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Начало военного присутствия России в Средиземноморье: блистательная операция с долгими последствиями
The article ‘Commencement of the Russian Military Presence in the Mediterranean: a Brilliant Operation with Long Consequences’ studies a special meaning of the Eastern Mediterranean for Russia since 1770-s, when Catherine the Great sent her naval forces to the region. The author discusses three long-term consequences of that military action: the presence in the Eastern Mediterranean became an attribute of a great power (for Russia economic or tactical reasons were secondary ones); in their interactions with Greek and Slave co-religionists and some anti-ottoman Arab rulers Russians poorly took into consideration differences of political cultures and very often failed to strengthen a support from peoples of the Levant; instead of reasonable motivations Russian activity in the region was frequently supported by mythological discourse of a special ‘anti-barbarism’ mission.