Why During the Polish-Bolshevik War Did Soviet Propaganda Discourse Dominate European Public Opinion?

In 1919–20, a war took place between two states that had emerged at the end of the Great War: Soviet Russia and the reborn Republic of Poland. It was a clash of widely different legal, political, and ideological systems. The conflict took place not only on the military and diplomatic planes but also within propaganda. Upon taking power in Russia, the Bolsheviks, in their official speeches, presented themselves to the world as the defenders of peace and the sovereignty of all nations; the imperial aspirations of Soviet Russia were hidden under the slogans of a world revolution that would liberate oppressed peoples. The military and ideological conquest began with a concentrated focus on neighbouring countries, including Poland. At the same time, a suggestive propaganda message was sent to the West, setting out the course of events from Moscow’s point of view.

"Good" and "bad" billionaires in post-soviet Russia (1997–2020)

The article shows the idea of American economist Ruchir Sharma about "good" and "bad" billion-aires in relation to modern Russia, indicates the criteria proposed by Ruchir Sharma for classifying billionaires as "good" and "bad". The ratio between "good" and "bad" billionaires in modern Russia is studied for the period from 1997 till 2020. To identify "good" billionaires, their list for 2008, 2015 and 2020 is given, indicating companies and industry. For the same years, the shares of "good" billionaires in the total amount of billionaires and their total property were calculated. Sig-nificant growth of a number of "good" billionaires and their share in their total amount and total property of billionaires has been found. The main factors that determined the dynamics and share of "good" billionaires are indicated: the dynamics of world oil prices and the maturity of the Russian bourgeoisie. The share of "good" billionaires in Russia is being compared with the remaining 19 countries analysed by Ruchir Sharma. It turns out that even in the best year of 2020 for Russia in terms of the share of "good" billionaires, it was far behind other countries. Objective and subjective reasons for Russia’s catastrophic lag in the share of "good" billionaires are shown. Objective reasons include the youth of Russian capitalism and the huge demographic losses of Russia in the XX century, especially among the creative part of the population. Subjective reasons include the vices of the carried out in post-Soviet Russia political and economic reforms and the resulting economic and political structure. The negative consequences of the small share of "good" billionaires are analysed. These include the economic crisis in Russia in 2008 and the unsatisfactory structure of the Russian economy, as well as a huge social differentiation. The author proposes measures for accelerated modernization of the Russian economy, creating the most favourable conditions for the growth of "good" billionaires.

Soviet Russia

The First Democratic Republic of Georgia (1918-1921) left an important mark on the history of the country. One hundred years have passed since the occupation of Georgia by Russian troops. However, during the Soviet era, Soviet propaganda did not portray the incident as such; on the contrary, on February 25, 1921, the day the capital was captured, the country's population celebrated “Sovietization.” During the three years of independence, a lot has been done by the national government for the development of the country, as a result of selfless work in terms of establishing democracy. Thus, the chapter deals with the annexation and conquest of the independent republic of Georgia by Soviet Russia. Especially, it gives the analysis of the events of February-March 1921 which has its reflection even nowadays. Moreover, it clearly illustrates the Russian-Georgian War of 2008, which practically divided the country into three parts and damaged Georgia's territorial integrity.

Seeking a Place for Islam in Post-Soviet Russia

One of the main characteristics of the post-Soviet transformation was the religious resurgence. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the post-Soviet Islamic revival in the 1990s. The awakening of Islam and seeking the place for Muslims in the society significantly influenced the formation of today’s Russian Federation. The authors examine the factors that influenced the role of Islam in newly created post-Soviet Russia and the federal government’s response to its dynamics. The paper is divided into two parts. The first part deals with the Islamic revival after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The second chapter is focused on the Kremlin’s reaction to new radical movements that emerged during the Islamic awakening and the separatist sentiments in Russia’s Muslim regions. Using the qualitative research method, the authors drew a conclusion that Islamic radicalisation in post-Soviet Russia was caused by several external and internal factors. The political developments in the Russian Federation between the second half of the 1990s and the early 21st century were characterised by restrictions on religious freedom and consolidation of federalism.

Education in Post-Soviet Russia: Marketisation, Financialisation and Bureacratisation – The Case of Universities

Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, market relations and institutions have begun vigorously penetrating not only the fields of production and services, but also the social sphere. In this text, the author reveals the contradictions implicit in the transformations that over 30 years have occurred in post-Soviet Russia in the field of education and that have seen the total marketisation of this area. As an example, the article examines Russian universities. The process of marketisation of university education has taken the direct forms of the establishment of private universities and the introduction of paid tuition in state universities, and also of changes to the administrative structures of universities, to the content of instruction programmes, and to assessment of the quality of the education received by students as well as of the outcomes of the activity both of university teachers and of the institutions as a whole.

Post-Soviet Russia as a Product of Half-Disintegration of the USSR: Facts and Interpretation

The article shows the interconnection in the development of social and economic institutes of the USSR and post-soviet Russia and that on the post-Soviet space and in the Russian Federation a system of the semi-peripheral oligarchic bureaucratic capitalism has occurred, of which an economic stagnation is typical. The author proposes a review of the statistical data of three post-soviet evolution stages (1992–1998, 1999–2007, from 2008 until now), the causes of the economic decline of the 1990s, with accentuating the degradation of the technological basis and growing social contradictions, negative economic, and demographic consequences. The causes of negative evolution of Russia’s economy and society are shown. The answer is given to the questions: (1) what social forces were behind the reforms in the USSR and what social forces took over the power after the USSR vanished and (2) why Russia became a dependent, semi-peripheral part of the global economic system.

Social Networks in Modern Russia: Scale, Structure and Functioning Mechanisms

In the article, based on the data of the Institute of Sociology of the FCTAS RAS in 2021, it is shown that most representatives of mass segments of the population have access to resource exchange in social networks and only 16% of them are completely excluded from it. It is also demonstrated that the resource potential of the networks of representatives of these layers is in most cases limited to simple monetary types of help. At the same time, the structure of the networks is asymmetric – there are fewer donors in them than recipients. It is shown that among the participants of social networks there are “pure recipients” who receive aid, but do not provide it, and donors are heterogeneous in their resource potential, and three quarters of them have it at a very low level. It is also recorded that the basis of resource exchange in Russian networks is approximately 7% of the population, which can be described as high-resource donors. They not only help others, but also receive help from networks, moreover, they are the main beneficiaries of membership in networks. As a result of this structure and principles of functioning, social networks tend to deepen social inequalities rather than smooth them out. The mechanisms of formation and functioning of social networks are related to the opportunities for close communication of their participants and their lifestyle in general. The pandemic had a positive impact on mutual help in Russian society, which was expressed in increasing access to resource exchange in networks, converting it into real help and expanding the prevalence of previously atypical forms of social network development for post-Soviet Russia.