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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]

Objective: To describe the mental health care system in Russia against the background of rapid social, economic and political change since the late 1980s. Method: Indicators of social stress and deteriorating population mental health and official data on service provision are presented. Results: In the current system of psychiatric care dispensaries take a central position. Key issues of the discussion on mental health care include ways of coping with social stress disorders, strategies to redefine psychiatric rehabilitation in a changed social-economic context and steps towards strengthening social support networks for people with mental illness. Following political abuse of psychiatry, professionals have had to face justified and unjustified accusations, and been faced with a general challenge to their role. Conclusion: Tackling problems of social stress, the integration of mental health care in the general medical care system and the building-up of general hospital in-patient psychiatric units are of strategic importance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper contributes to the literature by proposing an analysis of digital inequalities in Russia that focuses on two aspects hitherto under explored: the interregionality (by comparing and contrasting eight federal districts) and the multidimensionality of digital inequalities (by taking into account the three levels of digital divide). Therefore, the aim is to address the phenomenon of digital divide in Russia by discussing the three levels of the digital divide (access / skills / benefits) in a comparative and interregional perspective. Design/methodology/approach: This paper uses secondary data for its analysis, including both national (e.g. the total number of daily Internet users in Russia) and more regionalized data (related to particular federal districts of Russia). The choice of data sources was determined by an attempt to provide a detailed and multifaceted coverage of all three levels of the digital divide in Russia, which is not limited to the access problem only. For this purpose, we are using and re-elaborating various reports about the development of the Internet and ICTs in Russia prepared by national and international organizations to cover the first level of the digital divide. To shed light upon the second and third levels of the digital divide, we discuss digital literacy report (2018), the report on Internet openness index of Russian regions (2017) and the report on the digital life index of the Russian regions (2016). Finally, in the attempt to map out the key directions of the state policy aimed at decreasing digital inequality in Russia, on both federal and regional levels, we analyze the most important regional and national policy measures to foster digitalization such as the digital Russia program, the digital government program and the program of eliminating digital inequality in Russia. Findings: We consider this study to be both a first exploration and a baseline of the three level digital divides in Russia. The paper shows how the level of socioeconomic development of the federal districts, as well as a number of objective factors (distance/isolation, urbanization level, availability of infrastructure and costs for building new infrastructure, etc.) have impact upon digitalization of the regions. As a result, several federal districts of Russia (Central, Northwestern, and, in a number of cases, Ural and Volga federal districts) more often than others take leading positions in rankings, in terms of degree of Internet penetration, audience numbers, use of e-services, etc. This correlation, however, is not universal as we will show, and some regions lacking behind in terms of access can be booming in terms of digital literacy or other factors, like it happened with the Far Eastern Federal district for example. All in all, our research showed that digital inequality in Russia is still on place and will require more time for complete elimination, even though current state and public initiatives are being actively developed. Originality/value: This paper will bring to light meaningful insights into the three levels of digital divides in Russia. Based on a multilevel (three levels of digital divide) and multi-sectional approach (the interplay of different types of inequalities), this paper contributed to overall better understanding of the digital inequalities phenomenon in Russia. It also allowed for a comparative interregional perspective, which has been missing in most papers on digital inequalities in Russia so far. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides an analysis of the determinants of regional government debt in the Russian Federation using data from 2005–2017. We document that total indebtedness of Russian regions has grown substantially since 2010 and find significant changes in the structure of regional debt, primarily the increased use of budget credits offered by the federal government. Market debt instruments are determined by a different set of factors than non-market instruments. In fact, poorer and less fiscally independent regions have lower access to budget credits and are forced to rely on more expensive market debt instruments, particularly commercial loans. Budget credits and commercial loans are shown to be substitutes, although the nature of this substitution is contrary to declared redistributive goals of public policy. Finally, we find the presence of horizontal strategic interactions in debt issuance across Russian regions: regions react positively to increased debt issuance in the same federal district. [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]

Ostensibly, Joe Biden's victory over Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential elections should have placed United States international policy back on a familiar path. However, despite the prevalence of a highly traditional vision of US foreign policy, the Biden administration has maintained significant continuities with the previous administration, as reflected in the policy towards China and the withdrawal from Afghanistan. In part, this is due to the constraints produced by the deep divisions that exist at domestic level. This paper aims to unravel the fundamental elements of Biden's foreign policy, focusing on possible ideological and doctrinal elements, strategic priorities, and any continuities and changes relative to his predecessor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Life expectancy at birth has attracted interest in various fields, as a health indicator that measures the quality of life. Its appeal relies on the ability to enclose and summarize all the factors affecting longevity. However, more granular information, provided by social indicators such as cause-of-death mortality rates, plays a crucial role in defining appropriate policies for governments to achieve well-being and sustainability goals. Unfortunately, their availability is not always guaranteed. Exploiting the relationship between life expectancy at birth and cause-of-death mortality rates, in this paper we propose an indirect model to produce estimates of death rates due to specific causes using the summary indicator of life expectancy at birth, thus the general levels of the observed mortality. By leveraging on a constrained optimization procedure, we ensure a robust framework where the cause-specific mortality rates are coherent to the aggregate mortality. The main advantage is that indirect estimations allow us to overcome the data availability problem: very often the cause-specific mortality data are incomplete, whereas data on the aggregate mortality are not. Using data from the Human Cause-of-Death Database, we show a numerical application of our model to two different countries, Russia and Spain, which have experienced a different evolution of life expectancy and different leading causes of death. In Spain, we detected the impact of several public health policies on the lowered levels of cancer deaths and related life expectancy increases. As regards the Russia, our results catch the effects of the anti-alcohol campaign of 1985–1988 on longevity changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the impact a Russian amended law concerning state secrets is having on science publishing by Russian scientists. It states President Vladimir Putin used a decree in May 2015 expanding the scope of a law requiring scientists get permission from the Federal Security Service prior to publishing results which could have industrial or military applications. It reports Russian universities are requiring scientists seek approval to the publication of any findings without exception.

This essay sheds light on Soviet and Russian Foreign Policy through use of the “critical geopolitical” concept of the “geo-code.” A state’s “geo-code” refers to the construction of narratives regarding its own space and history over time. Borrowing from Klaus Dodd’s ideal-type categories, which he uses to explain geo-coded narratives of British policy (“little England,” “cosmopolitan,” “European” and “American”), this paper proposes to utilize combinations of four ideal-type categories, “Atlantic/European,” “ethnic Russian,” “Eurasian” and “super power,” in order to analyze and explain Soviet and Russian foreign policy. The first section applies the metaphor of a photograph to the memoirs of several foreign policy leaders: Andrei Gromyko and Eduard Shevardnadze in the Soviet-era; and Andrei Kozyrev, Evgenii Primakov and Serghei Ivanov in contemporary Russia. The paper shows how the composite image of Russia held by these individuals shaped the state’s foreign policy. It also stresses that different concepts of sovereignty have been sustained or reconstructed within Soviet/Russian international law theories in dialogue with changes in images held by the foreign policy leader. The latter half of the paper further develops this theory in order to apply it to Putin’s current Russian foreign policy perception of Northeast Asia, and particularly of China and Japan. From the late Soviet period under Gorbachev to the early Russian period of Yeltsin, Japan was considered as one of the “rising” powers able to aid Russia’s political and economic transition, and it was widely recognized that the relationship would be facilitated by a peace treaty resolving the territorial issue between the two countries. However, following reconciliation between Russia and China, China became the more important partner for Russia, not only in Northeast Asia but also throughout Eurasia. Following its disengagement with the West after the Ukraine crisis in 2014, Russia’s image of itself as close to “Europe” slipped, while that of the state as “ethnic Russian” and “Eurasian” that must become a “great power” to oppose the US was emphasized. This has meant that Japan is no longer an essential partner from the viewpoint of Russia’s dominant foreign policy images. In turn, the significance of China has increased and developed for Russia beyond the two countries historical “love-hate” relationship. Not only policy makers but also ordinary people look to China as Russia’s “No.1” partner, while the United States is its indefatigable “enemy.” There is no room for Japan in this picture while Japan remains so dependent on the US for security matters. In the conclusion, the paper debunks the myths associated with “classical geopolitics,” which associate foreign policy solely with perceptions of state power and geography. It shows that a “geo-politics” which links the positivist and constructive approaches, and which seeks to account for various analytical scales—from micro to macro, below/beyond the state—can analyze foreign policy change more effectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable development has increasingly entered into the Arctic context. For Russia, the Arctic means enormous natural resources and potential for the country's social and economic well-being. The focus of this paper is the dynamics of environmental and Arctic legislation in Russia; attention is also given to the rationale and justification of legal implications of sustainable development in the Russian Arctic. Specifically, it discusses barriers in transitioning to sustainable development and estimates relevant legal tools used over the last three decades applicable to the Arctic territories. The general idea is that despite strong political will to promote sustainable development, Russia's unstable economy has impeded the country's sustainability development objectives. Consequently, resource-based development is prioritized over environmental concerns and puts environmentally fragile territories, like the Arctic, at great risk. The research methods include context analysis of the Russian federal and regional laws and contextual interviews at the federal and regional government levels. The results of the research are the identification of achievements and deficiencies in the rule of law related to sustainable development of the Russian Arctic as well as policy recommendations for public authorities. The paper outlines that as long as Russian legislation lacks specific rules addressing sustainability in the Russian Arctic, it would be difficult for the government to implement international principles of sustainable development across this territory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the role of forests in national climate policies of two countries very rich in woods: Russia and Canada. Canada has made efforts to reduce direct CO2 emissions in the national economy, intensify forestry, and increase greenhouse gas sequestration by forests. Russia focuses on the verification and recalculation of the carbon sequestration capacity of its forests. Analysis of the Russian and Canadian stationary models used to assess the carbon sequestration capacity of forests (ROBUL and CBM-CFS, respectively) shows that both the Canadian model and the Russian one derived from it reflect the stationary dynamics of forest stands, which inevitably results in a downward CO2 absorption trend. Even if the forest inventory is updated on a regular basis, the predictive components of such models are unable to take into account the variability of forest ecosystems and their adaptation to climate change. Models that describe global carbon fluxes (e.g., ones using FLUXNET and remote sensing data) provide significantly higher net carbon sequestration values and indicate a nondecreasing net carbon accumulation trend in forests. It is concluded that stationary and remote sensing models should be used together to assess net carbon sequestration and formulate key principles of national climate policies in countries rich in forests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We compare three countries where public policy has explicitly sought to align incentives of employers and educational institutions around closing the gap between skill formation and labor market demand. In large, heterogeneous countries such as the United States, Russia and China, collaborative arrangements such apprenticeships and other forms of public-private partnerships can be constructed at the subnational level by building on direct, face-to-face ties across educational, business, government, and civic sectors. Drawing on existing literature as well as fieldwork studying a number of specific cases in the three countries, the paper develops a typology of such arrangements and proposes an explanation for the observed variation. It emphasizes the importance of two sets of factors: those that induce cooperation on the part of firms and schools, and those that influence the character of such partnerships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of the study is to discuss and critically assess the outcomes of the Foresight study of the Russian energy sector, undertaken in 2014 in the course of a large-scale national Foresight exercise – “Science and Technology (S&T) Foresight 2030”.Design/methodology/approach In this paper, the author performs an ex post evaluation of the Foresight study. The methods used are the literature review of the research and analytical publications that appeared after 2014, policy analysis of new national energy regulations and technologies, interviews and expert panels, and performing a final SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis of the Foresight study.Findings As a result of the study, the expediency, efficacy, process efficiency, quality, impact and process improvement of the National S&T Foresight 2030 were assessed. Moreover, the SWOT for the National Foresight and its energy-related outcomes were identified. The National Foresight methodology and its outcomes are critically reviewed, and recommendations for their refinement are made.Research limitations/implications Future research on the topic may include subsequent ex ante and ex post evaluations of energy technology foresights that will include revised lists of technologies, given the rapidly changing energy markets, as well as an assessment of the integration of the study results in the energy and S&T policy documents.Practical implications The practical implications of the study are linked with turning the prospective R&D areas identified through the Foresight into state priorities for funding energy research. Energy companies may utilize the study results in their development plans and R&D strategies.Originality/value This paper offers a valuable insight in the future of energy research and technologies in Russia. It is a comprehensive study that covers all energy aspects from extraction of hydrocarbons to fuel cells and nuclear energy. An ex post assessment of the study is made with implications for the future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews some government policy measures aimed at strengthening competition in the Russian university market and looks at the best international practices in this area. It analyzes the competitive behavior of universities under the current government policy on higher education and research and development and suggests an approach to assessing the efficiency of government stimulation of competition among universities and to predicting the outcomes of applying existing stimulation tools. This paper presents the results of assessing the current level of competition in the Russian university market using a nonstructural method, an adjusted Panzar-Rosse competition assessment model. We used the value of grants received by universities as part of government orders as one of the model factors and also analyzed the effects of other factors describing the size, entrance requirements, and research activities of universities. This article investigates how university income depends on the value of grants received (a ratio of total income to the size of grants) and on the number of students and teachers. The level of competition in this market is characterized by the elasticity of the total income of an average university based on the value of grants received. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Since the fall of communism in 1989 and the opening up of borders afterwards, the EU has had a number of anomalous and specific border cases. Each of these must be treated differently based on historical and geographic considerations. It must also be taken into account how these borders function concerning security matters. This paper looks at the Polish - Russian border and how it is being managed by the Republic of Poland. The paper argues that securitization and border permeability should not be thought of as competing forces. Instead they are part of a wider picture and should be treated as balancing forces. The paper likewise argues that Poland is maintaining a balancing act between these two forces by allowing both securitizing the border as it sees fit and allowing the legislation of the Small Border Traffic (SBT) zone to continue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines emerging prospects for Russia–India cooperation. While the two countries can collaborate in various areas of mutual interest, the paper identifies possible challenges and effects on the cooperation in the Arctic region. The sanctions imposed by the West could impede Russian energy projects in the Arctic. This could force the state to find a way to replace Western technologies through enhancing capacities of national industry and developing cooperation with other states, including Asian countries. This shift is also bolstered by the political interest to strengthen the position of Russia in the Asian region as a whole, and to increase the country's energy security. The paper provides an overview of the Russian and Indian interest and policy in the Arctic, and presents the perspectives and challenges for both countries. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper proposes a tripartite framework of transportation, transformation and translation to conceptualise the circulation, mutation and impacts of mobile policies as translocal, socio-material networks. Drawing on material from semi-structured interviews, participant observation and documents it considers the value of this framework by examining the mobility of the sustainability agenda of the Winter Olympic Games 2014 in Sochi, Russia. The paper shows how sustainability policies were packaged and mobilised to flow to Russia (transportation), how ineffective governance arrangements, a lack of institutional controls and time pressure altered them (transformation) and how the results fell far short of initial bid commitments (translation). As such, it sheds light onto the multiple immobilities and mutations that come with the attempts to mobilise policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose To define strategic directions for the Russia’s social, economic, scientific and technological development in 2011-2013, a large-scale foresight study including the deep analysis of prospects of biotechnology development there was undertaken (Russia 2030: Science and Technology Foresight). This paper aims to present results of this research.Design/methodology/approach The study was based on a combination of technology-push and market-pull approaches that aimed not only to identify most promising science and technology (S&T) areas but also to understand how they can be realized in practice. Representatives from federal authorities, science and business were involved in the project to create future visions of technological directions; analyze grand challenges, weak signals and wild cards; and set research and development (R&D) priorities.Findings According to results of the study, Russia has a potential for biotech sector development, although the level of R&D in the majority of areas is lagging behind that in the USA and leading EU countries. However, there are several advanced applied research areas where efforts can be focused. Among them are high-performance genomics and post-genomics research platforms, systems and structural biology, microbial metabolic engineering, plant biotechnology and microbial strains and consortia for development of symbiotic plant–microbial communities.Originality/value Concentration of available resources of government and business on biotechnological sector development can help to find answers for challenges that Russia faces today or will face tomorrow. It will help to pick up on the current level of research activities, improve the quality of personnel training, make this area the engine of the economy and carry out the so-called new industrialization of the country, building a new, high-tech device industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fundamental reform of Russia’s military has passed through a number of distinct phases since its inception in late 2008. This paper describes the phase of consolidation and stability begun in early 2011. Based on research to June 2012, and pre-dating the replacement of Anatoliy Serdyukov as Russian Defence Minister, the paper shows how early planning and forecasting deficiencies were addressed from 2011 onward, with continuing support at the highest level for the overall aims of military reform. Ongoing problems such as procurement and manpower are discussed as serious challenges to Russian military aspirations, and further specific challenges affecting each individual arm of service are described. In conclusion, Russia’s new military capabilities, and the state’s rationale for introducing them, are considered. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The term “civil society” in Russia is often taken to refer to civic organisations and movements created during and after the break-up of the Soviet Union, and is sometimes equated narrowly with “NGOs” – registered non-government, non-commercial, or public organisations. This paper attempts to look at civil society more widely. It considers both registered organisations and more spontaneous/informal civic actions; and follows local experts in challenging the idea that Russian civil society began in 1989–91. The paper considers both recent developments on the ground, and analyses by historians, sociologists, and political scientists that go back to soviet and pre-soviet periods. Société civile russe : toile de fond, actualité et perspectives futures L'expression « société civile » en Russie est souvent interprétée comme se référant aux organisations et mouvements civiques créés durant et après le morcellement de l'Union soviétique, et elle est souvent étroitement assimilée aux « ONG » - organisations immatriculées non gouvernementales, non commerciales ou publiques. Cet article tente d'examiner la société civile de manière plus large. Il considère à la fois des organisations immatriculées et des actions civiques plus spontanées/informelles ; et il emboîte le pas à des experts locaux en mettant en question l'idée selon laquelle la société civile russe est née en 1989–91. Cet article se penche à la fois sur les récents progrès sur le terrain et sur les analyses menées par des historiens, des sociologues et des politologues qui remontent aux périodes soviétique et pré-soviétique. La sociedad civil rusa: antecedentes y prospectivas actuales y futuras Frecuentemente, en Rusia se utiliza el término “sociedad civil” para referirse a organizaciones y a movimientos cívicos creados durante y después del colapso de la Unión Soviética, a veces equiparándose estrechamente con “ONG”—organizaciones públicas, no gubernamentales, no comerciales y registradas. El presente artículo pretende examinar a la sociedad civil más amplia. En este sentido, revisa tanto las organizaciones registradas como las acciones cívicas, informales y más espontáneas; también da cuenta de la opinión de los expertos locales, quienes cuestionan la idea de que la sociedad civil rusa comenzó en 1989–1991. El artículo examina los acontecimientos que han ocurrido recientemente sobre el terreno, así como aquellos análisis hechos por historiadores, sociólogos y científicos políticos que se remontan a los periódicos soviético y presoviético. Sociedade civil russa: experiências passadas, perspectivas atuais e futuras O termo “sociedade civil” na Rússia é frequentemente usado para se referir a organizações e movimentos civis criados durante e após o colapso da União Soviética e às vezes é quase equiparado a “ONGs” – Organizações Não-Governamentais registradas, organizações não-comerciais ou organizações públicas. Este artigo visa examinar a sociedade civil mais amplamente. Ele considera tanto as organizações registradas quanto as ações civis mais espontâneas/informais; e segue especialistas locais que contestam a ideia de que a sociedade civil russa teve início em 1989–91. O artigo considera os desdobramentos recentes na base e análises de historiadores, sociólogos e cientistas políticos que regressam para os períodos soviéticos e pré-soviéticos. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social and psychological adaptation in a new country can be more or less successful depending on a number of factors. Research into behavioral patterns of migrants residing in Russia has revealed differences in their acculturation strategies and other expressions of migrant ethnic identity. These is a noticeable dependence on types of migrant settlement which can be compact or widespread. Local host population also demonstrates an unequal attitude toward compactly and diffusely settled migrants. This paper describes an attempt to find and analyze correlations between the length of residing in a new ethno-cultural environment, involvement in regional ethnic communities, contact with the host population, and ethnic identity. Differences in adaptation strategies develop three main ethnic identity models. Each model reflects general indicators of migrant adjustability to a new environment and new life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses Russian regulation and implementation of website blocking in copyright cases. In Russia, right holders can apply for preliminary website blocking injunctions, which allow the restriction of access to websites used to commit copyright infringements. This gives right holders time to submit a claim against the website operator or hosting provider. In addition, the Russian parliament recently introduced permanent website blocking orders that can be used against websites, which repeatedly infringe copyright. This paper looks into the main trends related to website blocking in Russia: implementation of permanent website blocking, over blocking and lack of proportionality, difficulty to appeal website blocking decisions and the emerging practice of preventive website blocking. When analysing Russian developments the article puts them into context with practices in the EU and UK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the present article is to establish what links there may be between leadership styles and war and peace policies in the Russia–Chechen conflict. To do so, we analyze the styles of two unrecognized executive leaders, Aslan Maskhadov and Doku Umarov, both of whom were involved in the same conflict with different peace policies. The structure of the paper is as follows. First, we overview the literature on leadership styles in armed conflict situations and construct a theoretical framework. Second, we review the historical and biographical context. Third, we examine the interview content-analysis methodology for the measuring of leadership style. Fourth, we classify Maskhadov and Umarov on the basis of leadership styles, and compare policies implemented by these leaders with those of other leaders in a context of internal armed conflict. Finally, we present conclusions and future prospects. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia has positioned itself as a modernising country (re)built on the profits of its energy boom and the efforts of, currently, over four million labour migrants, the majority from Central Asia. Far too many migrants endure an extremely precarious everyday as they are forced to live in what this article describes as a citywide state of exception, within which legal frameworks protecting migrants are ignored or misinterpreted to the benefit of the market. Many migrants who desire ‘legality’ are forced into ‘illegality’ by their employers and landlords refusing to register their documents correctly, increasing their vulnerability. Such abuses are facilitated by the state construction of migrants as diseased and criminal, which in turn becomes embedded into cultural imaginations. Employing Mbembe’s theory of necropolitics, this paper theorises how these constructions position migrants as superfluous and that they can be ‘let to die’. The research demonstrates that migrants are simultaneously visible and invisible to the state; with the latter, the legal uncertainty denies migrants access to welfare and a voice within the city, but they are visible for exploitation both in terms of their labour and the political capital gained from their presence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores how senior citizens in the far north-eastern Russian city of Magadan have restructured their lives in order to ensure their survival in the face of enduring post-Soviet marginalization. While this is an extreme example of the problems Russia's senior citizens must now face, due to the city's remoteness, climate and high cost of living, the discussions have resonance for the rest of the country. To enable the analysis of this group's survival strategies the paper will first examine the reasons why they are needed, looking at the “creation” of poverty at the collapse of the Soviet Union and the fragmented response of the state to these issues. The paper's final section examines the worrying trends that can be identified in the Russian government's attempts to restructure its social policy with regards to ageing. These reforms, it is argued, will further destabilize the everyday lives of Russia's senior citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents two sets of arguments: one theoretical and one analytical. The theoretical arguments concern the relationship between regional ordering and systemic change. The paper questions the usefulness of the unipolar conception of the contemporary system arguing that the interaction of the Great Powers cannot be understood without reference to regional dynamics. Thus, a unipolar system implies considerable potential for U.S. hegemonic intervention at the regional level but in East Asia, we find an equilibrium constructed out of both material and normative forces, defined as a concert, which presents a considerable restraint on all powers, including the U.S. The paper then proceeds to examine these claims through an analysis of the foreign policies of the U.S., Russia, and China over the North Korean nuclear problem that emerged after 2002. It finds that China and Russia have substantive common interests arising from internal and external re-ordering in which they look to strategic partnerships, regional multilateralism, and systemic multipolarization as inter-locking processes. The paper finds that they have collaborated over the Korean crisis to prevent a U.S. unilateral solution but that this should not be construed as a success for an open counterhegemonic strategy as it was only under the constraining conditions of East Asian concert, including the dynamics within the U.S. alliance systems, that this collaboration was successful. Nevertheless, the paper concludes that regional multipolarity and systemic unipolarity are contradictory: a system that exhibits multipolarization at the regional level cannot be characterized as unipolar at the global level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Unrecorded homemade alcohol consumption has been less examined in the literature. Previous studies of homemade alcohol in Russia have almost entirely focused upon the use of samogon (moonshine) attributed to the northern style of drinking. No systematic analysis is available regarding the production and consumption of homemade wine. This paper explores the drinking patterns demonstrated by consumers of samogon and homemade wine in Russia. The main factors affecting the consumption of these beverages are investigated.Methods: Data were collected from a 2014 nationwide survey of 14,986 respondents aged 15+ years. Beverage preferences, volume of consumed alcohol, drinking habits, and alcohol availability were the main measures reported. Demographic, socio-economic, spatial, and policy-related factors affecting homemade alcohol consumption are examined using logistic regression.Results: The percentages of samogon and homemade wine consumers were similar, although a greater volume of samogon in pure alcohol was consumed compared to homemade wine. The groups of samogon and homemade wine consumers showed very little overlap. Unlike homemade wine consumers, samogon drinkers consumed larger amounts of alcohol and were more engaged in frequent and excessive drinking, drinking without meals and drinking in marginal public settings. Gender, education, regional affiliation, and type of residence showed opposite associations with regard to the consumption of samogon and homemade wine. Availability of homemade alcohol in the neighbourhood was the most influential predictor due to respondents' own production, presence of homemade alcohol in friendship networks and at illegal market. The prices of manufactured alcohol and the consumption of homemade alcohol did not show significant relationships.Conclusion: Consumers of samogon and homemade wine demonstrate contrasting drinking patterns that are largely driven by different factors. Samogon is consumed in a more hazardous manner, whereas homemade wine is consumed in a more moderate and law-abiding way. Illegal commercial samogon should be a special concern for alcohol policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, the Winter Olympic Games in Russia and the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup in Brazil have drawn attention as much for politics as the excitement of the competitions. Russia’s pursuance of discriminatory homosexual policies made it the target of international rights groups; Brazil’s exploitation of the poor for the sake of hosting the World Cup led to several high-profile protests ahead of the event. These large-scale international sporting competitions provide a ready-made platform for naming and shaming states that may have dubious human rights records. The question remains as to whether or not the shaming of these host states by international groups effectively changes a state’s behavior. This paper argues that states facing increased global media attention while hosting an event are likely to substitute repression of physical integrity rights with repression of civil and political rights in an effort to maintain favorable appearances internationally. However, I find support for both physical and expressive rights improving in states when shaming is conditioned on the selection to host an international sporting event. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Russia attempts to leverage itself onto the global stage and be portrayed as a global power that must be consulted on major global issues. It does so in order to claim a status of equality with the United States and force it to consider Russian interests before the United States acts in those regions where Russia claims to have vital or important interests, even though its ability to play on a truly global stage is quite limited. Nevertheless, for the reasons advanced above, in Latin America Moscow endeavors to cut a global figure, even if its commercial presence there pales relative to the U.S. or Chinese presence. Although world attention now focuses on Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Moscow is once again simultaneously expanding its presence in Latin America. Since this process has received little scrutiny, this paper attempts to provide an assessment of Moscow's goals, strategies, tactics, and policy instruments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using data from fieldwork conducted in late 2009, this paper examines the Russian educational sphere and initiatives by the political elite to control and manipulate textbook content, testing objectives, and the structuring of curricula in order to maximize exposure to, and absorption of, its preferred narratives. Using a more detailed critical analysis of textbook content, I show that methods of discursive manipulation are used to highlight positive aspects of the Stalinist period - especially victory in World War II - while downplaying its political repression. This manipulation allows the state to both legitimize its version of Stalinist history and to perpetuate the underlying legitimizing function that version serves. In this way, the discourse implicitly justifies Putin's centralized state as the type of system that has historically produced great achievements for Russia. This article adds to the literature on the manipulation of educational content for political purposes generally, and in the case of Russia specifically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gender-based discrimination is found in all economies in the world. Women's unpaid work accounts for about half of the world GDP, yet women remain under-valued and under-represented in national policies worldwide. The question of gender budgeting and citizens' participation in budgeting and governance processes has gained attention in recent years, but Russia is far from implementing these. Instead, blindness to gender issues dominates in national strategies and budgets. This paper explores these issues and looks in-depth at them in the decentralisation process in Bashkortostan, a central Russian republic. Civil society institutions whose role is to strengthen the links between government, civil society and the community in Bashkortostan, such as Public Chambers and Municipalities, lack the capacity to introduce participatory gender budgeting. As a result, no systematic participatory planning, let alone planning that is gender-sensitive, has taken place there. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we examine the issue of environmental responsibility in the Russian Federation by engaging in responsibility narratives with environmental nongovernmental organisations (NGOs). We do so to examine in more depth the impact of the deinstitutionalisation of environmental responsibility in Russia throughout the transition period. We find that while NGOs regard the state and other key actors to have abdicated in their responsibility for protecting the natural environment, Russian environmental NGOs appear unable to substitute for these actors. Consequently, the Russian environment remains largely unprotected and thus subject to continuing irresponsibility in the field of environmental protection and pollution control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the ways in which various Russian NGO5, involved in litigation at the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), have worked to advocate for improved domestic implementation of rulings made by the Court. The paper traces these advocacy activities in four key problem areas for Russia's implementation of the Convention: (1) domestic judges' knowledge and citation of the European Convention or ECtHR case law: (2) the execution of domestic court judgments by Russian state bureaucratic bodies; (3) extrajudicial disappearances and killings in anti-terrorist military operations in the North Caucasus; and (4) torture or inhumane treatment in police detention. The author finds that the impact Russian NGOs can have upon domestic implementation depends greatly upon the professional cultures and incentives of the actors involved as well as whether or not prevention of violations is compatible with other high-level Russian government agendas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents the materials of the special issue "Institutions. Networks and Trust in European-Russian relations" offering various interdisciplinary perspectives on EU-Russia relations, The positions of the authors of the special edition are analysed in the context of both Western and Russian literature on EU-Russia relations. This analysis is conducted within the framework of close to Constructivism "security community" approach that stresses the role of common interests, shared values, communications, interpersonal contacts and trust in overcoming conflicts. In this context, the emergence of new 'dividing lines' in Europe is considered as the result of crisis of trust and institutional crisis in EU- Russia relations. From this point of view the recent literature on the roots of European-Russian conflict, on connections between Russian domestic and foreign policy, on value-interest dilemma in Western-Russian relations, on the new Cold War/Cold Peace theory, on the structure of EU policy towards Russia and internal splits inside EU is reviewed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the significance of sustainable municipal energy management has not yet been widely recognized in Ukraine, important steps to popularize this idea among local authorities have been taken through the introduction of the Display® campaign in 11 Ukrainian municipalities. This European voluntary energy and environmental performance certification system of buildings aims to encourage local authorities to publicly demonstrate the energy and environmental performance of their buildings and to thereby convince citizens to stop wasting energy and water. This paper analyzes to what extent the campaign has been valuable for sustainable energy management in those Ukrainian cities that have set an example of an active bottom-up approach to enhancing the integration of a former Soviet Union country in the European Union on account of their support of the associations Energy Cities and 'Energy Efficient Cities of Ukraine', as well as their own endeavors to implement EU climate protection policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the present condition and future prospects for post-Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (post-START) nuclear arms reductions in the following sequence. First, we review the essential features of the agreement between Obama and Russian President Dmitri Medvedev in July 2009, for a START follow-on agreement. Second, we discuss the larger political and military-strategic contexts within which these post-START negotiations will play out. Third, we perform an analysis to determine whether the START follow-on guidelines would meet prospective requirements for mutual deterrence and, in addition, whether US-Russian reductions could safely go even lower. Fourth, we take a specific look at the estimated impact of defenses on deterrence stability under post-START reductions. Fifth, pertinent conclusions are summarized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers a framing comment on the two papers published in the journals "Russia's Energy Policy" and "Russia's Energy Policy: A Divergent View." The author, a specialist on the Russian economy, contended that Russia's current energy policy should be regarded as a consequence of competition between three overlapping programs. In this consideration, he keys out three policy models that include the old Soviet, the liberal and the state capitalist.