This article seeks partly to redress the neglect of international relations, especially concerning the Far East, in recent Western writing on Soviet Russia. It concentrates on the sequel to the Paris Peace Conference, the Washington Conference of 1921-2, suggesting that Soviet Russia played the role of 'Banquo's ghost' at both meetings. Making use for the most part of documents from the US National Archive, the article concentrates on the problem of bringing the Japanese intervention to an end, with special reference to the use made for this purpose by the Soviet government of the Far Eastern Republic or DVR. The DVR enjoyed considerable success as a 'democratic' buffer state, while its Special Trade Delegation acted as unofficial representative for Soviet Russia at the Washington Conference. As the Japanese intervention came to an end, the DVR was dissolved.

, the non-Russian at most a few shelves.' This is no longer the case, as the number of books, articles, magisterial and doctoral theses and computer websites devoted to various aspects of Siberia's past, present-and future-has multiplied, and as a glance at David Collins's bibliographical update in this issue will confirm. It goes without saying, of course, that our colleagues and experts in the former Soviet Union continue to produce a huge amount of valuable scholarly material based on their firsthand researches and investigations of their own country's history, economy and society. The resulting intellectual cross-fertilisation and mutual exchange of ideas, information and research have greatly enhanced our common understanding of Siberia's intrinsic and extrinsic significance in the wider global perspective. As far as the present editors are aware, however, after the former Sibirica's

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This special issue of Sibirica is guest-edited by Joachim Otto Habeck, and the Editors applaud his work to bring together this excellent group of papers resulting from a conference he organized at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology in Halle, Germany. Dr Habeck is Coordinator of the Siberian Studies Centre at the MPI, which is now well established as a key institution in the anthropology of Siberia. The conference included scholars from several disciplines, and thus publication in Sibirica seemed to be the perfect choice, reflecting the journal's commitment to cross-disciplinary conversations on the region. This first issue of the fourth volume of Sibirica marks the advent of a new group of editors. Cathryn Brennan and Alan Wood have decided to step down as Editors, although Dr Brennan will remain active with the journal as an Associate Editor. We are greatly indebted to their years of hard work to establish Sibirica as a worldclass scholarly journal. Alexander King has taken on the primary responsibility as editor, and he will be closely supported by an active group of

This issue of Sibirica is the last to be published with Taylor and Francis. The Editors would like to thank Richard Delahunty and Liz Eades at Taylor and Francis for their kind assistance during this difficult time of transition. This issue also marks the last volume for David Collins as Reviews Editor. John Ziker, Boise State University, USA, has taken up the mantel for Volume 5, and all correspondence regarding book reviews should be sent directly to him at JZiker@boisestate.edu. The Editors and Editorial Board are committed to continuing publishing Sibirica as in interdisciplinary journal of the region. Volume 5 will be published samizdat through the University of Aberdeen in 2005, issue 2 of which is planned as a special issue on oil and gas industries in the region and their social consequences, to be guest edited by Emma Wilson and Florian Stammler.