School of Asian Studies

Publications

• Book

  Son Z.

  The Russian Koreans in the 1920s and 1930s. An Ethnic Community in the Face of Soviet Power

  This book offers the first comprehensive exploration of the history of Soviet Koreans (1920s-1930s), focusing into their experiences in the USSR. It examines the impact of Stalin's foreign and domestic policies on
  Soviet Koreans, their role in the socio-economic development of the Far East, and their contributions to the Red Army, as well as the cultural and educational aspects of their lives. Key themes include the political repression of Soviet Koreans during Stalin’s era and their subsequent rehabilitation in the Russian Federation.

  
  

  Brill, 2025.

• Article

  Kharina O., Strelnikova I.

  Арктическая повестка Китая и перспективы сотрудничества Китая и России в Арктике

  This article focuses on the cooperation between Russia and China in the Arctic region. The aim of this study is to examine China’s current and prospective policies in the Arctic, as well as the potential for Sino-Russian cooperation in the Arctic following the onset of the special military operation in Ukraine, with an emphasis on economic and geopolitical factors. Since the beginning of the special military operation in 2022, the structure of international relations has undergone rapid transformation. These changes have also impacted the Arctic region. The deterioration of Russia’s relations with the West, along with Russia’s withdrawal from the Barents Euro-Arctic Council (BEAC) in the fall of 2023, laid the groundwork for Russia’s so-called Arctic pivot to the East. This Arctic pivot has primarily benefitted China, which has been steadily increasing its involvement in Arctic affairs over the past three decades. China and Russia have similar security interests in the matter of expansion of NATO’s presence in polar nations. Furthermore, China relies on Russia to safeguard its energy interests, while Russia reciprocally attracts investment from China. Despite the relatively low conversion rate of China’s B&R initiative in Russia, the collaboration between these two major powers China and Russia has emerged as an inexorable trajectory, and is likely to shape the economic and geopolitical landscape of the region in the coming years.

  Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. Asian and African Studies. 2026. No. 18 (1). P. 233-242.

• Book chapter

  Singh A.

  The Partition of 1947 and the Phenomenology of Violence

  Phenomenology as a method allows the person to understand the historical facts along with an emotive structure. History as a fact does not hold meaning of it can’t be related to the time period which it describes. Human emotion feelings are on of the best guides for a comprehensive structure to understand the events as important as the partition of India in 1947. It was not just political or geographical movement to be scaled it was a human tragedy which can’t be completely captured by the facts, it needs essence of the entire event to be understood in terms of violence and displacement and the feelings associated with all these factors. The political, cultural shift that was witnessed in the 20th century in India was a water shed event as it led to the creation of the two separate trends of cultural and sociological interpretations which viewed the event in terms of its effects and causes. The paper tries to view the historical event from the prism of phenomenology and locate all variables from the phenomenological perspective to have better grasp of the facts and the emotions. 

  In bk.: Война и мир: вооруженные конфликты в Южной Азии и пути их разрешения. M.: 2026. P. 180-196.

• Working paper

  Ustyuzhanin V., Zinkina J. V., Korotayev A.

  Extended Family Structures Exert a Causal Influence on Fertility

  Research of the impact of kin alloparenting on reproduction mainly focuses on mother’s parents and parents-in-law. The impact on fertility of extended families and the alloparental help with childcare they can provide has received much less attention. Moreover, there is an important lacuna in the existing studies of this problem, as it is mostly approached through correlational studies, while the presence of a causal link remains unclear. Using an instrumental variables approach, we demonstrate that prevalence of extended family structures exert a causal influence on fertility. A one standard-deviation increase in prevalence of extended families is associated with approximately 1.07 additional children per woman. These results highlight that family structure is not only statistically significant but also demographically consequential in shaping fertility outcomes.

  SocArXiv. Soc. SocArXiv, 2025