At the beginning of the new century, as well as in the previous century, the region of the Middle East still attracts significant international attention. Besides traditional hotbeds of tension (Israel and Gaza, Iraq, Iran) appeared one more - Syria. It is the country, which during several decades has changed from an economically and military dependent and weak country to the country with the status of a strong and influential regional power. Syria is a one of the main partners of Russia in the modern world in general, as well as the region of the Middle East in particular. Syria is a partner of Russia in almost all fields of international relations: political, military and technical, trade and economic, scientific and educational, cultural. One of the most actual agendas of the modernity is the incessant conflict in Syria and the role of the Russian-Syrian relations in it. The article considers the basics of the military-political cooperation between Russia and Syria at the beginning of the XXI century.

Diplomatic relations between Russia and the Holy Roman Empire of the German nation during the Russo-Turkish War of 1676-1681 are reconstructed in the article. The author characterizes the goals of each state in international relations. Special attention is given to attempts of joint confrontation against the Ottoman Empire. The author emphasizes the specifics of diplomatic relations between Russia and the Holy Roman Empire of the German nation during the Russo-Turkish War of 1676-1681 in comparison with the years of 1667-1676 which were peaceful for Russia.

During the reign of Alexander II there were a number of reforms that affected all aspects of the society. Legal proceedings in the Russian Empire needed urgent changes. The article discusses the process of creating the institution of jury advocacy without which it was impossible to speak about a fair trial. Great attention was given to Moscow jurymen who played a prominent role in the activities of the corporation and in the public life of the country.

The article is devoted to the history of Petersburg group of National Democrats and the “Lado” collection. This study is based on the analysis of the documents of the State Archive of the Russian Federation, the Russian State Historical Archive, the Central State Historical Archive of St. Petersburg and the Russian State Archive of Literature and Art. Furthermore, the author uses materials from the newspapers of the 1910s. The author comes to the conclusion that National Democrats of Petersburg were closely connected with the Slavic movement, and the “Lado” collection was not only national democratic but also neo-Slavic.

The article estimates one of the most important improvements in the life of Soviet people: life in a separate apartment, which radically changed their way of life. In 1950-1960s the housing problem was given an increasing attention; people’s needs were more and more taken into account due to the time-varying demands. The vital needs of the citizens contributed to a deeper study of the demographic composition of a Soviet family. The article examines a family as a consumer of dwelling, which determined the degree of conveniences in separate apartments.

This article describes the main components of the national policy of the Russian Federation. The author focuses on the presence of certain levels, revealing the contents of the national policy. Paying special attention to each level, the following issues are revealed: the process of institutionalization of the national policy, including the ways of its implementation, as well as its goals; federal agencies and regional authorities dealing with ethnic relations; political and legal aspects, where the main attention is paid to the regulatory legal acts; the ideological component, which takes into account the ethnic diversity and the problems of the Russian language functioning; the language policy, and the resource component, which reveals the economic, financial and social opportunities for the creation of favorable conditions for the existence of nations.

In the article the theoretical basics of the moral and psychological ensuring of the military security of the Russian Federation are disclosed. The moral and psychological ensuring of the military security is a complex systemic process of political and military-political work which is an interconnected set of diverse activities, measures and actions. It is concluded that to win in today’s wars the qualitative indicators are more important, rather than the quantitative ones (the amount of armory, military equipment and the strength of the army).

The article analyzes a number of problems connected with probable risks to security in Central Asia and to the position of Russia and China in the region. An upcoming withdrawal of ISAF troops from Afghanistan is a convenient occasion for the Taliban to resume active hostilities in the country. Such pace of developments will result in a predictable spread of instability not only in Afghanistan, but also onto the entire region of Central Asia, which is also a direct threat to the security of the southern borders of Russia. The article analyzes the consequences of withdrawal of NATO troops from Afghanistan. Besides, a forecast is given which shows the way the instability in this state would affect the countries of Central Asia.

The article is devoted to the role of internal conflicts among Soviet historians in the years of ideological campaigns of the last Stalinist decade. As examples the author analyses the conflicts between I.I. Mintz, and A.L. Sidorov, as well as between B.F. Porshnev and N.A. Sidorova, between the “historians” and “archivists” in Historical-Archival Institute. The author concludes that internal conflicts became catalysts for ideological campaigns, often turning them into the form of vengeance, the struggle for scientific and administrative influence, etc

Scientific novelty of the article is in an attempt to designate the reason of the negative influence of the “linguistic turn” in its postmodern kind on the norms of professional conduct and the goals of research in historical science. The author considers one of the reasons of it to be the incorrect use of literary criticism means for the interpretation of the concepts “historical theory” and “historic fact”. The development of historical science is impossible without its active interaction with the related disciplines. They should be scientific disciplines, but not the literary criticism. Modern interdisciplinary projects, especially those which have arisen on the basis of the “linguistic turn”, should certainly take into consideration that experience.

The article deals with the key problem of modern Russian historiography - historiographical school textbooks on Russian history. In today's challenging environment - in terms of information and ideological war - the content of school course of history becomes a decisive factor in the ideological national security. The paper emphasizes that the received historical and cultural standards and the concept of a unified educational complex developed on its basis require improvement in terms of developing a holistic methodological approach and the elimination of elements of eclecticism in the interpretation of the entire course of the history of Russia. It seems that there is a need to strengthen the emphasis on the role and importance of the state as a guarantor of the socio-economic and political stability in Russian society at all stages of its development.