The Intertwining of Religion and Nation: The Russian Administration’s Approach to Religious Life and National Identity

Excerpt: The relationship between religion and nation that is promoted by a state will have tremendous effects on religious minority groups. For religious minorities in Russia, the forms that are most utilized by the state are exclusion and strong internalism. The former leads the state to cherry-pick troublesome religious groups for exclusion, for failing to be ‘Russian’ enough, leading to serious impairment for religious groups that are singled out by the state as threats to the nation. With regards to the latter formulation, the Russian Orthodox Church is the basis for a strong internalist mechanism, determining who is in and who is out: those who are Russian are assumed to be Russian Orthodox (at least notionally); those who are Russian Orthodox are assumed to be Russian (or Russian kin and Russian controlled). It is the case, however, that this relationship will matter for other citizens, as well. Recall the Russian punk band Pussy Riot: while not typically paired with religious faithful in Russia, such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses or Said Nursi, this band violates a central tenet of Russian life today—that Russian Orthodoxy is a critical identity for the nation, and those who ridicule this relationship will be quickly and decisively disciplined. For now, the Russian national identity is a tightly controlled identity, of chief importance to the current administration

networksis: A Package to Simulate Bipartite Graphs with Fixed Marginals Through Sequential Importance Sampling

The ability to simulate graphs with given properties is important for the analysis of social networks. Sequential importance sampling has been shown to be particularly effective in estimating the number of graphs adhering to fixed marginals and in estimating the null distribution of graph statistics. This paper describes the networksis package for R and how its simulate and simulate_sis functions can be used to address both of these tasks as well as generate initial graphs for Markov chain Monte Carlo simulations

Competition and Market Dynamics on the Russian Deposits Market

In the early transition era in Russia entry barriers for commercial banks were about absent. It resulted in the mushrooming of hundreds of small, poorly-endowed and inexperienced banks. In this paper we address the question whether the claimed benefits of low entry barriers - competition and market dynamics - have resulted. We use a sample of commercial saving banks for the 1994-97 period. We conclude that there were important mobility barriers and that the removal of entry barriers did not lead to intensified competition.market shares;banking;transition economies

Editorial

We hope you, our readers, find these reflections on the 30-year anniversary of the Great Transformation to be both edifying and fulfillin

Формування функцій князівської влади в період князя Олега

Висвітлюються важливі проблемні питання формування князівських функцій в період правління князя Олега. Дослідивши військові походи князя Олега, автор виявив, які функції почались формуватись князівською владою і як вони реалізовувались на практиці. Автор дійшов висновку, що під час боротьби Олега за Київ та під час походу на Константинополь почала формуватись військова функція князівської влади. Вста­новлено, що здійснення князем військової функції дало можливість створити потужну у військовому відношенні та достатньо в економічному плані стабільну державу Київська Русь.Освещается важность проблемных вопросов формирования княжеских функций в период правления князя Олега. Изучив военные походы князя Олега, автор определил, какие функции формировались княжеской властью, и как они реализовывались на прак­тике. Автор пришел к выводу, что во время борьбы Олега за Киев, а также во время похода на Константинополь начала формироваться военная функция княжеской влас­ти. Установлено, что реализация князем военной функции дала возможность создать сильное в военном отношении и достаточно в экономическом плане стабильное государство Киевская Русь.Problem issues of formation of Princes functions in the period of Oleg’s governing are revealed in the article. Having investigated the Prince Oleg’s military campaign the author presents the functions of prince power and their realization into practice. The author comes to a conclusion that military function of the prince power began to form within his struggle for Kyiv and military campaign to Constantinople. It is stated that this military function gave an opportunity to create a powerful stable state – the Kyivan Rus

Competition and Market Dynamics on the Russian Deposits Market

In the early transition era in Russia entry barriers for commercial banks were about absent. It resulted in the mushrooming of hundreds of small, poorly-endowed and inexperienced banks. In this paper we address the question whether the claimed benefits of low entry barriers - competition and market dynamics - have resulted. We use a sample of commercial saving banks for the 1994-97 period. We conclude that there were important mobility barriers and that the removal of entry barriers did not lead to intensified competition

Review of hydrologic and hydraulic studies and unsteady flow routing of the 1993 flood in the Upper Mississippi River system

"December 1997.""A division of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.