The collective monograph presents the results of the research project conducted in 2009 through the course of the “Jean Monnet” program with support from the European Commission. The paper reflects the dynamics of the role of the European Union (EU) in the processes of global governance, contains an analysis of the methods used by the EU to achieve its goals and models of the formation of international partnerships. Particular attention is paid to the analysis of the role and influence of the EU in the “Group of Seven / Eight” for the last 10 years, including ever-increasing scope of authority of the EU in the field of common foreign policy and security policy. The EU’s role in the “Group of Eight” has not been studied sufficiently yet, but over the last decade the EU, now comprising of 27 member countries, have been through structural and institutional changes that have enhanced its influence and legitimacy. The book traces the transformation of the identity of the EU as a global actor in the past 10 years, and assesses the significance of these changes for the relations between Russia and the EU.

This book is recommended as a textbook for those studying in international relations, activities of international organizations, the processes of globalization and integration.

The book is dedicated to Venerable Irodion Iloezersky, a nowadays nearly forgotten saint, who lived in Belozerye in the first half of the 16th century. It dwells on his life and destiny, the story of his veneration by the local people in 17th–19th centuries, the story of composing his Life and its further existence as well as the story of the hermitage that has been founded by the saint’s worshippers in the place where he had accomplished his great deeds. The book comprises the texts of all the Life’s versions together with “Obysk o chudesakh” (“Investigation into the Miracles”), the unique text composed on the eve of Ven. Irodion’s canonization in the mid-17th century, and provides a thorough historical and philological commentary.

New volume in the “New sources on the history of Russia. Rossica Inedita” series presents a previously unpublished and unknown to scholars set of documents — letters, diary entries, and diverse notes — found in the notebook of Aleksei Ivanovich Rzhevsky, major of the Shirvan Infantry Regiment. Covering the period of 1755–1759, Rzhevsky’s papers reflect the life of a mid-ranking officer and the realities of service in the rear of the Russian army during the Seven Years War; the author’s extensive social contacts; and his dealings with his relatives. These documents are especially valuable as they, uniquely for that period, also include Rzhevsky’s extensive descriptions of his many physical afflictions and the methods of (self) treatment he resorted to, in addition to his emotional states and love affairs. 
This book is intended for scholars working in the fields of history and cultural studies, as well as for all readers interested in history.

In the beginning of the new century Russian retail trading went through a true revolution, which fundamentally changed the structure of the entire branch. The book contains detailed classification of modern forms of trade based on Russian practice. The author traces the history of creation of new forms of trade. It demonstrates how the arrival of global operators changes the overall competitive situation and the business strategies of leading Russian companies. The newest tendencies in retail development are revealed in a case study of foodstuffs trade and in the segment of household appliances and electronics, with prognosis for midterm perspective.

This book, for the first time in Russian research tradition, explores the issues of land formation and surveying in the context of land lawsuits from mid-18th century till present day. The authors extensively use the combination of historical and juridical methods of research based on the works of surveying engineers and lawyers in the period of Russian empire. The book demonstrates that land lawsuits can be separated, within the modern law, as a stand-alone group of the ways of defending the land rights.
The book is designed for lawyers, judges, and cadastral engineers, as well as for undergraduate students specializing in land matters.  

The book explores the necessary relations between freedom and evil. Their neglect may not impede the construction of an abstract idea of freedom, but will preclude our comprehension of freedom as an always concrete practice of emancipation. Why is pure moral philosophy or normative ethics myopic toward this distinction between “freedom as an idea” and “freedom as emancipation”? How to overcome this myopia and how does this overcoming affect the character of ethical thought through its historicization and politicization? Does the ethical thought thus transmogrified have to retain certain key concepts of the pure moral philosophy, beginning with the formal concept of duty, in order to become consistently and uncompromisingly historical and political? These questions are the centerpiece of this book. The inquiries related to them evolve in the context of a critical examination of the Kantian moral philosophy, which encompasses both its metaphysical “canon” and a daring attempt to revise it recorded in the later writings of Kant. His Religion within the Boundaries of Mere Reason is the most vivid example of this attempt.

The present book is addressed to all those interested in moral philosophy and political philosophy, to those who study and teach these disciplines.