International Affairs No. 6, 2021 – Table of Contents

Keywords: SDG 2, Food and Agriculture Organization, pandemic. UN Food Systems Summit.

Question: According to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted by the UN General Assembly, the world community must achieve the second Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 2) and eliminate hunger in all its forms by 2030. Will the United Nations be able to declare in nine years that this noble and ambitious objective has been achieved? …

Keywords: global connectivity, transport, transport corridors, natural conditions, global, regional and national levels, geopolitics.

DESPITE the multidirectional trends evident in the modern planetary landscape, overall, its emerging architecture is tending toward interconnectedness. The new civilizational image is universality and indivisibility. The world is becoming so interconnected that we can talk about a different level of scientific reflection expressed in Parag Khanna’s vision of possibly establishing “Connectography” as an academic discipline, with the maxim “Connectivity is destiny” serving as its refrain [1]. …

Keywords: Greater Eurasian Partnership, regional integration, Eurasian Economic Union, Eastern Economic Forum, Association of Business Cooperation in Greater Eurasia, interregional agreement, free trade zone, Greater Eurasia.

TODAY, the world economy is moving toward mega-regionalization, which implies “drawing” regional and macroregional subsystems into a single mega-regional system. The process began and is unfolding under the influence of political and economic integration associated with increasing returns to scale from reduced barriers to cooperation and much more favorable production opportunities. This trend is manifest in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) in the Asia-Pacific Region (APR). Talks on the Transatlantic Free Trade Agreement and a free trade agreement between the European Union (EU) …

Keywords: internal market, IM, European Union, EU, Eurasian Economic Union, EAEU, freedom of movement for workers, labor market, mutual recognition of qualifications, regulated professions.

AN INTERNAL market envisions the free movement of goods, services, capital, and persons. Each freedom requires substantial regulatory, legal, and organizational support, which is key to the development of the internal market. …

Keywords: OSCE, peace, security, conflicts, post-Soviet countries, field operations, mandate, monitoring.

THE CORE tasks of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) include maintaining peace and security in member states and helping them prevent or settle crises or conflicts that may arise in their territory or in their relationships with one another. OSCE field operations in vulnerable member countries are an important tool for the organization to carry out these tasks. Any such operation is naturally conditional on the consent of the host country and requires the approval of all OSCE member states. …

Keywords: Track II diplomacy, negotiations.

VARIOUS tools of international dialogue have been garnering a lot of attention lately, but Track II diplomacy has yet to be thoroughly studied. There is a pressing need to better understand this concept. This article examines US-Iran Track II diplomacy and evaluates its effectiveness and limitations. …

Keywords: Politics of history, the Baltic states, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, the “Soviet occupation” narrative, the European Union, Russia.

THE TERM “politics of history” emerged as a category of political practice first in the 1980s in Germany and then in the 2000s in Poland. Russian historian Alexey Miller comments that the politics of history is a special set of methods involving the use of state administrative and financial resources in the field of history and politics of memory in the interests of the ruling elite [10, p. 19]. In practical terms, the politics of history is a political tool that aims to rally the nation around a historical narrative. In general, as the German historian Jan Assmann emphasizes, the politics of history studies public debates and political and administrative decisionmaking, and its essential characteristic is the adoption of normative legal acts [1, p. 261]. …

Keywords: Emmanuel Macron, Vladimir Putin, France, Russia, Belarus, Africa policy, Sahel, coup in Mali, Operation Barkhane, jihad, terrorism, neocolonialism.

MAJOR political changes are currently taking place in West and Central Africa. France is losing ground in the African countries that used to be its colonies, although it still considers them its indisputable sphere of influence. And this is not a one-way street. The African countries themselves are trying to move away from traditional dependence on a single donor, sponsor or patron and to expand their cooperation horizons. …

Keywords: Russian cultural and historical sites, landmarks, Russian heritage, legacy, Uzbekistan, Tashkent, Grand Duke Nicholas Romanov’s residence, Tashkent and Uzbekistan diocese, Orthodox Christian churches, Cossack resettlers.

UZBEKISTAN is a country with its own rich traditions, history, and culture that are closely intertwined with Russia’s. The Russian Empire began to move into the region and develop it in the 1860s, and evidence of a common history still exists in various parts of the country. There have been some controversial issues in our relations that are connected, in the opinion of certain Uzbek scholars, to the Russian conquest of Tashkent and other regions and their subsequent incorporation into the Russian Empire. A biased approach toward the common past with Russia and attempts to reject it were especially pronounced during the presidency of Islam Karimov after Uzbekistan gained independence in 1991. The “big brother” policy that Moscow continued to pursue with respect to former Soviet republics and their leaders may have had something to do with that. The personal motives of Uzbekistan’s first president and his entourage may also have been a factor. …

Keywords: mass media, social networks, fake news, digitalization.

Question: What would you consider Russia’s greatest foreign policy achievements in the past 10 years? …

Keywords: oil market, gas installation, solar and wind power generation, RES, NPP, SMR

Question: In the last few months, OPEC+ has met regularly, and this means that OPEC countries and Russia are able to agree on maintaining oil prices. However, it is being reported that oil prices on the stock exchange are subject to manipulation. Which of these two views is correct? …

Keywords: economic diplomacy, foreign representations, trade representations, export promotion.

RUSSIA occupies the Eurasian position on the world map, which is why economic cooperation in this area is so important. But our Western neighbors traditionally play a more significant role in our country’s economy. This means that Europe is one of the most important areas in our economic diplomacy. …

Keywords: Bessarabia, Moldova, Romania, Transnistria conflict, European Union, NATO, Russia, Maia Sandu, integration.

RELATIONS between Moldova and Romania have a fairly long history. It is not entirely correct to say that Moldovans and Romanians are the same people, although some politicians in the Republic of Moldova (RM), including its current president, Maia Sandu, try to present the situation precisely in this light. But detailed analysis leads to the conclusion that the Moldovans are a nation with their own history and culture that are by no means identical to Romanian history and culture. As for the population of Transnistria, it has virtually no relation to Romania. After all, most of the territory of Bessarabia (the historical name of modern Moldova) consisted of lands located between the Black Sea and the Dniester, Prut, and Danube Rivers. Today, this territory is part of the modern Republic of Moldova and southern Ukraine. …

Keywords: Lebanese crisis, Bank of Lebanon, central bank, power vacuum, Riad Salameh, Emmanuel Macron, Hezbollah, pandemic.

ON AUGUST 4, 2020, residents of the Lebanese capital witnessed and many fell victim to a real tragedy – a massive explosion of 2,750 metric tons of ammonium nitrate in a warehouse at the Port of Beirut. The explosion left more than 200 people dead, about 6,500 injured, and at least 300,000 homeless, as well as damaged the homes of countless thousands of people. The blast, equivalent to 1.5 kilotons of TNT, almost completely destroyed about 77,000 buildings. It was measured as a 4.5 magnitude earthquake, with the shockwave traveling as far as Nicosia, 251 kilometers away.¹ …

Keywords: St. Petersburg State University, Russia’s “soft power,” public diplomacy, Russian science and higher education, world university rankings, Petersburg Dialogue, Russia-Republic of Korea Dialogue, “Russia and Ibero-America in the Globalizing World” international forum.

THE USE of “soft power” instruments to strengthen the international position of our country has become increasingly important in the modern conditions of dynamic and contradictory global development. The achievements of Russian science and higher education have enjoyed considerable respect of the world academic community for almost three centuries and can play an important role in shaping a favorable image of Russia that would be appealing to the international community. In his Message to the Federal Assembly on April 21, 2021, Russian President Vladimir Putin reemphasized the critical importance of science in the modern world and outlined specific steps for the further development of science and higher education [1]. Decree No. 812 of the President of Russia Vladimir Putin “On holding the Year of Science and Technology in the Russian Federation” [2], dated December 25, 2020, and ongoing work to implement it have created a solid foundation for promoting the …

Keywords: independence of Turkmenistan, economic reforms, bicameral legislature, neutrality, cooperation with Russia.

ON SEPTEMBER 27, the Turkmen people celebrated the 30th anniversary of a landmark event in their recent history: the day Turkmenistan became an independent state. Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov described the country’s independence as the basis for the entire development of its statehood and the starting point of radical social, political, economic, and cultural reforms. …

THE SPECIAL strategic partnership between Russia and India is a unique and complex architecture of interstate dialogue. It could not have been built without a solid, unified economic foundation: from energy and shipbuilding to space and agriculture. A significant part of this foundation is the Rosneft public joint-stock company, acting as a driver of bilateral cooperation.

Rosneft, a reliable long-term partner of the largest Indian companies, is developing a platform for further cooperation in the hydrocarbon industry: from the production and supply of hydrocarbons to oil refining and the sale of petroleum products. …

Keywords: Ukraine, Malorossiya, Galicia, nationalism, Russophobia, Ukrainification.

MODERN Russian historians and journalists have been paying a great deal of attention to the Ukrainian national movement in the former Soviet Union. A lot of research has been done of the emergence of Ukrainian statehood; generous territorial transfers to the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic from the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR) and East European countries; the Ukrainification of former Malorossiya [Little Russia]; and the activities of Ukrainian radical nationalists before, during, and after World War II. Various aspects of the revival of nationalism in Ukraine in the 1990s are also on historians’ radar. …

Keywords: Italy, Pietro Quaroni, Afghanistan, Larisa Chagina-Quaroni, People’s Commissariat of State Security (NKGB USSR), A.N. Fateh.

THE SUCCESSFUL landing of British and American troops in Sicily in the summer of 1943 and the further course of Allied military operations against Nazi Germany and its satellites in the Mediterranean brought major political changes in the region. A coup on July 25, 1943, removed fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, who was replaced with Marshal Pietro Badoglio by order of King Victor Emmanuel III. The new government capitulated to the Allies; it severed all relations with Nazi Germany and on October 13, 1943, declared war on it. That same day, the Anti-Hitler coalition of the Soviet Union, the US, and Great Britain recognized Italy as a cobelligerent. …

Keywords: diplomat, social status, education, career development, emigration, diplomatic career.

THE SCHOLARLY value of the historical-biographical reference book The Last Diplomats of the Russian Empire: 1900-1917, prepared by career diplomat minister counselor second class Yury Ivanov and sociologist Yelena Ivanova* cannot be overestimated. It is a rich source of information about the Russian diplomats who served at the turn of the 20th century, during World War I and the revolutionary transformations in Russia. The collected material is valuable to researchers studying the history of diplomatic service, as well as to those interested in the history of Russian emigration. The book contains a trove of factual material indispensable for sociological studies of the specifics of professional groups and their emergence. Its scholarly value is unique: The material, professionally presented in compact form, immerses readers in the social and political problems of an entire generation of Russian diplomats while also providing information about the fates of individual diplomats. …