In a common boat: “asymmetric neighborhood: Russia and Norway” over two centuries

The article is devoted to the study of the Russian historiography of Russian-Norwegian relations and the analysis of the international project “Asymmetric Neighborhood: Russia and Norway, 1814-2014”. The major outcome of the project is a fundamental two-volume edition devoted to the history of the Russian-Norwegian relations in the 19th - 20th centuries. The article offers a detailed observation of the development of scientific research and studies about Norway in Soviet and post-Soviet Russia. A special focus is made on the establishment of the managing and financing structures that contributed to the successful implementation of the project. The article demonstrates how the unity and diversity of theoretical and methodological foundations applied in the project enabled the Russian and Norwegian scholars to evaluate the inter-governmental cooperation between Russia and Norway.