No 4 (2013)

The article considers state import of industrial equipment in the context of the customs regulation of Russia’s foreign trade under S.Yu. Witte as the Minister of Finance (1892–1903). The analysis of archival data reveals the motives which drove various ministries of the Russian empire when they gave preference to foreign producers rather than domestic ones. In the 1890s the Ministry of Finance, on the one hand, and other ministries, on the other hand, were debating the necessity of orders for foreign industrial equipment made by the Russian governmental bodies. The article studies the course and results of this interdepartmental struggle.

The article deals with the projects of «eternal peace» and «European union», developed by the Russian government in the first quarter of the 20 th century. The author reveals their interconnection and their influence on the foreign policy of Russia and international relations on the whole and analyzes the main reasons that prevented the realization of the projects.

The article analyzes the principal directions of international and national aspects in the USSR and the Russian Federation in a specific context. The extensive factual material demonstrates the need for international and patriotic education of Russian citizens after the USSR disintegration and the CIS formation in the face of the aggravating international relations, particularly in the Russian Federation. In this regard, the author makes the necessary conclusions and recommendations of great practical interest for the modern national policy of Russia.

The article is devoted to the foundation of the Russian Technological Society (RTS). The author analyzes the premises and conditions of its foundation, characterizes its role in the development of education, science, technology and industry of the country. There is emphasized the importance of this society for interconnection between science and practice.

The article considers the degree of ideological continuity between the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The author points out a number of significant differences between the two parties and formulates the basis of the political identity of the modern Russian Communist Party.

This article examines the formation process of the image of Taiwan that was developed in the public opinion in Russia in 1991–2000. This image has become the base for the future Russian-Taiwanese economic and trade relations. In that period the stereotypes of Taiwan that appeared in the Soviet times underwent fundamental changes, and there appeared a new concept of «economic miracle of Taiwan». This completely different image of Taiwan greatly influenced the economic ties between Russia and Taiwan, and it was considered to be the most suitable model for the Russian economic development.

The article demonstrates that the 20-year history of the Russia-Kazakhstan border cooperation is related to many areas: migration of citizens, the longest border in the post-Soviet region, drug trafficking, high level of conflict in the border regions, the outflow of the local population of Kazakhstan to the border regions of Russia, the legal regulation of cross-border cooperation between the Russian Federation and Kazakhstan, etc. In this regard, the author comes to the conclusions focused on further stabilizing of the Russia-Kazakhstan border cooperation.