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After the liberation of the countries of Asia and Africa from colonial and semi-colonial dependence in the second half of XX century, they faced a whole series of problems that required urgent solutions. One of these problems was the task of filling the declared sovereignty with real efforts to create capable, established states. Not all countries of the Afro-Asian region, even today, have managed to solve this problem. However, among the third world countries there are also quite a few states that have succeeded. India can be such an example.A country with almost one and a half billion people, with a complex multi-confessional and multi-ethnic structure became the third largest economy in the world at the beginning of the 21st century. The purpose of the article is to clarify the prerequisites for the dynamic development of India since 1947 including civilizational ones, as well as to identify the main stages in the development of the Indian economy and its characteristic features, differences in economic development from other developing countries, and main problems and difficulties. The following methods of scientific research have been used in the research: a comparative-and historical one, periodization method, problem and chronological method, historical and genetic method, etc.

In the late XX - early XXI centuries the problem of finding resources for the development of the human society is becoming more and more urgent. In previous historical epochs, this problem was solved by capturing the territories of their neighbors by large and powerful states, in modern times through colonial expansion into the countries of the East, the North and the South America. At present times these possibilities have been exhausted, and in the foreseeable future plant and mineral resources will be largely depleted. In these conditions the ruling elites of the leading countries of the world are in their search for development resources focused at revealing the inexhaustible wealth - the intellectual potential of a person. In this context, the creation of a harmonious and efficiently functioning education system of any human society becomes crucial. The purpose of the research is to analyze the basic principles, development stages, the main stages of the educational system of Japan, as well as the main achievements and problems. The article examines not only the structural elements of the Japanese educational system, from preschool institutions to higher educational institutions, but also the ideological background and motivation of both Japanese schoolchildren and students to study hard. Special emphasis is placed on the unshakable principles of Japanese pedagogy and, of course, national cultural traditions.

The problem of the «northern territories» in the relations between the USSR / Russia and Japan is a kind of echo of the Second World War, which makes itself felt up to the present time. The territorial issue between Moscow and Tokyo has turned into an anachronism, which Russia and Japan have been unable to overcome despite their efforts. In the article the works of Russian scientists have been analyzed and an attempt has been made to consider the key aspects of the historiography of the issue, including the discrepancy between points of view on its specific components. The author of the article studies the scientific works of domestic researchers on the topic and highlights the time of the emergence of the territorial dispute between the USSR and Japan; title documentation regulating the territorial delimitation between the USSR and Japan after the Second World War; points of view on the attachment of the legal rights of the Soviet Union to the Kuril Islands. Moreover, the assessments of Moscow’s refusal to sign the San Francisco Treaty of 1951; alternative points of view of researchers on the historical and legal foundations of the USSR and Japan to possess the Kuriles; pluralism of opinions regarding the belonging of Shikotan and Habomai to the Kuril Islands; whether the rights of the USSR / Russia to possess the Kuril Islands are vulnerable; views on the degree of importance of solving the territorial problem for Japan, etc. have been considered.

This article presents the results of a study of the electrochemical properties of cathodes based on polycrystalline samples of Na3Fe2(PO4)3 obtained by solid-phase synthesis and hot pressing. Factors affecting the electrochemical properties of cathodes based on Na3Fe2(PO4)3 obtained by solid-phase synthesis, hot pressing, and sol-gel are established. The prospects of using Na3Fe2(PO4)3 as a cathode material in sodium-ion batteries and the expediency of further modification of this compound in order to improve its electrochemical properties are substantiated.

The article deals with the unfolding race for military, technological, and political infl uence in space. Great powers have competed in space since the dawn of the Space Age. Today we are once again faced with the possibility of space warfi ghting, but there are more than two players in the game now and civil infrastructure depends on space more than ever before. Theoretical space war threats are often analysed through an assessment of possible targets. And there are real-life challenges and threats here, including but not limited to rendezvous and proximity operations (RPO), existing destructive anti-satellite (ASAT) capabilities, non-destructive electronic warfare, and cyber and jamming capabilities. The greatest threat, though, comes from simple misperceptions of actions in space by diff erent actors. Space cannot be separated from dynamics on Earth, but there might be some room for space-specifi c confi dence-building, risk reduction and even arms control measures.

“Strategic stability” as a characteristic of military and political relations with a low possibility of large-scale armed confl ict between great powers remains one of the basic notions of international security, especially in its nuclear missile dimension. At the same time, this notion also sets forth tangible state of strategic forces of two (or potentially more) nations and the framework of risk reduction and arms control measures preventing a nuclear war. The purpose of this study is to identify the main trends in this area and how strategic stability can be maintained and enhanced. To this end, I review the main offi cial doctrinal documents and statements in this area, international arms control treaties, trends in the development of the armed forces, and academic and expert publications. It is concluded that strategic stability can be preserved under increasing infl uence of a growing number of new factors, both political (including degradation of arms control regimes) and technological. Among the latter are modernization and development of means for delivery of nuclear warheads, growth of long-range precision-guided non-nuclear weapons potential, increase of antagonism in new environments. The experts point out the need for active work of the academic community and diplomats to fi nd new solutions ensuring maintenance of strategic stability in the future. Negative scenarios are outlined in the absence of such solutions.

Bowen, Bleddyn E. War in Space: Strategy, Spacepower, Geopolitics. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2020.

The article presents the results on the structure formation of deposited coatings obtained from steel chips P6M5 subjected to diffusion nitrogen-carbon doping. It was found that the diffusion doping with nitrogen-carbon steel chip waste P6M5 carbon content in them varies between 1.75–3.14%, nitrogen – 0.43–1.24%. The phase composition includes phases: a-Fe, M6C, Fe3C, (Cr, Fe)2N1–x, Fe3N, Cr0.63C0.35N0.03, M4(C, N) depending on the temperature and time of diffusion doping. When surfacing these materials in the deposited coating contains carbide-forming elements 8,6–9,3%, carbon 1,04–1,94%, nitrogen 0,08–0,25%. The structure consists of carbide M23S6, martensite and austenite, while the content of austenite in dendrites can reach 70–90%. It is shown that nitrogen doping of the deposited coatings obtained from steel chips P6M5, subjected to saturation with nitrogen-carbon, more effectively increases the amount of austenite in the structure than alloying the deposited coatings with nitrogen ferroalloys.

The article analyzes the history of the concept of a “Slavic-Russian nation”. The concept was first used by Zacharia Kopystenskij in 1624, but its wide occurrence starts in 1674, when Synopsis, the first printed history of Russia, was published in Kiev. In the book, “Slavic-Russian nation” refers to an ancient Slavic people, which preceded the “Russian nation” (“rossiyskiy narod”) of the time in which the book was written. Uniting “Slavs” and “Russians” (“rossy”) into one “Slavic-Russian nation”, the author of Synopsis followed the idea which was proposed but not specifically defined by M. Stryjkovskij in his Chronicle (1582) and, later, by the Kievan intellectuals of the 1620s–30s. The construction of Synopsis was to prove that “Russians” (“rossy”) were united by both the common Slavic origin and the Church Slavonic language used by the Orthodox Slavic peoples. According to Synopsis, they were also supposed to be united by the Muscovite tsar’s authority and the Orthodox religion. The whole conception made Synopsis very popular in Russia in the late 17th century and later. Earlier in the 17th-century literature of the Muscovite State, some authors also proposed ethno-genetic constructions based on Stryjkovskij’s Chronicle and other Renaissance historiography. Independently from the Kievan literature, the word “Slavic-Russian” was invented (first appearance in the Legend about Sloven and Rus, 1630s). Both the Kievan and Muscovite constructions of a mythical “Slavic-Russian nation” aimed at making an “imagined” ethno-cultural nation. They contributed to forming a new Russian imperial identity in the Petrine epoch. However, the concept of a “Slavic-Russian nation” was not in demand in the political discourse of the Petrine Empire. It was sporadically used in the historical works of the 18th century (largely due to the influence of Synopsis), but played no significant role in the proposed interpretations of Russian history. DOI: 10.31168/2305-6754.2020.9.2.9

Various modifiers are used for non-furnace processing of cast iron. Some of them are designed for inoculating modification, which improves mechanical properties and eliminates the appearance of whiteness in castings, while others are designed for spheroidizing processing, in particular for producing cast iron with spherical and vermicular graphite. Some have both spheroidizing and inoculating properties. The main part of inoculating and spheroidizing modifiers is made on iron-silicon, Nickel and copper bases.In addition to the chemical composition, the size of the modifier particles, as well as their shape, are of great importance for modification. The optimal size of the fraction depends significantly on the non-furnace processing technology. Thus, for the larger the bucket and the longer the casting the longer the modification effect is required. One of the methods to achieve this is to increase the particle size of the modifier to 50 mm. When intraform processing of cast iron with spherical and vermicular graphite, magnesium-containing modifiers have strict limits on the upper size (4...5 mm), and in addition, the content of small fractions (less than 0.6...1 mm) is not allowed.The use of «heavy» magnesium-containing ligatures for spheroidizing modification of cast iron in order to obtain higher physical and mechanical properties has scientific and practical interest. Numerous studies show that for maximum effect the formation of the structure of the spheroidal graphite, dispersed pearlite metallic base of SGI (spheroidal graphite iron) relevant question is not only selection of the chemical composition of magnesium alloys, but also of the fractional composition, as well as effective method of input into the liquid melt.The purpose of this work was to study the technological features of obtaining cast iron with spherical graphite by bucket modification of copper-magnesium ligature.The researchers used a Leo–1420 scanning microscope, a Polam l-213 optical microscope, and a VEGA II LMU electron microscope with an INCA ENERGY 350 microanalyzer. High-speed induction melting plant, a set of equipment for analyzing the technological and mechanical properties of high-strength cast iron were used.Earlier experimental studies have shown the real possibility of obtaining in the laboratory a «heavy» copper-magnesium alloys as the alloying of magnesium metal with copper, followed by rapid cooling with use of rolling and plastic deformation of powder alloys. Analysis of test results of samples of such alloys showed that it depends on the value of its additives into liquid iron in the structure of formed graphite phase in compacted and globular form. At the same time, the metal base of cast iron is additionally alloyed with copper, which has a favorable effect on the strength characteristics of SGI.However, an urgent problem is the possibility of the appearance of a cementite phase in the structure of high-strength cast iron as a result of its increased supercooling due to the process of spheroidization of the graphite phase. This phenomenon is compounded by the fact that the copper-magnesium ligature, in contrast to the «light» ligature, does not contain silicon active graphitizer. This feature must be taken into account when obtaining high-strength cast iron of high grades.

In this study, a new series of phosphors, Ca9−xZnxGd0.9(PO4)7:0.1Eu3+ (x = 0.00–1.00, step dx 0.05), was synthesized, consisting of centro- and non-centrosymmetric phases with β-Ca3(PO4)2-type structure. Crystal structures with space groups R3c (0.00 ≤ x < 0.35) and R3¯c (x > 0.8) were determined using X-ray powder diffraction and the method of optical second harmonic generation. In the region 0.35 ≤ x ≤ 0.75, phases R3c and R3¯c were present simultaneously. Refinement of the Ca8ZnGd(PO4)7 crystal structure with the Rietveld method showed that 71% of Gd3+ ions are in M3 sites and 29% are in M1 sites. A luminescent spectroscopy study of Ca9−xZnxGd0.9(PO4)7:0.1Eu3+ indicated the energy transfer from the crystalline host to the Gd3+ and Eu3+ luminescent centers. The maximum Eu3+ luminescence intensity corresponds to the composition with x = 1.

A new modification of PbF(IO3) has been obtained as single crystals from hydrothermal synthesis, alongside the known centrosymmetric, Pb(IO3)2, as a second phase. Measured with the Kurtz-Perry SHG method, the new crystals are phase-matchable for YAG:Nd laser radiation and demonstrate strong SHG output. According to an X-ray diffraction analysis conducted on a single crystal at low temperature, the new crystals appear monoclinic, of space group Pn, as opposed to the known orthorhombic modification of the PbF(IO3), of space group Iba2. The new crystals were also measured at room temperature, showing an orthorhombic disordered variant of the new phase (space group C2ma, standard Abm2). This variant presents an “average structure” with the mirror plane in the group. The low-temperature X-ray single-crystal experiment allowed us to find the correct structural model, where the mirror plane was found as a twin element in the real monoclinic Pn structure. A careful crystal chemical analysis led to a whole family of nonlinear optical crystals with a common formula, AX(IO3), A = Bi, Ba, Pb, X = O, F, (OH), currently counting six representatives, including the well-known BiO(IO3). All of them possess common central cationic layers similar to those known in Aurivillius-type phases, with anionic iodate layers attached above and below these layers instead of the perovskite-like, or halogens. The structure–property relationships are discussed with respect to the important role of the large cations: Pb2+, Bi3+ or Ba2+. A number of iodates with similar structures are also analyzed.