"King of the Mountain," or Why Postcommunist Autocracies Have Bad Institutions

The authors analyze levels of democracy and state capacity (including quality of institutions) in the postcommunist countries over the past two decades and consider the theoretical implications of the relationship between these variables. In particular, they cast serious doubt on the general validity of the J-curve hypothesis. They present their own informal "king of the mountain" model.     

Is the USSR dead? Experience from the financial and economic crisis of 2008–2009

The paper examines the economic linkages between the post-Soviet states from the point of view of the financial and economic crisis of 2008–2009. It aims to find out whether the interdependence between the countries of the former Soviet Union is still large enough that crises in individual countries affect the economic development in the neighboring states, and assesses the impact of the crisis itself on the linkages between the former Soviet republics. The evidence is mixed: while some channels of interdependence deteriorated over the last decade, others became more important, and some were even strengthened by the crisis itself.     

Military reform and strategic nuclear forces of the Russian federation

Russian Minister of Defense Marshal Igor Sergeyev has proposed merging the Strategic Rocket Forces and strategic nuclear components of the Navy and Air Force. Advocates of the proposed reform invoke Russia's need to increase its reliance on nuclear weapons in view of the decline in its conventional forces, as well as the potential savings from the merger. Critics of the plan view it as favoring the Strategic Rocket Forces at the expense of the rest of the military, and as prohibitively expensive. The NATO campaign in Kosovo has made Marshal Sergey ev vulnerable to criticism for emphasizing nuclear forces over conventional ones, and the plan has been put on hold.     

Pattern detection in forensic case data using graph theory: application to heroin cutting agents

Pattern recognition techniques can be very useful in forensic sciences to point out to relevant sets of events and potentially encourage an intelligence-led style of policing. In this study, these techniques have been applied to categorical data corresponding to cutting agents found in heroin seizures. An application of graph theoretic methods has been performed, in order to highlight the possible relationships between the location of seizures and co-occurrences of particular heroin cutting agents. An analysis of the co-occurrences to establish several main combinations has been done. Results illustrate the practical potential of mathematical models in forensic data analysis.     

中国振兴东北战略与俄中合作

中国政府适时提出了振兴东北老工业基地战略决策 ,而俄罗斯在普京总统连任后 ,加大了对东部地区的开发力度 ,支持西伯利亚和远东地区发展与亚太的经贸关系 ,特别是对华合作。俄中两国应该抓住这个难得的历史机遇 ,充分利用这两个地区的地缘优势和经济上具有互补性的有利条件 ,大力推动地区的合作。虽然俄西伯利亚和远东地区在经济改革过程中已经与中国东北地区建立起了紧密的生产、经贸、科技和学术等联系 ,双方的合作已具备相当的基础 ,但仍然存在一些滞后领域。今后双方应该注重开拓高新技术合作方面的潜力。     

Utopian Images of the West and Russia Among Supporters and Opponents of the Euromaidan

The author discusses the results of a survey of participants in the Maidan and anti-Maidan demonstrations in Kiev, in which he examined images of the West and Russia among respondents. He finds that irrational views and utopian ideas are commonplace among respondents in both groups. He also finds that respondents on both sides tended to be disenchanted with the political system in Ukraine.     

Peasant farming in Russia

Russia started its decollectivisation effort in earnest after the abortive 1991 coup attempt. A legislative foundation has been laid and over one‐quarter million peasant farms have been created, many through the act of exiting a collective by a farm worker, taking his or her land and asset shares along. Yet significant obstacles remain in the path of both continued peasant farm creation and the viability of those already functioning.