Sub-regions of Eurasia (from ancient imes to the present day)
This article examines the issue of dividing Soviet assets and debts among the former Soviet republics. The author focuses on the negotiations regarding these matters between two key CIS states ‒ Russia and Ukraine. It is shown that, despite the agreements reached in the early 1990s on the so-called “zero option,” under which Russia, in exchange for fully repaying all Soviet debts, received all Soviet overseas property, Ukraine subsequently laid claim to a portion of Soviet assets. According to the author, Ukraine has no legal basis for such claims, since, as of the early 2020s, Russia has paid off all Soviet debts to foreign creditors and therefore has the right to claim the entirety of Soviet assets, regardless of Kyiv’s ratification of the 1994 Russian-Ukrainian agreement.
post-Soviet space, collapse of the USSR, Russia, Ukraine, USSR debts, Soviet assets, division of Soviet property, zero option, negotiations, ratification, Euromaidan, coup d’etat, special military operation, Ukrainian crisis
Bazarov B.V., Gombozapov A.D.
The article is devoted to the analysis of ethnopolitical processes in Mongolian society in the late Middle Ages. The post-imperial period is characterized by significant transformations of the political and ethnic landscape associated with the processes of re-emigration of Mongolian military contingents and service population. The most important characteristic of this is the transformation from the system of military-administrative units of the Yuan Empire into an ethnopolitical community. Collected and replenished from different clan and tribal units to perform certain security, military, economic, administrative and other tasks and being resettled after certain events to the Mongolian steppes, the collectives of service people gradually lost the original purpose of their organization and replaced it in the conditions of economic particularism with an ethnic and cultural identity with a characteristic set of functions. However, this set cannot be reduced to a narrow "repertoire", an expression of only socio-cultural differences. Social groups clothed in ethnic form were simultaneously tribal, territorial and political associations
Mongolia, identity, ethnic community, tribal, tumen
The article examines the establishment of the Moscow-Siberian Route within the Perm Governorate, a process that continued until the 1820s. The road is analyzed as a transport infrastructure object, focusing on the selection of its route, engineering solutions, and equipment. By 1754, the route took its familiar form as a postal road from Moscow through Nizhny Novgorod and Kazan to Kungur and Yekaterinburg, and then to Tyumen. Significant changes in the route occurred after the establishment of the Perm Viceroyalty (later Governorate), when it turned through the district town of Okhansk to Perm and then back to Kungur. Two other minor adjustments near Okhansk and the border with Tobolsk Governorate were made due to challenging hydrological conditions in the basins of the Kama and Pyshma rivers. The route passed through five cities and Okhansky, Permsky, Kungursky, Krasnoufimsky, Yekaterinburgsky, Kamyshlovsky districts (uyezdy) (from the station “Kosulino” began its more southern branch through the city of Shadrinsk), with improvements including an increase in postal stations (from 22 to 31/32) and standardization of distances between them (to the norm of 25 km). The challenges of constructing the route ‒ its length of 706 km within the governorate and the difficult terrain (the deep Kama River, the Ural Mountains crossing)—were mitigated by the efforts of K.F. Moderah, the governor of Perm. As one of the best engineers of his time, he devised effective technological solutions for road construction and necessary structures (bridges, ditches, crossings, etc.), while as a governor, he ensured oversight of their implementation. Alongside the physical construction, the mental image of the route began to take shape, starting with the cities, the crossing of the Kama, and the perception of the Perm Governorate as the boundary between Russia and Siberia, Europe and Asia.
Siberian Route, land communication routes, Perm Governorate, postal road guides, travelogue, cultural geography, A.N. Radishchev, K.F. Moderah
This study attempts to characterize China’s educational policy in higher education after the start of reform and opening up. The article presents an analysis of the measures taken by the PRC leadership to develop the higher education system, including the development of regulatory frameworks, the adoption of documents and programs, and the implementation of large-scale projects at the end of the 20th century. The focus of the study is on issues of ensuring and improving the quality of education. It was determined that large-scale projects of the Chinese government for the development of universities made it possible to achieve formal indicators, but did not fully resolve the issue of improving the quality of education. At the same time, this problem is of an objective nature, which no country in the world can solve in the current conditions of intensive development of society and technology. This study presents preliminary results, which are an integral part of the systemic analysis of the development features of the higher education system of the PRC, which will be disclosed in the following publications.
PRC, education system, educational policy, quality of higher education
The main purpose of the study is to study and summarize the relations between the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China on a multilateral basis and in the context of regional energy projects. The advancement of relations between Russia, an important energy supplier, and China, one of the largest energy consumers, within the framework of international organizations – BRICS, Shanghai Cooperation Organization and APEC – is important in terms of ensuring regional energy security. In this regard, the focus of the article is to examine the characteristic aspects of the format of multilateral cooperation between the two countries, the factors that determine and hinder these relations.
The novelty of the article lies in raising the issue and reflecting the approach to energy cooperation within the framework of integration associations between Russia and China on a multilateral basis.
The article discusses the emergence of partnership relations in the energy sphere between Russia and China – members of BRICS, gives an important place to energy security in mutual cooperation, emphasizes the need for these relations in the context of sanctions against Russia and China’s growing demand for energy, and analyzes mutual interests within the organization. The article analyzes the importance of the initiatives of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in the area of energy collaboration in terms of economic and social development including not just Russia and China, but also of Eurasia as a whole, emphasizing the importance of these ties both from a strategic perspective and from the standpoint of environmental safety. Multilateral cooperation, including under the auspices of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, creates conditions for both countries in the fight against international crises.
One of the primary priorities of Russia’s energy policy is collaboration with the states of the Asia-Pacific region. The growing demand for energy resources and the importance of diversifying fuel sources, taking into account energy security in the Asia-Pacific region, are a priority in relations with APEC economies, including China. The result of the study allows us to consider that the development of energy cooperation on a multilateral basis serves regional economic security, the development of diversification policies and alternative cooperation and causes the emergence of new priority areas in this field.
multilateral cooperation, oil and gas, summit, Shanghai Cooperation Organization, BRICS, APEC, energy
The article provides a comprehensive source study analysis of the work “History of Khan Ablai” (“Nasab-nama-yi Abylai-khan”) by Akhmet Kenesarin, a direct descendant and biographer of one of the most iconic rulers of the Kazakh Khanate. The author examines the text in terms of its origin, attribution, structure, and content, determining its place within the corpus of medieval Central Asian historical writings. The study reveals the value of the source not only for reconstructing the biography of Khan Ablai and the genealogy of the Kazakh ruling houses but also for understanding the complex political processes, institutions of power, and traditions of steppe statehood in Kazakhstan in the 18th century. Particular attention is paid to the question of the reliability of the information presented in the text and its correlation with data from other synchronous sources.
Kazakh Khanate, Khan Ablai, Akhmet Kenesarin, historical source, source studies, genealogy, genealogy, steppe statehood
Filin N.A, Koklikov V.O., Ravandi-Fadai L.M., Khodunov A.S.
The article examines Iran’s policies during World War II and how modern Iranians perceive the war. It is well-known that Reza Shah Pahlavi, a cruel and despotic ruler, cooperated closely with Hitler’s Germany ‒ so closely, in fact, that he posed a direct threat to the USSR. The Anglo-Soviet intervention subsequently led to his overthrow and the rise to power of his son, Mohammad Reza. The new authorities helped the Allies organise the supply of weapons and other goods to the Red Army through Iranian territory. While modern Iranians have a positive attitude towards their country’s contribution to the victory over Nazism and respect the Soviet people’s achievements in fighting Hitler, they mainly emphasise the negative aspects of the Allies’ presence with regard to Iranian socio-economic and demographic development, paying insufficient attention to the positive aspects.
Iran, Russia, USSR, World War II, Great Patriotic War, Victory, historical memory, lend-lease, genocide, media