The article is devoted to the problem of modern Russia’s survival in the global world, to the challenges that present combination of the country’s foreign and domestic policy factors. Russia has not just to survive. Russia has to gain a new place in the current military-political, religious, cultural context and to fulfill its prescription and assignment. The principal theme of the article is the RF policy in the Middle East and analysis of relation of forces and groupings in this region of the globe.

Condition of Russian-German cooperation plays defining role in formation of international atmosphere in Europe. That was true for the first post-war years and remains to be true nowadays. In conditions when project of the Big Europe that involves the Russian Federation in transcontinental cooperation is not yet realized well-being of all European countries directly depends on character of relations between Moscow and Berlin that, in fact, is the capital of the European Union. Growing threat of terrorism only accentuates this connection. Upon terrorist attack in Paris France in cooperation with Russia has formed the basis of a wide international antiterrorist coalition. The principal question is: when the Federal Republic of Germany will join the coalition. Respective decisions seem to be made but the first and greatest difficulty consists of the fact that so far Berlin was geared exclusively to Washington and the USA does not hurry with taking part in ISIS routing.

The article deals with the solution of the problem of integration of educational institutions in a estate society of Russian empire, proposed in the projects of I.I.Shuvalov and M.V.Lomonosov at the turn of 50−60-ies of XVIII c. Shuvalov and Lomonosov in 1760−1761 were in a situation of confrontation. For Lomonosov educational institutions should strive to teach gifted children, regardless of their social status. According to Shuvalov, the planned system of schools and gymnasiums was intended only for the children of the nobility, because they were supposed to govern due to their noble birth.

The author considers consequences and prospects of reforms commenced in the Russian education in the 2000s and 2010s. The author focuses his attention on the higher education of the Bologna system and on conception of Liberal Arts as well as on idea of radical reduction of faculty, on conception of the «effective contract» an instructor strikes with an educational institution administration, on introduction of the final composition in senior classes and on changes in control and measuring materials of the Unified state exam in Russian. The author notes crudity of reforms undertaken as well as planned, a significant intensification bureaucratization and unfounded upsurge of reporting. Finally the author proposes a number of measures that can stop the pernicious trend.

The author relates her personal acquaintance with Husak that took place after rehabilitation of Husak and his exoneration from accusation in the «bourgeois nationalism» considers circumstances of Husak' appearance in Moscow in early 1945, analyzes documents prepared by Husak and connected with the Slovakian national uprising and situation in Slovakia. The author also describes the second visit of Husak to Moscow in March, 1945, for discussion of the program advanced by Czechoslovakian government which had been formed in the USSR, and presents Husak’s opinion in respect of state and legal construction of the post-war Czechoslovakia and of condition of Slovakia in Czechoslovak Republic after its restoration and demonstrates Husak’s attitude to the USSR.

The appearance in 1974−1975 some new anti-socialist and religious journals of Soviet emigration stimulated the creation by Roy Medvedev a new samizdat journal «XXth Century» in Moscow with socialist-democratic orientation. Collections of essays and literary stories from this journals were published also abroad in Russian, English, French, German and other languages. One of the authors of this journal was Michail Yakubovich active participant of Russian revolution who knew well its main leaders. Memoirs of Yakubovich about his arrest and interrogation with the use of torture were included by Alexander Solzhenitsyn into his epic «Gulag Archipelago», however with many distortions and falsifications of Yakubovich case. It is described in this essay how it became possible to force Solzhenitsyn to make necessary corrections in the text of the first Soviet edition of his work pablished in «Novy Mir» in 1989.

Basing his study on proceedings of exegetes, apocryphal books, the ancient Russian writings, and folklore the author investigates two extremities of the Medieval understanding of the paradise: paradise was understood as the phenomenal historical reality and as the noumenal entity. Exegetes-textualists' conception of the earthly paradise negated the conception of the earthly paradise from the Christianized Neo-Platonism positions. Ambiguousness of the situation is interpreted with trends of the problem understanding by the popular consciousness taken in due account. Impact of pre-Christian notions on apocryphal images of the paradise is demonstrated. Images of the other world divided from this world by the water barrier are referred to archetypical images. Such images received their second life in works of Vassily the Wanderer. Vassily’s opinions are estimated in comparison with the strict Orthodox works of the medieval Russian book culture. The author comes to the conclusion that the naïve adherence to the nature confronts with the impeccable in doctrinal terms conception of the ideal heavenly paradise as the supra-sensual world devoid of specific features. Scenic understanding of the heavenly paradise was transferred into the early medieval Russian literature through descriptions of saint visionaries' travels to the Heaven. The author suggests interpreting vivid images of the paradise that were offered in the non-canonical books as the sensual allegories of the future indescribable blessing.

The author, renowned specialist in history of interethnic relations in Russia and the USSR, presents the new version of book «Secret policy of Stalin. Authority and anti-Semitism» written by G.V.Kostyrchenko and published in 2015 by International relations publisher’s house. Author investigated in a rather detailed way the book’s theses that are principally new in methodological, factual and analytical respects. Author gives an overall positive appraisal of the book and thinks that the book is an important scientific contribution to the Russian historiography.

The article is devoted to a poorly studied period of life of M.M.Kovalevski (1851−1916), the distinguished scientist and public figure. This period is connected with Kovalevski’s staying in intern condition in Karlsbad (Austro-Hungary) from July, 1914, to February, 1915. Analysis of various sources allows not only making up gaps in Kovalevski’s biography. The analysis also enables to elucidate difficulties experienced by Russians who happened to find themselves in a similar condition at the outbreak of the WWI. That is very important because issues like adaptation of Russian prisoners to new severe conditions, their everyday life, creation and testing of mechanism of prisoners and interns release and repatriation are yet poorly investigated.