E. S. SHERSHNEV. Soviet-American Economic Relations Have Entered a New Stage

The article examines the development of Soviet-American economic relations in the new stage ushered in by the Moscow negotiations held in May 1972 between General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU Leonid Brezhnev and President Richard M. Nixon. Analyzing the specific features of the period under review, the author points out that they are characterized by the fulfilment by both sides of their agreement on the principles of peaceful co-existence, the conclusion of bilateral agreements, achieving a fivefold increase in the volume of reciprocal trade, putting Soviet-American relations in the commercial, credit, scientific and technical spheres on a long-term basis, and the extension of business meetings and contacts at all levels. Considerable attention is devoted in the article to evaluating the prospects of Soviet-American economic relations and pinpointing the difficulties that have still to be overcome in this respect.

The article substantiates the view that the ideological differences existing between the U.S.S.R. and the U.S.A. cannot and should not hamper the development of mutually beneficial economic co- operation.

L. G. BESKROVNY, Academician A. L. NAROCHNITSKY. Concerning the History of Russia's 19th-century Foreign Policy in the Far East

The article traces the process of assimilating and developing the sparsely populated and ungoverned lands in Eastern Siberia, the Far East. Alaska and the Aleutian Islands by the Russian people in the 17th-19th centuries, as well as the formation of frontiers with China (in the period of the Ching dynasty). Japan and the U.S.A. The most salient distinctive feature of Russia's 19th-century foreign policy .in the East was the desire to establish good- neighbourly relations with these countries, which found reflection in the conclusion of bilateral treaties regulating their political and economic relations. Considerable attention is given by the author to examining the interconnection between Russia's foreign policy in Europe and Asia.

Y. P. BOKAREV. Budget Surveys of the Peasant Farms in the 1920's

Budget surveys of the peasant farms (peasant family budgets) in the 1920's is one of the most important but inadequately investigated sources highlighting the socio-economic history of the Soviet peasantry. The article traces the main range of the peasant budgets, characterizes the activity of the research centres which carried out budget surveys, the chief methods of collecting and processing the data obtained, the state of the archive funds and the specific features of publications, and analyzes the programmes of the most important surveys.

Y. S. NOVOPASHIN. Against Falsification of the Theory and Practice of Socialist Construction

The author analyzes some of the anti-communist concepts whose basic aim is to discredit contemporary socialism by claiming that it does not accord with Marxist-Leninist theory. Such attempts, which are most frequently based on the arbitrary interpretation of Marxism-Leninism, consist, as a rule, in "criticizing" really existing socialism as the first phase of the communist formation by applying to it the criteria of the second, highest phase of communism. The article also subjects to a critical analysis the anti- communist thesis on the multiplicity of "models" of socialism, demonstrating the utter futility of the attempts made by our ideological enemies to gloss over the fundamental difference between the objectively necessary form of socialism and its opportunist distortions. The

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concluding part of the article discloses the speculative nature of anti-communist forecasts concerning the future development of the member-countries of the socialist community which are building and perfecting mature socialism.

R. L. SABSOVICH. The Split Engineered in the French Trade Union Movement

After the second world war the progressive trend gained the upper hand in the General Confederation of Labour (CGT), France's biggest and most influential trade union centre. The CQT successfully championed the fundamental working-class interests, democracy and the country's national independence. This policy could not but encounter sharp attacks from the enemies of the working class. The reformist elements within the GOT, Solidly supported by Rigth-wing Socialists and America's reactionary trade union leaders, engineered a split in the leading trade union centre and set up a new reactionary organization called Force Ouvriere, thereby seriously weakening the working-class positions and facilitating the offensive launched by the reactionary forces. At the present stage the policy of united action by all trade unions irrespective of their political orientation is becoming more pronounced. This policy objectively makes for closer unity of the working class and all the Left forces and is an essential condition of future victories in the struggle against the monopolies and the reactionary elements.

N. V. OSIPOVA. The Zionist Lobby in the American Congress

Taking the activity of U.S. Congress as an example, the author examines the various aspects of the influence exerted by American Zionists on the Administration's Middle East policy. The article describes in detail the forms and methods employed by the Zionists to exert pressure on Congressmen for the purpose of establishing a pro-Israeli coalition in U.S. Congress. Analyzing the composition of this coalition, the author makes a point of stressing that it consists in the main of the representatives of military- industrial circles which are resolutely opposed to any relaxation of international tension.

A. I. NEMIROVSKY. Polybius as an Historian

Drawing on the achievements of scientific thought in the epoch of Hellenism, Polybius made an attempt to comprehend and interpret the historical process. His approach to the objective facts of social being can be called theoretical. He evolved the teaching of causality and applied it in studying the root causes of the wars fought in his time, thus endeavouring to discover the one simple and obvious cause of war. The existing state system, man's natural environment and the individual endowed with a clear understanding of the possibilities latent in him were regarded by Polybius as the most important factors of the historical process. The eminent Greek historian came out against overestimating the role of fate, limiting its influence to the sphere of the unknown and not dependent on the conscious activity of man. The era of the final collapse of the city-states and the establishment of Roman domination in which Polybius lived enabled him to rise to the theoretical conception of history as a sphere of scientific knowledge. Polybius surpassed all ancient historians in the profound understanding of and conscious attitude to his tasks, the close study of historical sources and the persistent efforts to grasp the meaning of the historical process, but for all that his historical conception is stamped with idealism.

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