The article, based on the results of research of is RAS and VTSIOM, shows the evolution of ideological and political preferences of Russians over the past quarter century. The transition from the Soviet type of mass consciousness to the Western one to the moderate-state one to the "zero" is traced. The author reveals the prospects of further dynamics on the basis of the vector of mass public demand.

The article is devoted to the past, present day and future of the Northern Sea Route development and its role in the Arctic policy of Russia. The author discovers the most significant landmarks in the exploration of this maritime artery, analyses the dynamics of its development in Post-Soviet period and, in particular, international shipping and transit via the Northern Sea Route, characterizes the contemporary situation, processes, problems, challenges and risks. The paper evaluates the perspectives of the Northern Sea Route development, its significance for the further exploration of the Russian Arctic, national and international shipping, its place in the Arctic policy of Russia.

In article the critical analysis of a historiography of relationship of the power and the Cossacks during an era of “Great reforms” of Alexander II (the 1860–1870th) is continued. The research covers works of the Soviet historians, historians emigrants and also representatives of a modern Russian and foreign historiography. Actions of the central power for development and advance of a government policy which evolves from introduction of bases of “civic consciousness” on the Cossack lands in the 1860th, before return to domination of the militaristic principles in way of the Cossack life in the 1870th years understand the considered works. In article possible new perspective subjects in studying of the Cossack history not only an era of “Great reforms”, but also all the II half of the 19th century are specified.

The author examines the basic premise of the modernism’s religious and philosophical conception. This conception was formed as the personalistic ideology that maintained personal rights in the metaphysical sense. Good and evil are not alienated from a person; they are derived from a person that looks for his/her place in theomachy. Modernists considered the absolute freedom as the highest, supreme manifestation of a new religion. However, this absolute freedom of a person inevitably brought about dualism which created the situation of a permanent choice between two celestial images, the good and the evil, because the “midst” was considered to be the genuine evil; the “midst” did not represented or manifested the pure quality neither of the good nor the evil. The evil rests in the collective principle, in the mob, and it is precisely the principle that oppresses a human creature and makes him/her restricted and not free. The “new religion” dramatic effect consisted in the fact that while modernists sought for the One Whole, for the God they put the absolute freedom of a person above all else. But this freedom did not allow substantiating the religious monism.

On the basis of the analysis of private and journalistic written sources of character, an attempt is made to trace the transformation of the image of Russia in the national-patriotic discourse of Germany during the anti-Napoleonic wars, based on the changes in the attitude to the Russian empire among the most prominent representatives of Prussia’s military, political and intellectual elite who had a great influence on formation of public opinion in the German lands.

This work deals with contemporary historiographic rethinking (both in Russia and abroad) of the cultural context of war-revolutionary crises in Russia, 1917–1922. This problematic field helps to shape the answer to the main question of the topic: why did the “red project” turned out to be more successful, than the “white” one, and what was the role of cultural factors, demands and collisions in this process. The crush of traditional values system; formation of Bolshevik’s new sacrality; reality and utopia of democratic alternative in Russian revolution; the causes of weakness of the liberal politics; conspirology and mythology of Bolshevik’s upheaval; the discussion on the cultural essence of Bolshevism; mutual responsibility of society towards culture and culture towards society in the turning moment of Russian history – these are the main topics of the world’s historical science of this problematic sphere.

This article is devoted to the first contacts between the representatives of the Soviet Russia and the Irish Republic. As a result of these contacts there were two loans, which were given to the Soviet representatives in New York in 1920. The so-called “Russian Crown Jewels” secured one of the loans. The jewels were stored secretly in Ireland for about 30 years and even had been involved in some events of the Irish politics. In the author’s opinion, the events connected with the receipt, transportation, storage and return of those items to the USSR illustrate changes in the Irish-Soviet diplomatic relations. The author mentioned such political figures as Harry Boland, Eamon de Valera, Patrick McCartan, Michael Collins, Ludwig Martens, Santeri Nuorteva, Georgi Zaroubin.