The arising logic of the formation of multilayer polycentric world in the post-pandemic world is shown in this article. Formation stages in Russia of a theoretical knowledge about formation of the multidimensional, interdependent and polycentric world are analyzed. The attention is paid to practice of China search of its place in this new world. Benefits of comprehensive world regional studies as cross disciplinary methodology framework of the analysis of processes of the multidimensional and polycentric world and at the same time as a stage of formation of future theory of the multidimensional and interconnected polycentric world are shown. To help the explanation of the interconnectivity of the multilayer world of global regions the concepts of functionality and transregionalism are developed. Attention is paid to discussions about the place of Oriental (Asian and African) Studies in the Russian nomenclature of Social Sciences. Main directions of transforming International Relations as an academic discipline in Russia are shown.

This study aims to provide a deep perspective on the debate between two camps in the beginning of the 20th century: the Chinese bourgeois revolutionary ideology represented by Sun Yat-sen (孫中山) and Marxism represented by Lenin. By studying Sun Yat-sen’s speech “Principles of People’s Livelihood and Social Revolution” and Lenin’s article “Democracy and Narodism in China,” which is in response to Sun Yat sen’s speech, this research attempts to reassess the nature of the Chinese bourgeois revolutionary road represented by the thoughts of Sun Yat-sen and remind researchers of the difficult choices between capitalist and socialist development in China as a latecomer country. This study first explains how Sun Yat-sen’s speech expressed his views on capitalism, the definition of the Principle of People’s Livelihood, and his claim of the equalization of land rights. Then, Lenin’s evaluation of Sun Yat-sen’s speech is discussed. The different views of Sun Yat-sen and Lenin on the stage of capitalism, the means and power of social revolution, and the solution of the land problem are thus presented. This study argues that the split between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Communist Party of China (CPC) in 1927 came less from the KMT’s betrayal of the revolutionary road than from the fundamental difference between Sun Yat-sen’s thoughts and Marxism. Although the ideology of Sun Yat-sen has an anti-capitalist component, he paid attention to the use of the state, rather than the society as a tool, and reconciliation, rather than revolution to ease the gap between the rich and the poor brought by capitalism. This thinking compels us to reconsider the particularity of the development path of China.

Increasing China's international discursive power (guoji huayuquan) has been declared one of the foreign policy priorities under Xi Jinping. Drawing on Michel Foucault's works on discourse, Chinese theorists and practitioners have substantially modified their content, adapting Western concept of discourse to rising China's realities. This article analyzes the content of 'international discursive power' in the context of the academic debate on China's foreign policy transformation. The author focuses primarily on why this concept is of a strategic nature and why it, rather than soft power, now comes to the fore in describing China's interaction with the world. The article goes on to show how the issue of discursive power is linked to Beijing's plans for global governance reform and the internationalization of Chinese standards. As an example, the article looks at the discursive content of Chinese policy in the Arctic, which demonstrates how China is pursuing its interests not only on a material and practical level but also on an ideational level. The author concludes that the task of increasing 'discursive power' not only reflects the new quality of China's foreign policy but also responds to the increasingly complex external environment. In China's view, increasing 'discursive power' is a set of tools to help China move into the center of the world stage, actively shaping the agenda of international institutions and setting new “rules of the game.”

Most sinologists assume that ideology is a set of values and ideas which reflect reality in a more or less precise way. While studying ideology of PRC they focus on the literal sense of ideological narratives. Some scholars take another approach and study practical implications of ideological utterances, rather than their literal meaning. This is the approach adopted in this study. The author draws basic assumptions from Alexey Yurchak’s work on late socialism in USSR and then proceed to find parallels between Soviet and Chinese ideologies. He discovers that some aspects of “performative shift” can be found in PRC. Like in late Soviet Union, in China it is more import to reproduce the proper form of ideological language, rather than its literal meaning. In this respect Hu Jintao era (2002-2012) is remarkable. In this period language of the official discourse became ossified. At the same time Hu Jintao era is marked with a certain degree of ideological pluralism. Chinese intellectuals were relatively free in interpreting official narratives and in bringing in new ideas into the ideological discourse. Xi Jinping era is characterized by a reversed process. Party language has become more vivid, and the Chinese leader has started to give comments on the literal meaning of various ideological conceptions. Meanwhile there are fewer opportunities for free interpretation of the official discourse. We come to the conclusion that today Chinese socialism is going through the process of re-ideologization unlike the Soviet system which underwent de-ideologization before its eventual collapse.

Energy remains the backbone of the global economy in present times, and competition is most closely associated with achieving energy security. States, whether big or small, have been involved in a race to achieve energy security for national development; however, in the process, they have foregone the need and opportunity to accumulate the benefits coming from greater interdependence and cooperation between them. The paper proposes that states under prevailing circumstances, when climate change is manifesting in new forms and volatility in global oil markets is at an all-time high, need to overhaul their understanding and application of energy security according with the ground realities. Energy security at the world level can be achieved through cooperative adjustments along the supply chain, involving supply, transit and consuming states, to build enhanced mutual dependence. These adjustments would enable states to reposition themselves and optimally operate in the global energy trade; thus, altering the dynamics of global energy system and embedding sustainability in it. All of that will come with the dedication of national governments, along with a sense of urgency and participation in decision-making among end consumers (i.e. people) and advocacy of international climate-energy forums, to revamp the existing energy system to meet the changing energy needs of mankind both at present and in coming time.

The article is devoted to assessing the state of Russian soft power. The author was prompted to address this topic by a contradiction. On the one hand, a review of the scientific literature shows that experts appreciate the level of development of Russia's soft power in the near abroad. On the other hand, international political analysts state that the CIS States have chosen one or another form of multi-vector activity in the international arena, and Moscow's influence in the post-Soviet space has been declining in the past few years. Based on a Grounded theory developed by A. Strauss and J. Corbin, which analyzed the policy documents of political parties that passed national parliaments, the author comes to a number of conclusions. The attitude of party and political elites to Russia differs from one country to another and is inversely dependent on the attitude to the EU. When assessing the impact of Russia's soft power, it is necessary to follow an «individual» (country) approach rather than a region wide one.

The main goal of the paper is to reveal, to compare and to summarize the essence of Russian political approaches toward particular cases of states with limited recognition and also to define in global scale whether the stance undergoes transformation or it could be considered as an attitude unique in each special matter when Moscow simultaneously supports independence of South Caucasian Republics and does not recognize Kosovo. The authors believe that there is strong need for Russia of an elaborated strategy based on a robust academic research. The authors outline two de facto approaches to secessionist formations practically applied by contemporary members of international society: international law approach and geopolitical approach. Summing up all the peculiarities of Russian position they assert that Moscow mostly keeps to geopolitical approach towards factual secessions rather international law approach, but in case of Kosovo, Palestine, South Ossetia and Abkhazia it resorts to international law approach. The authors also provisionally divide all contemporary secessionist formations in Russian policy into three groups according to priority ranking and provide results of a detailed content-analysis of Russian foreign policy formal documents and politicians statements that reveal a wide range of appellations concerning secessionist formations. The characteristics testify the fact that Russia strictly keeps to the position of territorial integrity principle respect. Finally, the authors produce two forecasts of further Russian policy towards factual secessions and conclude that Russian policy of consideration each factual secession should continue being individual as fruitful, consistent, deliberate and ensuring more profitable conditions in the context of international cooperation and security.

In this article, the authors conduct a comparative historical analysis of the stages of Chinese penetration into Africa, the concepts, goals, means, methods and consequences of this penetration for China itself and for individual African countries. The authors conclude that compared to the period of twenty years ago, when China began to show increased interest in Africa, a new situation has now emerged. China has created a binary structure: the Forum of China-Africa cooperation launches a mechanism for selecting countries that are ready to follow the political path of the PRC with the prospect of becoming a country-follower of China, and the “One belt – one road” program de facto “forms membership” in the club of countries-followers of China, fixing these countries in the trail of Chinese influence not only politically, but also economically.

The article analyzes the effect of COVID-19 pandemic on development and implementation of integration processes in the Eurasian Economic Union, which performs activities of strategic importance for the foreign policy of Russia. In order to figure out more precise predictive appraisals of quality and effectiveness of integration in the Eurasian region, the authors perform a research of integration processes based on 3 periods of time: 1. Development of integration processes in the EAEU before the pandemic, 2. Performance and resulting quality thereof during the pandemic, 3. Possible course of events scenario after the pandemic. The authors review current state of international relations, challenges and issues that EAEU is facing, prospects for further development and suggest recommendations on enhancing the organization’s activities.

During the pandemic, Sino-US relations have remarkably deteriorated. The institutionalization of such destructive practices as toughening rhetoric in the media and sanctions is becoming obvious. As the model of bilateral relations is now aimed at decoupling the degradation will continue. These trends inevitably affect the mood of the Chinese society. The article analyzes opinions on foreign policy in Chinese society in the context of Sino American relations within the pandemic period. The work is divided into two parts: the first assesses general trends in US-China relations. The second part traces the current trends in the modern ideological and political atmosphere in Chinese society. The episode with congratulations to the Chinese public from the American administration on the occasion of the 101st anniversary of the famous «May 4, 1919 movement» is analyzed as a case study. The research shows that this event received ambiguous and even opposite assessments: part of the society saw in it as an attempt to accuse China of the spread of coronavirus and the imposition of Western values. Another part emphasized M. Pottinger’s rather high level of spoken Chinese and noted that the very fact of congratulation can be viewed as a positive moment for bilateral relations. There were also positions combining both approaches. The case under consideration reveals the danger of decoupling initiated by the parties. The tension between the PRC and the United States leads to the fact that the partners are starting to interpret each other’s intentions as presumably hostile, even taking into account such a formally favorable occasion as congratulations on a significant historical date. Meanwhile, it seems that the presence of positive interpretations against the background of a general deterioration in bilateral relations also cannot be ignored. Although public opinion cannot be unambiguous and does not always directly influence specific political steps, it is important to take into account the full range of opinions for an objective and comprehensive analysis of Sino American relations.

The article examines main aspects of the PRC’s policy on international development cooperation, including China’s rationales, priority spheres and formats of interaction with 25 leading multilateral institutions of international cooperation (MIIC) representing the United Nations system. The chronology covers period starting since the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to 2019. Based on the analysis of the China’s resource contribution to the MIIC activities the author defines key areas of cooperation and categorizes the UN agencies with regard to their importance for the China’s foreign policy. The maim assumption of the current article stipulates that the resource contribution of the country to the MIIC activities is directly related to the countries interest in collaboration. The first part is dedicated to the PRC’s ideology and rationales for cooperation on international development issues. The second part considers the China’s contribution to the major UN agencies mandates of which covers the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to 2019. The conclusion contains the main findings and the categorization of the UN MIIC importance for China, and recommendations for the Russian Federation.

US-China Technology War in 2019-2020 reached a new level. Washing ton introduced new measures aimed at preventing Chinese corporations from access to the emerging technologies, «smart» capital, and academic sector. For the PRC and Chinese technology sector this process was a severe blow, significantly complicating medium-to-long term development prospects. In response, PRC intensified import substitution, scientific and technological development – also through international scientific and technical cooperation (ISTC). China still lacks competencies and time to compensate the U.S. actions, so it concentrates on science and human capital de velopment for the future breakthroughs. We envision significant economic risks for the PRC including its ability to recreate itself as a new science and technology center, alternative to the U.S.A. Regional and global implications are not less significant. Unlike other cases of sanctions, U.S. measures are aimed not only at impairing economic potential of an opponent nation, but also at supporting dominance of the U.S. entities in some key high-tech processes, conserving their key role in global value chains (GVC), markets, and industries. These actions and the PRC’s response may lead to reformatting of global S&T processes, including rise of parallel GVCs, alienation from an «open» logic of high-tech development, and shift in the focus of ISTC. In future, this will also have important geopolitical implications, since the new system of GVCs and markets will structure alliances, influence and strength – especially considering emphasis on emerging technologies of key importance for the future economy (from 5G to artificial intelligence)

The article is devoted to the conjugation and harmonizing of Chinese Belt and Road Initiative with Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union focusing on maximal utilizing of Russian Far Eastern part’s capacity for integration purpose. Moscow and Beijing plans obtain new sense and extraordinary importance within the President Putin’s idea of ‘Grand Eurasian Partnership’. It means that both parties are able and thus striving to reshape Eurasian geopolitical and geo-economic landscape according to their respective interests and form so called Grossraum. Considering this, such an integration process is designed as a alternative to the cooperation mechanisms offered by the global West. There is a review of Russian Far East as well as Chinese North-East’s respective capacities for the implementation of the Belt and Road initiative in a given text. However we are to admit that all the efforts made by both Russia and China to develop their respective border territories are still nor coordinated enough. Thus approach of local authorities and government strategies are strongly recommended to be reviewed in a while in order to contribute properly into integration process and achieve synergy effect. Also, one of the tasks of this research is to sum up and analyze all the collected experience of formerly initiated bilateral projects, including negative sides and drawbacks. Besides that, the feasible part of the article is devoted to unveiling all the emerged impediments in trade, investment, industrial and other forms of Sino Russian cooperation. Therefore, potential of border areas deserves a special and thorough attention.

Relatively recently, students of authoritarianism have not paid much attention to institutions. It was believed that since authoritarian rule is generally an arbitrariness, its institutionalism is not really important. Modern approach, however, is that institutions in authoritarian regimes are no less important than in a democracy. This is also applicable to such a political institution traditionally associated with democracy as elections. Recent works on comparative authoritarianism provide more evidence that holding election may help autocrats to survive. Starting from the “third wave” of democratization, the political regimes of “electoral authoritarianism,” that means regimes that are authoritarian in nature, but successfully implementing initially democratic political institutions including elections, are becoming more widespread. The regular holding of moderately competitive elections is characteristic of two the most important types of electoral authoritarianism, both hegemonic and competitive authoritarian regimes. This article attempts to generalize and systematize the conceptual views available in literature on the elections role in authoritarian regimes. Four main functions of authoritarian elections are identified and analyzed: legitimation, display of strength, co-optation and information acquisition.

Review of the books: Makarenko, V.P. Sobr. soch.: v 3-kh t. [Coll. cit .: in 3 volumes]. Rostov-on-Don; Taganrog: Southern Federal University Publishing House, 2019.
This is the review of the three-volume book by V.P. Makarenko, the author of over 500 works, Doctor of Philosophy and Political Sciences, Professor, Honored Scientist of the Russian Federa-tion, Academician of the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of Ukraine, Chief Researcher, Head of the Center for Political Conceptology of the Institute of Philosophy, Social and Political Sciences of the Southern Federal university. This is the work of a person who devoted his life to the study of socio-political processes taking place before his eyes, which required understanding from the point of view of time, history, and civilization.
This collection comprises essays written from 1980s to 2010s. The author included them to illus-trate his cross-cutting idea of the relationship between power, bureaucracy and society. The au-thor's successes and failures are also noted. V.P. Makarenko understands bureaucracy as a ‘trans-formed form of expression of universal interests’, a social organism-parasite throughout its his-torical existence, reflection of social contradictions and conflicts, materialization of political and managerial alienation. The methodological thought of Makarenko is devoted to the explanation of this phenomenon, whose task is to develop his own concept and destroy long-term myths about bureaucracy as an example of ‘rational management of society’.
Makarenko proceeds from the difference between name and description and on this basis de-scribes bureaucratic ontology, epistemology and axiology. V.P. Makarenko's concept of bureau-cracy can be understood as a version of a theory that can fall under the status of error (according to K. Popper's theory). It implies the transformation of the common good as an ideal idea into an embodied common evil, a particular case of which is civilization and any power. The errors of various theories of state structures, relations and power are also described. The bureaucratic state created by Lenin and Stalin is a formally
developed system of total lies, the consequences and incarnations of which still
exist in Russia.

The economic crisis in Spain that began in 2008 led to the deep social discontent that later turned into the movement of «Indignant», citizens tiered of economic restrictions, unemployment, corruption scandals. That movement brought new political parties to the traditional bipolar Spanish political system, destroying it and showing to the establishment that the country needs urgent measures to be taken. The non-confidence motion showed the inability of the mainstream parties to solve the existing problems that collapse the country. That helped a lot to the appearance of a new populist party called Podemos that offered immediately simple solutions to the national economic challenges. Unfortunately and logically becoming the third party in Spain didn’t help to Podemos to solve all the current problems and it was obliged to give way to another young party – Ciudadanos. The party that originally was created to defend the rights of Spanish people in Catalonia soon realized the need to reach the national scale to be heard and for this purpose created a program of social and economic reforms for the whole country. The study sets out to analyze the reasons of the success of new Spanish parties as well as to compare their programs and watch the new vector of political evolution in Spain.