Issue No 1 from 2017 yr.

What’s Going Down with the World Economy?

The article deals with the condition of the global economy, problems in financial and investment spheres. Concentration of capital that precludes a serious competition is observed. Many factors bear witness of the global economy restructuring. The increasing economic inequality is one more problem of the global economy that is acquiring greater acuteness. The author devotes a considerable attention to American President D.Trump’s economic program, considers all “pro” and “contra” for realization of Trump’s economic program. Nowadays Europe is in a deep economic and political confusion. Three main blows to the European prosperity and unity are Britain’s exit from EU, crisis created by Moslem migrants and unexpected Trump’s victory. The EU economy is far from being successful. As in the USA, in Europe programs of quantitative restrictions pursued by the European Central Bank in form of bailout of bonded debts of companies and problem-plagued countries do not produced considerable economic growth. China’s chances to gain the global leadership are very high. In spite of numerous problems, there are no signs that economic and financial might of China will crumble. Integration projects initiated by China will meet resistance of the USA. All these factors portend long and complicated years of economic, social, political and military-strategic instability for the world.
Keywords: crisis; investments; finance; global competition; world market economy restructuring; concentration of capital; competition.

Traditonal Values and Their Opponents

The article presents an analysis of the decline of traditional values in the USA and European Union as demonstrated by recent developments in redefinition of marriage and family. The author describes intellectual and political debates between liberal opponents and conservative defenders of traditional values. The main trend in his view remains growing secularization and liberalization of social life leading to further decline of traditional values. The article also focuses on the efforts of Russian diplomacy and the Russian Orthodox Church to defend and promote traditional values within international organizations.
Keywords: traditional values; liberalism; postmodernism; family; freedom of choice; secularization; same-sex marriages; sex minorities; human rights.

“Bravo, “Old” Volski!” A.V.Rumanov’s Letters to N.Valentinov (N.V.Volski), 1947–1960

The letters published in this article reflect daily and intellectual life of the Russian emigrants in France after the WW2. The author of the letters reacts to analysis of the 20th century events made by Volski. The correspondents focus their attention on peculiarities of pre-revolutionary Russia and its culture and the tie between the Soviet history and history of pre-revolutionary Russia. Intelligentsia, its role in events of the epoch and evolution of this social group is one of the correspondence cross-cutting themes.
Keywords: intelligentsia, typology of intelligentsia; adaptation; mentality; entrepreneur activity; emigration and the Soviet socialism.

WWI and Crisis of the Russian Modernism

The article deals with the Russian modernism’s fate in connection with WWI that disturbed the Russian people’s habitual life. Paradoxically, principal figures of the modernist culture did not consider this disturbance of habitual peaceful life as an exclusively negative event. The war was not its own reason and cause, it was just a consequence of problems the humankind had accumulated. The war is the crisis, internal, spiritual crisis that requires resolving. At the same time the war provided an opportunity to transform a person’s inner world. That was the first step to later transformation of the outer world in its relation to a person. Literary and philosophical experience of the modernism fulfilled itself out and demonstrated that the crisis was present not only in the humankind but within the modernist current itself. The modernists debated the issue of whether the modernism would retain the Individual personal perspective of the Individual’s self-assertion as its constituent basis or the pristine Slavophilist myth of the Orthodox state interests of which were supreme in conditions of war and the crisis of modernism consisted precisely in this issue.
Keywords: neo-Slavophilism; the WWI; modernism; crisis of modernism; philosophy of modernism; philosophy of the Individual freedom.

Genealogy and the Challenges of the XXI century

Article depicts the role and place of genealogy in modern world, describes how the main current trends (globalization, IT-technologies, development of genetic and medicine, commercialization of science, new methods of historical research, etc.) influenced on it. Article provides an account about the term “family” and new methods of translation of genealogical information. Explains the socio-genealogy: the new academic discipline of complex historical and genealogical studies which helps to integrate an analysis of macro-historical processes and micro-historical events.
Keywords: genealogy; globalization; information-oriented society; genetic; family; history.

Abram Stoljar’s Ten Months: the Sverdlovsk Region Leadership in Political Vortexes of 1937–1938

The paper examines administrative practices of the Sverdlovsk region party-state nomenclature in 1937–1938 during the leadership of A.Ya.Stolyar. Regional leadership headed by Stolyar demonstrated commitment to Stalin’s political reforms and directives of the supreme power but in reality offered tacitly stubborn resistance to their implementation on the grounds that these changes limited absolute power of the regional party nomenclature, threatened its material well-being and stability.
Keywords: A.Ya.Stoljar; I.V.Stalin; party and state system of the power; administrative practices.

1917 Mirrored by the Satire, Diaries and Contemporaries’ Reminiscences

Breakdown of monarchy in Russia brought about the fall of censorial restrictions Topics that until recently were under the ban became open for discussion and presentation on satirical publications, cinema and at theaters. How did the educated society take advantage of the freedom the society had got? First of all, the old regime in persons of Nicholas II, Empress Alexandra Fedorovna, and czar’s ministers were subject to the total mockery. Upon V.I.Lenin’s return to Petrograd, enhancement of the Bolsheviks’ positions and the July crisis the total critics was hailed on the Bolsheviks. Later on the critics was diverted on “Kornilovschina”. Finally A.F.Kerensky became the subject of derision. In result a part of intelligentsia moved from reprobation of certain individuals to the criticism of the people and Russia as a whole.
Keywords: Revolution of 1917; political satire; intelligentsia; political culture; historical psychology; diaries; reminiscences.