Developing the topic of the article published in the previous number of the magazine the author performs a detailed analysis of events around the Prosecutor General' resignation and their connections with other conflict stories that unfolded in the Russian elite in recent years. The furniture salons «Three whales» and «Grand» affair initiated as early as in 2000 is obviously stood out among these stories. This affair is not a «criminal adventure» but a non-transparent episode of the struggle amongst inner parties of the power. At the level of known, open facts one discovers the conflict which totally destroys myths about ‘confrontation between liberals and checkists'. It is not a struggle between liberals and people from power structures. It is the internal struggle of the people from power structures. And they fight not for the furniture but for something by far more important, for positions of clans in power and for property. «The furniture scandal» highlighted an intense conflict within the checklist community which seemed to be consolidated. The same scandal also demonstrated confrontation of the Prosecutor General and the chief of the Federal Security Service as members of certain elite groupings. There are other deals including international ones behind these collisions.

The author undertakes an attempt to understand the roots of the Russian statehood, its specific properties and define national peculiarities of Russia’s historical path and Russia’s national priorities. The author pays the particular attention to the Soviet period of the Russian history and to the current stage of the state and national building which «is sewn together rough-and ready». According to the author, the principal problem of the society at the present time lies in the «crisis of meanings» which goes on unabated, in overcoming of the Russian political thought reduction and fugacity that have become quite customary features, in necessity of the new statehood self-identification within the framework of more than 1000 years old Russian historical experience. A serious, detailed «talk of foundations», restoration of traditions of conceptual creativity, development of social and political philosophy, recognition of Russia’s genuine condition and horizons in the world of the 21st century, investigation of the rapid shifts that have occurred and still occur in political, social, cultural spheres, discussion of the civilizational situation that has emerged and of the entire global changes mechanics are equal requirements of the period

Outbreak of the youth and students' protest which occurred in France in spring of 2006 has aroused very little attention and a weak reaction in Russia. That presents a sharp contrast with evaluations provided by the European observers and politicians who have seen these protests as one of the most vivid and obvious symptoms of the «end of epoch» mood which has begun to emerge in the West. The dominant note of this mood is the Angst to lose the social achievements conquered from 1950s to 1970s. The young people are afraid to find out that they are poorer than their parents and to lose the social guaranties that have become customary constants. Different opinions are brought out in respect of what should be considered as the determinant feature of the departing epoch. The author focuses on convergence of ideologies for this issue is the most accurate description of the problem’s scale. The name of the carrier of the ideology which underwent the convergence is the USSR. This approach highlights the generally valid social consequences of the Soviet Union’s collapse.

The authors consider a key aspect of globalization, i.e. peculiarities of emergence of so called «glocal» territorial formations that are by far more integrated into the world economy than they are integrated in a national economy. It is noted that this trend will inevitably affect Russia. Thus the trend is to be taken into account in the long-term strategy of economic development right now. It is stated that as of now such strategy is virtually non-existent. The authors provide substantiation to the thesis that a balanced and progressive advance of Russia cannot be based exclusively on knowledge-intensive branches. The authors offer their definition of branches that can accumulate a considerable part of population under circumstances of economic activity liberalization and a drastic aggravation of international competition. Tourism which is the basis of social and economic development of many local formations (regions) as well as of states and has a powerful multiplicative effect on development of a number of related sectors is explored as one of such branches.

Visions of the other world played a very important role in the Medieval Europe’s culture. They let a person to penetrate the next life’s mysteries, were visual illustrations of the ecclesiastical eschatology, established links between the world of the living and that of the dead and performed many other functions as well. Historians for a long time and fruitfully have used texts of visions as the sources for investigation of the Medieval culture, religious life and psychology of a Medieval person. However it is for from easy to work with these texts. They speak a very complicated language of the visual images that have deep roots in the Christian symbolics and are not clear and plain to a present day researcher. Too often we do not know how these texts were read in the Medieval time and who constituted the audience for such texts. How attitude to them changed over the time? How these texts had to be understood, in the literal or allegorical sense? What was the perception of the other world visions in the popular and scholarly cultures? The author attempts to give answers to these questions.

Leo Tikhomirov, a revolutionary and ideologue of «Narodnaya volya» who became a monarchist and editor of the «Moscovskie vedomosti», for more than 30 years kept a diary. Shortly before his death Tikhomirov passed his diaries over to the Rumyantsevs Museum for keeping it in custody. In recent years monarchists have republished Tikhomirov’s works and popularized his heritage actively. However Tikhomirov’s diary is actually unknown to general readers. In many ways that is due to the fact that thoughts and opinions contained in the diary not always complement what Tikhomirov declared in public. At the present time ROSSPEN publishers prepare publication of the full text of L.A.Tikhomirov's diary for 1915−1917. The commentaries will be attached to the text. Many of what was written by Tikhomirov 90 years ago can arouse interests of researchers who study history of Russia and of the Russian conservatism. Selection of fragments from the diary for 1917 (it is published for the first time) demonstrates the deep crisis of the author’s Weltanschauung and his disappointment in the principles he had professed upon his skip to the monarchist camp.