Russian Connection Research Articles

Modernizaciya i revolyuciya v Rossii (sociologo-politologicheskie tezisy)

Russian connections with area of Montenegro are centuries old. The Russian state was helping the Balkan Christians: politically, financially, religiously, and culturally. A particularly significant form of Russian influence, represents the establishment and development of health institutions. That especially came to the fore after 1917, when many Russian educated doctors who made a huge contribution to strengthening the health system of Montenegro come to these areas.

A Story with Characters and Action

A Story with Characters and Action

Borealis gets another fertilizer offer

Borealis has received a binding offer of $870 million for its nitrogen fertilizer business from the Czech agricultural conglomerate Agrofert. The business, which produces fertilizers and melamine, had sales of about $1.5 billion and operating profit of $110 million in 2021. Borealis had an offer of $520 million from competitor EuroChem earlier this year, but the deal fell through after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine because of that firm’s Russian connections.

To Grow or Not to Grow: Belarus and Lithuania.

We compare the economic growth performance of Belarus and Lithuania since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Our interest in this country pair is driven by the two countries’ interwoven history as well as by the fact that Belarus remains autocratic and strongly tied to Russia, while Lithuania has reinvented herself as a democratic market economy fully integrated into the EU. Our aim is to understand better the extent to which the growth differential between the two countries can be traced to increased efficiency, i.e., total factor productivity, in the use of capital and other resources via, inter alia, better institutions (intensive growth) as opposed to sheer accumulation of capital (extensive growth), the hallmark of Soviet economic growth. To this end, we compare the development of some key determinants of growth in the two countries since the 1990s. Employing a simple growth accounting model we find that institutional reforms, open and transparent governance, and good education play a more important role for output and efficiency than crude capital accumulation. Hence Lithuania does better than Belarus, which remains marred by problems related to weak governance as well as autocratic rule. As in Estonia and Latvia we find that the EU perspective made a significant contribution to growth in Lithuania. The Russian connection has done less for Belarus. At last, we also touch upon the impact of the corona virus on the economies of the two countries.

Between Moscow and Berlin: The Russian connections behind Flatau’s “Law of Eccentric Location of Long Pathways in Spinal Cord”

ABSTRACT The origins of Edward Flatau’s “The Law of Eccentric Location of Long Pathways in Spinal Cord” are discussed, considering newly examined archival documents from Central State Archive of Moscow and Museum of the I. M. Sechenov University (former medical faculty of Imperial Moscow University [IMU]). These documents, together with German and Polish records, illustrate the international character of Flatau’s education and shed light on the bigger question of interactions between Moscow and Berlin fin de siècle neurologists. Flatau’s peregrinations between these two cities are documented, together with difficulties encountered due to his nationality and the changing political environment.

Butterwick , Richard The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, 1733–1795: Light and Flame (review)

REVIEWS 765 Theresa, the vampire craze of the early eighteenth century, to Franz Joseph’s electric cigar lighter. Rady enlivens the text with telling anecdotes and effective quotations that humanize his subjects and help create a work that holds the reader’s attention. That reader would do well to have some familiarity with general European history, not only because the Habsburg dynasty is so intimately involved in so much of it, but also because Rady has chosen to keep his focus on the dynasty and its representatives. As a result, the major challenges and influences the Habsburgs faced — whether the Protestant Reformation, the Thirty Years War, the Enlightenment, the rise of modern nationalism, or something else — receive attention primarily insofar as the Habsburgs had to cope with them. That said, Rady creates a fascinating series of portraits reminiscent of the Heraldic Wall of St George’s Church in Wiener Neustadt mentioned in the text, or the panoply of portraits of illustrious ancestors on the walls of a castle gallery. In their cumulative impact, these portraits provide an insightful panorama of European and even global history as refracted through the prism of this famous dynasty. The family’s legacy may still be noticed throughout much of Europe, Central and South America, the Philippines and even Taiwan, but it is perhaps most strongly present in Central Europe. There the horrors of the twentieth century have tended to cast a nostalgic glow over memories of the Habsburg centuries, since what came after was so much worse. It may be damning with faint praise that Rady’s final evaluation of the Habsburgs, viewed in the shadow of the depressing developments of recent decades in Central Europe, is to agree with a Hungarian colleague, that ‘a Habsburg would have done no worse’ (p. 329). History Department Hugh L. Agnew George Washington University Butterwick, Richard. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, 1733–1795: Light and Flame. Yale University Press, New Haven, CT and London, 2020. xxiii + 482 pp. Maps. Glossary. Gazetteer. Notes. Further reading. Index.£30.00. Richard Butterwick’s The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth: 1733–1795 offers an important new narrative synthesis of eighteenth-century Polish history, which notably integrates into the story Butterwick’s own recent research on religion and politics, published in 2012 as The Polish Revolution and the Catholic Church, 1788–1792. The current volume could have been styled as ‘The End of the Commonwealth’ or ‘The Age of Stanisław August’, as the SEER, 99, 4, OCTOBER 2021 766 reign of Poland’s last king occupies some three-quarters of the book, and roughly half the book is dedicated to the short but politically crucial period from the opening of the Four-Year Sejm in 1788 to the Kościuszko insurrection in 1794 and the final partition of Poland in 1795. Politics and religion lie at the centre of Butterwick’s discussion, and the tensions between monarchism and republicanism are traced through the period with particular attention to the problem of their reconciliation in the Constitution of 3 May 1791. The analysis of the Four-Year Sejm stresses ‘the turn from hard-line noble republicanism towards limited parliamentary monarchy’ (p. 208). While the intervention and domination of foreign powers is obviously crucial for the period of the partitions, Butterwick studies the complex political functioning of the Stanislavian state as important in its own right, in spite of compromised sovereignty and imminent collapse. He probes the efforts of Stanisław August to reform the Polish state, while also exploring other dimensions of the reign: from the avoidance of national costume at the coronation, to the manifestations of the king’s artistic and architectural vision, to the humiliating circumstances of his abdication in the context of the final partition. Butterwick follows not only the parliamentary convocation of the Sejm at regular intervals during this period, but also the more intricate concerns of the ‘sejmiki’, the local dietines — important institutions of Polish-Lithuanian republicanism — that preceded and chose representatives for the Sejm. He offers interesting insight into the opposition to Stanisław August, following figures such as the Grand Hetman Franciszek Branicki whose strategic advocacy of republicanism against the crown also intersected with his Russian connection as...

Chabet: The Russian connection

This article focuses on the Filipino artist Roberto Chabet and his Russian Paintings of 1984. It explores the influence of Russian art, especially Vladimir Tatlin on his work in the 1980s and others, notably Malevich and El Lissitzky’s Proun work. The article looks back at Chabet’s trips to Europe and his first installations and work on paper in the 1970s, prefiguring the radical nature of his subsequent Russian painting.

Russian Family Foundations: benefits and pitfalls for international clients with Russian connections

Abstract Since 2018, Russian law has provided for the concept of a “Hereditary Foundation”, a private foundation which can be established after the demise of the testator and which can act in a way similar to a common-law trust. It is an option for complex estate planning under Russian law. It has attracted both interest and controversy, with many concerned that the gray area, lacunae, and inconsistencies in the legislation may prevent its effective implementation. The authors analyze the practical challenges in this area and consider whether and how this vehicle fares in competition with the non-Russian structures traditionally used by Russian private clients for estate and succession planning.

Right-wing Extremism: The Russian Connection

Russia is cultivating extreme right-wing support to undermine the West, using a variety of actors to woo different partners.

The Russian Connection in Singapore’s Local Art Identity

The uncritical acceptance of the Nanyang art discourse as central to the discussion of Singapore’s local art identity obfuscates its historical emergence from a richly pluralistic artistic milieu which existed from the 1920s to the 1940s. This article illustrates the diversity of artistic practice in Singapore during this period, through a case study of three Russian artists in Singapore: Anatole Shister, Vasily Zasipkin and Vladimir Tretchikoff. Examining their migration stories, as well as studying their art and their involvement in the local art world, the article reveals how global upheavals of this period informed Singapore’s artistic milieu, contributing to a cosmopolitan environment that allowed for interaction between artists from around the world. In Singapore, artists from different backgrounds and with divergent motives shared in the efforts of depicting local life, searching for local colour and painting the region.

The Russian connection: new attacks and arrests

As the controversy over whether Russian hackers played a role in the US elections staggers on, further allegations have been made about possible Kremlin-backed attacks. And arrests have been made in connection with some earlier incidents.

The What Happened of Experience: Reflections on the Practice of The Method of Analysis through Action

Achieving a genuine connection between the actor’s felt experience and the need to speak words is the holy grail of many rehearsal processes; words spoken from an impulse beyond mere ink on the page. This is the promise the actor presents to the audience. In this article, I reflect on The Method of Analysis through Action as a means of achieving this. The role of this rehearsal process is beginning to play an increasingly important part in our understanding of Stanislavski’s work thanks in large part to the many excellent teachers and writers who are bringing the latter period of his work to the fore. Here, I will consider the use of this process as both a means of rehearsal and training following on a three-week collaborative research project entitled The Russian Connection, which brought together professional actors steeped in the British tradition alongside British drama student graduates to explore the method in practice. Particular attention was paid to the nature of the collaborative relationships in the rehearsal room alongside the practical impact of conversations between actors and directors. A recurring theme contained within is that by putting the primacy of the actor’s individual experience at the heart of the creative process we change the nature of the relationship between actor and director in the rehearsal room significantly.

Nobel’s Russian Connection

Nobel’s Russian connection has surfaced recently in a letter sent by him to the Russian Minister of War, reporting on progress during 1889 and 1890 on his new smokeless powder, Ballistite. The letter was found in Swedish archives with other documents, indicating that Russian army officials maintained ties with Nobel, and received a large number of Ballistite samples. Nobel’s involvement with Russian development was not described before by major written sources in English. The documents have also exposed Nobel’s difficulties in production and marketing across Europe, from mid 1889 to mid 1890. The new findings are useful in understanding the ‘longue durée’ aspect of Ballistite, described only briefly in the literature.

Understanding Terror, Terrorism, and Their Representations in Media and Culture

This review article examines four recent books published on terrorism and insurgent warfare. It argues that the narrative developed from the early 1970s within terrorism studies or “terrorology” was considerably different from the discussion of terrorism in the post-1945 period and tended to marginalize the role of states in fomenting terror. The article looks at depictions of terrorism in both art and film as well the recent historiography of terrorism. The article argues that far more emphasis needs to be placed on the role of the French Revolution in the gestation of terrorism in the nineteenth century; by contrast the emphasis on late nineteenth century Russian terrorism has been rather exaggerated as many terrorist movement (such as that in 1880s Chicago) owed little to the Russian connection. Finally the article shows that the connection between terrorism and political nihilism has been overplayed and that few terrorist movements (as opposed to some terrorist theorists) were driven by a nihilist agenda.

The internationalization of Finnish companies: the Russian connection

This article examines the developments in trade and direct investments between two northern economies, Finland and Russia. On the basis of a review of annual reports of 10 major Finnish companies, belonging to the electronic, construction, foodstuff, and forest industries, this article argues that Finnish-Russian economic integration can be characterized as ‘asymmetric.’ On the one hand, Finnish construction firms and food producers have become vitally dependent on performance of their Russian subsidiaries. They also demonstrate geographical expansion of their operations within Russia. On the other hand, Finnish electronic and forestry firms have abstained from making major investment commitments in Russia. For them, Russia was important either as an export market or as a source of raw materials. This article also investigates internationalization patterns of Finnish companies in 2000–2010, and comes to the conclusion that for them Russia has been relatively less attractive in comparison to such countries as Estonia, Poland, Hungary, China, India, Mexico, and Brazil.

Тихоокеанская Азия: экономическая интеграция и перспективы России

The article describes in detail the integration processes in the Asia-Pacific region, the influence of the Asian financial crisis of 1997-1998 biennium. and the world crisis 2007-2008 biennium, as well as the prospects of the Russian connection.

No Smoke without fire? Mrs Garnett and the Russian Connection

This article charts the career and astonishing output of the translator Constance Garnett, whose English-language version of the Russian classics at the turn of the nineteenth century contributed directly to the “Russian fever” that took hold of the reading public. Mrs Garnett’s own political engagements are evoked, so as to understand better the profile of a translator who, while most famous for her renderings of Turgenev, Dostoevsky and Tolstoy, was also translating more directly incandescent material. Her 1908 translation of an eye-witness’s account of the Potemkin mutiny is particularly studied here. Throwing light on the historical and ideological context of the translations, it becomes clear that Mrs Garnett’s subsequent reputation owes more to her era than former commentators may have allowed. It also becomes clear that, far from lingering in the byways of history, the translator is very directly caught up with both the preservation and the re-appropriation of the past.

Between Irony and Revolution: Sexual Difference and the Case of Aufhebung

In his discussion of the possible link between Hegel's term Aufhebung and Martin Luther's translation of the Greek word katargein as used by Saint Paul, Giorgio Agamben points out the Russian connection—via Alexandre Kojève and Alexandre Koyré—and hence the connection to Russian apocalyptic thinking in the reception of Hegelianism in France. This connection, however, has been marked by a striking contrast in the vicissitudes of Hegel's term in Russia and in France. Its first aspect is the invisibility of the issue of translation in the Russian case and the French hypersensitivity to this issue, which has resulted in a proliferation of suggested translations and discussions up to and beyond Derrida. The second aspect becomes manifest in the transformation the translation undergoes from Kojève to his self-professed disciple, Lacan. Kojève's “taking down” becomes “raising up” with Lacan, who, furthermore, inscribes this silent reversal in his theory of sexuation. It is the curious twist from apocalypse to sexual difference that the article addresses, moving from Alain Badiou's early views on dialectics to the groundbreaking debate on sexual difference between Judith Butler and Joan Copjec.

Johann Mattheson—the Russian connection: the rediscovery of Boris Goudenow and his other lost operas

Journal Article Johann Mattheson—the Russian connection: the rediscovery of Boris Goudenow and his other lost operas Get access Stephen Stubbs Stephen Stubbs Stephen Stubbs made his début as a lutenist in the Wigmore Hall in London in 1976. StephenEStubbs@aol.com Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Early Music, Volume 33, Issue 2, May 2005, Pages 283–294, https://doi.org/10.1093/em/cah071 Published: 01 May 2005

Belarusian Literature of the Diaspora by Arnold McMillin (review)

268 Reviews his source which failed to understand that 'curved trees of skulls' referredto drinking horns. The published pieces mostly have some connection with England; the action of the 'Dying Ode of Regner Lodbrog' and 'Ransome of Egill the Scald' takes place in England, while 'The Complaint of Harold' is that of Haraldr Sigurdarson, who died at Stamford Bridge. Hakon (commemorated in the 'Funeral Song of Hacon') was brought up at the court of King Athelstan. This edition is an achievement which only someone with Clunies Ross's extensive knowledge of skaldic poetry, Norse tradition, and the eighteenth-century intellectual background could have brought off,and such eclectic individuals are rare indeed. The edition will be of enormous value to historians of Norse reception and eighteenthcentury specialists alike. St John's College, Oxford Carolyne Larrington BelarusianLiteratureofthe Diaspora. By Arnold McMillin. (Birmingham Slavonic Monographs, 34) Birmingham: Centre for Russian and East European Studies, University of Birmingham. 2002. 503 pp. ?30. ISBN 0-7044-2327-8. Divided into three parts, Belarusian Literature of the Diaspora reminds us that there are serious rivals to the Russian literarygenius in Eastern Europe. Part I covers emigre Belarusian literature and includes a detailed discussion of poetry. Following on from this are detailed chapters on individual poets, including Masiej Siadniou, who was considered a candidate forthe Nobel prize forliterature in the 1980s. Chapters 6 and 7 deal with, respectively, emigre prose and drama. In Part 11Arnold McMillin examines writing in contemporary Eastern Europe and in Part III he examines Belarusian literature in Poland, which, as he rightly argues, is a special case. BelarusianLiterature of theDiaspora leaves one with an enduring feeling of sadness and helplessness on behalf of all those writers who were driven into exile, impri? soned, executed, or had their lives otherwise blighted by Communism. Consider, for example, the fate of Uladzimier Dudzicki, whose vision of his country's fate is one which has been subjected to the ravages of the 'two-legged beast', which, notes McMillin, is 'a cruelly destructive figure apparently embodying in the poet's mind the evil of Lenin, Stalin and Hitler' (p. 27). Expelled from the Miensk Belarusian Pedagogical Institute forbeing a 'national democrat', Dudzicki was later arrested and sent to various camps and then exile. During the German occupation of Belarus he devoted himself to the cause of Belarusian culture. Such activities marked him out as an ideological foe of the Soviet Union and lefthim with no choice other than to leave Belarus as the Red Army advanced, in the hope that he could make some kind of a life in the West. Of the many writers and poets discussed by McMillin, the two that this reviewer would recommend to the uninitiated reader are JanCykvin, whom McMillin describes as 'the outstanding Belarusian poet living in Poland' (p. 367), and Sakrat Janovic, the miniaturist. English translations of these and other authors are either sparse or do not exist but McMillin manages to alert us to the existence of these riches through his own translations. Regarding the work of Janovic, McMillin notes the influence of Isaac Babel, especially in Janovic's firstminiature, Festival (1962): 'This influence', observes McMillin, 'is felt clearly at the most basic level in the careful and very skilful polishing which Janovic gives to all his miniatures' (p. 423). Having established an important Russian connection in Janovic's work, which has a pronounced rural theme, McMillin then proceeds to dismiss another: 'Russian village writers like Viktor Astaf'ev, Vasilii Belov and Valentin Rasputin probably deserve to be passed over in silence, in view of their move from literature to extremist politics. At the present MLRy 99.1, 2004 269 time comparing them to Janovic is like comparing such feeble and venal war writers as Ivan Stadniuk and Leonid Brezhnev with Vasil Bykau' (pp. 424-25). This is a totally unjustified attack on three very important Russian writers, especially Astaf'ev, who in the 1990s emerged as Russia's greatest living writer, one who was equally adept at writing on the fate of the village or the Great Fatherland War. Astaf'ev's cycle of war stories written in the 1990s, Tak khochetsya zhit' (I Really Want to Live...