There is a contradiction between the two approaches towards key actors of politics, to wit: the “elitarian” one and the “mass” one. The author uses an integrated approach to analyze the role of elites and masses in politics, the ways of political recruitment, the patterns of interaction between elites and non-elite groups in particular political systems, as well as a problem of motivation in politics.

The article deals with the first analyses of power in urban communities in different countries conducted by Delbert Miller. The author examines the special features, stages, methodology and main conclusions of the project. Analyzing at the same time the limitations of the Miller’s work, the author, however, admits a powerful influence of its results on the following empirical projects.

Academic discussion on the essence and directions of Russian modernization immediately followed the official declaration of a respective policy by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. The article analyzes not only the existing approaches towards modernization in Russia, but also historical examples of political and economic modernizations and their interdependence. The author enumerates a number of problems and goals of modernization taking into account possible risks and obstacles to the process. A “reset” of the mechanism of political competitiveness and democratization is a key objective. 

China's rise has become subject to fierce academic debates about the nature and possible consequences of this growth. The phenomenon of the Chinese modernization was also studied from the angle of the theories of modernization. This article analyzes the historical stages of political and economic modernization in China, as well as Russian and Soviet experience.

The article is devoted to the peculiarities of the formal research methods in political science and the use of such methods in Russian comparative political and international studies, in particular at MGIMO-University. The author calls not to run to extremes when dealing with these methods, analyzing their advantages and limitations.

Notwithstanding the pessimistic forecasts regarding the resolution of border disputes in Central Asia and the Russian-Chinese relations, the parties have managed to develop an effective approach to the settlement of their territorial disputes. The article analyzes the cases of Russia and China, as well as disputes between China, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Japan. Countries have developed a so-called "fifty-fifty" model to resolve their territorial disputes. At the same time, an on-going conflict between Russia and Japan over the islands poses a number of threats, and such a strategy seems to be useless. However, the author concludes that a border issue no longer plays a key role in international relations.

The article focuses on a project of Trans-Afghan gas pipeline and its role in the future development of Afghanistan and the Greater East Asia. The author analyzes the historical stages of the project and challenges to its realization, as well as the current situation in Afghanistan aggravated by the fighting of the Taliban and warlords, drug trafficking, terrorist threat and ethnic conflicts. However, one of the main obstacles to the realization of the infrastructural plan is a competition between projects of neighboring countries.

The article focuses on a comparative analysis of the two modern centers of integration, Europe and East Asia. The author criticizes the Eurocentric theories of integration, analyzes the stages and features of integration projects in the European Union and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, identifying similarities and differences of the integration in the both international regions.

Russia is a powerful actor of numerous forums, organizations and integration projects in the Asia-Pacific region, that is usually explained by its multilateral diplomacy. The significance of Asia in the Russia's foreign policy is determined by the both external and internal factors. The article analyzes the role of Russia in the Asia-Pacific regional integration projects, as well as historical and political factors of interaction.

An objective of the article is to analyze, how the concept of the European citizenship is interpreted and construed by the national elites within the EU. The author analyzes a problem of identity at the both levels of elites and society, assesses the components of national and the European citizenship, making a conclusion of a "composite" and "complex" nature of the European citizenship.

The article is devoted to a historical analysis of the ideological framework of North Korea, its peculiarities and contradictions. The ideas of “Juche” and the “Songun” are of special importance. The author concludes that these ideas will be further employed by the political elite of the country in the years to come.