International Affairs No. 4, 2020 – Table of Contents

Key words: coronavirus, pandemic, immunity, carelessness.

Question: Alexander Grigoryevich, thank you for finding an opportunity to visit our office at this difficult time. Currently, you are in great demand. How do you manage to observe social distancing measures and lead such an active life and work so much? Could you let us in on your secrets? Two months ago, when lockdown was just starting, there were a lot of funny jokes. I particularly liked this one: “We can finally save the world by lying on the sofa! Let’s not fail in our mission!” Two months have passed. The situation has changed. There are no more funny jokes. There is no drive. Here is the first question that interests everyone, and the president also asked you this question: When will the pandemic end? When will we finally be able to go out, meet people and live a normal life? …

Key words: pandemic, WHO, U.S.-E.U., gig economy, international law.

THE PANDEMIC, which from the outset Washington has “promoted” as a “Chinese scourge,” was designed to isolate China and put a full stop to globalization as we know it now, a phenomenon seriously affecting all major Western countries, including the U.S. We have witnessed a crisis in relations between Western countries – be it the U.S. and Europe or the European Union. …

Key words: COVID-19, capitalism of catastrophes, threshold development, liberalism.

THE CRISIS caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the world. Yesterday, we were living under the slogan, “Live as friends in a society without borders”; today, we are advised “to remain home and avoid contacts.” Each country is for itself. The slogan, “Less state and more market” has been pushed aside: anyone and everyone asks the state for help and protection. Yesterday, medicine was optimized to earn money; today, the sacred principle of profit has tumbled down. In January, hospitals were closed; today, new hospitals are being built. …

Key words: U.S. economy, economic model, economic policy of the Trump administration.

THE U.S., as a leader in innovation, is among the top-ranked countries in the world, according to key indicators for both economic development and global economic relations. For years, even decades, there was no doubt about the economic and geopolitical leadership of the U.S. However, in spite of remaining a leader in key economic areas, the U.S. is no longer so indisputably dominant in all respects, as the 21st century world is becoming increasingly polycentric. …

Key words: NATO, Euro-Atlantic region, security, deterrence policy, USSR, Russia, confrontation, strategic concept.

IN 2019, the NATO countries celebrated the 70th anniversary of their military alliance with great fanfare. A common theme of the anniversary celebrations and NATO leaders’ related public statements, as well as the London Declaration that the leaders of the NATO countries adopted at a meeting in London on December 3-4, 2019, is the idea that NATO is indispensable to maintaining security in the Euro-Atlantic region and the world as a whole, and that the policy of resolutely deterring Russia must continue. Even though the wording of the bloc’s strategy has changed as the international situation and relations with the USSR/Russia change, that key element has remained a constant, fundamental principle of all seven strategic concepts and other basic documents of the alliance throughout its entire existence. …

Key words: Islamic world, Russian state, multiconfessionalism, OIC, ICESCO.

RUSSIA has historically evolved as a multiethnic and multireligious state. Having passed through complex social experiments and spiritual quests and explorations that deeply affected the foundations of human and social life, the citizens of the Russian Federation have emerged as a single, multiethnic people, as a Russian nation. And this despite the greatest tragedy of the late 20th century – namely, the disintegration of a single country, i.e., the Soviet Union, into several post-Soviet states, including historical Russia. …

Key words: Latin America, Russia-CELAC, Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, multipolar world order.

CURRENTLY, Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as the rest of the world, are faced with the COVID-19 pandemic. The Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), as the largest regional organization uniting almost all countries in Latin America, is actively responding to the challenges of the global pandemic, taking timely action and searching for effective solutions. …

Key words: Yalta-Potsdam system, World War II.

OUR NATION’S GREAT VICTORY in World War II was truly of global historical significance. It saved humanity from fascism – the barbarism of the 20th century – and made it possible for the world to resume progressive development. …

Key words: Czech Republic, 75th anniversary, victory, World War II, Great Patriotic War, Red Army.

Halo noviny: Mr. Ambassador, how did the Russian Embassy in the Czech Republic mark the 75th anniversary of the victory in World War II, and what remembrance events did it hold for the fallen Red Army soldiers who are buried in the Czech Republic? Were restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic a serious obstacle? …

Key words: distortions of World War II history, post-Soviet space, 75th anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War.

In memory of my grandfather, Alexey Ruchnov, a veteran of the Great Patriotic War, and of the millions of Soviet people who gave their lives for the peace of future generations. …

Key words: Antarctica, Antarctic Treaty, international cooperation, International Geophysical Year, territorial claims, Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting, Antarctic Environmental Protocol.

ON DECEMBER 1, 1959, the Antarctic Treaty was signed by Australia, Argentina, Belgium, Great Britain and Northern Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, the Soviet Union, the United States, France, Chile, the Union of South Africa, and Japan. Its founders were the states engaged in scientific research on the sixth continent as part of the 1957-1958 International Geophysical Year (IGY) program. The Antarctic Treaty was the first international legal act to regulate the activities of countries, establish a governance framework and determine the nature of interstate relations in the Southern Polar Region. Drafted at the height of the Cold War, the document became a model for defusing international tension and an example of practical joint effort by states to address global scientific problems. Peace, international cooperation, research, and environmental protection were the fundamental objectives of the Treaty. …

Key words: Scotland, Scottish National Party (SNP), Scottish independence referendum, Brexit.

THROUGHOUT most of its history, Scotland was an independent state. The Kingdom of Scotland was founded in 843 AD. In 1296, it was invaded by English troops. As a result of the First War of Scottish Independence, which lasted until 1314, the Scots defeated the English army, and in 1328, England recognized the independence of Scotland. Nevertheless, the English continued to wage war against it until the passage of the Acts of Union by the English and Scottish parliaments in 1707. The two acts of parliament provided for the establishment of a single state by the name of Great Britain. For about a century before that, after King James VI of Scotland succeeded to the English throne in 1603 as King James I of England on the death of his cousin Elizabeth I, England and Scotland were ruled by one monarch, but remained sovereign states. …

Key words: 1943 National Pact, Taif Agreement, Hezbollah, Michel Aoun, political confessionalism, 1975-1990 civil war, COVID-19.

LEBANON is a small Arab state about a quarter of the size of Moscow Province. Throughout its independent development, beginning in November 1943, the country has endured several major crises that jeopardized the existence of its government institutions and the Lebanese state itself. …

Key words: DRC, Dark Continent, Russia-Africa summit, cooperation, Russian humanitarian aid.

Question: For a long time, Africa has not been among Russia’s foreign policy priorities. What are the consequences of our absence from the continent and what steps are being taken to develop cooperation, in particular with the Democratic Republic of Congo? …

Key words: economic diplomacy, oil, OPEC, energy, IEA, G20.

World Market Trends …

Key words: Emmanuel Macron, France, African policy, Sahel, Operation Barkhane, G5 Sahel Alliance, jihad, terrorism, neocolonialism.

IN AFRICA, France is guided by its economic interests and, to a certain extent, political considerations rooted in traditions, social relationships, issues of French influence, and its national pride. From the first days of his presidency, Emmanuel Macron, the eighth president of the Fifth Republic, has been talking about changing his country’s African policy to a “soft power” of sorts. Nobody, neither the Élysée Palace, nor capitals of Francophone African countries nor other external actors with interests of their own on the continent have so far answered whether this can be done at all. …

Key words: post-Christian France, PACS, Muslims, social fragmentation.

IN THE LAST FEW YEARS, prominent philosophers, sociologists, historians, and anthropologists have demonstrated a lot of interest in the deep-cutting changes unfolding in French society since the 1960s. On the whole, all of them write about post-Christian France that differs a lot from the country of previous generations. Jérôme Fourquet’s The French Archipelago,¹ published in 2019 has already become the most popular, or even iconic, book. The author has presented the French society as splintered and fragmented, having journeyed from a united and inseparable nation to a multicultural “archipelago.” Fourquet is not alone; hundreds of other publications describe the same phenomenon. Such are the works of philosopher Alain Finkielkraut, demographer and historian Hervé Le Bras, and historian and anthropologist Emmanuel Todd. The book How Our World Ceased to Be Christian² by historian Guillaume Cuchet stirred up a lot of interest. …

Key words: France, Fifth Republic, President of the Fifth Republic, Prime Minister, Jacques Chirac, foreign policy, domestic policy, Europe.

JACQUES CHIRAC, the fifth President of the Fifth Republic, the most prominent French politician of the turn of the 21st century, during his 40-year long political career, climbed the ladder from young deputy of the National Assembly to wise and experienced President of the Republic occupying the highest state post for two terms. Twenty-five years ago, in 1995, when Chirac was elected president, the International Affairs journal published my article about him. Last fall, the famous politician died. This means that the time has come to sum up his achievements at the service of France. …

Key words: Andorra, 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations, Maximilian Voloshin, Andorra and the Poet, mutual visa waiver agreement.

In vainly looking for her …

Key words: Russia, Guatemala, 75 years of bilateral relations.

THIS YEAR, the international community is marking several anniversaries of very important events of the 20th century that created a legal reality and laid the foundation for modern international relations. These include, above all, the 75th anniversary of World War II victory, as well as the 75th anniversary of the UN. …

Key words: cooperation, Russia, Soviet Union, Mozambique, energy, foreign investors.

THE RELATIONS between Russia and Mozambique are undergoing serious changes, with milestone events that are symbolic in the context of Mozambique’s 45th independence anniversary and the 45th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Moscow and Maputo, both falling on June 25, 2020. …

Key words: Soviet embassy in Nanjing (Nanking), Dmitry Bogomolov, Sino-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact, Kuomintang, Chiang Kai-shek.

ON AUGUST 21, 1937, the Soviet plenipotentiary representative (ambassador) to China, Dmitry Bogomolov, and the foreign minister of the Republic of China, Wang Chonghui,¹ signed the Sino-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact in a ceremony in Nanjing (Nanking). The pact was a great achievement for Soviet diplomacy. However, at the beginning of October, Bogomolov was recalled to Moscow and arrested. He was falsely charged with Trotskyism and “participation in an anti-Soviet terrorist organization.” On May 7, 1938, he was executed. …

Key words: South Africa, World War II, Soviet-South African interaction.

OVER THE PAST YEAR, there has been a flurry of positive interaction between the militaries of Russia and South Africa. Who would have predicted a few years ago that Russian Tu-160 strategic bombers would pay a visit to South Africa? And who would have expected the deployment of the Russian cruiser Marshal Ustinov to Cape Town? What’s more interesting is the backstory here. …

THE DEPARTMENT of History and Records of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has published a collection of documents and photographs entitled “On the Front Lines of Diplomacy, 1941-1945″* to mark the 75th anniversary of the Soviet victory in the Great Patriotic War.

This unique book shows the vast scale of Soviet diplomatic activity between 1941 and 1945, a time of global disaster. It is not only an account of landmark events, key meetings and major foreign policy victories. It is also a record of meticulous routine work by Soviet diplomats, much of which remains unknown and unstudied. This work usually meant being in extremely stressful environments and often involved risking one’s life. Making a mistake was never an option. The book includes documents unveiling little-known details of events that enable the reader to see these events in their entirety. …

Key words: Vladimir-Volynsky POW camp, Soviet prisoners, memoirs, documents, heroism, inmates.

A LOT IS KNOWN about the Great Patriotic War. However, its history is still being written as new documents are emerging from declassified archives, as well as the memoirs of its participants. There is a certain gap between classic academic research involving thoroughly checked facts, verifications, assessments, and evaluations, on the one hand, and naturally emotional publications (memoirs) devoted to specific events and written by war veterans, on the other. One such work is a book by Vasily Ivanovich Kolotusha, a well-known diplomat, Arabic studies expert, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, entitled “Detention Camp Unknown… Place of Burial, Wlodomierz.”* …

Key words: Russian-German relations, unification of Germany, Yu.A. Kvitsinsky.

IN HIS BOOK “The Dual Fate,”* Vladimir Grinin, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to Germany, from 2010 to 2018 (previously, he represented Russia in the same rank in Austria, Finland and Poland), official of the Soviet Embassy in the FRG in 1973-1980 and in the GDR in 1986-1990, member of the Collegium of the MFA of Russia, has assessed the Russian-German relations of the last decades and described his work as the ambassador, his meetings with German politicians, businessmen, and public and cultural figures. …