The traditions of Russian and European perception of the state frontier in the conditions of transborder regional cooperation

The article focuses on the state frontier in European and Russian political cultures as a major instrument for developing trans-border regional cooperation. The term ‘state frontier’ is defined through a prism of regional integration processes. The authors examine the role of trans-border relations between Russia and the European Union in promoting mutually beneficial strategic cooperation in the Baltic Sea region. Historical experience, geopolitical position, national psychology and some other factors shape common perceptions of the state frontier in mass consciousness, which can vary from country to country. The state frontier is a key imperative of trans-border regional cooperation. The trans-border relations between Russia and the EU serve a foundation for the development of strategic partnership, and it is cross-border cooperation in the Baltic Sea region that proves to be most efficient in this respect. At present, there are several cooperation mechanisms and programmes in place which are aimed at enhancing Russia — EU relations in the Baltic Sea region. In the long-term perspective, the development of regional integration processes in the Baltic Sea region is seen as one of the key elements for increasing and strengthening strategic cooperation between Russia and the EU

Global energy and environmental security in the current global economic crisis

This article considers the problems of energy sector environmental impact. Further reduction of the global energy sector impact on the global environment can be achieved by two methods. The first, short-term one implies the increase in energy efficiency. In the next 15—20 years, the increase in the efficiency should become a priority of the energy policy of all states. The second, long-term method is based on the gradual expansion of the scope of re-newable energy application. This method is aimed at avoiding further economic and energy crises. At the same time, it has an important environmental aspect. The authors claim that the new field of global energy sector development should be less costly

EU strategy for the Baltic Sea region: challenges and perspectives of international cooperation

This article describes the main characteristics of international cooperation in the Baltic Sea Region (BSR) within the framework of the EU macroregional strategy. The analysis of the key directions, structure, and the Strategy implementation mechanisms demonstrates its experimental and innovative nature. At the same time, the authors identify problems and contradictions in the very idea of the Strategy, as well as its actual implementation in intergovernmental relations of the BSR countries. The main factor hampering the Strategy activities is ignoring the key role of Russia the BSR. At the same time, Russia and some non-BSR countries are already members of all significant BSR cooperation instruments. Therefore, there is a need to supplement the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region with the Northern Dimension project. The innovative nature of macroregional cooperation in the Baltic Sea region is manifested in interpreting the region as an indivisible whole rather than an administrative unite serving as a pla tform for various cooperation programmes implemented in its different parts. From this point of view, the Strategy for the Baltic Sea region, apparently inspired by "rational functionalism", can assign a new meaning to the concept of the region

NATO Policies in the Baltics: Objectives and Priorities

The authors employ geopolitical analysis to identify the core characteristics of NATO’s current policy towards the Baltic Sea region. After the demise of the Soviet Union, the region was considered as one of the safest in terms of military security. However, in the aftermath of the Ukraine crisis, the region has witnessed a growing tension in relations between NATO and the Russian Federation. A comparative analysis of NATO’s official documents on the Baltics shows that the chief pretext for increased military presence in the region is the alleged need to defend the Baltic states from the Russian threat. Special attention is paid to the attempts of Western military strategists to encourage the neutral Nordic states - Sweden and Finland - to accede to NATO. This would lead to the organisation’s northern enlargement. The current situation suggests that to ease tension in the Baltic Sea region Russia has not only to respond adequately to emerging military threats but also to launch an awareness campaign to explain its position and dispel the myth about Russia preparing to start a hybrid war against the Baltic States

Modern Hanseatic Trends in the Baltic Region

A critical analysis of Hanseatic traditions may produce consequential methodological material for the study of the 21st century Baltic regionalisation. Current trends in the development of the Baltic region, whose academic analysis is impossible without considering earlier cases of successful interactions between the peoples of the Baltic Sea region, necessitate political, economic, and historical research on the strengths and weaknesses of the Hanseatic League. Unfortunately, in the 21st century, the Baltic region turned into a stage for geopolitical controversies. This took a toll on the efficiency of cooperation between the cities of Russia’s North-West and their Baltic counterparts. Therefore, it is important to seize the opportunities provided by the information society and focus on the innovative areas of regional cooperation. An interesting example is the partnership between Baltic universities, which is aimed to draw up an international agenda for sustainable regional development. Baltic cities are involved in various forms of cross-border cooperation, providing opportunities for interstate relations and contributes to laying down crossborder cooperation roadmaps and developing civil society networks. It can be concluded, that the history of the Hanseatic League and its current incarnation — the New Hanse — testify to the fact that productive economic, cultural, and other relations can be established between states but also between cities and universities, thus contributing to closer economic, political and cultural ties between the peoples of the Baltic region

The traditions of Russian and European perception of the state frontier in the conditions of transborder regional cooperation

The article focuses on the state frontier in European and Russian political cultures as a major instrument for developing trans-border regional cooperation. The term ‘state frontier’ is defined through a prism of regional integration processes. The authors examine the role of trans-border relations between Russia and the European Union in promoting mutually beneficial strategic cooperation in the Baltic Sea region. Historical experience, geopolitical position, national psychology and some other factors shape common perceptions of the state frontier in mass consciousness, which can vary from country to country. The state frontier is a key imperative of trans-border regional cooperation. The trans-border relations between Russia and the EU serve a foundation for the development of strategic partnership, and it is cross-border cooperation in the Baltic Sea region that proves to be most efficient in this respect. At present, there are several cooperation mechanisms and programmes in place which are aimed at enhancing Russia — EU relations in the Baltic Sea region. In the long-term perspective, the development of regional integration processes in the Baltic Sea region is seen as one of the key elements for increasing and strengthening strategic cooperation between Russia and the EU

How fast do gully headcuts retreat?

Gully erosion has important on and off site effects. Therefore, several studies have been conducted over the past decades to quantify gully headcut retreat (GHR) in different environments. Although these led to important site-specific and regional insights, the overall importance of this erosion process or the factors that control it at a global scale remain poorly understood. This study aims to bridge this gap by reviewing research on GHR and conducting a meta-analysis of measured GHR rates worldwide. Through an extensive literature review, GHR rates for 933 individual and actively retreating gullies have been compiled from more than 70 study areas worldwide (comprising a total measuring period of >19 600 years). Each GHR rate was measured through repeated field surveys and/or analyses of aerial photographs over a period of at least one year (maximum: 97 years, median: 17 years). The data show a very large variability, both in terms of gully dimensions (cross-sectional areas ranging between 0.11 and 816 m2 with a median of 4 m2) and volumetric GHR rates (ranging between 0.002 and 47 430 m3 year- 1 with a median of 2.2 m3 year- 1). Linear GHR rates vary between 0.01 and 135 m year- 1 (median: 0.89 m year- 1), while areal GHR rates vary between 0.01 and 3628 m2 year- 1 (median: 3.12 m2 year- 1). An empirical relationship allows estimating volumetric retreat rates from areal retreat rates with acceptable uncertainties. By means of statistical analyses for a subset of 724 gullies with a known contributing area, we explored the factors most relevant in explaining the observed 7 orders of magnitudes of variation in volumetric GHR rates. Results show that measured GHR rates are significantly correlated to the runoff contributing area of the gully (r2 = 0.15) and the rainy day normal (RDN; i.e. the long-term average annual rainfall depth divided by the average number of rainy days; r2 = 0.47). Other factors (e.g. land use or soil type) showed no significant correlation with the observed GHR rates. This may be attributed to the uncertainties associated with accurately quantifying these factors. In addition, available time series data demonstrate that GHR rates are subject to very large year-to-year variations. As a result, average GHR rates measured over short (100%) uncertainties. We integrated our findings into a weighted regression model that simulates the volumetric retreat rate of a gully headcut as a function of upstream drainage area and RDN. When weighing each GHR observation proportional to its measuring period, this model explains 68% of the observed variance in GHR rates at a global scale. For 76% of the monitored gullies, the simulated GHR values deviate less than one order of magnitude from their corresponding observed value. Our model clearly indicates that GHR rates are very sensitive to rainfall intensity. Since these intensities are expected to increase in most areas as a result of climate change, our results suggest that gully erosion worldwide will become more intense and widespread in the following decades. Finally, we discuss research topics that will help to address these challenges. © 2016 Elsevier B.V

Tests of CMS Hadron Forward Calorimeter Upgrade Readout Box Prototype

A readout box prototype for CMS Hadron Forward calorimeter upgrade is built and tested in CERN H2 beamline. The prototype is designed to enable simultaneous tests of different readout options for the four anode upgrade PMTs, new front-end electronics design and new cabling. The response of the PMTs with different readout options is uniform and the background response is minimal. Multi-channel readout options further enhance the background elimination. Passing all the electronics, mechanical and physics tests, the readout box proves to be capable of providing the forward hadron calorimeter operations requirements in the upgrade era