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This article examines policies of Moscow and Brussels in the Baltics since the launch of the European Union’s Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region in June 2009. An increase in the efficiency of Russia’s policy in the region requires not only the development of bilateral relations with the region’s countries but also a dialogue with the European Union, the key player in the Baltic. The author identifies Russian economic, military, political, and humanitarian interests in the region, and describes the...

Network cooperation — the most efficient form of unlocking the economic and natural potential of territories — is rapidly developing in Russia under the influence of global processes. Due to its unique geopolitical position, the Kaliningrad region is one of the regions where such networks develop at both the regional and international levels. When studying such forms of cooperation, the traditional methods of social sciences as research tools are not sufficient, which is explained by the dynamic...

This article studies the process of transformation of the Swedish political party system in the 1980s. The study aims to develop a typology of the Swedish political party system before and after the transformation processes commenced. The article identifies the key prerequisites for such transformation: the crisis of social democracy and an increase in the nationalist attitudes in the society caused by the negative repercussions of the system of integration of migrants into the society based on the...

The article analyzes the development of EU — Russia energy relations through the lens of the evolution of three parameters: the political agenda (the Energy Dialogue), the institutional structure, and the legal modalities. The identification of these three aspects for assessing the evolution of EU — Russia energy relations is the novelty in the author’s approach. This study aims to identify the previous stages and assess the current state of EU — Russia energy dialogue, since they set out conditions...

This article examines cooperation in the electric energy sector in the Baltic region. The author explores the existing undersea HVDC power exchange projects. It is emphasised that cooperation in the electric energy sector is concentrated largely in the EU member states despite earlier plans to establish the Baltic energy ring, which would also include Russia and Belarus. The author stresses that one of the most acute problems for the EU today is overcoming isolation of the energy systems of the Baltic...

Integration is one of the main consequences of globalization. Elements of microsystems are growing closer, which brings to the foreground problems of interaction and — in a longer perspective — those of close cooperation between different social systems. The article considers the case of North-West Russia, the only territory having a common border with the EU, in order to examine the issue of Russia using the geographical factor, which Otto von Bismarck called the most powerful and intrinsic factor...

In the context of regional gas infrastructure development this paper considers the issue of energy security of the countries of East Baltic, which depend heavily on a single energy supplier — Russia. In recent years, the countries of the region have announced several LNG terminal construction projects. The European Union will provide political and financial support to only one of these projects. The paper explores the role of gas and energy in the economy of the Eastern Baltic countries. The author...

Marine spatial planning has been widely applied in the leading maritime countries. However, it is not so common in Russia, since the relevant legal framework is largely absent. Spatial planning shares a number of features with marine planning, especially when it comes to the tools, principles, and methods. The differences mainly concern characteristics of the planning object; principles of delineating the borders of territories and water areas; and the authorities responsible for regulation. The...

This article is based on a comparative analysis of Russia and US’s experience of participation in international cooperation in the field of trans-boundary water management. The author showcases the work of Russian-Estonian Commission for Protection and Rational Use of Trans-Boundary Waters and the US-Canadian International Joint Commission. The Russian-Estonian Commission works in accordance with the principle of intergovernmentalism, whereas transnationalism is the founding principle of the International...

Transnational (involving countries) and cross-border (involving adjacent regions of different countries) cooperation and integration are rapidly developing in the Baltic Sea region. Russia lags behind the Nordic countries and Germany as far as innovative development is concerned; yet our national pace here is comparable to that of Poland and the three Baltic States. At the same time, the features of innovative cooperation vary a great deal depending on the group of countries involved in cooperation...

Conducting a multi-aspect comparative analysis of curricula of bachelor’s degree programmes in oceanology offered at universities in St Petersburg, Klaipeda and Kaliningrad, the authors trace similarities between the existing variants of oceanologist training in the context of competence modules, disciplines, the so-called academic practices, and the number of hours and credits stipulated in the existing curricula. A formal comparison of generalised quantitative indicators without analysing the content...

Innovative activity is carried out at three levels — those of the state, region and a company or a university. This article considers the level of development of knowledge-based economy in Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland at each of the three levels, as well as descripes the spatial differentiation of innovative activity within the Baltic region. The analysis is done on the basis of national and international research, as well as statistical data on the intensity...

This article considers the features of East Prussian land use system, whose crucial component was technologies for land fertility increase. A special package of measures in the framework of melioration and irrigation activities accounted for the high productivity of agriculture in this territory despite the fact that the local climate conditions can hardly be called perfect according to the well-known principles of agricultural science. The authors offer an overview of scientific approaches to the...

This article analyses the military and tactical training of the members of the Lithuanian Riflemen’s Union for guerrilla warfare in the interwar period. Small nations, such as Lithuania and other Baltic states, being unable to build up military strength in order to ensure national security, were forced to seek for unconventional methods of warfare, including guerrilla strategies. The study places emphasis on the development of the guerrilla war concept in the Union periodicals. The author retraces...

The article analyses the works on the history of medieval Lithuania (11th—14th centuries) by I. D. Belyaev, K. N. Bestuzhev-Ryumin, N. I. Kostomarov and M. O. Koyalovitch. It focuses on Russian scholars’ perception of Lithuania in 1850—870. Employing the comparative historical method and content analysis, the authors identify the key characteristics underlying the perception of Lithuania in research discourse in the 1850s—1870s. Particular attention is paid to an analysis of preconceptions that affected...

After the German reunification the agricultural development of eastern territories seemed to have picked up its pace. Yet the main problems those territories are facing today hatched already in the mid-1990s. In our study we address the problems and challenges that hinder sustainable development of East German rural areas. We analyse agricultural statistics and describe the structure of agricultural enterprises, land-use, and other critical dimensions of agriculture. We discuss pros and cons of modern...

In this paper, we look at the interregional cooperation in adjacent areas. Specifically, we focus our attention on the cluster of regions formed by the city of St. Petersburg, the Leningrad region and the Republic of Karelia. All three areas face a number of challenges when it comes to international trade: challenges that are shared and that require strategic coordinated solutions from regional decisionmakers. One of such solutions, for example, could require pooling of competitive advantages of...

This article contributes to the discussion within the "Towards the Common Past" international academic network bringing together scholars from Russia, the Baltic States and the Nordic countries. It assesses the relationship between globalization and historical memory, thus contributing to the discussion on globalization and the roles and applications of history. On the basis of an analysis of academic discourses on globalization and historical memory, the author arrives at two conclusions...

This article analyses the principal complex of economic and political motivations of the states of Central and Eastern Europe and the EU members related to the EU enlargement towards the East. Special attention is paid to the discussion on the reasonableness of the EU enlargement and the positions of certain EU members. 1. Borchardt K.-D. 1994, Azbuka prava Evropejskogo soobwestva [ABCs of European Community], Мoscow. 2. Butorina, О. 2004/2005, Novye evropejcy v novoj Evrope [New Europeans in the...

This article examines the current state of the groundwater system monitoring in the Novgorod region. The groundwater monitoring observations serve as the basis for prediction assessment of water resources. The efficiency of water resource management largely depends on the comprehensiveness and reliability of information on the groundwater condition.The existing groundwater monitoring system has proven to be incapable of fully implementing its functions. It requires a fundamental reorganization and...

The Baltic Sea is a unique ecological system, an integral part of the global ecological system, which is in urgent need of protection from destructive anthropogenic impact stemming from the production and consumption of nuclear energy and artificial radionuclides, agriculture, oil and oil product transportation, and sewage and solid waste treatment. The article outlines the main environmental problems of the Baltic Seas and the ways to solve them. 1. Emelyanov, E. M. 1995. Baltic Sea: geology, geochemistry...

This article focuses on the key aspects of population development in the historical cores of leading global urban regions at the stage of globalisation. The research sets out to identify and describe the common — model — and individual features of the demographic modernisation process. 1. Vallerstein, I. 2001. Tipologija krizisov v mirosisteme In: Analiz mirovyh sistem i situacija v sovremennom mire. Saint Petersburg, pp. 109—130. 2. Narodonaselenie: enciklopedicheskij slovar. 2004. Мoscow. ...

The article focuses on key characteristics of modern universities (global, scientific and entrepreneurial) ones. The authors discuss prospects of the strategic development of the university in the Russian exclave. 1.      Aleksandrov D. Uchenye bez nauki. Institucional'nyj analiz sfery // Pub­lich­nye lekcii na «Polit. ru». [online] Available at: < http://www.polit. ru/sci­en­ce/2006/03/ 06/ aleksandrov. html > [Accessed 5 July 2010] 2.      Dezhina, I., Kiseleva, V. 2007. Voprosy ekonomiki...

This article considers the key stages of Lithuanian energy evolution since 1990 and the factors that affected the strategy of Lithuanian energy sector development in the period of preparation and accession to the European Union. The author offers the estimations and general strategic recommendations regarding national energy policy, which were developed by the specialists of the Lithuanian Energy Institute. Vilemas Jurgis 10.5922/2079-8555-2010-1-7 50-57 energy, energy strategy, European Union...

The author identifies trends and variations of the socio-cultural identity and integration of Russians in Latvia. According to the author, since the middle 1990s, two trends have been recognized - first, the “ingrowing” of ethnic Russians into the life of independent Latvia, and second, forming their new identity. The article presents a number of factors hampering the integration of ethnic Russians into Latvian society. Variations and options of socio-cultural identity and integration (or assimilation)...

Since the accession of Poland and Lithuania to the EU, the nature, forms and content of their border cooperation with the Kaliningrad region have fundamentally changed. There is a tendency towards strengthening the neighborhood policy. The already gained extensive and varied experience of the participation of the Kaliningrad region in the IN-TERREG Programme contributed to the socio-economic development of the region. The new financial tools should be linked to the regional development strategies...

This article focuses on the historic prerequisites and forms of international cooperation in the Baltic region (“Baltic cooperation”). According to the author, Baltic Europe is being formed as a single administrative, economic, cultural and infrastructural area, which could become a new economic and cultural center of Europe. Special emphasis is given to policies and strategies of the EU in the Baltic Sea region. 1.        Andrulewicz E., 1994, Morze Bałtyckie, jego zagrożenia i ochrona, Państwowa...