Suchergebnisse

This report is the product of collaboration between the Naval Postgraduate School Center on Contemporary Conflict and the Defense Threat Reduction Agency ; The opportunities for cooperation in strengthening strategic stability between the United States and Russia have been greatly reduced by the deterioration of the relations between the two countries as well as by their different views of strategic stability in bilateral relations and in several key regions of the world. The situation has been further complicated by the Kremlin's belief that the United States' primary goal is regime change in Russia, and by the politicization of expert, media, and official analysis in Russia. Russia considers practically all U.S. policies (e.g., missile defense, conventional Prompt Global Strike, democracy promotion, use of military force in the Middle East) as a threat to strategic stability. Russia views the situation in the Middle East through the prism of the competition with the United States. Russia has relatively little interest in strengthening strategic stability in the China-India-Pakistan relationship, being more preoccupied with protecting Central Asia from Islamist fighters. When it comes to China, there are chances for a discrete dialogue between Russia and the United States, if and when the relations between Washington and Moscow improve. In the current situation, nuclear arms control negotiations, both at the strategic and non-strategic levels, have little chance of success. If the Russian economy continues to slow down, it is possible that Russia may consider further U.S.- Russian bilateral reductions of strategic nuclear weapons. In the meanwhile, unofficial contacts (Track II) between U.S. and Russian experts should be maintained in order to understand how our competing visions of doctrine and capabilities might play out in a confrontation or crisis where the use of force is a real possibility.

Political and economic rapprochement is taking place between Russia and China in a number of fields: energy, arms production, trade in national currencies and strategic projects in transport and supporting infrastructure. This development, fostered by Western policies and actions, including sanctions related to Ukraine, appears to be strengthening despite reservations related to uneasy precedents, contrasting visions and uncertain economic projections. Chinese policies aiming at European markets via the revival of the Silk Road assist this development. The One Belt-One Road is projected as an alternative, or supplement, to the maritime routes made unsafe by contiguous countries' unrest, criminality and the assertive control of the seas by the United States. While Russia, promoting friendly investment structures, moves eastwards to develop the Russian Far East bordering China, the latter expands westwards engaging in laborious negotiations with Central Asian countries and costly investments in infrastructure and logistics. In each area, the article maintains that both countries, despite economic and political competition and fear of losing control, have interest in cooperation and discusses the areas where this is taking place, albeit slowly and with difficulty. Whether economic cooperation can develop into a strategic alliance including defence is discussed in the light of joint military exercises, arms trade and plans to broaden the scope of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (of which India and Pakistan have recently become members), and the Common ASEAN Community. This path is difficult and marred by members' conflicting interests. But some positive outcomes should not be ruled out.

Emerging literature in Critical Menstrual Studies seeks to contextualize and decentralize the modern Western experience of the menstrual cycle, by paying closer attention to its various historical and cultural specificities (especially in the Global South). This paper extends the discussion by focusing on Soviet and post-Soviet Russia. The post-Soviet case is distinctive because, despite the USSR being a 'developed' country by international standards, Soviet menstruators relied on do-it-yourself substitutes and improvisational bodily techniques instead of industrially produced disposable tampons and sanitary pads. However, the seismic shifts in Russian politics, the economy, society, and culture that accompanied the collapse of the Soviet Union and the emergence of a new capitalist economy also resulted in profound changes in the politics of menstruation.Drawing on the transcripts of recorded interviews with 80 participants, we enquire into the connections to and discrepancies between socialist ideology, scientific expertise, popular knowledge, and personal experiences of menstruation in the Soviet Union and post-Soviet Russia. In tracing the evolution from cloths and chunks of cotton to sanitary pads and tampons, we remain attentive to the materiality of menstruation, but also approach the topic in terms of the history of the body: going beyond medical discourses of menstruation, we explore menstrual lived experience on a more visceral level.

The article examines the relations between Russia and Pakistan in the 21st century. The article notes that cooperation between Russia and Pakistan is carried out both in a bilateral format and within the framework of international organizations and multilateral structures.

Demographic problems are among the most acute in modern Russia. This is evidenced by the great attention paid to them by the authorities, the media, and public organizations. Demographic science uses its own methods to find the ways to solve the existing problems. And in Russia the coverage of demographic problems in scientific publications has a special perspective, since on the one hand, specialists are professionally versed in the topic and see nuances incomprehensible "from the outside". On the other hand, many researchers in the field of social sciences are characterized by a critical approach to any actions of the authorities, and the existing achievements may be downplayed, as they do not reach the final goal. In particular, firstly, the mortality rate in Russia has been decreasing for almost all the years of the 21st century, but it is still very high as compared to most European countries. Secondly, the birth rate in the country is low by world standards, but it is higher than in most European countries. As a result, these facts are interpreted in different ways both in a positive and in a negative way. At the same time, all demographic projections indicate that in the coming decades the natural decline of the Russian population will continue. And to solve this problem, it is necessary to search for new approaches, measures of demographic policy that is impossible without combined efforts of all domestic demographers, despite theoretical, practical and other differences. The national project "Demography" and related programs ("Health Care" and others) can solve problems only subject to necessary scientific development of the proposed measures and their adaptation to the real Russian conditions.