The present thesis represents a contribution to the history of diplomatic relations between Muscovy and the House of Habsburg. It includes an overall survey of those relations during the reign of Tsar Fyodor (1584--1598), as well as a more detailed study of the Muscovite embassy of 1599. It also provides original translations of important Russian documents related to the subject of the thesis. / The narrative of the embassy of 1599 is divided into three sections. It opens with the travels of the Muscovite delegation through several German cities, during which time the Tsar's representative engaged in discussions with the leading merchants of Hamburg and Lubeck. It then relates the arrival of this delegation at the court of Emperor Rudolf II, where the chief Muscovite representative raised the prospect of an alliance against Poland-Lithuania. Finally, it closes with the embassy's visit to Archduke Maximilian of Austria, whose pretensions to the throne of Poland-Lithuania had formed part of Russo-Imperial relations since 1587. / Analysis of the embassy of 1599 reveals that previous historiography on the subject was quite cursory and often based on misinterpretation or misuse of sources. The thesis points out these errors and seeks to provide a more accurate evaluation of the relations between Muscovy and the Empire in the late sixteenth century. It closes with a suggestion for further research into their dealings of the early seventeenth century.

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<p>This dissertation examines the transnational realities of Russian immigrants in the United States. Drawing insights from personal accounts, I discuss immigrants’ motives to immigrate to the United States and to stay connected to their homeland. I illustrate that political and economic factors, as well as the goals to enhance professional and personal lives, have shaped immigrants’ decisions to come to the United States. At the same time, I show that determined to fulfill their social and civic responsibilities, Russian immigrants maintain ties to their families and friends back in Russia and also remain civically engaged in Russian society.</p><p></p> <p>This dissertation also illustrates that a more intricate understanding of Russian immigrants today cannot be achieved in isolation from the political relations between Russia and the United States that have been rapidly deteriorating since 2014. There are different ways that Russian immigrants respond to the geopolitical divide between the two nation-states. Some Russian immigrants, for example, condemn Russia’s foreign policy and global political behavior. Their criticism is often met with hostilities from Russians who have not emigrated. Other Russian immigrants, on the other hand, disapprove U.S. actions toward Russia and Russian society and consequently encounter antagonisms in the United States. These immigrants recount their experiences of exclusion from the U.S. social fabric. There are also those Russian immigrants who question international acts of the political leaders of both countries. Coping with antagonistic attitudes from Russian and U.S. societies toward their political views and/or ethnic background, these individuals emphasize a growing detachment from both nations. Based on individual accounts, I argue that the contemporary tensions that have emerged between the two nations-states create a barrier to the development of a transnational identity among Russian immigrants. Specifically, living in a hostile political environment, Russian immigrants do not share a simultaneous sense of belonging in relation to Russia and the United States. </p> <p>By focusing on Russian immigrants’ experiences with U.S.-Russia relations, this dissertation also brings to light individual efforts to contest confrontations that shape the political landscape between Russia and the United States. As transnational subjects with cross-border ties and lives, Russian immigrants utilize their transnational positions and cultural competencies to impact international views of Russian and U.S. nationals. They frequently resort to transnational dialogues and socio-cultural acts to raise social awareness and sympathies between their home and host nations. By developing and investing their efforts into improving U.S.-Russia ties, the ultimate goal that Russian immigrants seek to achieve is to discourage members of Russian and U.S. societies from seeing each other as enemy nations. </p>

The main aim of the thesis is to evaluate the economic relationship between the EU and RF in the last ten years. Russia is a large and diverse country with the huge differences in the level of economy of their regions and society as a whole, that's why political, economic and social systems of Russia are complex and difficult. A considerable part of the thesis is devoted to analysis of the economic development of Russia in the first decade of the 21st century. Thesis is also analyzing trade and investment between Russia and the EU, by volume and type of commercial transactions, and by the volume and type of investment among states. The first part of the thesis is devoted to the main documents, which are the bases of any ongoing business relationship and cooperation between the European Union and Russia. The second part of the thesis is devoted to the economic characteristics of the Russian Federation and its position in the global economy over the last decade. First chapter discusses the changes in Russian foreign policy towards EU and economic development of Russia under Vladimir Putin. The next chapter deals with the impact of global financial crisis on the Russian economy, and describes the economic situation and contemporary problems of Russia. The third part of the thesis is devoted to the current forms of trade and economic relations between the EU and RF. The first chapter deals with the very nature and structure of mutual trade of goods and services and the further chapter analyzes the development of investments between the two countries. The third chapter is dedicated to the theme of energy, which is the core of Russia - EU trade. The following chapter is devoted to the common spaces and the last chapter of this thesis analyzes the current situation and existing problems between the EU and Russia.

<p>The study analyzes Russian foreign policy discourse on NATO during and after the Georgian war as constructed in on-line news articles from the state-run RIA Novosti news agency. The thesis adopts constructivist and discourse analytical approach. Namely, it is based on the interplay between the three main theoretical pillars: language as constitutive part of social reality; media as a type of discourse; and the constructivist understanding of the foreign policy discourse as being embedded in the domestic social and cultural dimensions.  <em></em></p><p>The research has shown that the discourse on NATO constructed in the news articles of Ria Novosti to a great extent reflected the official Russian government’s discourse.  The overall unfavorable representation of the organization was evident throughout the analyzed material. This ‘negative-other representation’ served to establish political frontiers between ‘insiders’ and ‘outsiders’ of the discourse. In the context of the Georgian war, the questions of the future power balance as well as effective transatlantic security mechanism gained particular prominence. The geopolitics of the regional security was represented as bipolar, comprising NATO (or ‘the West’ in its broad sense) on the one hand and Russia as the legitimate leader in most of the post-Soviet space, on the other. Such representation tended to possess distinctive features of the Cold War discourse.</p><p> </p>

The promising agenda of the EU-Russia strategic partnership has resulted in mutual frustration manifested in continuous crises between the partners. This study explores possibilities for political transformation in the EU-Russia relationship. In search of the key to understanding this complex relationship, I develop a three-fold argument. First, an ongoing crisis in EU-Russia cooperation cannot be understood without revealing the underlying problem of tension between the subjects’ autonomy and their ability to cooperate. Second, this problem produces a paradoxical form of “autonomous cooperation,” imposing limits on the prospects for political transformation in the EU-Russia relationship. Third, Bakhtin’s dialogism holds a significant potential to re-imagine the contradictions of autonomous cooperation in an alternative relational way. Despite the existence of a considerable body of literature on EU-Russia cooperation, little work has been done to investigate the connection between the intricacies of political discourse and problems in EU-Russia cooperation. By drawing on Bakhtin’s account of a “dialogic imagination,” I develop a model, which exposes the processes of mutual constitution of the Self and the Other. This dialogic model reveals that in their political statements, both the EU and Russia privilege the pattern of autonomy or cooperation. The partners produce prevalent discursive practices that reinforce these contradictory patterns of autonomy and cooperation, systematically inflicting crises in the EU-Russia relationship. By establishing dialogic connections between the chosen political statements, the model demonstrates that Russia and the EU co-create perceived differences between each other, isolate each other or try to form an autonomous, self-sufficient Self through imposition, self-exclusion, resistance or dominance. This model, I argue, permits an alternative vision of contemporary trends and possible futures for the EU-Russia relationship as an exemplar of an international relationship viewed through a dialogic lens. My study is also relevant under the conditions of ongoing conflicts in EU-Russia cooperation, which expose the inability of the partners to cooperate effectively. I conclude with practical implications for the partners to overcome the current stalemate. In Bakhtin’s words: “When dialogue ends, everything ends. Thus dialogue, by its very essence, cannot and must not come to an end.” / Graduate

The aim of this essay was to add to the extremely limited fund of knowledge regarding Canada's relations with Siberia during the critical period of the Intervention. The result hopefully is a contribution both to Russian/Soviet and Canadian history. The scope of the subject includes both Canada's military participation in the inter-allied intervention and simultaneously the attempt on the part of Canada to economically penetrate Siberia. The principal research was carried out at the Public Archives of Canada, Ottawa during September and October, 1968. The vast majority of the documents utilized in this essay have never previously been published either in whole or in part. The only research difficulty experienced was in attempting to view the documents relating to the Canadian Economic Commission to Siberia. The documents in question were under the jurisdiction of the Department of Trade and Commerce rather than the Public Archives. In spite of persistent negotiations, it originally appeared dubious whether or not the Department would release the documents. The matter was finally satisfactorily resolved whereby the Department transferred the files of the Commission to the Public Archives on a permanent basis. These documents had never previously been available to researchers. Two basic assumptions about Canada's Siberian policy for the period under study predated the actual archival research. The first was that regardless of Canada's 'colonial status’ in 1918, she had been in fact largely independent of the United Kingdom and had agreed to join the military intervention in Siberia for reasons of strict national interest. The second was that one of the most important elements of Canada's agreement had been economic interest. The documents reviewed would suggest a substantial factual basis for these assumptions. Various aspects of Canada's Siberian intervention are new to this essay. The questions of Canada's economic interest in Siberia; the relationship of the British and Canadian troops in Siberia; and the problem of disaffection in the Canadian Expeditionary Force (Siberia) have not previously been discussed. / Arts, Faculty of / Central Eastern Northern European Studies, Department of / Graduate

This thesis is focused on EU-Russia relations, the import of fossil fuels, especially oil and natural gas, which form the main items of trade between the EU and Russia. The work is divided into three chapters devoted to the energy deficit in the EU, the analysis of Russian gas and oil sector. The last chapter focuses on the analysis of the linkages and cooperation in the energy field. The aim is to determine the interdependence of the two units, the main differences and similarities that define the direction of cooperation and draw a trend and direction of EU-Russia relations in the energy sector to the future.