In the 1920s, the young Soviet state pursued several, sometimes mutually exclusive, goals in its policy towards China. On the one hand, the Soviet leadership did its best to achieve international recognition and sought to protect its vital interests. On the other hand, it actively promoted the idea of a world revolution. Under those circumstances, the country’s foreign ministry needed experienced, flexible, and pragmatic diplomats. In this regard, the activities of L.M. Karakhan, who was sent as a Soviet emissary to the Republic of China to address these sensitive issues, are of particular interest. The figure of L.M. Karakhan is all the more remarkable because, being one of the architects of the USSR’s foreign policy towards China, he himself has not received much attention in either Soviet or Russian historiography. On the basis of new archival documents and Chinese primary sources the paper attempts to give a comprehensive assessment of L.M. Karakhan’s tenure first as a plenipotentiary and then as an ambassador of the USSR to China. The first sections consider the tasks of L.M. Karakhan’s diplomatic mission in China and the vicissitudes of the negotiations on the Soviet-Chinese agreement on the establishment of diplomatic relations. To that end, the Soviet diplomat, following the directives from Moscow, flexibly maneuvered between various groupings of Chinese elites and resisted the pressure of other great powers’ representatives. The following sections examine L.M. Karakhan’s activities as a Soviet ambassador. The author concludes that L.M. Karakhan consistently defended the national interests of the USSR, skillfully combining a fine diplomatic game and assertiveness, even rigidity at times. The latter was vividly manifested in the most challenging issues of Soviet-Chinese relations, such as disputes over the status of the Chinese Eastern Railway and Outer Mongolia. At the same time, the ambassador took an active part in organizing and supporting the revolutionary movement in China. In fact, L.M. Karakhan served as a central coordinator of the Soviet aid to the Kuomintang, determining both its forms and substance. The author concludes that L.M. Karakhan proved himself not merely as an agent of the Soviet leadership, but also as a politician in its own right capable to effectively address a wide range of tasks, some of which had not originally been intended by his mission. That said it is worth mentioning that the assertive, tough style of the Soviet diplomat often raised a lot of criticism among foreign representatives, since it was at odds with the declared USSR intentions to break with the foreign policy practices of tsarist Russia.

The accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO came as a shock to many politicians and experts, who until the last moment had believed that these two states would not renounce their traditional neutrality policy. The surprise effect was further enhanced by a remarkable coherence of the countries’ approaches to their membership in the alliance. In order to provide a better understanding of this fundamental shift in Sweden and Finland’s foreign policy courses, this paper examines the evolution of their policies of neutrality during the tribulations of the Cold War. The first section considers the formation of the non-aligned strategies of Finland and Sweden in the aftermath of World War II, which took the form of the so-called Paasikivi-Kekkonen and Unden doctrines, respectively. The author emphasizes that, despite the formal resemblance, the approaches of Sweden and Finland to the neutrality policy varied substantially, since their ambitions and aspirations, as well as their role in the emerging bipolar order were also very different. However, the two states had tended to coordinate their foreign policies already back then and this trend only strengthened in the following decades of the Cold War. The second section shows how the Finnish neutrality model, initially focused on building special relations with the USSR, and a more flexible Swedish non–aligned policy, facilitated convergence of the two states, as well as their cooperation with the Nordic members of NATO. The third section outlines the determinants of the foreign policy transformation of the Northern European neutrals in the aftermath of the Cold War. The author notes that it was the collapse of the bipolar order that paved the way for the comprehensive engagement of Finland and Sweden in the activities of the alliance. It is shown that apart from this cooperation with NATO, a number of regional initiatives involving the Nordic and Baltic countries strengthened foreign policy coordination and contacts between Finland and Sweden. The formal accession of both to NATO thus became only the end point of these processes and the result of the conscious refusal of these countries’ leadership from the original and time-tested non-alignment policy. The consequences of this decision have yet to be assessed by politicians and experts, but one its immediate effect is clear — the emergence of a new security dilemma for the countries of the region.

In the 21st century, the Arctic has rapidly been transforming from a ‘zone of peace and cooperation’ into an arena of interstate rivalry, where the Russia– NATO confrontation is currently playing a pivotal role. These developments determine the growing interest of both the Russian and foreign academic and expert communities in the problems and prospects for regional security. This paper examines the dynamics of military-political situation in the Arctic within the framework of evolution of the Russia–NATO relations. The first section outlines the key military and political security developments in the Arctic before the Ukrainian crisis. The author emphasizes that already at this stage NATO clearly manifested its desire to limit the Russian presence in the region. In the second section the author offers an original periodization of the Russia–NATO relations in the Arctic after 2014 and in so doing identifies three stages. They are all marked by a gradual yet steady escalation of international tension, manifested in the active efforts undertaken by the NATO member states to remilitarize the region and cultivate a narrative about the Russian threat. This course has been reflected in a whole series of alliance’s military exercises, which, as shown in the article, are becoming increasingly extensive and regular year by year. The author concludes that the Ukrainian crisis has only laid bare the true aspirations of the NATO countries seeking to contain Russia in the Far North and refusing to consider its interests and build a constructive dialogue in the field of military and political security. According to the researcher, this circumstance prevents the normalization of relations between Russia and NATO countries in the years to come.

In recent years, the military and political landscape in the Arctic has changed significantly. This region has been rapidly losing the status of a ‘zone for peace and cooperation’, turning into an arena of increasingly intense interstate rivalry. The accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO became a landmark event in the evolution of the military and political situation in the Arctic. This article attempts to identify the causes and driving forces behind these processes, as well as to assess the threats they pose to Russia’s national security. In the first section the authors argue that the NATO countries under the pretext of the growing hybrid threat from the Russian Federation have themselves launched an active information campaign in the spirit of hybrid warfare aimed at demonizing Russia and enforcing on public a Cold War-style black-and-white picture of reality as a ‘zero-sum game’. Moreover, the authors emphasize that this anti-Russian campaign began long before the aggravation of the ‘Ukrainian crisis’. As such, it reflects the American elites’ awareness of the growing decline in the U.S. influence and the erosion of the ‘rules-based order’. The second section examines the specific steps taken by the United States and its allies in order to build up their military and political potential in the Arctic and accelerate the militarization of the region. Special attention is paid to the bilateral agreements on security cooperation between the United States and Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark. According to these agreements, Washington was able to deploy personnel, equipment and weapons in these countries on a permanent basis and conduct military exercises. In these conditions, the main threats to Russia’s military security in the Arctic, according to the authors, include: deployment of the U.S. / NATO military infrastructure and troops in the region; the formation of an anti-Russian bloc of Scandinavian states under the control of the alliance; modernization of the Arctic powers’ armed forces; intensification of naval activities of NATO countries in the Arctic seas. In general, the military-strategic situation in the Arctic has already deteriorated significantly with regard to the national interests of the Russian Federation. However, the authors stress that both the current situation in the region and possible scenarios for its future development cannot be assessed in isolation from the general crisis of international relations, focusing solely on regional aspects of security. Apart from the Arctic, tensions are growing in other regions of the world, which also requires the West to allocate there more resources in order to maintain its influence.

The role and significance of the Arctic in international relations of the late 20th and early 21st centuries have undergone serious changes, and so have their assessments in the academic literature. To date, the Arctic has already turned into the scene of bitter international rivalry, albeit not yet a theater of military operations. In order to provide a better understanding of the scale, dynamics, and potential consequences of these developments, the author examines them through the lens of the hybrid warfare concept. The first section provides a thorough review of the key approaches to the definition of the hybrid warfare and its specific features. The author pays special attention to the NATO’s theoretical advances in the methods of the hybrid warfare and their practical implementation in the Arctic region. The second section examines the specific forms and manifestations of hybrid warfare in the Transarctic. The researcher notes that the population of the islands of Svalbard and Wrangel is exposed to a remarkably large-scale hostile hybrid influence from the NATO countries, and concludes that Russophobic narratives peddled to the peoples of the Subarctic pose a serious risk to regional stability. The author argues that in order to counter hybrid threats from the collective West, Russia needs to develop a comprehensive Arctic strategy. The latter should include, inter alia, an effective system for monitoring geopolitical threats not only against Russia, but also against its BRICS+, SCO, EAEU, CSTO partners; measures to strengthen cooperation with Eurasian, international and intergovernmental structures and business communities unyielding against sanctions pressure; programs for the development of indigenous peoples aimed at preserving their civilizational identity.

The book under review is a new monograph by L.S. Voronkov ‘Liberal values in theory and practice. On the issues of intellectual decolonization of Russia’, published in 2024. The reviewer discusses in detail several key topics and central ideas of the book under consideration. The first section covers the author’s views on a set of problems related to the specifics of power relations and the role of political elites in Western liberal democratic states. It also highlights the political and economic contradictions inherent to the liberal democratic model of social development, propagated by the countries of the ‘collective West’ in order to maintain their own dominance in the system of international relations. It is shown that, along with economic and political instruments, Western elites do not disdain practices of cultural hegemony, arising from the colonialism and neocolonialism. The second section considers L.S. Voronkov’s views on the issues of intellectual colonialism. Special attention is paid to the role of Western approaches within the theory of international relations in legitimizing and promoting the interests of the United States and its allies. It is shown that these approaches, positioned as strictly scientific, actually represented a sophisticated system aimed at concealing the real economic interests of Western countries. In this context, the book by L.S. Voronkov is of particular interest since it makes a strong case for the development of Russia’s own perspective on international relations, with due regard to its specific historical features. Although some author’s conclusions and observations can be contested, L.S. Voronkov’s monograph will hopefully contribute to the emergence of Russian sovereign international relations studies.

The book under review is a collective monograph by the Russian International Affairs Council ‘International relations: Facets of the present and the future’, published in 2023. The reviewer emphasizes the high relevance of this work since all leading states (including Russia) are facing a need for a deeper rethinking of current trends in the development of international relations and establishment of new strategic priorities. The book under review differs from numerous recent Russian and foreign publications on the matter by a truly broad thematic scope and comprehensive approach. The monograph touches upon both the ‘classical’ factors of international relations (military power, energy, trade) and a number of new ones, which have acquired particular importance as the international system entered a period of profound transformation. These new factors include artificial intelligence, education, digital security, the climate crisis, ‘soft power’, etc. The reviewer concludes that this monograph can serve as a beacon in the raging ocean of modern world politics and as such may be of interest to both international experts and diplomats, as well as to a broad reading audience.