The new issue of the Journal of Frontier Studies (Vol. 10, No 2, 2025) explores various frontier phenomena in the history of Russia and other nations, revealing the complex dynamics at the intersections of cultures, religions, and political spheres. The “Russian Frontier” section offers a historical analysis of military, socioeconomic, and religious interactions on the peripheries of the Russian Empire, covering topics such as prisoner exchange practices on the Azov frontier, the economic structure of the Murgab estate in Central Asia, pilgrimage activities in the Middle East, and religious and migration factors along the North Caucasus, Russian-Kazakh, and Russian-Chinese borderlands. A notable contribution in this section examines the rarely discussed Iranian-Zoroastrian influences on Muslim communities in Western Siberia.

In “People of the Frontier,” the journal introduces readers to influential individuals and cultural icons who shaped frontier identity and consciousness in Russia, from the celebrated figure of G.N. Potanin to the pioneering cartographic innovations of S.U. Remezov, which were crucial to the exploration and settlement of the Trans-Ural region. The final section, “Related Questions of Frontier Theory,” presents insightful analyses of the symbolic role of British colonial heraldry in imperial expansion, as well as the evolving concept of the “frontier” in contemporary American political rhetoric through the presidential speeches of Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden.

This issue will appeal to historians, ethnologists, cultural studies scholars, and political scientists interested in border phenomena and interdisciplinary studies of borderlands as spaces of cultural interaction, conflict, and exchange.