Great game or competition between imperial expansionists, Russia and Britain, in the nineteenth century, to get the thorough control of the Central Asia, was the fact that Iran was unwillingly involved in it. Strategy, rules and tactics of the game, which are defined over the period of time and changed in terms of conditional requirements, including the establishment of political representatives and Consulates of the two powers in Iran. In the Qajar era, governments of Britain and Russia, after the establishment of the political representatives in Tehran, due to their benefits, attempted to inaugurate gradually the Consulate in the city of Rasht which in the beginning of the twentieth century changed into the widespread networks throughout the country. The current study, through application of historical, descriptive, and analytical approaches as well as using library resources and archival documents, examines the causes of the establishment of the Consulate in Rasht and functions assigned to it. This study shows that the inauguration of the Consulate in Rasht by England or Russia are more due to the political and strategic goals of these two governments than any other elements.

The competition between Russia and England in Iran for the purpose of developing possessions and concluding concession contracts started from the beginning of the Qajar period in the 19th century and gradually intensified. One of the factors that intensified the rivalry between Russia and England in Iran was the issue of India. British to protect India and Russians to disturb the British in India were applying many policies in parts of Iran. The issue of India and some other factors caused the rivalry between Russia and England in the last years of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century to be more concentrated in the eastern regions of Iran, especially Sistan. The competition of these two European countries in the east of Iran had reached such a height that they established a Consulate in Sistan to achieve their goals. By establishing a Consulate in Sistan, these two great colonial powers, on the one hand, wanted to know about the plans of the rivals and on the other hand, sought to advance their goals and interests. The confrontation between the Russian and British Consulates in Sistan along with the positions of the central government of Iran and the local rulers of the region caused complex relations between these two Consulates in Sistan. The most important issue of the present article is what was the relationship between the Russian and British Consulates in Sistan? The assumption of this article is that the relations between the Russian and British Consulates in Sistan were more competitive and confrontational. Of course, they interacted with each other regarding cultural issues and political issues in emergency situations. This writing has been done in a historical method with a descriptive-analytical method using library sources and documents

During the Qajar period, Britain and Russia established a Consulate in Iran based on the Kā melat al-Wadā d (Most-favored-Nations Clause) concession. Consulates were usually set up for commercial purposes, but the reports and activities of such institutions went far beyond business motives and goals. The present study intends to discuss the British Consulate in Mashhad and seeks an answer to the question: What were the motives and goals of the British Consulate in Mashhad? Examining the sources, it was hypothesized that the British Consulate in Mashhad was established for commercial and political purposes and to strictly supervise Russian actions in the region, but beyond that it had comprehensive intelligence, security and executive functions in Khorasan province. The research data were provided by library data, from historical sources as well as two categories of Persian and English documents, and have been discussed by the method of causal explanation, in the context of British-Russian competition. The results of the discussion indicate that British agents, in competition with Russia, set up a Consulate in Mashhad. Under the guise of establishing a Consulate in Mashhad, the British set up an intelligence network to monitor Russia's activities in Central Asia and Iran’ s northeastern borders in order to thwart Russian anti-British actions in the area. In addition, by establishing a Consulate in Mashhad, while supporting British citizens, they removed the barriers to trade between Iran and Britain in this area.

The city of Vladikavkaz, founded during the expansion of the Russian Empire to the Caucasus in the late eighteenth century, gradually attracted immigrants from inside and outside the empire. This city, especially since the second half of the nineteenth century, became one of the destinations for permanent and temporary migrations from Persia. With the increase of the Iranian population in Vladikavkaz and the surrounding areas, the Iranian Consulate was established there in 1897. The aim of this study is to provide a general overview of the activities of Iranian officials and immigrants in Vladikavkaz since the establishment of the Iranian Consulate in 1897 until the collapse of the Tsarist Empire and the outbreak of civil war in Russia based on the consular records in the archive of Iran’ s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Through its efforts to establish and maintain a Shia mosque, Nowruz School, and Hemmat Association, the Iranian Consulate played an important role in supporting solidarity among the Iranian diaspora in the city and protecting the rights of the Iranian citizens. However, the affairs with the Russian Empire, hostility and rivalry inside the Iranian Foreign Ministry, and financial problems were the main challenges faced by the Persian consul in Vladikavkaz.

In the framework of geopolitical rivalries between Russian and West, Kremlin has defined it’ s near abroad in the area of its strategic and vital interests. It has also used the region’ s unsolved territorial disputes such as Kharabakh crisis as an instrument for stabilizing its influence in the Republics of USSR. Meanwhile the Kharabakh crisis as the most serious security issue in South Caucasus has lasted for more than two decades and the study of regional developments indicates a situation of neither war nor peace. Even the possibility of re-strengthening the dispute is still remained. Against this backdrop, the present article attempts to answer the following question: What opportunities and challenges would the strengthening of Kharabakh crisis bring along for Kremlin? From one hand, insecurity in energy transit routes from Caspian Sea to western markets establishment of Russian forces in Kharabakh in the framework of peacekeeping operations are among the most important opportunities for Kremlin. From the other hand, the possibility of a conflict with Turkey, as Azerbaijan’ s alliance, as well as West’ s influence in Caucasus are among the most important challenges for Russia. Using explanatory – analytical method and geopolitics theory, the author tries to scrutinize the possibility of mentioned challenges and opportunities.

The issue of immigration is not a choice for Russia, but it is an essential factor for maintaining the rate of its population and labor force. However, Russian immigration policy is not comprehensive; it endures alack of clear expression of the goals. In addition, foreign immigrants are often not only accused of depriving Russian citizens of their social-economic rights, but also they are considered as a threat to the cultural and ethnic homogeneity of Russian society and national identity. This paper addresses the phenomenon of immigration both from the perspective of economic competition and nationalism, national identity, and ethnic prejudice. The author addresses the following question: "Why Russian major ethnicities, especially the Russians are mostly against the mass immigration to Russia? " The hypothesis examined in this paper is that "major Russian ethnicities especially the Russians are against the mass immigration due to the fear of immigrants’ incompatibility with culture and values of Russian society, rather than racial and ethnic prejudices. " Using library data and a descriptive-analytical methodology, the author tries to tell why the research findings provide an answer to the research question.

The status of Russia has always been dual in terms of geography and culture, that is, it is sometimes called Asian and sometimes European. China and Russia have had ups and downs in their bilateral relations; both countries have fought several wars with each other the 19th century, in all of which China was defeated. With the happening of the Communist Revolution in China in 1949, relations between the two communist powers improved. Over the time, however, they became each other’ s enemies once again in a manner that 20 years after China’ s revolution in 1969 the two entered territorial battles with each other. During those years and in response to growing threats from the Soviet Union, China revised its relationship with the US and managed to open its doors towards the West in economic and political aspects. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, China and Russia saw the promotion of cooperation in their relations. ...