Means of production versus means of coercion: can Russian business limit the violence of a predatory state?

In their most recent works, North and his coauthors (North, D. C., J. J. Wallis, S. Webb, and B. R. Weingast. 2012. In the Shadow of Violence: Politics, Economics, and the Problems of Development. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press; North, D.C., J. J. Wallis, and B. R. Weingast. 2009. Violence and Social Orders: A Conceptual Framework for Interpreting Recorded Human History. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press) name the formation of organizations capable of effectively restricting violence in society as a necessary condition for transition from developing societies to societies with sustainable economic growth. However, the mechanisms of emergence and conditions for the operation of such organizations in contemporary developing countries remain unclear. We follow the logic of formation of such organizations using the case study of collective actions of the Russian business community aimed at restricting “state violence” against business. We seek to identify the conditions leading to a shift in the choice of strategies from attempts at informal agreements with extortionists controlling means of coercion to cooperation of businessmen and trace the further evolution of organized forms of collective action. Finally, we assess to what extent the created organizations can be efficient and self-supporting in the long term.     

Police reform in Russia: the policy process in a hybrid regime

Do hybrid regimes have policy processes distinct from other regime types? This article explores this issue through a case study of police reform in Russia, focusing specifically on the adoption of a new Law on the Police from 2009 to 2011. Drawing on concepts from the comparative policymaking literature, the study traces the policy enactment process and shows how the public parts of the process were largely (but not entirely) a façade behind which the real policy process took place.     

俄罗斯经济快速增长的因素分析及2008年预测

2006年俄罗斯经济保持稳定增长态势。2007年俄罗斯的经济形势总体上可以概括为:经济继续稳定增长,增速进一步提高。由于宏观经济环境整体性得到改善,经济增长的内需导向型发展进一步加强,国内经济的基本因素在经济增长中起主导作用,这是俄多年来改革和调整措施逐步生效的结果。为转变增长方式,政府在经济生活中的作用继续增强。受能源供给增长乏力的限制,2007年俄罗斯出口增幅趋缓的趋势不会改变,进口增速远远高于出口增速成为2007年的显著特征。但国际高油价的利益驱动仍会使俄罗斯不断增加石油生产和出口,同时"黑色金子"也是推进俄内需作用扩张的重要基础。值得关注的是金融对经济增长的拉动作用开始显现。我们乐观地认为,2008年俄罗斯继续保持稳定的增长势头。     

Centrality of religiosity versus civic involvement. The case of Poland

The article is an expression of search for the motivational role of religiosity in individuals' civic activity. Mature civic attitude is shaped by the person's values, individual and communal needs, and experience. The main thesis of the presented study is that the relation between religiosity and human will in many points overlap with the factors which determine the citizen's activity for the benefit of the community. Stefan Huber's Centrality of Religiosity Scale emphasizing the primary importance of the motivational value of religiosity and an original scale measuring civic involvement were used in the study (N?=?732). The study proved that religiosity mostly serves as a civic involvement predictor among women from the middle age group. Although a higher level of civic involvement was found in men, religiosity did not prove to be a significant factor explaining its higher level, which means that the determinants for it need to be sought in other spheres.     

The Ethiopian Orthodox Church in the Holy Land

ABSTRACT

The Ethiopian Orthodox Tawahedo Church community has had a presence in the Holy Land for at least several hundred years. Throughout most of this period it was composed of a small ecclesiastical corps of monastic clergy who sought to protect the national church’s rights at various holy places in the region of Christianity’s birth. Only in the twentieth century, were these clergy joined by lay people. In this paper, I discuss the way the type of food served at church celebrations and the rhythm of fasts and feasts emphasize the shared national origins of the small diaspora. At the same time, where people sit when eating, and in what order they are served, expresses distinctions within the ranks of the clergy, between clergy and lay people, between men and women, and between Ethiopians and their former compatriots from Eritrea.     

Russia’s Neorevisionist Challenge to the Liberal International Order

Abstract

A conventional opinion is that Russia is trying to destroy the liberal international order. Russia indeed defies it, but also justifies its foreign policy with the liberal order’s normative frameworks and reproaches the West for not standing up to these norms. Moreover, Moscow does not present any alternative vision. Russia complains about the internal contradictions of the liberal order: sovereignty vs. intervention, pluralism vs. universality, US hegemony vs. equality and democracy, although it also exploits these contradictions. In fact Russia demands an adjustment of the liberal order rather than its eradication and should, therefore, be classified as a neorevisionist power. Two elements underlie Russia’s at times aggressive foreign policy conduct. The first one, its feeling of being ill-accommodated in the present order, predefines the direction of the policy. The second, the prioritisation of foreign policy over domestic reforms, explains the intensity of Russian discontent and its occasional aggressive manifestations. Russia’s domestic consensus regarding its foreign policy, including views on the liberal international order, facilitates this aggressiveness. Three policy conclusions can be drawn: acknowledging that Russia uses the inherent contradictions of the liberal international order opens up possibilities for dialogue and an eventual overcoming of the crisis; the survival and strengthening of the liberal order depends on its embrace of all major players, including Russia, and hence, the need for some adjustments to the order itself; and finally such adjustments presuppose Russia’s readiness to shoulder responsibility for the (reformed) liberal international order.     

浅析“外族敌人”形象在俄罗斯文化中形成的心理机制

受人类文化心理机制影响,＂自己—异己＂对立思维模式中的异己形象在社会群体间的对立与冲突中,往往会演变为敌人形象。＂外族敌人＂是俄罗斯文化中的一个重要概念,它在社会转型时期成为加强民族认同的重要因素,反映了俄罗斯民族的独特心理特征。     

俄远东与中、日、韩三国经贸合作前景分析

俄远东地区经济的发展对全俄经济回升起着至关重要的作用,然而目前俄远东地区的经济发展落后,经济结构有待转型,人口流失,存在很多问题。并且远东与俄欧洲部分相距遥远,在很多问题上俄心有余而力不足。但如果从另一个角度思考,远东的优势是与东北亚地区国家毗邻。东北亚地区是近年来世界上经济发展最具活力的地区之一,加强与东北亚国家,特别是与中国、日本、韩国的合作,有利于远东经济的飞速发展,俄政府也逐渐意识到这一问题,积极促进远东与东北亚国家的经贸合作。     

借俄罗斯经济复苏契机振兴东北老工业基地

近年来,俄罗斯经济持续增长,呈现出明显的经济复苏的新气象,过度依赖自然资源的经济增长模式正在改变,吸引外资力度在不断增大,这一切对东北老工业基地的振兴产生巨大的影响。尤其是俄东部大开发和大型基础设施的建设,更是直接给东北振兴带来了新的机遇。东北地区应借助这一有利时机,发挥自身优势,确定“桥头堡”战略,把东北建设成为对俄产业链条的核心、贸易基地、经贸活动的咨询中介中心,推动东北老工业基地的振兴。     

俄罗斯联邦刑事诉讼中犯罪人有罪证明中的相关问题

《俄罗斯联邦刑事诉讼法典》第15条明确了辩论制原则，但其存在一定的负面效果。该法第86条的证据收集规则使有悖于指控倾向的事实材料、非国家机关性质诉讼参与人取得的鉴定结论及专家结论一律无法归入案卷。这打破了审前诉讼阶段的控辩平等，违背了刑诉法．最终导致了案件客观真相难以查明的后果。