father General Brzozowski written on Sept. 25, 1806 with the help of the Russian ecclesiastical mission. Father General Brzozowski asked whether Fr Louis de Poirot had received Gruber's permission to rejoin the Society and to enquire about the situation of the other fathers in China and the Chinese church. He also mentioned their attemption to enter China and the Jesuits' situation all over the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2014, the United States Justice Department announced its first indictment against foreign military hackers. Since then, the Justice Department has continued the practice, indicting military and intelligence personnel from China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea, as well as hackers-for-hire working at the behest of State handlers. Debates over the propriety and efficacy of the indictments have covered the benefits and downsides of the policy writ-large but have not analyzed the indictments in-depth to deconstruct the policy and identify first principles. This paper analyzes all of the indictments publicly released thus far and characterizes them along several axes, including the status of the hackers, the goal of the operation, the identity of the target, and the crimes charged, with additional discussion about the techniques involved in the various operations. After examining the trends identified in the analysis, this paper proposes a more nuanced framework for deciding whether or not to indict malicious State or State-sponsored cyber actors and recommends policies that will help the United States combat malicious State activity in cyberspace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent transformations in the media and communications environment have prompted states to invest heavily in external communications to pursue inter-state competition. Among authoritarian countries, Russia and China have invested particularly heavily in international news, through outlets like RT and CGTN. However, few comparative studies have examined the differences between authoritarian states' use of international news for geopolitical purposes. This article conducts a comparative, mixed-method, multi-platform content analysis of RT and CGTN's 2020 US election coverage. Based on multiple differences between the outlets' content, it argues that they adopt two distinct international propaganda models. RT operates a "partisan parasite" model, imitating a partisan outlet in the US' media ecology, while CGTN employs a "surface neutrality" model, which cloaks pro-China propaganda with a superficial impression of impartiality. Explicating these models using original empirical evidence, the paper advances theory on the evolving use of international news media as a geopolitical tool. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thawing permafrost has affected the structural integrity of buried warm pipelines in cold regions and poses an ongoing threat in the context of climate change. Therefore, characterizing variation in the engineering properties of pipeline foundation permafrost and its effect on the mechanical behavior of pipeline is important. In this paper, the ground temperature distributions around a buried warm pipeline and mechanical response of the pipeline to differential thaw settlement of foundation permafrost are investigated using thermal–mechanical sequential coupling simulation, based on the observational data collected from a selected monitoring site along the China-Russia crude oil pipelines in northeastern China. The results indicate that the thaw-induced settlement of pipeline foundation permafrost develops quickly with the formation and expansion of the thaw bulb in the first 10 years, and then increases slowly when the thaw bulb extends to the weathered granite. Differential thaw settlement will cause a significant change in the deformation and stress of the pipeline near the interface of strong and weak thaw settlement zones. When the length ratio of strong and weak thaw settlement zones is 1, the maximum stress of the pipeline with a thickness of 16 mm is approximately 45% of the allowable stress of X65 steel, and the pipeline remains safe for 30 years. However, the potential failure of the pipeline should be considered due to the continued ground thawing and warming and pipe material aging. Forthcoming research on this topic is needed to evaluate more carefully the structural integrity of buried pipelines in cold regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Great Tea Road (Wanli chadao) is a 13,000 km trade route that for two centuries connected Qing China and Tsarist Russia. It has been identified in recent years as an important category of China's route heritage. The rediscovery of the Great Tea Road, and other Chinese route heritage, is being framed in a 'mobility narrative', that is, a narrative that describes how mobility and exchange over space and time contribute to the formation of the Chinese nation or Zhonghua minzu. Since 2013 the Great Tea Road has been incorporated into the 'authorised mobility narrative' of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and in particular to the BRI agreement linking China, Mongolia and Russia. In 2019 the Great Tea Road was placed on the China list for World Heritage application. This paper examines the rise of the Great Tea Road in contemporary China and describes the various actors that play a formative role in developing the narratives and policies associated with such route heritage. It finds that the Chinese combination of 'mobility narrative' and 'heritage bureaucracy' provides a discursive and institutional frame that is able to mobilise significant resources in the pursuit of cultural policy and heritage diplomacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study that explores the role of export processing zones (EPZs) in the trade and economic development of countries. It first provides an overview on the use of EPZs, and presents case studies from China, India and Russia that illustrate new trends and policies in such processing zones. It then offers a review of the economic costs and benefits of export processing zones and how EPZ policies relate to trade rules. The relationship between EPZs and the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreements was also examined, and the treatment of EPZ in Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) was discussed. The report concludes that EPZs are suboptimal policy from an economic point of view, and can only provide interim solution to developing countries.

Reliable and well positioned human sources are essential for the US and its allies in an era of declining relations and rising tensions with China and Russia. The recruitment and handling of spies is essential if the US and its allies are to cool relations carefully, enact sound policy and curb the relentless intelligence operations of their adversaries. However, despite the superficially more open borders of China and Russia, technological advances have made the threat of street surveillance to the recruitment and handling of agents today as acute as it was in Cold War "denied area" states. This paper assesses the degree of street surveillance in contemporary Russia and China – including the impact of biometrics and online data history on the defensibility of cover and the severity of advanced CCTV networks – and the solutions intelligence agencies might adopt to address these problems. Despite the possibilities cyberspace offers espionage – for instance, by reducing the need for face to face meetings between intelligence officers and agents – the paper establishes the limitations of technological answers and argues that Western intelligence officers are entering a new era of Moscow and Beijing Rules in which they are more essential than ever and yet need to operate with absolute caution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) intersect and overlap in Central Asia at the heart of Eurasia. Whereas the literature has commonly focused on the economic aspects of these major regional policy initiatives, efforts to create a common Eurasian higher education space through these regionalisms have barely been studied. In response, this paper compares the development of Russian and Chinese led visions for Eurasian higher education regionalism in Central Asia and the extent to which these constructions overlap. The paper also sheds lights on the perspectives of Central Asian states by investigating how these countries are approaching these efforts to construct a Eurasian higher education region. The conceptual framework brings together higher education regionalism with overlapping regionalism and takes a policy-oriented methodological approach. The paper introduces the new term of "points of correspondence" based on language used in both Russian and Chinese policy discourse to explain how constructions of a Eurasian higher education region can overlap without duplicating or flowing into each other. "Points of correspondence" emphasizes neither competition nor collaboration but rather the ongoing pursuit to find ideas and policy tools that best fit one another. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes Mongolia's attempts at balancing its relations with China and Russia and the dilemmas it faces as China's influence grows in the wake of its "Belt and Road Initiative". Mongolia has embraced China's connectivity projects and a new form of trilateralism, even though Mongolia was not included in the initial five economic corridors proposed by Xi Jinping in 2013. Mongolian concerns over geo-strategic isolation led to a renewed effort to embrace its two big neighbors, resulting in the proposal of the trilateral "Economic Corridor" in 2016, followed by further trilateral summits. The paper thus seeks to answer the puzzle how Mongolia's self-perception as a geopolitical bridgehead state can be reconciled with the partially diverging interests of its two neighbors. Drawing on interviews with Mongolian experts and officials as well as qualitative document analysis, the paper adds empirical nuance to the debate about Sino-Russian interaction in Eurasia, but also to the understudied dimension of the agency of the "in-between countries" in their shared neighborhood. It argues that the spectrum ranging from competition to accommodation between China and Russia is further complicated by the choices and policy responses of actors "in between", like Mongolia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the growth of industries and population, the need for energy consumption has increased, which has inevitably increased greenhouse gas emissions. Further use of fossil fuel for energy consumption exacerbates the situation making it one of the major issues for climate change. China, India, the USA, and Russia are the world's leading countries in energy consumption and emissions and are responsible for climate change. These countries account for 54% of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the global environment. This paper investigates the energy consumption of China, India, the USA, and Russia and its trend in greenhouse gas emissions. Using four available datasets from 1980 to 2018 for China, India, USA, and 1992 to 2018 for Russia, we employed three advanced machine learning algorithms (support vector machine, artificial neural network, and long-short term memory) and verified its predicted capability with actual greenhouse gas emissions. The obtained results were evaluated with three statistical metrics (route mean square, mean absolute percentage error, and mean bias error). The predicted results with three machine learning algorithms were very close to actual greenhouse gas emissions. Besides, we forecasted the trend of greenhouse gas emissions in these countries from 2019 to 2023. The forecasted results with the long-short term memory model confirm an increase in CO2, methane, and Nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions in the case of China and India; in contrast, the results indicate a slowdown of CO2, methane, and N2O emissions in the USA and Russia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China and Russia have different interests in the Arctic but are forced to look for possible ways of cooperation in energy projects in the current external conditions. This changes the priorities of both countries and, accordingly, transforms the risks. Objectives of the research: to build an algorithm for identifying anthropogenic environmental risks in the context of two major players economic activities in the Arctic region: the Russian Federation and China. In the paper, we formulated an algorithm of environmental risk identification. We identified environmental hazards from the main parameter—the type of economic activity for the extraction of energy resources, premises, and factors for the occurrence of environmental hazards and compiled criteria for risk selection. Methods used: complex analysis (mixed method research): empirical and comparative methods, methods of expert assessments, the method of inductive statistics (inferential statistics) to compare the perception of risk at the level of different groups. Results: the algorithm has been formed for determining risks in the changed external conditions. Major anthropogenic environmental risks are identified from the perspective of the main players in the Arctic—Russia and China, which can help to make the necessary decisions on time and partially prevent environmental degradation. This makes it possible to identify the risks associated with conducting economic activities for the extraction of energy resources in the Arctic region. Therefore, this study contributes to a more accurate identification of anthropogenic environmental risks in the Arctic region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With ever-increasing political tensions between China and Russia on one side and the EU and the US on the other, it only seems a matter of time until protectionist policies cause a decoupling of global value chains. This paper uses a computable general equilibrium trade model calibrated with the latest version of the GTAP database to simulate the effect of such a decoupling–implemented by doubling non-tariff barriers–between the two blocks on trade and welfare. Imposing import barriers almost completely eliminates bilateral imports. In addition, changes in price levels lead to higher imports and lower exports of the imposing country group from and to the rest of the world. The targeted country group increases exports to the rest of the world and reduces imports. Welfare falls in all countries involved, suggesting that governments should strive to cooperate rather than turn away from each other. By imposing a trade war on Russia, the political West could inflict severe damage on the Russian economy because of the latter's smaller relative economic size. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper, from a realist-constructivist perspective, compares the motivations, diplomatic polices and actions of China and Russia as parties that are economically, politically or militarily involved in addressing the Syria's crisis. By drawing on the taxonomy of power, I argue that China and Russia respectively demonstrate structural and compulsory power when dealing with Syrian issue. They also cooperate with each other and maintain strategic partnership by virtue of institutional power and productive power, but the results are different. I also argue that the relations between China and Russia is influenced by both material power and identity structure. Finally, I conclude that as China and Russia continue developing their strategic relations and coordinating stances over regional and international issues, in the realm of diplomacy they are overwhelmingly on their own. Hopefully, as tension wanes and reconstruction starts in full swing, we can expect more cooperation, rather than confrontations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers various United Nations atomic energy news. The United Nations Atomic Energy Commission met on September 10 and 11, 1947 and adopted the second report to the Security Council. The nations who voted in favor of the report are Australia, France, United States, Brazil, Canada, and China. Russia rejected the report, and Poland abstained. The proposals submitted by Russia involves the investigation of mining and production facilities and accounting of atomic materials, and the conduct of investigations in case of violation of the weapons ban.

The rebirth of the Silk Road presents itself as a possible change in the status quo in Central Asia. China's presents and influence in the region has been increasing in the past decade in the detriment of Russian influence. This paper analyzes the New Silk Road and Sino-Russian relations through the lens of liberalism, realism and neocolonialism. The Belt and Road Initiative presents itself as a revolutionary project however the changes it produces in terms of trade are minimal. Strategic aspects trump the trade related ones. The paper demonstrates that China needs Russia to participate in order to make the project successful while Russia should participate in order to limit China from taking control over the region, thus realism is they school of thought together with neocolonialism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How does power shape foreign policy attitudes? Drawing on advances in psychological research on power, I argue that the sense of relative state power explains foreign policy hawkishness. The intuitive sense that "our state" is stronger than "your state" activates militant internationalism, an orientation centered on the efficacy of force and deterrence to achieve state aims. Beyond general orientation towards the world, this sense of power explains discrete attitudes towards pressing security issues, from threat perception in the South China Sea to nuclear weapons use against Iran. Five original surveys across the US, China, and Russia, as well as an experiment fielded on the US public, lend support to these claims. The psychological effects of state power overshadow dispositional traits common in behavioral IR, like individuals' personalities and moral proclivities. More surprisingly, power changes individuals, making hawks of even the most dovish. Taken together, the paper presents a "first image reversed" challenge to standard bottom-up accounts of foreign policy opinion and offers unique explanatory leverage in a potential era of US decline, China's rise, and Russian belligerence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]