It is common to evaluate the level of engagement of the university  to the regional development via the different third mission indicators  of success. We propose to complement the  traditional approach to frame such an indicators with a purely  theoretical consideration of the benefi ts of the stakeholder  governance model that connects the university and the key players  of regional development altogether. In this paper we focus on the  problems of the collective decision making under the stakeholder  governance model, and examine two examples of the traditional  third mission indicators models. The main point of our analysis is to  show that the bringing into consideration the stakeholder  governance model allows to see the motivations and the prospects of engagement for every stakeholder in advance, that may significantly affect the planning of the regional development success.

Contrary to popular belief, the spatial aspect of political processes is  determined not only by objective factors. Space affects politics not  only directly, but also indirectly, through subjective and sometimes  distorted notions of space, formed by man. To study this subjective world, geography has its own terminology, some of which  are in dialectical connection with the concepts of «objective»  geography (territoriality vs. spatiality, absolute vs. relative space),  and some are unique for the discourse of this science (heterotopy,  spatial inversion, spatial experience, the place of memory, spatial  myth, and co-spatiality). The key to political geography is the notion of territorial and spatial identity, because they link ideas  about space with the political behavior of the individual. Recently,  the applied sphere of political geography has been actively  developing, based on the application of identity knowledge - territory branding based on place policy.

Present-day Spanish society is suffering from political institutional crisis raising vivid cutting-edge discussions on its sources. Widely spread is the viewpoint blaming the actors of the transition who laid the foundation of the current political system in the second half of 1970s – first half of 1980s. Such an approach demonstrates radical reevaluation of values since until quite recently the dominating belief in the public conscience in Spain and beyond treated the Spanish transition as a model type within the third wave transition framework. The author does not agree with the negative appraisal of the transition which allowed Spain not only to avoid a new civil war but to set up the regime of representative democracy for the first time in its history. The transition politics certainly had weaknesses and limitations. The successor political actors had the opportunities to remedy the situation by changing the legislation and practices but they did not do it since ruling as usual was easier. At the same time the Spanish transition experience compared to the present-day reality proves that even successful decisions work only for some time. New stages of societal development demand the correction of previous and development of new pragmatic solutions taking national interests into account. The issues which were not dominating the political discourse at the time of the transition and seemed to be solved (like monarchy vs. republic, conflict between staunch Catholics and secularists, evaluation of the past) were brought to the center of political struggles many years after. The author concludes that it is incorrect to define the direct relation between the modern problematic zones of the Spanish society and the policy at the time of democratic transition.

Abstract:

The discourse over change in the world order from a unipolar to multipolar has gained major attention in the recent times. While the United States upholds the pivotal power position in the international system it has experienced relative economic decline in the recent periods. The economic growth among the countries of the Global South has led to their emergence as a new power contender in the international system. The grouping of Brazil, Russia, China, India, South Africa (BRICS) has firmly developed an interregional set up trying to add a new constellation in the world order. It has emerged as a new region of their own with certain shared similarities and common objectives. The group aims to create a niche in international system by creating supplementary intuitions. Adopting reformist attitude, the group stresses on the creation of a multipolar world order demanding recognition to the rising powers of the twenty-first century. The countries are asserting for expansion of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), and reforms in the international financial institutions. The group has pioneered a new discourse of the Global South on the Responsibility while Protecting and Climate Change. However, the internal rivalries and recent slow growth of members leads to the speculation of the group in coordinating in its endeavour of multipolar world reality. Highlighting the BRICS as a new set of interregional interactions among the emerging powers, the paper while discussing the achievements and divergences of the grouping will assess its capability and efforts in creating a multipolar world order.

The article is devoted to consideration of the specifi c «soft power»  of the European Union. As the theoretical foundations of the study  dedicated the American, Russian and European approaches to the  essence and content of «soft power» of the state, as well as other  similar concepts such as «civilian power», «normative power.» The  basic criteria of «soft power» was proposed by the founder of the conception J. Nye and by other experts. The major European countries with the greatest potential of «soft power» influence are considered to be the UK and France. They make the  greatest contribution to the process of creation of «soft power» in  the EU. The article deals with the attempts of the EU to  institutionalize the mechanisms of «soft power». The main two  criteria are cultural and educational attractiveness of Europe. The  identifi ed trends, which suggest that the cultural identity of individual European countries is falling by the wayside, represent the elements of the EU diplomacy. This is substantiated by the fact that it is a legal and regulatory framework of the European «soft power»,  that is also confi rmed by the offi cial representatives of the EU. However, as within any integration process, in the process of  «soft power» building the EU has a number of obstacles. The authors make conclusions about the prospects for the European Union to  apply the elements of «soft power», as well as the readiness of the  European countries to delegate a part of their cultural potential to the European community.

Turkey as a new player in Africa has appeared with the collapse of  the bipolar system. Having proclaimed to build a multi-vector policy,  Ankara consistently implements the set strategy, which has the character of a comprehensive and long-term program and involves the intensifi cation of cooperation with African countries in the political, economic and humanitarian spheres. Turkey systematically promotes its political line in the region and has the  support of infl uential African elites in many countries of the  continent. At the same time the ruling Justice and Development  Party, helping to strengthen the economic positions of Turkish businessmen abroad, successfully copes with resolving problems of domestic policy by increasing the export of Turkish goods, spreading the idea of «moderate Islam» on the whole continent. Projects in the humanitarian field that are  implemented by the Turkish government and nongovernmental organizations are also successful. However, there  are series of tactical complexities associated with the aggravation of  the previous and the emergence of new problems caused by various  factors of political, economic and ideological origins. Nevertheless,  Ankara is suggested to continue its attempts to conduct an active policy aimed at the conquest of regional leadership and strengthening its presence in Africa in the future.

The future of the Iranian political relations with other countries  especially China in the post-nuclear-agreementera is of serious  importance in the Iranian foreign policy in the Rouhani  administration. Despite turbulences in the relations of the two  countries in recent years, theirs have been stronger than the trade  relations between Iran and western countries. For this reason, the  shift from ordinary to strategic relations between Iran and China is  attracting serious attention in the political circles in Iran. The  supporters argue for the present and future stance of China in the  international society and its constructive role during the western- imposed sanctions against Iran. The opponents refer to the poorer  Chinese technology as opposed to their Western rivals and to  ambivalent and at time anti-Iranian stances Beijing adopted in the  Iranian nuclear problem. The question this paper seeks to answer is  whether there is a possibility of the promotion of the relations of the  two countries in future and the possible obstacles in the way.

The article examines the infl uence of the free trade agreement between the Eurasian Economic Union and Vietnam on  Russian-Vietnamese relations. The author considers preconditions for expansion of the EAEU, main steps of negotiations, special features  of the agreement, and results, achieved by present time. The author  pays special attention to evolution of Russian-Vietnamese relations  and also to key factors of Vietnam’s foreign policy. Russian- Vietnamese relations have been developing on the base of the USSR- Vietnam partnership in the Cold War. They were marked by stability  and high level of political contacts, but at the same time scales of economic cooperation were relatively low. Established interaction  between two states was a foundation for the dialogue for the  involvement of Vietnam in Eurasian integration. Vietnam, in turn,  tried to conduct multilateral foreign policy (including the expansion of network of free trade agreements) and so it had positive attitude  for cooperation with Russia in a sphere of Eurasian integration. For  Russia, the EAEU – Vietnam free trade agreement has both political  (expansion of Eurasian integration beyond the Post-Soviet space and rise of prestige of the EAEU) and economic (impact on trade and investment cooperation with the SRV) signifi cance. The agreement entered into force in October 2016 and under its realization some  results have already been made. At the same time the agreement is of compromise and “test” sort. So it’s rather able to make an  immediate breakthrough in Russian-Vietnamese trade and Russian  policy in the Asia-Pacifi c in whole. But this agreement can be an  additional factor for attraction to Vietnam in Russia and enlargement of cooperation with Vietnamese counterparts.

This article examines the foreign policy platform of Donald Trump, based his proposals, the composition of his advisers and supporting coalitions. Second focus of the article is the internal political context and limitations to the new administration of the White House. Finally, there are conclusions for Russia and possible scenarios for the development of bilateral relations after the inauguration of Donald Trump.

The future of Russian-American relations is the key uncertainty of 2017, from which to a great extent depends the general direction of Russian foreign policy. The development of relations can go in several directions, which is conditioned to success or failure of Trump domestic economic program, as well as high or low level of conflict behavior of new US administration in its foreign policy. From the perspective of economic and internal policy the criterion of success for Trump will be the speed with which he could launch a legislative mechanism for tax reform and infrastructure investment despite the Democrats opposition. From the perspective of foreign policy, the main uncertainty in US-Russia relations will be about the future of confrontation in Eastern Europe and willingness of the parties to cooperate in stabilizing the situation in the Middle East, despite the differences in objectives and choice of allies. A key condition for normalizing relations remains the preservation of strategic balance between Russia and the United States.

Turkey as a new player in Africa has appeared with the collapse of the bipolar system. Having proclaimed to build a multi-vector policy, Ankara consistently implements the set strategy, which has the character of a comprehensive and long-term program and involves the intensification of cooperation with African countries in the political, economic and humanitarian spheres. Turkey systematically promotes its political line in the region and has the support of influential African elites in many countries of the continent. At the same time the ruling Justice and Development Party, helping to strengthen the economic positions of Turkish businessmen abroad, successfully copes with resolving  problems of domestic policy by increasing the export of Turkish goods, spreading the idea of "moderate Islam" on the whole continent. Projects in the humanitarian field that are implemented by the Turkish government and non-governmental organizations are also successful. However, there are  series of tactical complexities associated with the aggravation of the previous and the emergence of new problems caused by various factors of political, economic and ideological origins. Nevertheless, Ankara is suggested to continue its attempts to conduct an active policy aimed at the conquest of regional leadership and strengthening its presence in Africa in the future.

The article is devoted to the study of territorial confl icts in two  countries of the former USSR – Moldova and Estonia in 1989-1994.  Within the framework of the study, we conducted fi ve expert interviews with respondents, who was directly involved in  resolving the confl icts in Chisinau, Transnistria and Gagauzia. The  publications in Internet publications about the referendum in Narva  in 1993, its preparation and consequences were also analyzed.  Based on the conducted research, it was revealed that on the eve of  the referendum on autonomy in Narva, authorities of Estonia and the  administration of the city council of Narva  visited Moldova,  including Transnistria. This experience of the confl ict in Transnistria  let them take certain steps to ease tensions in Eastern Estonia.  Later, this Estonian experience was already applied by Moldovan  politicians in the process of relieving tension in the situation of Gagauzia. The detected interaction of political elites of Moldova and Transnistria is viewed from the perspective  of the concept of  “policy learning” by Hugh Heclo and Richard Rose.

The discourse over change in the world order from a unipolar to multipolar has gained major attention in the recent times. While  the United States upholds the pivotal power position in the  international system it has experienced relative economic decline in  the recent periods. The economic growth among the countries of the Global South has led to their emergence as a new power contender in the international system. The grouping of Brazil, Russia, China, 
India, South Africa (BRICS) has firmly developed an interregional set up trying to add a new constellation in the world order. It has  emerged as a new region of their own with certain shared similarities and common objectives. The group aims to create a niche in  international system by creating supplementary intuitions. Adopting reformist attitude, the group stresses on the creation of a multipolar
world order demanding recognition to the rising powers of the twenty-first century. The countries are asserting for expansion of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), and reforms in the international fi nancial institutions. The group has pioneered a new  discourse of the Global South on the Responsibility while Protecting  and Climate Change. However, the internal rivalries and recent slow  growth of members leads to the speculation of the group in  coordinating in its endeavour of multipolar world reality. Highlighting  the BRICS as a new set of interregional interactions among the emerging powers, the paper while discussing the achievements and  divergences of the grouping will assess its capability and efforts in creating a multipolar world ordery.

This article examines the foreign policy platform of Donald Trump,  based on his proposals, the composition of his advisers and  supporting coalitions. Second focus of the article is the internal  political context and limitations to the new administration of the  White House. Finally, there are conclusions for Russia and possible  scenarios for the development of bilateral relations after the  inauguration of Donald Trump. The future of Russian-American  relations is the key uncertainty of 2017. Russian foreign policy  greatly depends on it. The development of relations can go in several directions, which is conditioned to success or failure of Trump domestic economic program, as well as high or low level of conflict  behavior of new US administration in its foreign policy. From the  perspective of economic and internal policy the criterion of success for Trump will be the speed with which he could launch a legislative mechanism for tax reform and infrastructure investment  despite the Democrats opposition. From the perspective of foreign policy, the main uncertainty in US-Russia relations will be  about the future of confrontation in Eastern Europe and willingness  of the parties to cooperate in stabilizing the situation in the Middle East, despite the differences in objectives and choice of allies. A key condition for normalizing relations remains the  preservation of strategic balance between Russia and the United States.

Present-day Spanish society is suffering from political institutional  crisis raising vivid cutting-edge discussions on its sources. Widely  spread is the viewpoint blaming the actors of the transition who laid  the foundation of the current political system in the second half of  1970s – fi rst half of 1980s. Such an approach demonstrates radical  reevaluation of values since until quite recently the dominating belief in the public conscience in Spain and beyond treated the Spanish transition as a model type within the third wave transition  framework. The author does not agree with the negative appraisal of the transition which allowed Spain not only to avoid a new civil war  but to set up the regime of representative democracy for the first  time in its history. The transition politics certainly had weaknesses and limitations. The successor political actors had the opportunities  to remedy the situation by changing the legislation and practices but they did not do it since ruling as usual was easier. At the same time the Spanish transition experience compared to the present-day reality proves that even successful decisions work only for some time. New stages of societal development demand the  correction of previous and development of new pragmatic solutions  taking national interests into account. The issues which were not dominating the political discourse at the time of the transition and seemed to be solved (like monarchy vs. republic, conflict between staunch Catholics and secularists, evaluation of the past) were brought to the center of political struggles many  years after. The author concludes that it is incorrect to defi ne the  direct relation between the modern problematic zones of the Spanish society and the policy at the time of democratic transition.

In this article, we study factors defi ning left party’s policy positions on the immigration issue. This theme is not so popular in  political science despite of plenty of works devoted to that problem  in the context of far-right and mainstream parties. Therefore in this  paper, we propose our own models that takes into account two kinds of factors: endogenous (organizational) traits and exogenous (enviromental) arrangement. Proposed models try to explain the  position and saliency of immigration issue in the manifestos of  socialdemocratic, green and new left parties. We pay more attention  on several independent variables, such as electoral competition (we  operationalize it through the notion of effective number of parties  offered by Laakso and Taagepera), migration rate, popularity of far- right party, party’s nicheness, organizational traits (that we consider in terms of leaders-activists relations). We have two dependent  variables which called (1) party position on the immigration issue  and (2) saliency of this issue. In order to estimate necessary links  between variables we use regression analysis of time-series-cross- section data. As units of our research we present political party’s  moves in 10 Western European countries between 1975 and 2010.  We conclude that organizational peculiarities with its link to the  electoral competition make infl uence to the dependent variable.  Niche parties tend not to concentrate their attention on the issue of immigration, but if they do that greens and new lefts demonstrate proimmigrant positions. Social-democrats try to act less forthrightly  in order to maximize their electoral support.

The future of the Iranian political relations with other countries especially China in the post-nuclear-agreement era is of serious importance in the Iranian foreign policy in the Rouhani administration. Despite turbulences in the relations of the two countries in recent years, theirs have been stronger than the trade relations between Iran and western countries. For this reason, the shift from ordinary to strategic relations between Iran and China is attracting serious attention in the political circles in Iran. The supporters argue for the present and future stance of China in the international society and its constructive role during the western-imposed sanctions against Iran. The opponents refer to the poorer Chines technology as opposed to their Western rivals and to ambivalent and at time anti-Iranian stances Beijing adopted in the Iranian nuclear problem. The question this paper seeks to answer is whether there is a possibility of the promotion of the relations of the two countries in future and the possible obstacles in the way.