Book review: Okunev I.Y. Capitals in the Mirror of Critical Geopolitics. Monograph. 2-e Izd., revised and enlarged. M.: Izdatel'stvo "Aspekt Press", 2020. 272 p.

Based on the unearthed documents from the Archive of Foreign Policy of the Russian Empire, the article examines an interaction of Russian diplomacy and Russian orthodox churches abroad in the process of their reform in the early 1860-s. This reorganization was undertaken in context of the “Great reforms” of Alexander II and aimed at rationalization of the previous system of subordination of those churches to civil and ecclesiastical authorities in St. Petersburg. The architects of the reform initiated by the Tzar himself sought to create a unified system of subordination and financing of those churches with identical criteria for their personnel, their rights and duties vis-à-vis heads of diplomatic missions. Accordingly, the Russian Foreign Ministry became responsible for their operation and financing while in ecclesiastical matters they were to answer to the Holy Synod. Foreign Ministry and personally Alexander Gorchakov, as demonstrated in the article, played a leading role in the reform preparation and implementation conducted on an inter-agency basis with the Holy Synod, Ministry of the Court and Finance Ministry taking part. The heads of diplomatic missions and of the affiliated churches were also consulted in the process. The authors trace all stages of these complex negotiations that resulted in achieving a balance of interests between all the actors involved. The newly created system proved to be quite efficient and lasted till the end of the Russian empire. The reorganization revealed a state of the churches abroad and their clergy that was a crème of Russian Orthodox Church. The reform experience is also instructive as a case study of Russian government apparatus in action.

The article is devoted to the Russian-Greek ecclesiastical and political relations before and during the Eastern Crisis of the 1820s. After the start of the Greek uprising in 1821, Russia took an ambivalent position: as a patron of all orthodox Christians in the Ottoman Empire, it sought to support the Greeks, but Russia also had to recognize the Greek revolution as an illegitimate rebellion. As a member of the Holy Alliance of European Powers Russia had no other choice but to adhere to the principles of legitimism. Russia had both political and economic interests in the region. After the Greek uprising, main powers in the Western Europe had no doubt that Russia would support the rebels. Nevertheless, Russia regarded the Greek rebellion as another European revolution. After a successful war of independence, Russia established its diplomatic mission in the Greek capital. The first ambassador was P.I. Rickman, who arrived with aim to provide political relations with this new Balkan state. If political support of the rebellion could find no understanding in the conservative European circles, the aid of the Orthodox Balkan Church was implied by the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca 1774. Special attention in this support, provided by the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church to the Greek monasteries, was paid to the Athos monasteries. This support was designed by a special document. It was adopted in 1735 under the Empress Anna Ivanovna and was subject to execution in subsequent years. The Archive of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has kept lists of all Orthodox monasteries on the territory of the Ottoman Empire that enjoyed material support from the Russian church; a significant part of this list are the Orthodox churches of Greece.

Over the course of the prolonged US war in Vietnam, the bloodiest one after World War II, it became obvious that there was no alternative to a negotiation process. Important reasons were the impossibility for Washington to win the battlefield and the rise of anti-war sentiment in the United States. The author tried to show how certain psychological characteristics of US leaders led to the war and then eventually to negotiations. When started negotiations were accompanied by military action. The course of the war and negotiations was influenced by Soviet military assistance to the DRV, as well as by relations in the triangle of the USSR - USA - China. The time of detente between the USSR and the USA coincided with war in Vietnam, which influenced the behavior of the Soviet leaders, as evidenced by the recollections of the USSR ambassador to the United States A. Dobrynin.

The Politburo of the Central Committee had disagreements regarding Vietnam and detente with the United States. But the war weakened US international stance and contributed to the achievement of strategic agreements with the USSR.

The main objectives of the DRV in the negotiations were to stop US bombings and then withdrawal of US troops. The United States sought to maintain the Saigon puppet regime for some time after the withdrawal of its troops from South Vietnam. Washington’s main goal was to “save its face”, declaring defeat a “victory”. To achieve this goal the war and negotiations dragged on for years, and on the eve of the signing of the agreements, the most fierce bombing of the DRV was carried out.

Thanks to the powerful air defense created with the help of the USSR, the DRV won the “air Dien Bien Fu”.

The United States was forced to sign a peace agreement, which provided for the complete cessation of all US military operations in Vietnam, the withdrawal of all American troops, but left the North Vietnamese forces in South Vietnam together with the armed forces of the National Liberation Front along with the decaying and doomed to death Saigon regime. In 1975 its army was defeated the regime capitulated, which ensured the subsequent reunification of South and North Vietnam.

The Vietnamese people defeated the American colossus, having suffered terrible sacrifices themselves, but achieved the national goal - the withdrawal of the Americans and the unification of the country. The full support of Vietnam can be seen as a successes story of Soviet foreign policy.

The article analyzes long-term external and internal factors determining the course of development of Russian-Japanese relations in 2019-2020. On the one hand, the anti-Russian component in Tokyo's foreign policy is shaped by its membership in the Security Treaty with the United States and its solidarity with the sanctions policy of the Group of Seven towards Russia. On the other hand, Japan and Russia are both interested interest in political cooperation in creating multilateral dialog mechanisms of international security in East Asia, resolving the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula, and easing tensions around territorial disputes in the East China and South China seas. Among the economic factors, the author focuses on the significant place of Russia in the context of Japan's task of diversifying sources of external energy supplies, as well as on Russia's desire to avoid unilateral dependence on the Chinese market while reorienting the system of foreign economic relations from the West to the East. Personal diplomacy of political leaders plays a significant role in relations between Russia and Japan, and, above all, close personal relationships and frequent meetings between Prime Minister Abe and President Putin, which make it possible to partially compensate the unfavorable image of the partner country in the public opinion of both Russia and Japan. Against the background of a deadlock in the Peace Treaty talks which emerged in 2019, the search for a way out of the diplomatic impasse is on the agenda. In the author's opinion, it would be appropriate at the first stage to proceed to the conclusion of a basic agreement on the basis bilateral relations, which would be "untied" from the Peace Treaty. In addition, Russia could stop criticizing Japan for its security policy and show greater understanding of the Japanese initiative in the field of quality infrastructure. In turn, Japan could take a number of strategic decisions on cooperation with Russia and announce them in the Prime Minister's keynote speech. In addition, Tokyo could stop positioning the issue of the peace Treaty as the main issue in relations with Russia, which would allow our countries to "untie" bilateral relations from the problem of border demarcation and focus on their positive agenda.

The article analyzes the official development aid (ODA) as a tool for ensuring Japan’s interests in Central Asia. The author puts forward an idea that ODA reflects the complex nature of Japan’s foreign policy which is a combination of a strategies based on national interests, efforts at implementation of liberal values and seeking common Asian identity. The research starts from the brief overview of history of the ODA and then proceeds to the coverage of Japan’s ODA towards Central Asia to demonstrate how the evolution of Japan’s political priorities manifested itself in the country’s assistance policy. The author uses quantitative and qualitative analysis of ODA to Central Asia as well as content analysis of the key documents on diplomacy and ODA. The research then focuses on the main directions of assistance and studies how they relate to Japan’s foreign policy goals. Further attention is given to the role Japan plays in the region, by assessing her position among the main donors of Central Asia as well as the significance of its aid from the point of view of economic development of the region, ODA’s security role and Japan’s efforts at preserving the cultural heritage of the region. The author comes to the conclusion that realism-based objectives such as getting access to the natural resources of the region, securing its geopolitical stance in the heart of Eurasia and ensuring the support for Japan’s bid to the UN Security Council seat by five Central Asian states dominate Japan’s ODA policy. It is also influenced by external factors, such as US-Japan military alliance and Japan’s geopolitical rivalry with China. At the same time, much of Japan’s efforts are directed at liberal goals such as promoting democracy in the region with Japan being a role model for democratization, supporting modernization and market economy. Assisting economic development and helping settle security issues with an emphasis on human security projects demonstrate not only Japan’s desire to boost its positive image in the region but also enhance its international reputation and its vision of Central Asia as a ground for cooperation with other countries. The author comes to the conclusion that cultural ODA is directed at objects related to shared history, mainly at preservation of the Buddhist heritage which Japan sees as a foundation for common identity and which underlies its connections to the Silk Road.

The first ever Russia-Africa Summit and Economic Forum in October 2019 demonstrates not only interest of both sides in developing bilateral cooperation, but also has every chance of becoming a turning point in translating words into action. Due to advantageous geographical position, dynamic economic development and its role as a transport, logistics and financial center in East Africa, Kenya is justifiably considers as an "entry point" to the African market for foreign companies. At present, Russia's economic presence in this country is extremely limited, and therefore, when developing an effective strategy for promoting the market in Kenya, it seems advisable to study the practical experience of other major players, both to find "keys to success" and to identify potential risks. Russia's economic presence in the country has been very limited so far, thereby learning from the practical experience of other major players would be useful for developing an effective strategy to enter the Kenyan market, both to find "keys to success" and to identify potential risks. The reason why the Chinese experience was chosen as the subject of study is the China's rapid uptake to become  one of Kenya's key partners. Thus, the purpose of this study is to develop recommendations for Russian companies to enter the African market based on the experience of the Chinese economic presence in Kenya.

The article analyzes in detail three key areas of Chinese economic activity in Kenya, i.e. foreign trade, infrastructure development and credit financing, as well as linkages between them. The author argues that the willingness of China to implement projects that are in line with the current Kenya`s development agenda was an important factor in the large-scale increase of cooperation. Thus, China's activities are not only aimed at stimulating the export of Chinese goods and services, as well as increasing its geopolitical weight in the region, but also are supporting for Kenya's industrialization, modern and reliable infrastructure development. The Mombasa-Nairobi railway, the largest project involving Chinese companies in Kenya, is used as an example with regard to typical problems that foreign companies may face in Kenya, including media pressure. Based on the analysis of current trends, the author concludes that the further development of bilateral cooperation will depend to a great extent on the commitment from both sides to gradually change the priority areas of cooperation and to use new tools and mechanisms of interaction.

The article focuses on the impact of India-Nigeria agricultural cooperation on rice production in Nigeria. Since 2000 in the quest for food sufficiency, diversification of the country’s sources of foreign exchange, increasing employment for the rising population as well as expanding its external relations Nigeria has signed several bilateral agreements on agriculture with India. The analysis of the developments in the sub-sector, as well as media, governmental and non-governmental reports in the field and the interviews of the farmers has revealed that the Indian firms, including “Olam Group” and “Popular Farms and Mills Ltd”, have cultivated thousands of hectares of land, built mills and machinery, provided farmers in 16 Nigerian states with better rice seedlings, and engaged thousands of farmers in regular training improving employment and revitalizing communities in the country. The support given by the Indian firms has triggered an unprecedented increase in rice production. The paper concludes that the agreements, particularly the one of 2017, have further promoted, strengthened and expanded rice production in the context of food security, job creation and saving foreign exchange. The article, therefore, demonstrates how Nigeria-India bilateral ties and cooperative programs have changed the dynamics of rice production in the country and brought more profound economic consequences. Despite the fact that Nigeria is not yet selfsufficient in rice production with the gap of around 2.5 million tonnes, the agricultural programs initiated within the framework of the Nigeria-India bilateral agreements and realized as large-scale agriculture programmes including investments, training, supply of better seedlings, land cultivation promoted by powerful corporations have significantly changed the economic and social environment in Nigeria.

The article deals with the role of small scale industry in India in achieving the sustainable development. The author draws attention to the fact that the small scale industry promotion policy impacts significantly not only on decreasing the unemployment rate as well as long-term and youth unemployment but also on solving such acute social problems as poverty, famine, undernourishment and food insecurity, lack of quality education, gender inequality and the empowerment of women. The author pays attention to the evolution of small business in India in 1950-2010s. It argues convincingly that due to significant number of population as well as low-skilled labor on the one hand and limited financial resources on the other one small business has been considered to be a buffer between modern big business and the bulk of the population remaining outside it. The author considers the effectiveness of the industrial policy through the prism of stimulating small-scale industry and changing its place in the Indian economy. The author examines the activity of the The National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development (NABARD) which is considered to be the most important institution which looks after the development of the small scale industries. The aim of NABARD was poverty reduction and development assistance (it’s one of the premier agencies providing developmental credit in rural areas). The article presents the definition of small scale industry in India both in terms of employment level and the investment limits as well as statistical data on number of units, its share in industrial production and exports and expansion of small scale sector in 2000-2010s. The author identified main problems facing cottage and small scale industries in India at the present time. The research is based on the systematic approach to the study of national economy using basic methods of scientific knowledge such as induction and deduction, analysis and synthesis.

The article undertakes a gender analysis of small and medium enterprises and entrepreneurship in Japan to find out whether they affect gender inequality, women and economy; what women empowerment could bring to the development of SME, entrepreneurship and economy in Japan. To answer these questions the author uses gap analysis (gender wage gap, enterprise size wage gap, education wage gap) per industry in dynamics; international comparisons, institutional analysis, trend analysis, case studies, historical analysis and policy analysis. The research finds out that SMEs in Japan maintain higher level of inequality, comparing to large enterprises. Interlocked business relations between SME and large corporations (keiretsu) and employment structure are major and unique factors that exacerbate gender inequality in Japan. Tracing back how labor relations were organized in Japan, the research finds that the exclusion of women from lifetime employment was supposed to suit women’s best interests, however it resulted in subordinate position and economic dependence of women. Women’s entrepreneurship in Japan presents an area of untapped potentials that could effectively tackle a set of socio-economic problems and impact exponentially women empowerment in Japan. Women business in Japan proves to be effective and profitable and, what is more important, it has a “human face” and occupies (among others) vacant niche of social care, both optimizing and humanizing it. Finally, the research concludes that female entrepreneurship requires more attention and support from the government.

The article explores the current relations between Germany and Iran in politicalmilitary sphere. Both countries belong to the category of emerging powers (the Germany is perhaps the single emerging power among Euro-Atlantic states). Outlining the contours of bilateral relations, the authors underline the presence of imperial historical code in each country, the growing internal political problems (dwindling authority of the ruling elites) and mutual interest in deepening trade-industrial partnership with Germany becoming a technological modernizer of Iranian economy.

The authors show that Iranian factor has a growing impact over German policy in the Near East and the Middle East, especially in Lebanese, Syrian, Iraqi and Yemeni armed conflicts. In the first three cases Germany tries to limit the scale, the character (non-combatant capabilities), geographic area (not in deep regions) of the Bundeswehr usage. One of the key reasons of it is that Germany avoids being drawn into action against the Iranian troops or its junior allies («Hezbollah» in Lebanon, Shia combatants in Southern Iraq). Germany also recognizes that ignoring Iranian interests in each of these cases will make it difficult to maintain its political-military presence in the region. Because of the Yemen conflict with active participation of Saudi Arabia Germany has imposed arms embargo for the Kingdom.

Germany attempted to keep the Iranian nuclear deal after Trump`s administration withdrawal from the agreement. The authors try to estimate the probable position of Germany towards possible military-political crisis in the region involving Iran and especially towards a potential US war against Iran.

What result will Germany strive for in the Iranian direction? According to the authors, this is a significantly expanded formula of 2015. In addition to maintaining the JCPOA and mutually beneficial growth in trade and economic cooperation, this formula includes:

– minimizing the threat of a military conflict against Iran (which has become especially important after the assassination of General Qasem Soleimani on January 3, 2020);

– in exchange for this clear limitation of Iran’s influence in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen.

An important feature of Israel's foreign policy in the post-Cold War era has been development of relations with emerging powers, including China. The importance of the economic component in the foreign policy of both countries, China's efforts to achieve the status of a great power, and Israel's strategies to improve its global image and regional position have brought the two countries' relations into a form of comprehensive cooperation in the post-Cold War era. Describing the relations between the two countries in the political, military and economic spheres and acknowledging the impact of China and Israel's behavior patterns on national and regional security of Iran the article seeks to answer the following questions : What are the indicators of the development of China-Israel relations in the post-Cold War era? What are the consequences of these relations for Iran? From this article's point of view, the development of China-Israel relations in all areas has been on an upward trajectory and hence have substantial implications at the national (threatening China-Iran relations in the field of energy and weakening Iran-China military relations and enfeebling Iran's position in the Silk Road project), regional (changing the balance to the detriment of Iran, Iran's containment and normalization of Arab-Israeli relations) and international levels (China's accompanying pressures on Iran, Israel's use of China's capacity in international institutions and efforts to legitimizing and reinforcing the notion of Iran's threat and continuing Iranophobia) for Iran's security.

The technological and institutional transformation of the global economy is accompanied by paradoxes that arise at its various structural levels. The global COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences have strengthened the paradoxical situations. The main paradox of globalization receives an unexpected and dramatic verification by the spread of the SARS-COV-2 virus. Disruption of international communications as the only possible way to combat the spread of infection in the short term contradicts the need to restore its interconnectedness in the long term. The institutional contradictions within global economic governance does not correspond to the digital path of the global economy development. Macroeconomic paradoxes signal the need for a transition from the dominant monetary regulation to fiscal expansion. Monetary regulation mechanisms, even in their non-traditional forms, are ineffective given the coincidence of the coronavirus pandemic with high volatility in global stock markets and oil and gas markets. Fiscal stimulation undertaken by states in the face of the spread of virus can be interpreted as a pilot project for the implementation of some of the basic ideas of the Modern Monetary Theory (MMT). The solution of the microeconomic paradox of public goods is possible on the basis of the principle of "rationality" as a priority social concept. Paradoxically, the shock of the pandemic, which “blew up” the course of things, provoked an unprecedented decline in business activity in a number of sectors of the economy, under certain conditions, can turn the vector towards economic growth and development. The paradoxes of the global economy signal that the current socio-economic model of the global economy has exhausted its endogenous development potential. Resolving paradoxical situations requires updating scientific views and patterns of their implementation. The European Commission's economic recovery plan addresses the future generation of the European Union. The shock of the coronavirus pandemic accelerates the transfer of values and technologies to the new paradigm of global world.

The current pandemic of COVID-19 has already become a test of strength for world economy and institutions of global economic regulation. The main goal of the article is to review existing research on the economy of pandemics focusing on COVID-19, and to develop a conceptual framework for further assessment of negative impact of COVID-19 on the economies of the world and ways to minimize this impact on economic development. The author’s methodological approach goes beyond the traditional interpretation of the pandemic economy; we use the term “coronavirus global economy” to show the unprecedented and comprehensive impact of a pandemic on the development of the world economy, the movement of factors of production, economic integration and economic growth. Under these conditions, many theories of economic development, the mechanisms of trade and investment policies need to be seriously reevaluated. The review shows that the increasing negative impact of COVID-19 on the global economy lies in the fact that it has not managed to recover from the global crisis of 2008 and was in a "pre-recession" state; the preparedness of countries to counter the pandemic was extremely low, and the institutions of international cooperation were paralyzed failing to develop measures to effectively protect against the current consequences of COVID-19. The review of the literature demonstrates the uniqueness of the current pandemic in terms of negative effects on both the supply and demand side of the global financial system, which is especially aggravated by the high debt burden of many countries. Globalization is considered to be the main determinant of the high spread of the coronavirus pandemic in both the medical and economic contexts, but at the same time, states remain fragmented and protectionist in terms of combating the pandemic.

In the last decade, the foundations of the digital economy have been formed with Internet platforms becoming its largest and most important segment. According to the authors, one of the key problems associated with the development of the digital economy and of Internet platforms is the diffusion of existing and generation of the new competencies. This is important both for platform users and partner companies. The article analyzes the role of platforms in this process and highlights the main channels for competence diffusion. Firstly, individual and, secondly, institutional dimensions of these processes are defined. In the first case, the authors elaborate on the ways of developing user competencies - both basic and specialized. In the second case, the article focuses  on the distribution of organizational and institutional competencies, and best practices among partner companies and participants in corporate ecosystems of platforms. For the partners the primary conditions for acquiring new competencies depend, firstly, on a system of organizational and economic requirements of the platforms. Secondly — on specific digital interfaces. Growth and improvement of services, technology, dynamics and principles of platform market organization provide formation and diffusion of more complex economic and technical competences of digital economy. It is shown that a new powerful source of development and transfer of promising technological and economic competences within the extended platform ecosystems is also being formed. The scope of operations of modern digital platforms, their composition, engagement of all key groups of actors in the innovation processes (including consumers) create unique opportunities for further development of this area.