Russia's Minister Research Articles

ВОЕННЫЙ МИНИСТР РОССИИ А. И. ЧЕРНЫШЁВ: ПОЛИТИЧЕСКИЙ ПОРТРЕТ НА ФОНЕ ЭПОХИ (1802–1825 ГГ.)

Based on the study of historical materials the author examines the diplomatic and military activity of Aleksander Ivanovich Chernyshev (1785–1857) in the first quarter of the 19th century. The analysis of the diplomatic service of A. I. Chernyshev in France in 1809–1812, his participation in the Patriotic War of 1812 and the foreign campaigns of the Russian army (1813–1814) is carried out. Particular attention is paid to the professional and personal development of the future Military Minister of Russia.

Captain Wiggins and Admiral Makarov: commerce and politics in the Russian Arctic (1874–1904)

ABSTRACTThis paper discusses the motives underlying two approaches to the development of the Russian Arctic in the late nineteenth century. The first, the brainchild of the British merchant seaman Joseph Wiggins (1832–1905), derived principally from private commercial instincts. The second, the work of Sergei Witte (1849–1915), Russia's Minister of Finance, and the innovative Russian Admiral Stepan Osipovich Makarov (1848–1904), had much less to do with trade and much more to do with projecting Russian national ambitions. The first required no great technological insight, but the second required the construction of the greatest of nineteenth century icebreakers. Although both approaches, the commercial and the political, the ‘low tech’ and the ‘high tech’, failed in the short term, both made a mark on subsequent developments. The paper concludes that although, at the time of their conception, political and diplomatic considerations made it unlikely that commercial and political approaches to the development of the Russian Arctic could be harmonised, the time for dovetailing them may be getting nearer.

Pro-Stalin historian becomes Russia's minister of science

Pro-Stalin historian becomes Russia's minister of science

The Future of the Natural Resources Sector in Russia

Environmental management, technologies, products and services are commonly expected to provide significant economic opportunities for companies and countries. This is mainly due to increasing awareness among politicians, academics and the wider population on the importance of environmental aspects in daily life. Consequently demand for environmentally friendly solutions is expected to grow continuously in the next decade. The present study is part of a broader research project which examines the long-term science and technology (S&T) agenda in Russia up to 2030. The project's results were approved by the Prime Minister of Russia in early January 2014. Researchers from the National Research University Higher School of Economics carried out the research project at the request of the Russian Ministry of Education and Science between 2011 and 2013. The research comprised six interrelated spheres: ICT; biotechnology, medicine and public health; new materials and nanotechnologies; environmental management; transport and space systems; and energy efficiency and energy conservation. For each sphere, the project explored in-depth the global emergent challenges and opportunities, the risks, and their degree of influence on Russia. The authors analysed the most important potential market niches, products and services that are capable of radically shaping world markets and highlighted their competitive advantages. Within the framework of these priority science areas authors emphasised several spheres of particular potential value and compared the level of research carried out in Russia and the leading countries. The current paper also covers the analyses the natural resources sector made within a project aimed at integration of national and sectoral S&T Foresight studies funded by the Russian Ministry of Education and Science. Findings show that the potential applications for environmental products and services are manifold. The study is based on a thorough analysis of expert opinions and their assessment of future applications and the development of demand for these applications. However the authors note that the expert opinions included in the assessment of prospective products, services and markets, despite being based on rigorous assessment, still reflect expectations. Their opinions incorporate a degree of uncertainty especially with regard to how and when (or whether) the markets, technologies, products and services will develop in the expected ways.

Devolution in Wartime: Sergei D. Sazonov and the Future of Poland, 1910–1916

trying to understand the roots and conduct of the First World War, historians have returned to the study of individual policy-makers after a few decades spent focusing on social and economic forces. One of the most important pre-war diplomats was Sergei D. Sazonov, foreign minister of Russia from 1910 to 1916. His influence on Russian policy formulation grew each year, to reach its zenith in July 1914, when he persuaded Tsar Nicholas II to authorize general mobilization, the decision which sent Russia to war.1 During the war, as Poland became a crucial arena of competition between the Central Powers and Triple Entente, Sazonov put forward increasingly liberal proposals for a future Polish kingdom (tsars tvo PoUskoe) within the Russian Empire. Ironically, just as he seemed to have reached his goal, having obtained the tsar's approval of a constitution giving autonomy to Poland to be introduced at the war's end, Sazonov was removed from office. His plans were shelved. In spite of the opening of the Russian archives, little work has been done on the development of Sazonov's Polish policy.2 This is the more surprising as the question of the future of Poland critically influenced both Sazonov's career as a diplomat and the divisions within the council of ministers that accompanied the collapse of the Romanov regime under the stress of war. Analysis of Sazonov as foreign minister in general studies of

Russian reshuffle places Bulgak at helm

moscow Vladimir Bulgak, formerly a deputy prime minister, has been appointed Russia's minister of science and technology in a cabinet reshuffle by President Boris Yeltsin.

An Interview with E. V. Tkachenko

Evgenii Viktorovich, you have become Russia's minister of education at a time that is very difficult for our country and for public education. How do you feel as you undertake your new duties?

The Prime Minister of Russia meets the Governing body of the Russian Academy of Sciences

The Prime Minister of Russia meets the Governing body of the Russian Academy of Sciences

The Soviet Railway System: Policy and Operation

IT is probably in the field of railroading that some of the weaker spots of Soviet planning can be most easily detected. It is here, too, that the greatest contrast can be observed between two opposing systems: that of socialism, as it exists in Russia, and that of modern capitalism, based on private, corporate or mixed (private and state) enterprise. In the history of capitalist railroad construction, now largely a thing of the past in the leading industrial countries of the West and the United States, we note that building activities were broadly determined by the requirements of existing markets, which, in turn, were developed and expanded because of newly established communications. By contrast, socialism's aims were motivated from the beginning, and continue to be so, by state planning, masterminded by individuals who retained top positions of power. This appears to be the primary reason why Soviet railway policy, in the light of actual economic experience, appears far less dynamic and flexible than that of capitalist countries. In the history of modern capitalism, railroad construction played a very important part. It greatly affected the circulation of capital, both national and international, the stock market, the real estate market, the market for labor, and both individual and corporate income. It also affected, indirectly but not less actively, the production of industrial goods, especially capital goods, and that of basic raw materials: coal, steel, and others. In this capitalist march towards progress, pre-Communist Russia was no exception. Having already built 14,300 miles of railway track in 20 years between I86I and I882, Imperial Russia built another 32,000 miles in the 30 years between 1882 and the First World War. The Russian achievement in the go's was due to the energy and talents of Serge Witte, an eminent specialist in railroading, and Russia's Minister of Finance from 1892 to 1903. In I88i, the