The article deals with the American period in the life of Bishop Nickolay (Ziorov) when he was the head of the Aleutian and Alaska dioceses of the Russian Orthodox Church (1891-1898). Based on little known documents of the Holy Synod (Russian State Historical Archive) and Russian diplomatic missions in the USA (Archive of Foreign Police of the Russian Empire) the authors survey his activities to build-up the stagnant diocese and to expand Eastern Orthodoxy in the United States which prepared the ground for its renewal under his successor Bishop Tikhon (Belavin). Special attention is being paid to how American realities of the Gilded Age were perceived by a well-educated Russian priest as reflected in his diaries and travel notes that until now have avoided historians’ attention. Of special interest are Nickolay’s travel notes made during his trips around the country including his long visit to the Chicago World Fair of 1893. The Bishop’s literary talent and lively curiosity lend special flavor to these impressions creating a sense of presence. It is demonstrated that his perception was shaped both by his clergy experience and a more general framework of Russian culture. Hence an admiration of American economic and technological progress went hand in hand with a total rejection of American materialism, individualism and political values. Bishop Nickolay’s impressions of the United States constitute a revealing case study in how image of America as a constituent “the other”, the juxtaposition of the “Russian Idea” and the “American Dream” fitted into the Russian mentality.

The Greek Revolution 1821-1829 contributed to the beginning and development of the Eastern crisis of the 1820s, which led to the military confrontation in the Russian-Turkish relations in 1828-1829. The Russian government was forced to closely monitor the unfolding events in Greece, repeatedly expressing the Sublime Porte condemnation of her repression against the Greek population. During the crisis the Petersburg Cabinet has repeatedly attempted to settle the Greek-Turkish conflict diplomatically by means of a joint statement of the European powers addressing the Ottoman government. The agreements adopted at the St. Petersburg (1826) and London (1827) conferences of the powers were aimed at "pacifying" the Greek problem through the joint efforts of the European powers. Ineffective European actions resulted in the fact that Russian government was forced to radically change its policy on the Greek issue and declare its determination to take independent steps to resolve the Greek issue and start military operations against the Ottoman Empire.

The Greek uprising of 1821 became the central event of the 1820s. in the Balkans. Standing in the same row with the revolutionary movements in European countries, the Greek revolution led to a change in the entire foreign policy doctrine of the Russian government. It was forced, despite the adherence of the Russian emperors to the principles of the Holy Alliance, not only to provide the rebel Greeks with material and moral support, but also to openly declare to the allies about the existing interests in the Balkans. Match of these interests with the demands for independence of the Greek movement leaders led to a more decisive steps taken by the Russian government in the Greek issue. The Russian Empire took path of an independent policy in the Eastern question, which contributed to the victory of the national interests of Greece.

Since their independence, Ukraine and Belarus have pursued relatively consistent but almost polar-opposite policies toward Russia. For the most part, the difference is explicable not as a product of differing material pressures and incentives (which do not, in fact, differ significantly), but as a consequence of differing popular and elite conceptions of Ukrainian and Belarusian national identities, which yield different beliefs about the proper relationship of those nations to Russia. The article argues that the difference is largely traceable to the 16th and 17th centuries, when the Grand Duchy of Lithuania’s southern lands – modern western and central Ukraine – were transferred to the Kingdom of Poland, and subsequently conquered by Russia in stages, while Belarus remained within Lithuania until also conquered by Russia. This resulted in different Ukrainian and Belarusian territories spending vastly different amounts of time under Polish rule. Considering that Rusian culture originally had a high status in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and that Polonization naturally proceeded more intensely in Poland than in Lithuania, the author hypothesizes that: 1) the longer a territory was under Polish rule, the more subject it was to Polonization; 2) the more it was subject to Polonization, the more it developed a western European identity; 3) the more Ukrainian and Belarusian national identities were westernized, the more alienated they became from non-westernized Rusian nationalities, primarily the (Great) Russian (русский / великорусский / российский); 4) the more alienated a national identity is from Russia, the more its bearers seek to separate themselves from Russia. The research finds out that the longer an area was under Polish rule, the more support it subsequently displayed for separation and distancing from Russia. Ukrainian territories, especially in the west and center of the country, were long under Polish rule and accordingly tend toward an anti-Russian alignment that was visible even a century ago. On the other hand, Belarus, ruled by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania but never by Poland directly, expressed little desire to abandon the Russian Empire a century ago, and today continues a policy of friendship and integration with Russia.

The article combines various qualitative and quantitative methods to demonstrate how centuries-long historical processes reshaped a national identity, with massive consequences that still endure today.

“Velvet divorce” between the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993 led to the establishment of two independent states. Unlike the Czech Republic, which until the formation of Czechoslovakia in 1918 had a history of independence and regarded the state that emerged after the WWI as an extension of its statehood, Slovakia viewed itself differently. It believed that there was no historical continuity between Czechoslovakia and the modern Slovak state, that coexistence of Czechs and Slovaks in a single state was forced and Slovaks’ rights were oppressed for more than 70 years. The politics of memory helped support such ideas in an atmosphere of growing nationalist sentiments. This led to the restoration of memories not only of historical figures who actively fought for the national rights of Slovaks but also of those who collaborated with criminal political regimes and violated basic human rights and freedoms. It was particularly popular in the early period of independence. Along the integration into Western Europe there was a departure from the nationalist discourse in Slovakia, although its rejection was never complete. It resurfaced during the so-called “memorial boom” (2015 - 2020). To understand the specifics of politics of memory in Slovakia it has to be compared with that of Czech. The key differences are in the new ideology chosen by national elites. For the Czech Republic, anti-communism became a basis, while in Slovakia there was no complete denial of the communist past. In many respects, this affected the perception of the USSR and Russia as its successor.

The interaction of the EU institutions is aimed at aggregating a wide range of interests and ensuring the widest possible (preferably consensual) support for the policy. However, game theory reveals that the ordinary legislative procedure breeds competition between two co-legislators - the Council and the European Parliament - that seek to reflect their preferences within the legislative draft. This study attempts to assess the development of cooperative practices in the ordinary legislative procedure (since its establishment under the name “codecision procedure”) and the importance of these practices for the effectiveness of the legislative process. The development of cooperative practices is illustrated by three examples. First, the transformation of the rules of the third reading. Second, peculiarities of the Conciliation Committee functioning. Third, the development of trialogues and their main features.

According to the results of the study, the author concluded that a set of cooperative practices between the EU Council and the European Parliament has been formed within the framework of the ordinary legislative procedure which is structured in a way that encourages co-legislators to cooperate and engage in intensive inter-institutional negotiations that complement the negotiations within each of the institutions. The reason for this is that the ordinary legislative procedure has a complex system of checks and balances. This allows a number of actors to block or delay the decision-making process. Complex procedure literally forces the EU institutions to come to a compromise. The ordinary legislative procedure as it was set out in the Treaties was supplemented by number of cooperative practices based on political agreements, which enhance a more effective interaction between institutions. The need to ensure the support of all (the vast majority) of the Member States in the Council and key political groups in the European Parliament prompts to take into account the whole spectrum of interests. As a result, it ensures high quality of decision-making process and high quality of governance.

In 2019-2020 the global economy faced an unprecedented transition to remote employment. New information technologies have made this transition possible, but prior to the pandemic it was implemented with great hesitation even in technologically advanced companies, whose activities are focused on data analysis. The sudden push toward remote work has formed a new reality of the global labor market - mass foreign outsourcing of labor in a wide range of professions. New trends are adding additional challenges for the legal regulation of labor relations at the level of states and international organizations (ILO and UN).

The article asks what the socio-economic consequences of the surge in remote employment on a state and international level will be.

The methodology of the study consists in conducting cross-country comparisons of the social behavior of employers and employees, as well as analyzing the response of international organizations and states in terms of adapting the regulatory framework to the changed social relations.

The results show that the "point of no return" in the organization of labor relations has not been reached yet. The effects of the increased scale of remote employment is observed only in individual and usually very large companies. However, at the national level the situation with remote employment returns to a large extent to the pre-crisis level, although not completely. At first glance socially comfortable model of remote employment triggers systemic risks, which, if further accelerated, will fully manifest themselves in the foreseeable future. Remote employment is one of the means of labor market globalization, the pandemic of COVID-19 has acted as an accelerator for the growth of cross-border remote employment. In this regard, we should expect an intensification of the international discussion on the need and sufficiency of national legislative borders that restrain the globalization of the labor market, which needs to liberalize remote employment with the participation of foreign citizens.

Why does the Chinese economic modernization strategy include transnationalization of Chinese enterprises, the creation of numerous Small and Medium Foreign Affiliates (SMFAs)? The research hypothesis suggests that in the context of globalization, modernization requires influencing other participants in the global economy beyond national borders. SMFAs are able to transform the structure of the economy of the PRC and host countries to ensure demand for national innovations and highly skilled labor. The literature review highlights the challenges of modernizing the national economy in the context of globalization, as well as the advantages of TNCs and participation in global value chains (GVCs). However, the question of the connection between catchup development and transnationalization of local business, especially small and medium-sized ones, has been understudied. The novelty of the study is in the analysis of the sectoral and geographical structure of the foreign activities of Chinese TNCs and the analysis of the problems of the participation of Chinese TNCs in Western global value chains (GVCs). The main findings reveal that the creation of SMFAs is a response to the challenges of globalization, which impede the modernization of the Chinese economy. Powerful state support to SMFAs makes them dependent, and thus the government is able to direct the goals of private enterprises in accordance with the national interests. The major field of Chinese SMFAs is the promotion of products manufactured in the PRC in the American and European markets, and it contributes to the development of the national innovation system, redistributes the added value in favor of national manufacturers, and stimulates the development of hightech industries of the PRC. In developing countries SMFAs are represented by trade and manufacturing outlets within the “Belt and Road Initiative” They come after the infrastructural projects of large business, grouped in clusters, have strong coordination with other Chinese TNCs, and create Chinese GVCs. The main role of Chinese SMFAs in the modernization of the PRC economy is to ensure national interests, including industrial sovereignty and the growth of wellbeing of citizens as the basis of innovative demand. In the modern international labor division, this is achieved by a shift to high valueadded operations, accompanied by a struggle for the markets of developed countries and for sites for the low valueadded operations inside Chinese GVCs in developing countries.

Book review: Matthews, P., S. Greenspan (2020) Automation and Collaborative Robotics: A Guide to the Future of Work. Berkeley, CA, Apress. 285 p.