AbstractFeatures of armed conflicts at the beginning of the 21st century are discussed through the prism of the theory of asymmetric conflict. Within the framework of this theory, basic and accompanying asymmetries are distinguished, which determine the reasons for the political, rather than military, defeat of developed countries in wars against relatively weak opponents. At the beginning of the 21st century, most armed conflicts have pronounced signs of multiple asymmetries that affect the course and outcome of conflicts. On the basis of the theory, several important aspects can be distinguished that should be taken into account by the military and politicians when planning and conducting military operations. Among them are the legitimacy of military operations from the point of view of international law, neutralization of antiwar sentiments, minimization of losses of military personnel, and ensuring the safety of the population in the war zone. Foreign analytics is characterized by a focus on the reasons for the failures of the United States and other Western countries in military operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and Syria. Among the reasons for the failures are a lack of understanding of the culture and characteristics of the countries where hostilities are conducted, the regime of occupation, and attempts at nation-building. Some foreign experts note that the Russian Federation is much more successful in participating in asymmetric conflicts of the 21st century. Among Russian military experts, there is a noticeable interest in developing an “asymmetric war” strategy in the framework of the geopolitical confrontation with the countries of the West. The tendency toward developing noncontact methods of warfare and the involvement of private military companies and toward neutralizing antiwar sentiments and minimizing losses of military personnel has a universal character. At the same time, the problem of the nonselectivity of such methods of warfare and their compliance with international law is becoming more and more acute. The theory of asymmetric conflict is a theory of international relations, the main assumptions of which are useful for politicians and the military to consider when deciding on the start of hostilities and the possibility of achieving political goals by military means, and not just for finding victorious strategies in asymmetric conflicts.

AbstractThis article is a preliminary publication about a jewelry hoard found in the vicinity of the fortified settlement of Staraya Ryazan’ in 2021. The items of the hoard are described, the circumstances of its finding and characteristics of the site are presented, and a preliminary analysis of the hoard contents and its dating are provided. Based on analogies, primarily from hoard complexes found on the territory of Rus’, it is concluded that the date of the Isady hoard concealment falls within the late 11th–the first half of the 12th century. A preliminary analysis of technological and stylistic devices testifies to the uniqueness of the Isady hoard among synchronous finds, which is proved by a wide variety of objects representing samples of almost all known techniques and styles of the time of its concealment.

AbstractIn the early 1990s, strengthening the monetary system and increasing the role of money in the development of the national economy were important conditions for the transition of the Soviet Union to the foundations of a market economy. As is known, stabilization of monetary circulation and reduction of inflationary processes can be achieved both through the implementation of monetary and anti-inflationary policies and through the implementation of monetary reform. This is the kind of reform that was carried out in the Soviet Union in early 1991.

AbstractThe main vectors of the US foreign policy strategy regarding the countries of Central Asia (CA) after the collapse of the Soviet Union are analyzed. It is noted that there are three main vectors in the US strategy in Central Asia: geopolitical, economic, and political−ideological, and humanitarian, which in many cases are closely intertwined with each other. Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are of the main interest to the United States there. The authors draw attention to the fact that the US strategy in this region has an obvious anti-Russian and anti-Chinese orientation, which has intensified during the crisis of 2021‒2022, caused by the refusal of the United States and its allies to meet the legitimate claims of the Russian Federation adequately to ensure its security.

AbstractThe environmental determination of indigenous (constantly present) bifidobacteria of the human large intestine is considered in this review. Environmental determination (from the Latin determinere, “I determine”) is understood as a set of natural phenomena of a habitat (biotope) that determine the role of indigenous microorganisms in the microbiocenosis. Using the symbiotic approach, an attempt is made to identify the environmental conditions for the habitat of bifidobacteria and their physiological effects in the microsymbiocenosis. The features of indigenous bifidobacteria in terms of their nature have been established: evolutionary−genetic (phylogenetic remoteness, genome conservation, metabolic specialization), biochemical (lysozyme resistance, constitutive acetate production), and physiological (microbial “friend−foe” identification, immunoregulation), which are important in adaptation (persistence) and the provision of mutualistic effects and stability of the bifidoflora in the population.

AbstractThe last period of the existence of the Golden Horde and its relations with Muscovite Rus and the Polish–Lithuanian state have been considered, and the gradual degradation of the Horde statehood has been shown, including the change in the relations of the Tatar rulers with former Russian tributaries.

AbstractThe structure, priorities, conceptual framework, methods, and resources of EU policies in the Official Development Assistance (ODA) program are considered. Research shows that the EU funding of ODA programs for the post-Soviet space hiked fourfold between 2010 and 2020. The share of funding for Central Asian states decreased substantially compared to the Western part of the post-Soviet space against the background of confrontation with Russia, as well as due to presidential elections in Belarus. This paper argues that this redistribution is caused by geopolitical factors of EU policy. A conclusion is drawn that the recent declarations by the EU leadership about strengthening the “hard” power and the “geopolitical” agenda are not new and reflect long-term trends in EU foreign policy. Thus, a significant share of ODA funds is traditionally allocated to “social infrastructure,” strengthening Brussels’ control over the sociopolitical sphere in target countries of the periphery, aiming to bring them under EU influence in the economy, governance, goal setting, and ideology. This policy serves the interests of the EU, entrenching asymmetrical “metropole–periphery” relations between the EU and target counties.

AbstractThe paper sets as its goal to take a closer look at heritage of Muscovite Russia from the archeological perspective, while presenting it as an archeological culture of a kind with the inherent distinctiveness. It considers the origin of Muscovite culture after the Horde invasion and a number of case studies from the fields of architecture, ornament, funerary customs, and crafts. The end of the 14th–early 15th century marks out a chronological threshold, crossing which this “archeological culture” can be deemed self-contained. The concepts are refined with respect to the genesis of a sarcophagus and gravestone slab. The paper assesses a role of the Eastern (Islam), Eastern Christian, and West European impulses in the development of material culture of “Muscovy.”

AbstractIt is proposed to consider the transition to postcapitalism not as the struggle of the oppressed for a more just and equal society without class antagonisms but as a process of gradual displacement of consumer individualism by expressive individualism. Within the framework of this perspective, postcapitalism is not a fundamentally new socioeconomic system built on the ruins of capitalism but a set of social relations developing with the gradual deactualization of materialistic values for a significant part of the population (material wealth, money, etc.) and the growing importance of postmaterialistic values (self-realization, the search for the true self, etc.). In this sense, many phenomena associated with modern identity politics can be attributed to postcapitalism. Nevertheless, this article criticizes the perception of identity politics as a set of strategies and ways of fighting for equality and justice, presented as an approximation to the ideals of socialism or communism (the so-called overcoming of “systemic oppression”). Today, the struggle for diverse identities testifies to the triumph of individualism, as well as a new round of the “war of all against all” and the destruction of the common lifeworld.

AbstractThe chronicle of the study of the most important aspects of the history of the New Economic Policy (NEP) over the century that has elapsed since the beginning of the NEP reforms is analyzed. Three definite periods can be distinguished in the NEP historiography: the Soviet stage, the Perestroika period, and the post-Soviet phase. At the same time, each period is characterized by a specific political situation, which left an imprint both on the degree of relevance and the priority of certain subjects in the study of NEP and on the methodological approaches to the study of these subjects. The author believes that, in the future, the most promising NEP studies will focus on the interface of areas: economic history and social history, economic history and the history of state institutions, military history and social history, etc.

AbstractThe state of collective farms after the 1958 Reform is considered. Radical reconstruction occurred in the agricultural sector of the Soviet economy. The collective farms turned out to be the owners of machines and agricultural tools, but without the necessary infrastructure for their work and without any experience in the organization of tractor operations. The equipment procurement turned many collective farms into debtors of the State, and in the future their expenses for production needs only grew. The Government tried to solve the problem of economically weak collective farms by combining them with the strong farms and converting them into state farms. In the new economic conditions, collective farm production did not have sufficient resources for development. The first years of the work of collective farms in the new conditions showed the need for a serious adjustment of the State agricultural policy.

AbstractIn this paper, the alignment of political forces in Novgorod on the eve and during the campaign of the Grand Duke of Moscow Ivan III is considered. The author points to the rivalry of the pro-Moscovian and pro-Lithuanian groups existing in various social strata within the Novgorod archdiocese and among the Novgorod aristocracy and “zhitny” people. —In this paper, the relationship between Moscow and Novgorod from the late 1450s to the early 1470s is studied. Based on new sources introduced by the author of this paper, it is established that the accession of Pskov, a “younger brother” of Novgorod, to Moscow did not take place in 1510, as stated in modern historiography, but in occurred in 1460. This radically changes the estimation of situation in Eastern Europe in the years 1460–1470. The transition of Pskov to under the rule of Moscow meant that a new and very large ruler appeared in the western lands of Russia, who could pose a threat to close states, such as Lithuania, Novgorod, and the Teutonic Order. The loss of Pskov influenced the position of Novgorod, which refused to pay the “black duty” as a tribute to the Golden Horde khans taking advantage of the illness of Grand Duke Vasilii II. The current situation threatened a big war. Both Novgorod and Moscow were looking for new allies. Moscow managed to neutralize at least the Livonian part of the Teutonic Order and the Golden Horde of Khan Akhmat. Novgorod was forced to enter into vassal relations with Casimir IV, King of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The transition of Novgorod from the power of Ivan III to the power of Casimir IV took place in the late autumn of 1470, but in the spring of 1471 the Moscow prince, having gathered great forces, began a war with Novgorod, in which he was supported by many Novgorodians who were economically connected with Moscow. The Novgorodians, having been defeated on the Shelon and Northern Dvina rivers, turned to Casimir IV for help, but their embassy was not allowed to visit him in Livonia. Left without military support, the Novgorodians went to peace. The Korostyn Treaty of August 11, 1471, prohibited Novgorod’s relations with Lithuanian princes and placed local courts under the control of Ivan III.

AbstractThe European Union’s successive enlargements had a qualitative impact on the nature of the integration organization, entailing changes in the agenda and priorities, institutions, and decision-making process and also changing the attitude of other international actors towards the European Union. The EU’s decision to grant candidate status to Ukraine reflects a fundamental change in the logic and goals of the enlargement policy and will have a strategic impact on the design of integration processes both within the EU and on its periphery. This article is devoted to two aspects of the ongoing changes: (1) the geopoliticization of the enlargement policy and (2) the further development of differentiation processes and the prospect for new forms of external differentiation (partial membership).

AbstractGermany’s transition to a climate-neutral economy, the main parameters of which were determined by the European Green Exchange Rate (December 2019) and clarified in the updated Law on Climate Protection of Germany (June 2021) and the EU Fit-for-55 program (July 2021), leads to the abandonment of the use of primary energy sources, including their importation from Russia. The energy transformation of the German market economy presumed a gradual restructuring of the existing model of German–Russian cooperation in the energy sector, including its transfer to priority cooperation in the field of energy efficiency and renewable energy sources. Brussels and Berlin responded to the special military operation of the Russian Federation on the territory of Ukraine with large-scale economic and political sanctions, which included significant restrictions on the import of Russian coal and oil. At the same time, the German federal authorities outlined the necessity to abandon Russian pipeline gas and petroleum products, as well as the deprivation of ownership of the two main players from the Russian Federation in the German oil and gas market—Gazprom and Rosneft. Their German partners have frozen participation in Russian projects. At the end of February, the certification of the Nord Stream-2 offshore gas pipeline was stopped. Interdepartmental state interaction and scientific and technical cooperation in the energy sector have been terminated. These events indicated the readiness of the government coalition in the short term to replace the previous model of energy cooperation, which has performed well for half a century, and to move to independence from Russian fossil resources and their derivatives. The author analyzes the reasons and content of the current measures taken by Berlin, as well as their medium- and long-term consequences for German–Russian cooperation.

AbstractSome features of the historiography covering the rule of Peter I are considered. The criticism of Petrine transformations that influenced the activities of merchants and the development of foreign trade and estimated judgments about the founding of St. Petersburg and its capital status is analyzed. A statement is put forward about Peter’s reforms as the starting point of Russia’s New Age.

AbstractThe article addresses the US National Strategy for Gender Equality and Equity, published in 2021, its structure and place in shaping the political agenda of Joe Biden’s administration.

AbstractNotwithstanding the difficulties of bilateral relations between the United States and China, both countries, given the current crisis in Ukraine, could possibly start a dialogue, openly or tacitly, to prevent a nuclear escalation of it, for the sake of their own survivability. All sides of the current conflict in Ukraine have a tunnel vision of their interests. However, the coordination of the United States and China over this conflict could have a positive effect both on Moscow and on Kiev.

AbstractThe article is based on the results of the Public Opinion Research Laboratory of the Institute of History of the RAS obtained during field studies of 2010–2021 and analyzes key elements of the Far Eastern Federal District residents’ views of the countries of East Asia—China, Japan, North Korea, and South Korea. The authors consider such basic elements of these notions as historical memory, economic and humanitarian needs of people, and external threats to regional and national security. It has been established that historical memory works selectively. With regard to China, it supports the uncertain feelings of Pacific Russians in the finality of resolving the border issue between the two countries, while Japanese territorial claims are primarily perceived through the prism of modern politics. However, neither one nor the other prevents the inhabitants of the region from being interested in history and culture of neighboring states, focusing their economic interests on interaction, first of all, with these three countries. It is China, Japan, and South Korea that they consistently view as major economic partners of Pacific Russia. The authors assess that the high level of development of these countries’ economies along with the uniqueness and attractiveness of authentic cultures, as well as positive assessments of the current state and prospects of bilateral relations en masse have become the forces of attraction that encourage the Far Easterners to give them their sympathies. At the same time, the countries of the Korean Peninsula receive much less attention in Pacific Russia, and their images are mostly neutral and vague. The authors also note that the stereotypes that were rooted in the minds of Russians more than a century ago (the refined culture of Japan and the poor, uncultured China) place these two countries on different floors in the rating of their sympathies: Japan was a stable and undisputed leader, while China, despite a noticeable rising popularity in recent years, along with South Korea remained in the middle. Finally, they conclude that a large proportion of the residents of the region, although they do not trust their Asian neighbors too much, are not only interested in economic interaction with the surrounding Asian world but are also psychologically committed to it.

AbstractThe legal mechanisms of business regulation in the Urals, Siberia, and the Far East under anti-Bolshevist governments are considered. The political and economic context of events of the Civil War in the eastern part of Russia is analyzed. The policy of the government towards restoring the rights of owners and the relative freedom of entrepreneurship, the provision of a network of commercial and industrial organizations, and the presence of a large number of lawyers in the supreme and central governing bodies of the anti-Bolshevist governments became major prerequisites for strengthening the role of legal regulators of business activity. In the eastern part of Russia, legal grounds were developed to continue the functioning of commercial and industrial institutions, which had lost contact with their legal owners or parent institutions. State power was expended and prolonged by the authorities, replacing the proxy and creating a temporary entity with the rights to enter transactions on behalf of the owner, including making financial commitments. The demands of government bodies for the full payment of debts by the owners, including the period when they had not managed their enterprises under the Soviet regime, were perceived as an injustice and an obstacle to the revival of industry, as was the desire not to subsidize the restoration of production activities, crediting them on commercial terms instead. However, the Civil War forced the authorities to restrict the rights of owners and their representatives to dispose of their property freely. It is crucially important that such restrictions were reversible and could be lifted upon exiting the emergency circumstances. Cases are also presented when anti-Bolshevist governments nationalized the property of private and cooperative enterprises, and the reasons for such decisions are analyzed.

AbstractThe sharp change in the geopolitical situation after the start of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine is already affecting the global energy markets. The gradual phasing out of Russian energy carriers announced by European countries puts on the agenda not only new energy routes but also new alternative energy sources. Most likely, it should be expected that the Glasgow Climate Pact will not be implemented, and the phase-out of coal as the most environmentally destructive fossil fuel will be delayed for many years. The impossibility of quickly abandoning fossil fuels, primarily coal and oil, has already become one of the reasons for the search for new energy sources with a neutral or low carbon footprint. Energy based on renewable sources such as the wind and the sun, although it has developed rapidly in the last 30 years, has not yet become a serious alternative to traditional energy based on oil, coal, and gas. This largely explains the increased interest in hydrogen as an energy source. However, there are still significant barriers to the development of hydrogen energy, primarily technological and economic. This article provides a comprehensive analysis of the main barriers to the use of hydrogen as a competitive source of major fossil fuels.