International Affairs No. 6, 2023 – Table of Contents

ON OCTOBER 3, our two nations marked the 195th anniversary of diplomatic relations, which is a significant milestone in our shared history. This notable anniversary offers an excellent opportunity to reflect on the path we have traveled, to identify the most pressing areas of the Russia-Brazil strategic partnership, and to endeavor to look beyond the horizon.

Throughout the years, our bilateral relations have gone through various phases. Yet, the mutual affection and our shared interest in each other’s traditions and cultures have remained unwavering and contributed to the strengthening of our friendship…

EN ROUTE to the African continent, those of us on the special flight of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov made forecasts about what would happen at the summit in Johannesburg, how BRICS expansion would unfold, which countries would join the Big Five, and how many. After the IL-96 aircraft of the Russia flight group took off, the minister, as is his custom, went into the main cabin to meet with journalists. He was in excellent form, in a good mood, and friendly and witty as always. He wished us successful work. We wished him the same. We flew on, anticipating a large-scale, world-class event. And then there were three days of summit meetings – three days that changed the world forever. Expectations were not simply met, but exceeded the wildest forecasts. The XV BRICS summit became the most representative in the entire history of the association. Delegations from nearly 60 countries took part in the forum. Its decisions, without any exaggeration, can be called historic.

BRICS now consists of 11 states that are full members of the association. In Johannesburg, an invitation to join the Big Five was extended to Argentina, Egypt, Iran, Ethiopia, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia. The numbers are as follows: 45% of the planet’s population (3.6 billion people), 32% of the entire earth’s landmass (48.4 million square kilometers, twice as much as the G7), 37% of the world’s GDP, and 45% of the world’s oil reserves. The foreign trade turnover of the BRICS countries, including the new members, amounted to $12.4 trillion in 2022, which is one-fifth of the volume of world trade (which amounts to $61.08 trillion, according to the World Bank)…

THE idea of the outside world and the role that Russia plays in it has undergone radical changes in Moscow’s official worldviews since 2014.

The degradation of the international security situation indicates a deep crisis in the existing world order, which was formed in the spirit of the US’s unipolar hegemony after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Attempts are being made to turn the UN, the only universal platform for reaching collective decisions on an inclusive and equal basis, into a tool of the collective West for pressuring “revisionist states.” The decline in the culture of global-level dialogue leads not only to the aggravation of military-political conflicts but also to the inability to effectively respond to new challenges and transnational threats…

They do not understand and do not know that if such is our will, we will not be conquered … neither by the millions of their gold, nor by the millions of their armies; that if such is our will, we cannot be compelled to do that which we do not wish to do, and that there is no power on earth that could compel us.

I FINISHED writing this work, logically expressed in three parts in terms of content and problems, but in its essence and spirit organically representing a single whole, on June 22, 2023 – the date of the anniversary of the attack of fascist Germany on my homeland, the Soviet Union. That day remained in my memory for the rest of my life. I was in bed in a hospital ward with other children, and suddenly we saw all the medical staff running out of the hospital building into the courtyard, to the loudspeaker. We children rushed out after the adults. Vyacheslav Molotov was speaking on the radio. He reported the treacherous attack of fascist Germany on our country. The last words of his speech, “Our cause is just, the enemy will be defeated, victory will be ours!” evoked neither applause nor cheers, but rather…

I FINISHED writing this work, logically expressed in three parts in terms of content and problems, but in its essence and spirit organically representing a single whole, on June 22, 2023 – the date of the anniversary of the attack of fascist Germany on my homeland, the Soviet Union. That day remained in my memory for the rest of my life. I was in bed in a hospital ward with other children, and suddenly we saw all the medical staff running out of the hospital building into the courtyard, to the loudspeaker. We children rushed out after the adults. Vyacheslav Molotov was speaking on the radio. He reported the treacherous attack of fascist Germany on our country. The last words of his speech, “Our cause is just, the enemy will be defeated, victory will be ours!” evoked neither applause nor cheers, but rather there was a heavy, oppressive silence, and then the crying and sobbing of women, piercing with pain and horror. The men stood silent, frowning.

TODAY, the world order is changing so rapidly that the institutions associated with international politics do not have time to adequately respond to this, nor fully comprehend it. A timid theory emerged in Russia that international law is something solid and stable, something that considers the interests of all parties, while the theory of “rules,” promoted by the collective West and North American elites, and the rules-based order established on them is some kind of trick aimed at consolidating hegemony. This begs for a more in-depth analysis.

LET’S summarize the fundamental mutations of the world order in the last 500 years – i.e., since the beginning of the New Age (Modern Age)…

WHY is the Western theory of the Nord Stream 2 [natural gas pipeline] explosion filled with details proving that the Ukrainians are responsible? Le Figaro has pulled together information from The New York Times, Die Zeit, Süddeutsche Zeitung, ZDF, and Der Spiegel to conclude that Ukraine is the prime suspect. Earlier, Poland, the US, and even Russia had been suspected.¹ According to media sources, German investigators have no doubts: The operation was carried out by the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) with Western support.

Here is what is most interesting. Having studied all possible theories ranging from warships to submarines, investigators with the German public prosecutor’s office are practically convinced that the Andromeda yacht, chartered on September 6 in the German port of Warnemünde and sailed to Denmark’s Bornholm Island, was somehow related to the act of sabotage. A search of the yacht revealed traces of HMX (octogen), an underwater explosive; similar traces were found on Nord Stream pipes. German investigators had first shown an interest in this yacht some time ago. According to an earlier theory, the Andromeda had been used by Ukrainians with no affiliation with the Ukrainian government…

MODERN India is a dynamically developing country with a robust industry, significant labor resources, a diverse mineral and raw material base, a growing science and technology potential, and a rapidly expanding service sector that includes information technology, e-commerce, banking and finance, transportation, and construction.

India’s economy is the fastest growing among the largest nations. In 2022, the country’s gross domestic product increased by 7%, reaching $3.4 trillion, trailing only behind the GDPs of Germany ($4 trillion), Japan ($4.2 trillion), China ($17.9 trillion), and the United States ($25.5 trillion)…

DEAR readers, colleagues, friends! First off, I would like to thank the editorial staff of International Affairs for the opportunity to address you on these pages, in this esteemed journal, which marked its centenary last year. You do significant and very important work bringing to the Russian and foreign audience (and I will note that in addition to Russian, your journal is published in eight foreign languages) the well-considered and well-grounded position of the Russian Foreign Ministry, thus making a notable contribution to upholding Russia’s interests in the international diplomatic arena.

The importance of effective informational and educational public outreach has increased greatly amid the current complex foreign policy situation, when a full-scale hybrid war has been launched against our country and aggressive attempts are being made to “punish” and “cancel” Russia, deprive us of our history, erode the moral guideposts of young Russians, reprogram them, and impose on them pseudo values that are alien to us. That is why I readily supported the initiative by Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) veterans to launch a new public political journal called Razvedchik [Intelligence Officer], the first issue of which came out in December 2022. It publishes analysis of the most topical current problems, historical essays and archival documents about unique operations carried out by Russian intelligence agencies, and interesting interviews with our contemporaries, including legendary deep-cover agents and their family members…

ACCELERATING global geopolitical changes have moved security higher up on the agenda of the Union State of Russia and Belarus. After the Union State adopted a new military doctrine in 2021, it became essential for Russia and Belarus to develop ideas to form the basis for an ideological security system for the Union State. This article proposes a set of ideas that are shared by Russia and Belarus, in tune with 21st-century realities, based on historical experience, do not conflict with the national interests of either country, and have the potential for the same emotional impact on Russians as on Belarusians.

IGOR Tyapin, professor at Vologda State University, argues that a genuine national idea as a synthesis of sociological, ideological, and philosophical postulates that is based on historical experience is an indicator of a nation’s state of health and the result of its social development [29]. In the view of Sergey Karaganov, a well-known Russian political scientist and economist, without a central idea, any great nation will either cease to exist or cease to be great [32]…

Keywords: WMD nonproliferation; Russian education; Arms Control. Disarmament, and Nonproliferation; employment of graduates

IN RUSSIA, special attention has always been paid to education in the field of WMD nonproliferation, arms control, and nuclear policy. The Russian school is highly respected and in demand both at home and abroad. Over the past 10 years, universities both in the capital and in the regions have developed a whole range of specialized educational programs on these topics. However, the new reality has affected education as much as other areas and given rise to the need for comprehensive analysis of the effectiveness of approaches to educational processes, including in this area…

THE answer that immediately jumps to mind is “nothing.” Clearly, this is largely an impulsive answer, but it has a basis in art history. Paul Gauguin became a full-time artist at the age of 42, before which there had been no obvious sign that he would choose that path. He spent most of his youth as a seaman before he got married and became a stockbroker. Then suddenly he started painting, quit his job, left his family, and went to Tahiti, where he created his most famous paintings. But before his death he was practically unappreciated. Critics and journalists mocked his paintings.

Mikhail Vrubel became interested in natural sciences, history, and foreign languages in his early teens. He also studied music, attended theater performances, and later developed an interest in philosophy. At the same time, he took painting classes at a school at the Imperial Society for the Encouragement of the Arts. He would dabble in various things and did not enroll in the Imperial Academy of Arts until he was 24, after a brief stint in the military…

International Affairs: The summit of the Group of Twenty (G20) held in New Delhi on September 9-10, 2023, according to its direct participants, was one of the most complicated in the entire history of the group. Until the very last moment, there was no certainty that the countries ‘positions on the Ukraine crisis would be coordinated or that compromises enabling them to adopt a final document – the New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration – would be reached. But their efforts were successful. As India’s G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant wrote on his social media page, the summit adopted a “historical and path breaking #G20 Declaration with 100% consensus on all developmental and geo-political issues. “

Largely owing to Russia’s initiative, the G20 acquired a new member: the African Union. Overall, in the words of Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who represented Russia at the summit, the discussion in New Delhi was pivotal as it showed the unity and cohesion of the Global South in defending its rights in the global economy, as well as its reluctance to reduce everything to the Ukrainian agenda…

Armen Oganesyan, Editor-in-Chief of International Affairs: Olga Vitalyevna [Plyusnina], your roots in Kostroma go back generations. One could say that you carry within you the spirit of Kostroma. As the head of a pilgrimage center, are you seeing not only a growing number of pilgrims, but a change in their quality as well? What are people interested in?

Olga Plyusnina: It is well known that Kostroma has traditionally evoked interest among tourists, and still does. For many people, even those from the Soviet era, the Ipatievsky Monastery is the cradle of the Romanov dynasty. Yet, it is necessary to understand that for a long time these unique and important sites for Russia were being erased from the memories of Kostromites and Russians in general. For example, the history of the Kostroma Kremlin, which is now being restored with the blessing of the patriarch [of the Russian Orthodox Church], traces back to Dmitry Donskoy. Kostroma is home to the holy site of the Saint Feodor Icon of the Mother of God. And again, there is the Holy Trinity Ipatievsky Monastery, a Godunov/Romanov relic…

International Affairs: Murat Magometovich [Zyazikov], you were appointed Russia’s Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Republic of Cyprus in September 2022. How would you describe the past period from the perspective of bilateral relations between Moscow and Nicosia?

Murat Zyazikov: I have always thought it useful to sum up the intermediate results of any multilevel process, and my mission in Cyprus is no exception in this respect. I can definitely say that the past year has not been easy for Russia-Cyprus relations. The intense dynamics of domestic political events on the island, Nicosia’s foreign policy activity in the Eastern Mediterranean region, and unfortunately, its involvement in the anti-Russian games of Western countries, have naturally affected our bilateral cooperation in some areas…

Vladislav Petrovich devoted his entire long, happy, and interesting life to serving his country. His name has undoubtedly gone down in the annals of Russian and Soviet history.

In 1951, Vladislav Petrovich enrolled at the Moscow State Institute (University) of International Relations, where he specialized in the German-speaking countries. He climbed the diplomatic ranks from intern to ambassador while posted to Soviet embassies in Austria and West Germany, and at the Foreign Ministry in Moscow. During its turning-point years, he represented our country on one of its key diplomatic fronts. He recalled that when he left for Bonn in 1990 to take up ambassadorial duties, he could not foresee that, in the next seven and a half years he would hold three roles in succession – first as the seventh and last Soviet ambassador to West Germany, then as the first and last Soviet ambassador to united Germany, and finally as the first Russian ambassador to Germany…

THE 50th anniversary of the 1973 coup in Chile does not seem like an event from the distant past. One still thinks with a great deal of pain about the heavy human losses, flagrant violations of human rights, and glaring humiliations of human dignity that those events entailed. Such thoughts will be particularly poignant for people with first-hand experience of September 11, 1973, and its aftermath. The author of this article is one of them.¹

A DELEGATION of experts from the Soviet State Planning Committee (Gosplan), of which I was a member, arrived in Santiago for what proved to be a poorly timed visit. June 29 was Tancazo, the first mutiny – effectively a test revolt – in the Chilean military. A tank regiment rebelled, and its commanders tried to seize control of the Santiago international airport. The government was able to quickly suppress the mutiny, and it seemed that life was going to normalize. At least that was how it seemed to us, people who were planning to start work to help improve the economy of a friendly country and promote the cause of renewed socialism in South America. We were going to abandon stereotypes and dogmas and take full account of the distinctive Chilean environment…

A VAST body of historical sources confirms that in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Emperor Nicholas II and Russian diplomacy helped Ethiopia, Siam, and the Boer States avoid subjugation by Western colonialists. The Russian Empire had geopolitical interests of its own in these regions yet was never guided solely by them when aiding these countries. The message the Russian Foreign Ministry sent to Emperor (Negus) of Ethiopia Menelik II said, in part: “Unlike all other European powers, we do not pursue selfish or even mercantile aims in Africa either today or in future; the government entrusted me to inform Your Majesty that in view of the friendly personal feelings of the Sovereign of Russia toward You, … we should compassionately support all Your efforts … to establish harmony and welfare in Ethiopia.”¹

It should be said that the policy that Emperor Nicholas II pursued in his relations with the aforementioned states was defined, albeit indirectly, as “anticolonial” even in the Soviet Union. The prominent historian and Orientalist Isidor Katznelson confirmed that in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Russia’s policy in Ethiopia “objectively helped preserve the integrity and independence” of this African state.² According to contemporary historian Karina Vinogradova, the Russian Empire “pursued an objectively anticolonial policy” in Ethiopia and bordering lands.³ In his…

Keywords: Russian Ecclesiastical Mission, Jerusalem, Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society, Russian pilgrims, Mount Athos

IN THE second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries, thanks to the activities of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission in Jerusalem and the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society (IOPS), many land plots were acquired in various towns and villages of the Holy Land on which churches, compounds, abodes, hotels for pilgrims, and schools for children were built. Numerous Russian properties in the Holy Land were even referred to as “Russian Palestine.” After the end of the Crimean War (1853-1856), according to the Treaty of Paris of 1856, Russia lost the right to have a military fleet in the Black Sea.¹ At the same time, the Russian Empire could maintain and strengthen its presence in the Mediterranean Sea by organizing pilgrimages to Orthodox shrines of the East and establishing a Russian merchant shipping company and a seaport in Odessa for this purpose. Among the ideologists of this project was statesman, public figure, and member of the first council of the Orthodox Palestine Society Boris Pavlovich Mansurov, “one of the founders of the idea of a Russian presence in the Holy Land.”²…

SEVENTY-FIVE years ago, the way was opened for Soviet athletes to participate in the Olympic Games and in the activities of international sports federations.

Among landmarks in our sports history, a special place belongs to the visit of a Soviet delegation to the Summer Olympic Games in London in 1948…

Keywords: Antarctica, Russian South Pole expedition, Mirny, International Geophysical Year, USSR Academy of Sciences’ Integrated Antarctic Expedition, territorial claims in Antarctica

ON FEBRUARY 13, 1956, the first Soviet Antarctic station Mirny was opened on the shore of the Davis Sea. The station got its name from the sloop Mirny that participated in Russia’s 1819-1821 South Pole expedition. Its crew members became the first people on the planet to see and map the icy shores of the mysterious Terra Australis. A capsule with soil from Stalingrad’s Mamayev Kurgan, which is sacred to our people, was laid at the base of the station flagpole on which the Soviet national flag was raised. These symbolic acts testified to the inseparable connection between generations of Russian trailblazers, victorious heroes of the Great Patriotic War, and the country’s postwar generation. This was how our country made its debut on the sixth continent after a more than a century-long hiatus…

ESSAY-STYLE monographs are a unique academic genre. The genre is used quite rarely, and the phrase “for the general reader” is an entirely appropriate description for it. Essay-style monographs typically address several topics and aim to link together several storylines and sometimes completely different topics. One can read either individual chapters or the whole book. Reading the entire book would inevitably put the reader in the shoes of a critic.

Two critical approaches are possible. One is that of an ordinary critic, with the reader showing strong interest in individual topics but at the same time failing to understand the general idea of the book. The other involves bridging the artificial divide between the author and the reader. Trying to understand what the various topics have in common makes the reader not really a critic but a co-author; the content leads readers to form their own vision of the described processes or events. With the nature of their expositions and interpretations, essay-style monographs are quicker to develop critical thinking than other academic genres…

BY EARLY 1900, the Yihetuan (Boxer) Rebellion had grown, acquired aggressive overtones, and threatened the lives of Russian diplomats. Empress Dowager Cixi and some of her courtiers took refuge in the Embassy Quarter. Mikhail von Giers, Ambassador of the Russian Empire to China, together with the staff of the mission that found itself in the line of fire, had to resort to armed defense. The siege lasted two months.

In reward for his courage, the ambassador, a civilian by definition, was presented with the Order of St. Anne 1st Class with Swords – a combat award usually reserved for military personnel. “Modest, quiet, even shy, Mikhail Nikolayevich [von Giers] could become a daring hero in moments of danger, taking responsibility in a complex situation and making extraordinary decisions,” writes Yelena Yevdokimova, author of the recently published monograph The Last Envoys of the Russian Empire* [in Russian], about this little-known episode…

THE publication of a textbook by Alexey Fenenko* for university students on the history of international relations in the pre-Westphalian era, released by Aspekt Press, has significantly enriched existing scholarship on this subject. Essentially, this is amonograph in atextbook format. One objective of this study, according to its author, is to provide an understanding of the logic of interstate relations in the period before the emergence of nation-states.

Fenenko’s work is inherently innovative. It fills a significant gap in scholarly research on the history of international relations. The overwhelming majority of textbooks and scholarly works on this topic tend to begin with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, achieved after the prolonged Thirty Years’ War on the European continent. It gives the impression that countries in this region are avid enthusiasts of military conflicts (e.g., 1812, 1914-1921, 1939-1945). These are large-scale bloody wars. This is only in the Russian direction…