In the article the author analyzes confl icts arising between scientists aiming at participation in the global science fi eld and scientists who are predominantly tied to the context of national science. These confl icts are examined via “academic capitalism”, “global capitalism” and «national elites» theories. The article considers collision of interests between scientists oriented towards connections with the infrastructure of the global science, including world class universities, multinational corporations and supranational research funding institutions, and scientists aimed at expanding by use of local, mainly state resources. The analysis includes a historical overview of institutional changes in science since late 1940s with emphasis on the following stages: division of basic and applied science in accordance with new tasks of scientifi c and technological development in 1940-50s; gradual transformation of relations between science and politics in 1960-70s; university reforms in the 1980s; emergence of global markets of research and educational services beginning the 1990s. Following this overview, the article examines three cases, which allow to characterize interests, serving as a basis for fractions within the scientifi c community. They are the functioning of a two-tier system of research funding in the EU; dominance of English language journals in the scientifi c press; implementation of policy aimed at building of world class universities in countries with developed research cultures, which differ from the American research culture. This examination leads us to a conclusion that the scientifi c community is internally divided in accordance with choice of locally or globally oriented strategy.

The Stabilization and Association Process (SAP) launched by the EU in the aftermath of Kosovo war in 1999 has created a new policy environment for the Western Balkans countries. In exchange for EU assistance, prospect of EU accession, and continuation of preferential access to EU markets, these countries have to upgrade their institutions and governance to European standards and engage in mutual regional cooperation including other Stability Pact member – countries. The 2003 European Council in Thessaloniki reaffi rmed that all SAP countries were potential candidates for EU membership. In July 2017 the EU Trieste Balkans Summit discussed the status of the SAP and unanimously reaffi rmed the importance of providing the European perspective of the Western Balkans. The essay examines of the current status of SAP in the Western Balkans countries (WB6) based on the Copenhagen political, economic and legislature criteria using the international data bases. It argues that among the criteria, the political requirements are the most important as they lay down the framework and administrative and institutional capacity to develop stable democracy and market economy. It concludes that EU SAP has remained consistently linked to compliance with the Copenhagen criteria but the Regional Cooperation Council countries have to create a positive environment for the WB6 to fulfi ll these European standards.

The article compares two subregional cooperation formats in the fi eld of defense, which were organized by the Nordic and Central European countries – the Visegrad Group and the Nordic Defense Community (NORDEFCO). In order to determine the features of these two formats a number of criteria were identifi ed. The development of defense contacts between the countries within these two subregional groupings over the past of two decades has been traced. In particular, up-to-date specifi c projects of cooperation have been described, successful and unsuccessful examples have been given and the most sensitive and promising areas have been drawn. The article also focuses on two overlapping trends – European and Euro-Atlantic integration, on the one hand, and sub-regional cooperation, on the other. It is important to underline that sub-regional defense projects and programs are not able to contend with the EU and NATO projects and most likely to complement, rather than compete them. At the same time, emerging centrifugal tendencies within the European Union, as well as the growing euroscepticism in Western countries, are able to stimulate a variety of sub-regional forms of defense cooperation. In the face of increased uncertainty and lack of confi dence in «big» European integration such «small» subregional defence projects have some chance to succeed.

The article examines the impact of the political crisis between Russia and Ukraine on the development and interaction of the regions of the Russian-Ukrainian borderlands. The backgrounds that lead to the political confl ict between the two states are briefl y analyzed. Changes in socioeconomic indicators of the neighboring regions are evaluated, as well as the state of cross-border interactions and adaptation of the economy and social sphere to the changed conditions in fi ve key areas. It was established that the gradients between the neighboring regions in all parts of the RussianUkrainian borderland increased signifi cantly. The sharpest gradients in 2016 were identifi ed on the border sections between the Belgorod and Kharkov regions, Rostov and Donetsk regions. At the same time, economic and social interactions, though weakened, do not cease completely and retain the potential opportunity for restoring cooperation, given favorable conditions arise.

A language is one of the signifi cant factors that determine the structural characteristics of ethnic territorial autonomies. At the same time it is the object of preferential language policy that conducted by both national and regional governments. The article focuses on the question about the interrelation between the strength of autonomy and the scope of language preferential policy institutionalization. Last one is manifested in the weight of linguistic territorial regime. As a result of correlation analysis (the sample includes 28 cases) and comparative-oriented case-study analysis of Wales and Scotland in UK, Basque Country in Spain and Vojvodina in Serbia the structural and contextual factors causing or violating links between the strength of autonomy and the scope of language preferential policy institutionalization were identifi ed. The features of the community’ ethnic structure and ethno-linguistic minority share are the structural factors. The size of minority share affects the strategy and resources of the political actors who able to manifest language requirements and to convert it into institutionalized language policy. These actors are political parties, ethnic councils and NGO. The historical background and political context of ethnic territorial autonomy formation and language preferential policy institutionalization constitute the second group of factors. The logic of interrelation of both groups of factors is explained.

This essay gives voice to pondering the dramatic changes in the Western politics of our era. The crisis of democracy, the spread of populism and the progression of national right-wing ideologies are the key headings of the analyses that research the phenomenon of, and deep social and even socio-psychological reasons for, the political reactions of Western societies. It assumes that the increasing anti-political attitude of the Western societies is shaped by two psychological factors: the burnout of Western people (their unhappiness) and Western people’s increasing fear. As for our hypothesis, Western voters’ psychic condition is deteriorating through a synergy of several “traps”. These are (a) the trap of improving well-being (luxury trap), (b) the technological trap and (c) the biological paradox. Western people have reached the psychological tipping point these decades and have been looking for fast, radical and plausible politics. At this point the national political-based, in every sense protectionist, i.e., protective politics promising cultural identity and at the same time individual identity is successful. All these are a comeback to pre-modern political culture where the promises are guaranteed by the leader to make the public happy personally and through his charisma.

The aim of the research is to outline the main features of the Italian geopolitical code, that is to say the manner in which a given country orientates itslef toward the world. Our argument is that - even though a secondary one - also Italy has shaped its own way to approach international relations. The work takes into consideration relevant events in Italian history and contemporary geopolitical orientation as reported into official strategic documents. The final result is the profile of a country feeling its foundig role of the main Western regional structures focusing mainly on regional interests. Nonetheless, its Italian friendly attitude toward outsider of Western bloc is a relevant peculiarity that brought Italy to be seen as a reliable partner by many global actors, even those opposing the West. 

This article gives voice to pondering the dramatic changes in the Western politics of our era. The crisis of democracy, the spread of populism and the progression of national right-wing ideologies are the key headings of the analyses that research the phenomenon of, and deep social and even socio-psychological reasons for, the political reactions of Western societies. It assumes that the increasing anti-political attitude of the Western societies is shaped by two psychological factors: the burnout of Western people (their unhappiness) and Western people’s increasing fear. As for our hypothesis, Western voters’ psychic condition is deteriorating through a synergy of several “traps”. These are (a) the trap of improving wellbeing (luxury trap), (b) the technological trap and (c) the biological paradox. Western people have reached the psychological tipping point these decades and have been looking for fast, radical and plausible politics. At this point the national political-based, in every sense protectionist, i.e., protective politics promising cultural identity and at the same time individual identity is successful. All these are a comeback to pre-modern political culture where the promises are guaranteed by the leader to make the public happy personally and through his charisma.

The author, parting from the premise that the world political analysts failed to foresee some prominent political changes of the recent times, comes to the conclusion about the inadequacy of the existing methods of political analysis and forecasting. Some recent scientifi c works by Russian and foreign specialists made him think that a purely rationalist approach to the world studies, that has been used since the times of the Renascence, partly exhausted itself. Along with the Russian authors Baranovski and Bogaturov, the Author thinks, that from now on our political analysis should be enriched by the introduction of some elements of a so called “natural – chaotic essence”, which infl uences the world events through the element of “happening”. The core of such an approach could include: 1) the recognition of a partial inadequacy of purely rationalist methods in our assessment of human nature and social phenomena; 2) the transference of the center of gravity in our social studies from economic to national-ethnic, culturological and civilizational aspects; 3) a wider use of historic analogies in the studies of all the problems of modern international relations. A linear character of our political forecasting will most evidently suffer because of that. Nevertheless, it would contribute to the elaboration of a more stereoscopic, complex view on the international relations as a whole and, particularly, on such problems as terrorism, illegal migration, separatism, and so on. The Author agrees with the thesis of some Occidental analysts (Bernard Yak, e.g.) that we should learn to “dutifully live” with certain irrational phenomena of political life (e.g. – nationalism), by purposely searching for and the accentuation of their “brighter” sides in the detriment of “dark” ones. The main prerequisite of such an accentuation, according to the Author, should be a wider use of education and culture. Culture, as a “positive” irrational actor (in all its demonstrations, including the political culture) should be seen as a promoter of a more active information strategy of Russia in the world arena. A shift for such a strategy is utterly necessary because a continuation of a “defensive” policy in this sphere can lead to signifi cant losses.

The article is devoted to the problem of non-state entities in a changing nature of world politics. Hamas and Hezbollah are seen as major non-governmental actors in the Middle East with great potential to infl uence regional political processes including the Palestinian-Israeli peace talks. The authors made an attempt to conduct comparative analysis of those movements’ compliance with the benchmarks of an actor (drafted by J. Nye, R. Keohane and other prominent political scientists) so as to assess its roles and positions in the region. Suggestions on shaping foreign policy towards those nonstate actors were made and strategies of its incorporation in the world order were investigated. The authors described negative and positive projections of such an engagement of Hamas and Hezbollah in the regional processes and gave their perspective on the feasibility of each scenario.

The article is devoted to the problems of regional positioning as the most important factor in the growth of the symbolic potential of the state, whose political and social communities are interested in the sustainable and progressive development of their territories. The authors, based on the results of the conducted research, assess the progress in the semantic fi elds of the attractive image of the Tyumen region. Image models are considered for the purpose of revealing the similarities and differences in the characteristics expressed in them. It is established that the objective image integrates positive and problem manifestations of regional reality. In subjective constructions, negative aspects do not fi nd fi xation. The dynamics in the perception of the Tyumen region by the population of Russia is revealed. In the matrix of mental design there are many new associates replacing part of the core brand of hydrocarbon specialization and referring to the diversifi cation of the economy, its innovative restructuring, historical and cultural heritage, sports and scientifi c achievements, and tourism opportunities. In the representations of citizens of the CIS countries, the uniqueness of the Tyumen region is associated with the exportraw material supply, as well as a capacious labor market, favorable conditions for training, life, self-realization. The European countries do not have the necessary level of recognition of the region. The oil and gas component in Western societies is more closely associated with the image of the Russian Federation as a whole as an energy power. The set of image features is reduced to the limits of immersion in business, educational, sports and other communications within the framework of international cooperation.

The aim of the research is to outline the main features of the Italian geopolitical code, that is to say the manner in which a given country orientates itself toward the world. Our argument is that – even though a secondary one - also Italy has shaped its own way to approach international relations. The work takes into consideration relevant events in Italian history and contemporary geopolitical orientation as reported into offi cial strategic documents. The fi nal result is the profi le of a country feeling its founding role of the main Western regional structures focusing mainly on regional interests. Nonetheless, its Italian friendly attitude toward outsider of Western bloc is a relevant peculiarity that brought Italy to be seen as a reliable partner by many global actors, even those opposing the West.

The Editorial Board of the journal Comparative Politics Russia publishes brief proceedings of the roundtable discussion on the 19th Congress of the Communist Party of China. The discussion gathered the researchers from the Center for Comprehensive Chinese Studies and Regional Projects of Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO University), the Institute of Far Eastern Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Asian and African Studies (IAAS) of Moscow State University, and the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies. Leading Russian experts discussed the signifi cance of the 19th Congress of the CPC held in October 2017, analyzing the documents of the Congress and assessing the results of the fi rst fi ve years in power of the new generation of Chinese leaders. The participants of the roundtable touched upon the transformation of political power in the PRC, analyzed the new Politburo of the CPC Central Committee, assessed the changing ideology and perception of China's social and economic development goals, discussed the prospects of different models of modernization carried out by the government and their effectiveness, transformation of China's national interests and foreign policy priorities, Chinese relations with the USA, Russia and the East Asian countries.

“The Explosion and the Echo. CER 1929.” Monograph by V.M. Kryukov and M.V. Kryukov

Book review: Maximova, D.D.; Sokolov, V.I. Sever i Arktika v politike i khoziaistve Kanady (North and Arctic in Politics and Economy of Canada). Moscow: Institute for the U.S. and Canadian Studies, 2015. 140 p.

Review of the monograph by Vassili M. Kryukov and Mikhail V. Kryukov, "CER 1929: Explosion and echo." This monograph is the third and final volume published in the framework of the research project "Documentary history of Soviet-Chinese relations (1917-1929)". The introduction gives a historiographical review of the Soviet-Chinese conflict of 1929 in Chinese Eastern railway, in which the authors identified 10 points of view (versions) of the events of 1929, and a review of sources. The text of the research, according to the problem-chronological principle, is divided into 12 chapters. The research is concluded with an "Epilogue" and a conclusion entitled "Some results of the research". The main advantage of the presented historical research is that the authors introduce into scientific circulation a huge array of documents from the collections of Russian, Chinese (Taiwan) and Western (UK, USA) archives. The disadvantage is that the authors did not address the materials stored in the regional archives of Russia and in various museums, they did not have access to the documents of the archives of the PRC. In the end, the monograph "KVZHD 1929" is the best today on the breadth of the source base and the depth of analysis of historical research. The release in Moscow of the book by V.M. Kriukov and M.V. Kriukov is a turning point in the development of the historiography of the Soviet-Chinese relations.

Methodology Seminar “World Comprehensive Regional Studies in Pedagogical Practice”.

Journal “Values and Meanings” (Tsennosti i Smysly).

Journal “World Economy and International Relations”.