The Modern Russian-Speaking Communities in the World: Formation, Assimilation and Adaptation in Host Societies

Modern Diasporas are not just historically dispersed peoples, united by common ethno-cultural roots, maintaining real or imaginary ties with their historic homelands. Modern Diasporas should be viewed as strategically vital trans-national networks with remarkable social, political and economic potential. The Russian Diaspora of today has formed in unique historical circumstances, as the consequence of the break-up of the Soviet Union, the formation of new nation-states in its place, and a massive wave of emigration from this area since the early 1990s. This paper will examine the global nature of the contemporary Russian Diaspora, both in the West and in the Far East. Focusing on the example of the USA, Finland, Cyprus, Japan and Korea, it will examine the statistical size of this Diaspora, its ambiguous ethno-cultural composition, its patterns of integration and assimilation, its forms of diasporic self-organization and support, and, finally, the creation of Diaspora-based business, professional, socio-cultural and educational networks. Furthermore, this paper will look at how these diasporic groups represent the Russian Federation abroad and the role that they increasingly play in Russian diplomacy and foreign policy. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n3s4p15

The effect of COVID-19 on labour migration in the CIS

This study responds to the need for measures to mitigate the effects of national actions to slow the spread of COVID-19. National responses are dynamic processes and thus an elusive, albeit important, object of study. The governments of most CIS countries acted promptly and decisively in countering the pandemic. The comprehensive measures have had a serious impact on citizens’ mobility and employment situation. Among the affected are millions of migrants working in the CIS. This article offers a comparative analysis, followed by synthesis, of the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic as seen through the prism of employment and the situation of migrant workers in the CIS. Another focus is the restriction and support measures and how they have affected migrants. A range of qualitative and quantitative data was collated on the situation of migrant workers during COVID-19 restriction in the Russian Federation and across the CIS. The findings suggest that the lack of international coordination in tackling COVID-19 has complicated the situation of migrant workers, who suffer from the closure of borders and the absence of adequate social support. The article explores problems faced by migrant workers in the current crisis and proposes measures to alleviate them

Between the Eurasian and European subsystems: migration and migration policy in the CIS and Baltic Countries in the 1990s - 2020s

The article analyses migration from border countries (the so-called overlapping area) of two migration subsystems - Eurasian (centred in the Russian Federation) and European (the European Union) from 1991 to 2021 (before the recent events in Ukraine). A step-by-step analysis of the migration situation in the countries of the former USSR - Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Ukraine and Estonia was conducted. The article examines bilateral and multilateral migration processes, analyses the main factors influencing their development and explores migration policy measures and their impact on the regulation of migration processes in the countries of the overlapping area. These countries, located between the two centres of major migration subsystems in Eurasia (Eurasian and European, or, in other words, between the Russian Federation and the core of the EU), are subject to their strong influence and 'competitive gravitation'. The strength of this gravitation depends not only on pull and push factors but also on the attractiveness and non-attractiveness of the migration policies prevailing in these migration subsystems at a given point in time

VUV photochemistry of the H2O center dot center dot center dot CO complex in noble-gas matrices : formation of the OH center dot center dot center dot CO complex and the HOCO radical

Vacuum ultraviolet (VUV, 130-170 nm) photochemistry of the H2O center dot center dot center dot CO complex is studied by matrix-isolation infrared spectroscopy. The H2O center dot center dot center dot CO complexes in Ne, Ar, Kr, and Xe matrices are generated by ultraviolet (UV, 193 and 250 nm) photolysis of formic acid (HCOOH). VUV photolysis of the H2O center dot center dot center dot CO complexes is found to lead to the formation of the OH center dot center dot center dot CO radical-molecule complexes and trans-HOCO radicals. It is shown that the matrix material, local matrix morphology, and possibly the H2O center dot center dot center dot CO complex geometry strongly affect the VUV photolysis pathways. The intrinsic reactivity of the matrix-isolated OH center dot center dot center dot CO complex resulting in the formation of trans-HOCO is directly demonstrated for the first time. This reaction occurs in Ar, Kr, and Xe matrices upon annealing above 25 K and may proceed over the barrier. The case of a Ne matrix is very special because the formation of trans-HOCO from the OH center dot center dot center dot CO complex is observed even at the lowest experimental temperature (4.5 K), which is in sharp contrast to the other matrices. It follows that quantum tunneling is probably involved in this process in the Ne matrix at such a low temperature. Infrared light also promotes this reaction in the Ne matrix at 4.5 K, which is not the case in the other matrices. The last findings show the effect of the environment on the tunneling and infrared-induced rates of this fundamental chemical reaction.Peer reviewe

Economic and Socio-Demographic Effects of Global Climate Change

The article discusses the main challenges and threats of global climate change and their impact on economic and socio-demographic processes in the countries most exposed to climate change. In world politics the topic of global climate change is not new, and every year more countries participate in international programs to reduce the impact of climate change on social, economic, demographic and even geopolitical processes. The problem of climate change is not local in nature and affects the entire group of countries and even continents. According to the intergovernmental group of experts of the UNPO, in the period 1880 to 2012, global average temperatures have risen by 0.85 degrees Celsius (The official website of UNPO, 2015). At the same time, every year more and more countries feel the consequences of climate change. According to the world organization for migration, in 2014, more than 19,3 million people were forced to change their place of permanent residence in connection with climatic factors (Gemenne et al., 2015). The loss of the world economy is measured in billions of US dollars. Keywords: economic processes, economic consequences of climate change, social instability, demographic threat JEL Classifications: J10, J19, Q5

Transformation of Labor Markets of the Southern Caucasus Countries in New Geopolitical and Economic Conditions

The paper considers key issues of the labor market condition and operation in such Southern Caucasus countries as Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. It has revealed the peculiarities of labor forces formation and the structure of their allocation. It has also fixed general peculiarities and significant distinctions in operation and tendencies of development. So, the paper sets significant influence of international labor migration to labor markets of the Southern Caucasus that exerts influence starting from the collapse of the USSR. The high level of self-employment of the population is a uniting element of the whole labor market of the Southern Caucasus countries. One more element of similarity of labor markets of the considered countries is the considerable specific weight of unpaid employees of family business concentrated in agriculture and services industry. At the same time, certain political events in some countries of the Southern Caucasus have mostly changed the labor market structure. Color revolutions which took place in some former countries of the USSR, besides the political line of policy, have also changed an economic vector of development. Rose Revolution, happened in 2003 in Georgia, has cardinally changed both domestic and international policies of the country. Orientation to closer integration with the western countries and military-political blocks predetermined the main strategy of development of the country that was inevitably reflected both political and economic ties with Russia. Because of fears concerning radical opposition formation the leadership of Armenia on the contrary was targeted to closer integration with Russia that greatly affected the labor market. Azerbaijani self-sufficiency in natural raw material resources, first of all, in oil with support of Turkey, allow the leaders of this country to conduct own policy without reference to some one country or integration group. Keywords: Southern Caucasus, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, labor market, employment, unemployment, economic development JEL Classifications: E20, E29, F6

RUSSIAN WOMEN IN THE INTERNATIONAL MARRIAGE MARKET: WAYS OF MIGRATION AND ADAPTATION IN HOST SOCIETIES

The inter-marriage market should be viewed not only as a demographic category but also as a socio-cultural phenomenon determined by international migration. After the collapse of the USSR, the scale of marriage migration from Russia began to increase sharply. Moreover, a significant share of this migration flow was women and girls. In this regard, the term “Russian wife” was formed in international practice and became kind of a brand. Women tried to find wealthy, attentive, caring companions who have no addiction to alcohol, in this regard; they were looking for husbands abroad. The increase in the scale of marriage migration stimulated the creation of a special infrastructure of the marriage market: marriage agencies, professional matchmakers, dating sites, etc. However, this led to the formation of the shadow sector of this market, which was represented by groups engaged in illegal activities related to trafficking. At the moment, Russian women can be found in many countries, but there are four priority areas of marriage migration: North American, European, Asian, and Middle East. Moving to another country, women hope for a prosperous, happy life, but they often face difficulties on the way of adaptation. Most often, such barriers are poor knowledge of the language, mental and cultural differences with a foreign husband. Misunderstanding often leads to a break-up in relations. However, even in the event of divorce, women are rarely return home and try to find a husband abroad again

Spectroscopic characterization of the complex of vinyl radical and carbon dioxide : Matrix isolation and ab initio study

We report on the preparation and vibrational characterization of the C2H3 center dot center dot center dot CO2 complex, the first example of a stable intermolecular complex involving vinyl radicals. This complex was prepared in Ar and Kr matrices using UV photolysis of propiolic acid (HC3OOH) and subsequent thermal mobilization of H atoms. This preparation procedure provides vinyl radicals formed exclusively as a complex with CO2, without the presence of either CO2 or C2H3 monomers. The absorption bands corresponding to the nu(5)(C2H3), nu(7)(C2H3), nu(8)(C2H3), nu(2)(CO2), and nu(3)(CO2) modes of the C2H3 center dot center dot center dot CO2 complex were detected experimentally. The calculations at the UCCSD(T)/L2a level of theory predict two structures of the C2H3 center dot center dot center dot CO2 complex with C-s and C-1 symmetries and interaction energies of -1.92 and -5.19 kJ mol(-1). The harmonic vibrational frequencies of these structures were calculated at the same level of theory. The structural assignment of the experimental species is not straightforward because of rather small complexation-induced shifts and matrix-site splitting of the bands (for both complex and monomers). We conclude that the C-1 structure is the most probable candidate for the experimental C2H3 center dot center dot center dot O-2 complex based on the significant splitting of the bending vibration of CO2 and on the energetic and structural considerations. Published by AIP Publishing.Peer reviewe

Methodological bases for assessing socio-demographic and migration consequences of man-made disasters

The purpose of the research is to develop methodological bases and principles for assessing the socio-demographic (including migration) consequences of man-made disasters. A method of rapid assessment of possible outgoing migration flows that may occur in the event of a man-made emergency of various scales is proposed. The initial data for this method are quantitative statistical register data on housing stock and population, as well as operational data on the scale of destruction obtained using contactless methods of information collection. The author summarizes the legal acts regulating the work on prevention and elimination of consequences of man-made and other emergencies in Russia, as well as establishing the principles for assessing their consequences. The author proposes a rearrangement of the set of consequences of man-made disasters, including three main directions of the impact of emergency situations on various spheres: demographic (including damage to life and health, as well as the migration component), socio-economic, and natural and environmental. Indicators reflecting the consequences of the disaster have been developed for each of th