Russia's Entry Research Articles

On the Socio-Political and Government Activity of S.Iu. Witte in 1914–Early 1915

Despite accurately predicting that Russia's entry into World War I would lead to the destruction of both the Russian and the German monarchies, Sergei Witte hoped to see his former political power restored in late 1914 and early 1915.

Liberal democracy, market economy, and international conduct as standards of ‘civilization’ in contemporary international society: The case of Russia's entry into the ‘community of civilized states’

In his report to the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Federation in the beginning of 1992, President Boris Yeltsin stated that one of the fundamental principles of his foreign policy was the integration of Russia into the ‘community of civilized states’. However, joining a society or community of some kind requires the fulfilment of certain standards. The first global application of international norms and expected standards of behaviour took place during the nineteenth century through the process of the expansion of the European society of states and its gradual transformation to the contemporary global international society. In this process, the standard of ‘civilization’ played an essential role in determining which states would join the expanding European society and which ones would not. Despite its official repudiation, the standard of ‘civilization’ has remained an international practice as well as a benchmark against which the attitudes and policies of states are assessed. This paper examines the changes that the Russian Government under President Yeltsin had to introduce in order to achieve the country's admission into post-Cold War international society. It argues that these changes included the democratization of the Russian political system, the transformation of the Russian economic system into a free market economy, and the de-ideologisation of the Russian foreign policy.

Specific Character of Formation of Competitive Development Strategies in the Information - Communication Services Market

In the context of growing globalization processes and the entry of Russia into the international information space the problems of competitiveness of domestic operators in the information - communication services market are actualizing. On the basis of analysis and use of the "matrix of strategic actions of a service company" the main specific organizational and managerial features of construction and implementation of competitive development strategies for the information - communication services market participants are considered, the comparative characteristics of the development of competitive strategies in the market of information and communication services by traditional methods of strategic planning are considered, the benefits of "divisional" structures and their specificity in the market of information and communication services are justified. This article is intended for students studying methods of marketing research in the service industries, as well as marketing specialists, operators who develop strategies of their companies growth. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n2s3p113

Localization of production as one of the instruments of import substitution based on Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization

This article describes the localization of production in the whole country, which is one of the instruments of import substitution preventing technological backwardness of domestic products from foreign counterparts on the basis of Russia's entry into the World Trade Organization.

The Development of Public-Private Partnership in Social Sector of Russia

Infrastructure of social sector is based on the high physical and intangible deterioration amortization. It requires comprehensive modernization in terms of Russia's entry into the World Trade Organization. It is well known, the PPP is developing by effective legislation on public-private partnership model agreements with a clear division of obligations, risks and responsibilities of the partners: government and municipal agencies and private companies. The article proves the necessity to create and support a favorable investment and business environment at the federal, regional and local levels. This all is important for developing public-private partnerships in the social sector. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n18p171

RUSSIA'S PARTICIPATION IN MULTILATERAL MECHANISMS IN EAST ASIA

After the end of the Cold War Russia has significantly increased its participation in multilateral mechanisms in the Asia-Pacific region and is clearly trying to become a significant player in regional institution-building. For two post-Cold War Russia decades was involved in almost all the basic mechanisms of multilateral cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region. However, often Russia isn't perceived by Asian partners as an equal participant in the Asia-Pacific region, it is felt particularly in the area of multilateral economic cooperation. Russia's entry into the WTO (2011) and the formation of the Common Economic stimulated Russia's engagement in multilateral economic structures. Russia's inclusion in the negotiating framework of ASEM (2010) and EAS (2011) perceives that Asian countries are willing to see Russia as a full member not only in regional processes, but also globally. The main stimulus for the revision of the Asian direction of foreign policy and the role of Siberia and the Far East appears during APEC summit in Vladivostok in 2012. The APEC summit demonstrated the geostrategic importance of the development of the Russian Far East and Siberia, as a key element of Russia's inclusion in the mechanisms of regional cooperation, on the other hand, it became clear that without the participation of foreign partners effective development of the Far Eastern territories is hardly possible. Large-scale investment and infrastructure projects in the Far East has already significantly revived the situation in the region opening new opportunities for multilateral cooperation.

Management of Social and Economic Security of the Region

The article defines the concept of socio-economic security of the region, the problems of social and economic security of the region in terms of Russia's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO), necessary conditions for its ensuring. The main directions of modern regional economic policy, that meet the goals of ensuring socio-economic security of the region, are developed. Government regulation tools are recommended. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n12p177

The Last “War in Lace” or the First “Total War”?

Reading articles by Nikolai Promyslov and Victor Taki made me think of an heirloom from my grandparents, an old three-mark coin from imperial Germany. One side shows King Frederick William III of Prussia surrounded by his people, beneath famous patriotic verse: Der Konig rief, und alle, alle kamen (The king called, and everyone came). On other side, we see Prussian eagle crushing snake of Napoleonic tyranny. The coin was issued in 1913 to mark centennial of of Liberation. We all know what happened a year later. hindsight, 1914 appears to us as beginning of an era of uniquely modern calamities, but at time many saw new war as latest in a chain of earlier conflicts that stretched back to Napoleon. With declaration of war, an American author wrote in 1914, the world turned back to Trafalgar, to Waterloo, to Koniggratz, to Franco-Prussian War.... The names are a little different, battlefields a few miles apart, but same principles are there. (1) The French and Germans picked up where they had left off in 1870-71, when Germany had taken revenge on Napoleon III for evils of Napoleon I. The British, by contrast, viewed Wilhelm II as second coming of Napoleon. As for Russians, who had just recently celebrated anniversary of War of 1812, they dubbed new conflict Second Patriotic War. Our current transition from bicentennials of 1789-1815 to centennials of 1914-45 offers an opportunity to ask what events of 200 years ago may have meant for Russia's entry into modern age. Were Napoleonic Wars, to borrow title of David Bell's book, the first total war, an anticipation of Verdun and Stalingrad? (2) Or was this last of what French call les guerres en dentelles, the wars in lace, fought by aristocrats in lace-trimmed uniforms whose decorum on battlefield matched their gallantry with ladies? Last, did wars influence Russia's domestic history by inflecting educated society's experience of what Norbert Elias called civilizing process? (3) The articles by Taki and Promyslov offer a wealth of material for reflection on these questions. Looking Ahead to 1914? Taki and Promyslov provide considerable food for thought about parallels between Franco-Russian conflict of 1812-14 and two world wars of 20th century. At times, two articles bring to mind analysis of World I in Modris Eksteins's Rites of Spring. Eksteins argues that Germans and Britons supported war in 1914 out of fundamentally different motivations: Germans went to war in search of spiritual experience, while British fought to defend a rules-based order of society. (4) Both of these tendencies are discernable in Russia's war against Napoleon. In both articles we find a conception of war as an ineffable experience of individual spirit, not unlike that which Eksteins attributes to Germans. Taki argues that some Russians aestheticized spectacle of battle and by rendering it sublime--a term that described any awe-inspiring yet delightful sight, object, or phenomenon that challenged representative capacities of language and art by virtue of its incommensurability with viewer (271). Promyslov detects a similar pattern in French memoirs, which portrayed French army as seriously wounded at Borodino, subjected to inhuman suffering, yet managing all same to tear itself from clutches of death (262). Combat, in this view, was an end in itself and provided its own justification. The attitude that Eksteins attributes to British--the desire to uphold a conservative sense of order in both individual behavior and international relations--is also present in two articles, although to a lesser degree. Taki argues that Russian officers were determined to uphold traditional conventions of war to show Europeans that Russians were civilized people. …

Agricultural Policy in Russia: Global Challenges and the Viability of Rural Communities

The evolution of agricultural policy in Russia under the influence of external and internal challenges from the market reforms of the 1990s and ending with the entry of Russia into the WTO in 2012 has been a difficult one. The article presents an analysis of institutional traps, and of the measures and strategies that are employed to try to overcome them. The results of the market reforms of the Russian agricultural sector are assessed from an economic and social point of view, identifying the dominant survival strategies of rural communities in the diversification of the rural economy and rural employment. In conclusion, the author tries to answer the question why privatization and market reforms have not succeeded within the agricultural sector, and the reasons for the prevailing farming alternatives. The analysis and reflections are based on data from sociological surveys and government statistics as well as a number of research visits and interviews in rural regions of Russia over several decades.

A New Song for a New Motherland: Eurovision and the Rhetoric of Post‐Soviet National Identity

In March 2009 Russia's Channel One aired a live competition to choose Russia's entry for the 2009 Eurovision Song Competition, which was scheduled to be held in Moscow in two months time. The results were scandalous: Anastasia Prikhod'ko, a former participant in Russia's equivalent to the American Idol competition, Fabrika zvezd, who was Ukrainian in both citizenship and nationality, won with “Mamo” (Mother) an emotional ballad on the pain of love and female suffering that she performed half in Ukrainian and half in Russian. This article considers what Prikhod'ko's selection as Russia's national entry for Eurovision and the ensuing scandal tell us about the construction of Russian national identity in the post‐Soviet era and about Russia's attitude to its closest geographic neighbors. The author argues that Prikhod'ko's performance can best be understood as part of the larger phenomenon of post‐Soviet nostalgia: both the way “Mamo” was staged for the Eurovision international competition in Moscow and public statements made by a variety of cultural figures in defense of the song evoked Soviet aesthetics and Soviet rhetoric about the “friendship of peoples” (Druzhba narodov). In the context of Russia's on‐going quarrels with other former Soviet Republics, the presence of these nostalgic elements in “Mamo” inevitably seemed politically freighted: the song effectively juxtaposed to present tensions Soviet style “ethnic harmony” and hence, depending on one's point of view, either read as a touching appeal for peace and tolerance or as an veiled threat that hinted at the possible renewal of Russia's cultural dominance over the other former Soviet republics.

Human Capital and the Post-Capitalist Ideology

The article analyzes the reasons for the lack of a coherent system of views with the Russian elite and society in the development of the country and its place in the modern international relations, the role of LFO in the socio-economic and political transformation of the country, the main features of the ideology that is capable of justify the strategy of Russia's entry into the globalized world.

Georgia Again in Putin’s Shadow

IntroductionAs the government of Georgia continues its quest for economic modernization and admission into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and European Union (EU), it must first normalize relations with the Russian Federation to facilitate achievement of these long-term goals. The nation must weigh the benefits of a patient short- and medium-term policy of non-alignment versus an aggressive policy of immediate Western integration. This will be the most effective path for Georgia to improve its citizens' living conditions while ensuring physical security along its borders, which are currently areas of heightened tension. The animosity between the Russian and Georgian governments is counter-productive for both nations, though much more so for the Georgian populace. Georgia has the most to gain from rapprochement, and therefore should initiate the dialogue, ensuring that Russian withdrawal from South Ossetia and Abkhazia are not preconditions for negotiations.The recommendations put forth in this essay will likely be anathema to many citizens of Georgia, and especially to those in the Georgian political sphere. The events that have transpired and sacrifices that have been made in Abkhazia and South Ossetia can only truly be appreciated by the citizens directly involved. Distaste for Russia among the Georgian people is understandable. Most sovereign nations have no appetite for foreign advice involving their internal affairs, but Georgia must recognize and consider the factors identified below related to their security situation, even if they choose not to act.Perhaps the most notable facts to consider are the following:* Vladimir Putin has been elected to the Russian presidency* Iran is becoming more unstable* No nation has provided Georgia with security guarantees* The EU and Turkey are too energy dependent on Russia, and are economically and politically unwilling to significantly pressure their trade partner.With respect to Georgian hopes for assistance from the United States, the U.S. has no desire to aggressively antagonize Russia over Georgian matters. Notably, the most significant outcome of the meeting between U.S. President Barack Obama and Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili at the White House on 31 January 2012 was a commitment to studying a free trade agreement between the two nations. This identical commitment had been made three years earlier in the United States-Georgia Charter on Strategic Partnership, announced on 9 January 2009. There were no U.S. security guarantees resulting from the visit. The United States is also reluctant to antagonize Russia for other reasons. The U.S. needs Russia to ferry astronauts and supplies to the International Space Station. Washington is pursuing economic interests in Russia resulting from Russia's entry into the World Trade Organization, including repealing the JacksonVanik Act. In addition to the effort to resent U.S.-Russia relations, the U.S. is also facing its own financial challenges, and the military is shifting some of its focus from Europe to the Pacific. The United States has great respect for Georgia and its leadership, but has broader strategic interests that must be considered. Noting these factors (and others that are not discussed here), Georgia must recognize the need to take steps to reduce tensions with Russia if they hope to achieve an atmosphere of security and improved economic vitality.What Can Georgia Do?There are several immediate, simple, and inexpensive options available to Georgia to encourage detente with Russia. These efforts will not compromise Georgian sovereignty and may actually improve Georgia's relationships with Western governments, since any endeavor that seeks to lessen friction in the Caucasus would be viewed favorably by EU and U.S. politicians. Options that could be considered include:* Deemphasize the role played by the North Caucasus in Georgian politics* Positively promote the 20 14 Sochi Olympics* Assuage Russian anxieties about the possibility of NATO expansion* Reduce the level of overt anti-Russian rhetoric in public statements, official documents, and parliamentary actions* Lower the priority of resolving Abkhazia and South Ossetia's independence in national politics. …

Theater of Atrocities: Toward a Disreality Principle

In October 1992, the united nations security council requested the secretary-general to appoint an impartial commission to examine and record the atrocities committed in the wars in the former Yugoslavia. Two years later, this commission produced its final report. Some of the goriest pages in this catalogue of infamy are dedicated to the explosion on the Markale open-air market in central Sarajevo that took place around noon on Saturday, 5 February 1994. The report describes it as “the worst attack on civilians during the siege” of Sarajevo, citing that it killed at least 66 persons and wounded 197 (781). This explosion can be said to represent the turning point in the Bosnian war, which by that point had lasted some twenty-two months without any reasonable resolution in sight. David Binder, a New York Times reporter and the author of the most detailed account of this atrocity to date, writes that itprovoked the first engagement of NATO in European hostilities since it was founded four decades earlier and the first involvement of U.S. forces in combat in Europe since the beginning of the Cold War. Within days it also drew Russia into the hapless circle of Balkan problem-solvers, along with a unit of Russian peacekeeping troops—the first entry of Russia into the former Yugoslavia since Joseph Stalin's break-up with Josip Broz Tito in 1948. (70)

Energy Reform in Russia and the Implications for European Energy Security

The Russian natural gas and power industries are currently undergoing a reform that has potentially far-reaching consequences for Europe's gas supply and energy security. After fifteen years of subsidizing domestic industry through the regulation of natural gas and electricity prices, the Russian government has embarked on an ambitious program of price deregulation that will result in free market pricing for domestic industrial consumers by 2011. This program has involved many politically difficult decisions about the best use of Russia's comparative advantage in indigenous energy resources and the state's responsibility for the support of the national economy through the subsidy of domestic industry. It has also highlighted a complex identity within Gazprom and revealed that its relationship with the Kremlin is not as harmonious as one might expect.Conceived as a national champion company by the Russian government, which holds a majority of its stock, Gazprom has been expected not only to provide cheap supplies of natural gas to support the development of Russian industry but to secure Russian government interests in international business. However, despite their close relationship to President Putin, Gazprom's CEO, Aleksei Miller, and Chairman, Dmitry Medvedev, have been showing greater concern for Gazprom's profitability and survival and have been giving greater consideration to how macroeconomic factors influence the profitability of industry and the sustainability of economic development. Arguing that cheap electricity, and the need for an abudance of cheap natural gas to supply cheap electricity, was actually a hindrance to healthy domestic development, Gapzrom has successfully persuaded the government to abandon price regulation in favor of a free energy market. Although domestic price reform was a key recommendation of the World Trade Organization for Russia's admittance, the final program won by Gazprom is far more ambitious. Furthermore, Russia's entry still faces many hurdles and is far from imminent. It may even be delayed until after 2008 and may be deprioritized by Putin's successor. Therefore, Russia has demonstrated a great sense of responsibility in addressing its energy-wasteful practices immediately, and has demonstrated responsible recognition of its best long-term interests.Gazprom's long-term production capacity has been a source of concern both domestically and internationally. Output at Gazprom's main producing fields in the Nadym Par Taz (NPT) region-including the supergiant fields of Urengoy, Yamburg, and Medvezhe-has been in steep decline since the early 2000s. By 2015, production at these fields will be half their peak output. To replace this diminishing output, Gazprom has been developing shallow fields in the Ob and Taz Bays on the Yamal Peninsula. While these shallow fields can complement output from NPT, adequate future supplies can only be guaranteed through the development of major new fields, a move that Gazprom has been reluctant to undertake. The Shtokman project has been continuously delayed and development of the giant Yamal Peninsula fields is still in the discussion stages. Despite pressure from the Russian government and expression of deep concern from European customers, Gazprom has resisted these major development projects because of their high marginal costs and uncertainty over future domestic and international prices.The domestic market has traditionally been a financial liability for Gazprom. Despite absorbing approximately 60 percent of Gazprom's output, the company have never realized a profit from sales within Russia. Instead, Gazprom relies on exports to European markets for its entire profit margin. Recently, Gazprom has lost more than $1 billion per year. While this has been somewhat sustainable over the past twenty years, as no new significant development has been necessary, the growing shortfall and the high marginal costs necessary to guarantee future supply to both domestic and foreign markets have caused Gazprom to rebel against its continued subsidization of the domestic market. …

Organizational and economic mechanism of production management on the principles of ecological safety

Strategic changes in the internal environment of an industrial enterprise as a reaction to external influence are based on the prediction of changes in national approaches with regard to Russia's entry into the WTO, where economic processes are increasingly dependent on environmental factors. This paper describes the organizational and economic mechanism of management based on present ecological concepts, with a full range of environmental issues taken into account as a normal stage of planning and development of the manufacturing process and industrial products, which is not regarded as a separate (mostly final) operation. Approbation of the proposed model and estimation of production management efficiency in view of the developed set of quantitative indicators showed not only reducing the negative industrial impacts, but also a significant economic effect.

Russian Accession to the WTO: An Assessment

A senior World Bank economist presents a study focusing on issues controlling Russia's accession to the WTO in 2007. The paper discusses the principal reform commitments that Russia has made in an effort to become a member of the organization and addresses the question of whether the country faces excessive demands due to political considerations. While exploring such issues as potential relations with foreign exporters and investors, the author summarizes the relevant parts of his recent joint study of Russian import tariffs that casts a new light on a complex aspect of international trade. Among other problems relating to Russia's entry, he discusses in some detail branch banking and the tradedistorting subsidies in agriculture. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: F13, F40, O19. 3 tables, 26 references.

WTO Negotiations with Respect to Geographical Indications and Russia's Position on the Protection of Appellations of Origin

AbstractThe present article examines the current stage of the WTO negotiations with respect to the protection of geographical indications (GIs). GIs are distinctive signs that associate products of quality and reputation with their place or area of production and, thereby, help identify and distinguish such products on the market. Well-known examples of geographical indications include Irish Whiskey, Gorgonzola, Tequila, Bordeaux, Roquefort, Antigua Coffee, and Parma Ham. This article examines the manner in which geographical indications are protected in the Russian Federation. Russia considers protection of this type of intellectual property to be one of the key TRIPs issues and is seen to fully support the position of those countries that are demanding enhanced protection of geographical indications around the world. One of the major problems in respect to the protection of intellectual property in Russia is the fact that enforcement of intellectual property laws has—thus far—been rather limited. In conclusion, the authors suggest that Russia's entry into the WTO will prove benefi cial to both Russia itself and to other WTO Members with respect to intellectual property protection.

Trade Policy for a Networked World

Trade policy has been a notable and bipartisan success of postwar American foreign policy. Across 10 administrations and 26 Congresses, Washington has guided the world's economies toward freer trade and higher levels of development?from the foundation of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (gatt) in 1947; through the U.S. Trade Expansion Act of 1962 and the Kennedy, Tokyo, and Uruguay Rounds of gatt negotiations; to the U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agree ment, the North American Free Trade Agreement (nafta), recent trade agreements with China, Vietnam, and Jordan, and legislation liberalizing trade with Africa and the Caribbean. Current challenges along these lines include completing negotiations on free trade agree ments with Singapore and Chile, inaugurating a new round of the World Trade Organization (wto) and negotiating Russia's entry into it, and moving forward on a Free Trade Area of the Americas. Trade agreements have grown in complexity and scope over time, but the landmark achievements of earlier years all dealt with essentially similar problems. They catalogued and reduced tariffs, quotas, and other trade barriers. As a new century opens, however, trade policy is taking on a fundamentally new set of challenges?ensuring an open, competitive, well-regulated information economy. One of the principal

Modular technologies—The time constraint

Keen competition in the world market for metal products, anti-dumping measures directed against Russia's largest companies, and the ongoing technological crisis may cause more than a loss of market share. These factors could undermine the very existence of the country's metallurgical industry. The entry of Russia into the World Trade Organization will undoubtedly help improve the prospects for Russian metallurgical products, but it will not guarantee that those products will be competitive. The drastic (by 30–50%) reduction in production costs which is needed for the economic health of the sector can be achieved by using modular technologies—by combining processing operations in at least two successive conversions organized on the basis of a single production unit. The acute importance of this problem made it necessary for experts in thefield to convene last February at a conference devoted to the development and introduction of modular technologies for the mass production of goods having a new level of properties in the steelmaking-rolling conversion. The conference was organized by the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Russian Federation together with the Central Scientific Research Institute of Metallurgy (TsNIIchermet) and the All-Union Scientific Research, Planning, and Design Institute of Metallurgical Machinery (VNIImetmash). Also in attendance were representatives of the Ministry of Economics of the Russian Federation, metallurgical and machine-building plants, foreign companes, scientific-research and academic institutes, planning organizations, and trade publications; five papers and seven reports were presented. The conference examined the main designs of cazting-rolling modules for the steelmaking-rolling conversion, the feasibility of creating a medium-term program for their introduction in ferrous metallurgy and machine construction by the year 2005, and possible forms of government support and private investment.

Pushkin and Romantic Fashion: Fragment, Elegy, Orient, Irony

A note to the reader Pushkin and the fragment: an introduction 1. The romantic fragment: a genealogy 2. From epitaph to elegy: Russia's entry into European culture 3. The foreign fountain: self as other in the oriental poem 4. 'What's in a name?' the rhetoric of imposture in Boris Godunov 5. The sense of not ending: romantic irony in Eugene Onegin 6. How to read an epitaph: the 'Kleopatra' tales Autoportraiture: an afterword Notes Index.