Russia’s Natural Resources in the World Economy: history,review and reassessment

Abstract

Russia’s role in the global economic system today, and the Soviet Union’s in the past, is dominated by the export of natural resources, particularly oil and gas. The rents earned from these exports are both a source of strength and weakness, as they link the fortunes of Russia’s domestic economy to the volatility of global resource markets. This paper returns to a major research project conducted through the offices of the Association of American Geographers that resulted in Soviet Natural Resources in the World Economy, published in 1983. The project was first conceived in the aftermath of the resource crisis in the 1970s and concluded in the early 1980s as the Soviet Union sought to increase resource exports to support a failing domestic economy. This paper examines the origins, evolution, and management of this seminal work and presents a re-reading of the book in a contemporary context. We develop some of the key themes of the original project and conclude that it has contemporary relevance, as a reliance upon the resource sector remains a defining characteristic of Russia’s political economy and continues to shape Russia’s role in the global economy. We find that the regional dimension that was so important in the original project remains critical as Russia seeks to extend the resource frontier into new regions in the Arctic and the East and, at the same time, reduce its reliance on European markets – that are both stagnant and hostile – by developing new markets in Asia.     

The Challenge to ‘Informal’ Empire: Argentina,Chile and British Policy-Makers in the Immediate Aftermath of the First World War

From the late nineteenth century, both Argentina and Chile were integral parts of Britain’s ‘informal’ empire in Latin America. It has been suggested by historians that this ‘informal empire’ came to an end around the mid-twentieth century. By analysing contemporary sources from within the British government and the findings of later economic historians, it is the purpose of this article to contest this viewpoint. It will instead argue that the end of ‘informal’ empire in these countries was a direct consequence of the First World War, and that the decline in British influence in the region was registered by British policy-makers much earlier than has previously been argued.     

俄罗斯远东“中国移民问题”论析

在俄罗斯远东乃至全俄罗斯,“中国移民问题”是一个被有关势力上升到政治层面加以夸大、炒作的敏感问题。其主要肇因既有历史基因的复萌,也有现实利益的驱动。在其影响下,中俄两国开展劳务合作的潜力远未得到应有的发挥。近年来,俄虽有部分学者和政界人士能较为客观地分析中国移民问题,阐述利用中国劳务的必要性,且积极探讨利用中国劳务的有效途径,但俄罗斯社会对中国人持有的戒备和排斥心理仍相当浓厚。对此,我们应多从自身方面找原因,改进做法,积极应对,促使俄罗斯社会改变对中国人的偏见,从而将远东变成中俄合作真正的窗口和桥梁。     

The Role of Russian Big Business in Local Development

The paper, based in part on field surveys in 2006, examines the role played by large Russian companies in local development, focusing on the operations of SUAL and Severstal' in Northwest Russia. The two companies provide examples of different models of corporate behavior (transnational and paternalist) in the current Russian business environment, reflecting a choice more broadly between neoliberal and corporate-nationalistic versions of Russia's participation in globalization. The author investigates the implications of the different models for the local jurisdictions in which these companies operate. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: D21, L20, O18, P20. 2 figures, 1 table, 48 references.     

Possible evidence of mammoth hunting during the Epigravettian at Yudinovo, Russian Plain

Whether or not mammoth hunting was practised during the Late Palaeolithic has been a controversial issue ever since large accumulations of woolly mammoth bones associated with prehistoric artefacts were discovered more than 100 years ago. Detailed taphonomic and palaeobiological analyses of the mammoth bone complexes from the Epigravettian Yudinovo site in the Russian Plain were carried out. The combination of the homogeneous weathering rate of the mammoth bones, the isolated state of most of the skeletal elements, the restricted spatial range of the carnivore gnawing traces, the breakage pattern of the skulls and long bones, the sex ratio, the small body size of the adult mammoths, the age profile (with an important frequency of prime-aged cows), and the large number of individuals, suggest that the bone complexes at Yudinovo were constructed from body parts and bones that were extracted from freshly killed mammoths and that mammoth hunting was practised at this site during the Epigravettian.