scholarly journals Do History Lessons Ever Pay off? A Diplomat’s Memoir

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodric Braithwaite
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Russian Language ◽  
University Of Cambridge ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Underlying Causes ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Russian Language ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Moscow River

Sir Rodric Braithwaite was educated at Christ’s College, University of Cambridge, from where he went to serve in HM Diplomatic Service, having worked in Jakarta, Moscow, Washington, Warsaw, Rome, and Brussels, where he was a member of the British delegation to the European Community. From 1988 to 1992, Sir Rodric served as HM Ambassador in the Soviet Union during the decisive years of the Perestroika and the first British ambassador in Russia. Subsequently, he was appointed foreign policy adviser to the Prime Minister in the second John Major ministry and chaired the UK Joint Intelligence Committee between 1992 and 1993. He was appointed Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG) in 1994. As a career diplomat, Sir Rodric gained decades of insight into the troubled relations between Russia and West, having taken part in numerous negotiations on arms control. His affinity with the decision-making circles in both Russia and Britain alongside with the mastery of the Russian language allow him to skillfully dissect the underlying causes of ups-and-downs in Moscow’s relationship with the West, employing the works of both English- and Russian-speaking analysts. Among his recent books are Across the Moscow River (2002), Moscow 1941: A City and Its People at War (2006), Afgantsy: The Russians in Afghanistan, 1979–1989 (2012), Armageddon and Paranoia: The Nuclear Confrontation (2017). In this essay, Sir Rodric reminisces of the years spent as a diplomat and provides his view on the usefulness and applicability of historical lessons while devising a foreign policy course.

scholarly journals The British Weekly: a case study of British propaganda to the Soviet Union during World War II

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 486-498
Author(s):  
Elena A. Kotelenets ◽  
Maria Yu. Lavrenteva
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Russian Language ◽  
Historical Background ◽  
British Government ◽  
World War ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The Uk

The research investigates a publishing history of the Britansky Souyznik (British Ally) weekly (further - British Weekly) in Russian language, which was published in the Soviet Union by the UK Ministry of Information in the Second World War years and to 1950. This newspaper published reports from fronts where British troops fought against Nazi Germany and its allies, articles on British-Soviet military cooperation, materials about British science, industry, agriculture, and transport, reports on people’s life in the UK, historical background of British Commonwealth countries, cultural and literature reviews. British Weekly circulation in the USSR was 50,000 copies. The main method used for the research was the study of the newspaper’s materials, as well as the propaganda concepts of its editorial board and their influence on the audience. The researched materials are from archives of the Soviet Foreign Ministry as well as of the UK Ministry of Information and Political Warfare Executive (1940-1945), declassified by the British Government only in 2002, on the basis of which an independent analysis is conducted. The British Weekly played a bright role in the formation of techniques and methods of British foreign policy propaganda to Soviet public opinion in 1942-1945. Results of the research indicates that the British government launched foreign policy propaganda to the USSR immediately after breaking-out of World War II and used the experience of the British Weekly for psychological warfare in the Cold War years.

Laying Blame for Flight and Fight: Sino-Soviet Relations and the “Yi–Ta” Incident in Xinjiang, 1962

2019 ◽  
Vol 238 ◽  
pp. 504-523
Author(s):  
Charles Kraus
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Chinese Foreign Policy ◽  
Russian Language ◽  
Chinese Government ◽  
Northern Xinjiang ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Major Flare ◽  
Party State

AbstractIn spring 1962, 60,000 individuals fled from northern Xinjiang into the Soviet Union. Known as the “Yi–Ta” incident, the mass exodus sparked a major flare up in Sino-Soviet relations. This article draws on declassified Chinese and Russian-language archival sources and provides one of the first in-depth interpretations of the event and its aftermath. It argues that although the Chinese government blamed the Soviet Union for the Yi-Ta incident, leaders in Beijing and Xinjiang also recognized the domestic roots of the disturbance, such as serious material deficits in northern Xinjiang and tensions between minority peoples and the party-state. The Chinese government's diplomatic sparring with Moscow over the mass exodus reflected Mao Zedong's continued influence on Chinese foreign policy, despite claims by scholars that Mao had retreated from policymaking during this period.

A Most Special Relationship: The Origins of Anglo-American Nuclear Strike Planning

2007 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 5-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ken Young
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Air Force ◽  
Special Relationship ◽  
Military Officers ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
Fully Integrated ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Anglo American ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Insight Into

This article examines a hitherto unexplored aspect of the Anglo-American “special relationship,” the development of arrangements to coordinate U.S. and British forces in a joint nuclear strike against the Soviet Union. During the early Cold War, British political leaders and military officers struggled for a closer relationship with the U.S. Air Force in the hope of gaining greater insight into U.S. war plans, predicated as they were on nuclear strikes launched from bases in England. U.S. willingness to supply nuclear (and later thermo-nuclear) bombs for delivery by British bombers prompted bilateral talks from 1956 about their deployment in a joint air offensive. This prospective partnership raised difficult issues for the UK Air Staff, which was committed to the maintenance of an independent nuclear deterrent and countervalue rather than counterforce targeting. Nevertheless, the advantages of joint strike planning were such that by 1962 Bomber Command's planning had become fully integrated with that of Strategic Air Command.

scholarly journals Neo-Renaissance and revitalization of Votic – who cares?

2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 171-184
Author(s):  
Heinike Heinsoo ◽  
Margit Kuusk
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
General Trend ◽  
Russian Language ◽  
Local People ◽  
Language And Culture ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Sparse Population ◽  
Sphere Of Influence ◽  
Near Future ◽  
The Russian Language

The paper deals with the reason for the decline of theVotic language and neo-renaissance and revitalization of the Votic.The reason for the decline of the Votic language are the small number of people, traditionally sparse population and the assimilation – the speakers of Votic have always lived in the sphere of influence of the Russian language and culture. The reasons for neo-renaissance are the collapse of the Soviet Union, a general trend to look for one’s roots, enthusiastic votophiles and the local activities. In the earlier times Votic national movement originated from local people, but recently there has been interest in the Votic affairs on the state level.The plans for the near future are under common title the Votic project

scholarly journals Вызовы современному русскому литературному языку

2020 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Владимир Медведев
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Russian Language ◽  
Rural Life ◽  
Literary Language ◽  
Current State ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Russian Literary ◽  
Language Norms ◽  
Active Processes ◽  
The Russian Language

The article is devoted to the study of some active processes affecting the system of the modern Russian language. The result of the study is the identification of factors that negatively affect the dynamics of the Russian language, which are presented in socio-political and linguistic aspects. The socio-political reasons are caused by the active reduction of the Russian-language information space in the near and far abroad area under the influence of the collapse of the Soviet Union. Unsuccessful phenomena in the current state of the Russian language consist in the intentional violation of the language norms in the Internet space, the substitution of normative vocabulary for meaningfully and stylistically belittled expressions of rural life, the clogging of the Russian literary language with words and verbal turns of slang origin, the dissemination of obscene vocabulary, the saturation of the language with words and expressions of foreign origin, and the unjustified euphemization of speech, leading to the erosion of the meaning of words. The general conclusion is the need for the serious efforts of the whole society against the simplification and the purity of the Russian literary language.

scholarly journals Image of time in language consciousness of Russians and the Japanese

2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 5-15
Author(s):  
Alexei D. Palkin
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Russian Language ◽  
Early 21St Century ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Perception Of Time ◽  
Time Image ◽  
The Russian Language ◽  
The Early 21St Century

Perception of the image of time in Russian and Japanese linguocultures is analysed. An association experiment has become the main experimental method. Three samplings are under consideration: that of Russians of the early 1990s, that of Russians of the early 21st century, and that of the Japanese of the early 21st century. Russians and the Japanese share general human values, but cultural differences stand out in association reactions of Russian and Japanese respondents. The experimental material available shows that the Japanese are more time-conscious than Russians. The Japanese tend to consider things in a long-term perspective, while for Russians a medium-term perspective is more urgent. The specificity of hieroglyphs leads the Japanese to perceiving a close connection between time and space, while the Russian language does not provide clues of the kind, which results in fewer reactions indicating space in Russian samplings. The paper argues that the perception of time image has altered in the Russian linguoculture recently. Russians of the early 1990s lost their axiological targets in the turmoil of the Soviet Union collapse, which is not characteristic of the 21st century Russians, who started to regain their emotional stability.

scholarly journals Internationalization of Education: La Peau de Сhagrin of the Russian Language

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (7) ◽  
pp. 139-148
Author(s):  
R. M. Petruneva ◽  
L. F. Belyakova ◽  
T. L. Sidorova
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Foreign Students ◽  
Russian Language ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The Status ◽  
Internationalization Of Education ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
Russian Universities ◽  
The Russian Language ◽  
Central Asia Region

The article examines the processes of internationalization, provides information on the number of foreign students in various countries and in Russia, discusses the arguments for choosing the country for study by international students, including socio-cultural and linguistic preferences. The authors address the issues relating to the status of the Russian language in countries of the Central Asia region – the former republics of the Soviet Union. The article provides an information on the expansion of Western and Eastern countries into the educational system of these countries. The conclusion is made about the need for Russian universities to more actively enter the international market of educational services, especially in those areas where the Russian Federation has undeniable achievements (natural science fields of training, etc.).

scholarly journals The Prospect of the Russian Language in Georgia. Insights from the Educated Youth

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniele Artoni ◽  
Sabrina Longo
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
International Communication ◽  
Russian Language ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
The Status ◽  
Southern Caucasus ◽  
Everyday Interaction ◽  
The Russian Language

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the status of the Russian language in the new-born Republics became a central issue. In the Southern Caucasus, all the Constitutions promulgated by the three Republics opted for ethnocentric language policies that accepted the titular language as the only State Language. However, the role of the Russian language as a lingua franca remained crucial for international communication and everyday interaction. It followed that it continued to play an important role also in education. The present study focuses on Georgia, where a strong derussification policy has taken place in the last decades and aims at understanding to what extent the use of Russian among the young generations has contracted. In particular, we present an analysis conducted on data collected via (i) a survey for young people consisting of questions on their sociolinguistic background and a proficiency test in Russian, and (ii) semi-structured interviews for teachers of Russian and English as Foreign Languages on the research topics.

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