A Soviet outpost in Tel Aviv: the Soviet legation in Israel, 1948–53

This article inquires into the reasons why the ideal type of ethnic democracy proposed by Sammy Smooha has no viable manifestation other than Israel. Ethnic democracy exists in the tensions between the two contradictory principles of inclusive and egalitarian democracy, on the one hand, and a preference for a majority ethnic group on the other. The archetype of the ideal type of ethnic democracy is Israel. Yet since the conceptual tool of ideal type was developed by Weber for the purpose of overcoming idiosyncrasies and discovering similarities, other manifestations of the ideal type must be found. Although Smooha presupposes that ethnic democracy is essentially “non-Western,” he finds its manifestations mainly in “Western” democracies. He tries to overcome this difficulty by characterizing Israel as the sole embodiment of the ideal type of ethnic democracy. However, a comparison with West European democracies renders the ethnic attributes of Israeli democracy empirically dubious and logically circular.     

The Sino‐Soviet Conference, 1924–1927

Soviet Union issued two declarations toward China in 1919 and 1920, promising to nullify all treaty privileges in China previously established by the Tsarist government voluntarily. However, in the formal negotiations Karakhan insisted that old treaties must be replaced by new treaty. Finally, the Sino‐Soviet Agreement, literarily, “Agreement on General Principles for the Settlement of Outstanding Questions”, signed in May 1924 and diplomatic relations restored at once, a conference was stipulated to meet within one month to solve all questions and to conclude a formal treaty. Nevertheless, the conference was postponed for more than a year; when it did convene too many controversies led it nowhere. Since no treaty was produced at the Sino‐Soviet Conference, the old treaties were not abolished, therefore the Soviet's promises were never practiced.     

Cables in Cipher,the Raoul Wallenberg Case and Swedish–Soviet Diplomatic Communication 1944–1947

In 2011, the Russian government, in order to mark the 100th anniversary of Swedish Diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, decided to allow one Swedish researcher to go through the diplomatic correspondence in cipher between the Soviet Embassy in Stockholm and the Soviet Foreign Ministry during the years 1944–1947. This article presents some of the major findings on Wallenberg and discusses whether parallel paths of Soviet encrypted communication between Moscow and Stockholm may still be harbouring additional information on his case. The ciphers cannot provide us with any conclusive answers on the Soviet motives for arresting Wallenberg, or his ultimate fate. They do, however, provide us with unique insights into how the matter was handled on both the Soviet and Swedish sides.     

About S. V. Kalesnik's Article on “Monism” and “Dualism” in Soviet Geography

The author defends V. A. Anuchin's efforts to develop the theory of unity of geography based on Marxist-Leninist philosophy. Konovalenko finds that Americans are closely following the theoretical discussion in Soviet geography because they, too, are supposedly searching for a methodological foundation of a unified geography. He holds that Soviet geography, by developing such a theory on a Marxist basis, can win followers within the ranks of foreign geographers, including Americans. S. V. Kalesnik's article appeared in Izvestiya Vsesoyuznogo Geograficheskogo Obshchestva, 1962, No. 1, pp. 15–25, and was translated in Soviet Geography, September 1962 pp. 3–16).     

A Selected Bibliography of Mathematical Articles in Soviet Economic Geography (1960–1968)

Advocates of a new discipline of theoretical geography seek to bolster their argument for establishment of the discipline with quotations from Lenin. Theoretical geography, conceived more broadly than Bunge's mathematical geography, would seek to generalize the findings of all the particular geographical disciplines, to formulate general geographical laws, develop a common geographic method and common approaches to the formalization and modeling of geographic phenomena. Its objects of study are so-called geosystems, which are conceptualized as totalities of the autonomous spatial systems of the environment, population and the economy. Each geosystem is viewed as being associated with its geospace, defined as the “eigenspace of geographical objects, of geographically whole formations”. Geosystems are regarded as possessing a certain degree of freedom in contrast to the view that cause-and-effect relations within such systems are rigidly predetermined. The outlines of a number of general geographic laws are suggested. They include the law of growing contrast in spatial systems of all types and the law of asynchronism in the development of spatial systems. Theoretical geography is presented as having significant practical application in the analysis and prediction of the effect of man's development of spatial systems, in setting of development priorities and determining optimal types of development.     

War economy T939–7942. By S. J. Butlin

WAR ECONOMY T939–7942. By S. J. Butlin. (Australian War Memorial, Canberra, 1955.) Pp. xvii plus 516. 25/‐ Aust.