The relations between France and the Middle East states during the presidency of Emmanuel Macron in the context of settlement of regional crises

This article analyzes the relations between France and the Middle East states through the prism of foreign policy course of Emmanuel Macron, who was elected as the president of France on May 14, 2017. The Middle East vector of foreign policy is traditional for the Republic, and therefore is one of the foreign policy priorities for the current leader. The author aim to determine the essence and key peculiarities of the Middle East course of E. Macron. For achieving the set goal it is necessary to outline the priority foreign policy vectors of the president and range of countries in the region that are subject to the measures of his chosen course; analyze in which states and to what extent the leader of the Republic continues the policy of his predecessors who were in power since the early XXI century; and changes in the relations between France and certain Middle East states. The conclusion is made on the presence of particular factors that hinder the conduct of smart policy in the region, which would meet the interests of all Middle Eastern actors. Disaccord of the French leader with his international partners regarding the Middle East regulation significantly complicates the implementation of smart foreign relative to the Arab world. E. Macron is currently paying scrupulous attention to the policy of European integration, which raises a number of unresolved issues regarding the Middle East. This alongside the domestic political issues undermines the authority of the current French leader.

The specificity of Russia’s chairmanship of the Arctic Council in 2021–2023

The subject of this research is the policy of the Russian Federation in the Arctic. The object is Russia’s chairmanship of the Arctic Council in 2021–2023. The author meticulously analyzes the positions of the state, taking into account national interests and peculiarities of the current international situation in the region. The article examines the domestic legislative acts adopted for regulation of the Arctic Region, as well as international documents aimed at sustainable development of the North. The conditions of collective security dictate moderate and clearly defined policy in the Arctic, which is the central arena for political action with the leading role of the Russian Federation until 2023. The conclusion is drawn that the Arctic Region is currently the most relevant vector of the policy of northern states. Chairmanship of the Russian Federation imposes enormous responsibility on the country, as despite the overall state of security in the region, there remains a range of unresolved issues. The attempts of institutionalization of the Arctic Council may become an implicit threat for the Russian Federation; this is why the systematization of domestic legislation and foreign policy actions on maintaining the health of ecosystem, cultural heritage, and environmental policy have become the priority vectors in the first year of Russia’s chairmanship. The overall responsibility of the leading actor the Arctic does not exclude the existence of classic threats to the security of state’s sovereignty, which requires accurate planning in subsequent years of the chairmanship.

The system of moral encouragement of personnel as the mechanism for improving labor efficiency and mitigating conflict manifestations in the sphere of social and labor relations (on the example of companies of the Republic of Bashkortostan)

One of the key tasks at the current stage of development of the Russian society and its regional communities lies on only in modification of labor capital for increasing its quantitative and qualitative parameters, but also in improving the quality of social and labor environment, which prompts more effective implementation of the available labor capital and rise in labor productivity. The development of the system of moral encouragement of personnel is viewed as the condition for improving the social and labor environment of the company and the criterion satisfaction with the work life. The subject of this research is the system of moral encouragement of personnel as the mechanism for improving the labor efficiency and mitigating conflict manifestations in the sphere of social and labor relations. The empirical analysis is based on the state statistical data, as well as the sociological survey conducted by the Sector of Socio-Political Research of the Institute for Social and Economic Research of Ufa Federal Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences in 2021 in the Republic of Bashkortostan. The article also employs secondary data analysis. The author substantiates the need for implementation in the companies of the Republic of Bashkortostan of the flexible system of moral encouragement based on the principle of “social cafeteria” and differentiated mechanisms considering the social characteristics of employees (men, women, and employees with family responsibilities). It is revealed that the clash of career and family is one of the most relevant spheres of the emergence of tension and conflict in modern labor collectives regardless of the field of employment. Description is given to the relevant measures of moral encouragement of personnel, which imply the broadening of options to combine work with family and parenting responsibilities.

Escalation of Turkey-Syria conflict in Idlib in February–March 2020: based on the results of event analysis.

The subject of this research is the escalation of Turkey-Syria conflict in February–March 2020. The authors explore the prerequisites of the conflict, development stages, escalation factors, and consequences of confrontation. Description is given to the positions of the three opposing actors: Syrian-Russian, Turkish, and NATO bloc. The methodology of event analysis methodology is applied to the conflict. Emphasis is placed on the course of events reflected in charts. Use of the method of event analysis allows tracing the key vectors and their intersection: escalation – peacemaking. The author employs media reports of all parties to the conflict for demonstrating the peculiarities of escalation of the confrontation. The novelty lies in application of the method of event analysis method for assessing the specifics of escalation of the Spring Shield military operation in the conditions of modern hybrid warm, which provides different perspectives on the conflict. The conclusion is made on interaction of the actors and their impact upon escalation and peacemaking. It is established that Syria and Turkey exerted major impact upon escalation of the conflict, while Russia acted as the arbiter and the main force of moderation. Conflict potential of the Idlib crisis remains high and characterized as protracted semi-frozen conflict.

The political language of modern Islamism: practices of legitimation of the International Terrorist Organization “Islamic State” (terrorist organization banned in Russia)

This article analyzes the ways of legitimation that are characteristic to the Russian-language propaganda of the terrorist group “Islamic State” that is banned in Russia. The arguments the extremist propaganda resorts to are revealed on the example of the online magazine “Istok”: founded on Muslim law, legitimation on the basis of Quranic texts, appeal to moral justice of the establishment of “Caliphate”, and positioning of “Caliphate” as the traditional sovereign state with its attributes. Description is given to the peculiarities of the Russian-language jihadist propaganda and radical discourse of the “Islamic State” overall: an important distinctive feature of the Islamist propaganda is the archaic motives. Having studied the propagandistic materials, the author outlines such features of jihadist propaganda as propensity to determinism and fatalism, orientation towards eschatological worldview, reference of the logical and political arguments to the times of the establishment of Islam. Application of the methods of political linguistics to the information product of terrorist organization reveals the basic strategy of legitimization of the “Islamic State”, which resorts to the archaic, establishment of the “caliphate” of Islamists to the time of origination of Islam and the era of the “righteous caliphs”. The elements of the traditional state are largely translated onto the external, non-Muslim environment: coverage of the activity of the administrative structures of Islamic State, demonstration of the own economic system, and abundance of national symbols. The analysis of propagandistic materials allows concluding on the nominal role of the leader of the jihadist group Islamic State Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, whose name is associated not only with the phenomenal success of the jihadist project, but also the equally painful defeat that the “Islamic State” suffered in the end.

Problems and prospects of evolution of the relations between Germany and Turkey

This article analyzes the concerns and prospects for the development of relations between Turkey and Germany based on the historical method and event study. The relevance of this topic lies in the fact that at the in the context of transition of the global political system from bilateral to multilateral model of world political landscape, Turkey’s political interests are focused on becoming one of the dominants in the Caucasus-Black Sea-Mediterranean region. The article discusses the complicated relations between Germany and Turkey. Special attention is given to the domestic political agenda of the two countries, their bilateral relations, as well as relations with the European Union. Various political parties in Germany, their outlook upon Germany-Turkey and EU-Turkey relations, positioning on the German Turks, and policy of the German governments are described from the perspective of historical approach to shed light on the key aspects of their attitude towards the “Turkish issue”. The article outlines the trends and prospects for the evolution of Germany-Turkey relations at the current stage of development of the world political-economic system. The conducted analysis relies on the authorial fundamental works, scientific publications, and historical documents on the history of Germany-Turkey relations. Using the three-tier analysis of bilateral visits of the representatives of both countries over the period from 2014 to 2020, the author places emphasis on the domestic political agenda of the two countries, bilateral relations between them, as well as their relations with the European Union.

Conditions and technologies for minimization of protest activity of the Russian youth in the context of modern media discourse in digital environment

This article is dedicated to the analysis of protest activity of the Russian youth in the context of the institutionalization of the global digital politics. The contradictions existing in the Russian political system are viewed in the form of conflict, which determines the specificity of the reproduction of protest activity of the representatives of youth cohort. The ambiguities in implementation of state policy manifest as the trigger for the formation of protest activity, including mobilization of social activity of youth in constructive / destructive behavioral practices. Research methodology is comprised of the concept of social action in interpretation of M. Weber, T. Parsons, J. Habermas, as well as the theory of social changes developed by P. Sztompka, which allows relying on the thesis of the mutual interaction of structures in relation to the actors in terms of analysis of youth protest. Interpretation is given to the results of discourse analysis of political media texts on the Internet that was conducted by the authors. The scientific novelty consists in determination of the existing expert opinions on the conditions necessary for minimizing protest activity of the youth, as well as most widespread technologies used for their implementation. Of particular importance are the results of the original empirical study that allow interpreting the two positions, which reflect the opinion within the professional environment on the role of youth in protest movement of the Russian Federation, forming the so-called “ideological foundation” for further reasoning on the state and social activity related to protesting youth.

Conflict between an individual and the state in the concept of Max Stirner

The subject of this research is the views of the German classical philosopher Max Stirner on the individual, society, and the state reflected in his flagship work “The Ego and Its Own”. The object of this research is the anarchism as a unique trend in the world political and philosophical thought. On the one hand, the author emphasize the determinedness of the ideas of German philosopher by the historical atmosphere of his time, while on the other – view anarchism as the doctrine with the equally long history in the world thought and practical implementation of the anarchist concepts. The focus of M. Stirner's ideas lies in the conflict between an individual and the state. The scientific novelty of this article consists in the analysis of the essential conceptual conflict, immanent to the history of mankind, which is the foundation for M. Stirner’s original concept of the relationship between an individual, the state, and surrounding world. The trueness of being in the concept of German philosopher is determined by the embodiment of the anthropocentric, or according to M. Stirner, the “egoistic” ontological ideal. The authors' special contribution consists in the analysis of views of M. Stirner, as well as in tracing correlation between the  anarchist concepts and realization of the ideas of anarchism in one or another form. The authors show no reference to any value judgments related to this ideological phenomenon.

Evolution of foreign policy priorities of the Western Balkan countries in the context of their European and Euro-Atlantic

This article traces the evolution of foreign policy priorities of the Western Balkan countries in the context of their European and Euro-Atlantic integration over the period from the mid-1990s to 2020. The key goal lies in the analysis of formation and development of the European and Euro-Atlantic vectors in foreign policy of the Western Balkans. The relevance of the selected topic is defined by fact that all Western Balkan countries are somehow involved in the European and Euro-Atlantic integration processes, which prompts transformations in their home and foreign policy. In post-Cold War era, the Western Balkans depart from their foreign policy course, which they have followed since the end of the World War II. The conflicts that were related to dissolution of Yugoslavia underline the expansion of influence of the North Atlantic Alliance as the major “peacekeeper”, and the European Union, which took on the role of post-conflict settlement. In the under their influence. Tracing the evolution of foreign policy priorities of the Western Balkans within the framework of their European and Euro-Atlantic integration defines the scientific novelty of this research. The acquired conclusions can be implemented in theoretical and practical activity. The article explores the regional initiatives of NATO and EU, which were aimed at stabilization of the Western Balkan region through transformation of state and social institutions, development of interstate cooperation, and involvement in regional integration processes. For determination of the role of the European Union and NATO in foreign policy of the Western Balkans, the author analyzed the doctrinal documents of the Western Balkan countries, which highlighted the priority of European and Euro-Atlantic vector.

Foreign policy priorities of the United States in Asia-Pacific: impact of the concepts “Pivot to Asia” and “America First”

This article analyzes the influence of the United States upon the political processes in APAC based on the example of territorial disputes in the South China Sea. An overview is given to the foreign policy concepts “Pivot to Asia” and “America First” proposed by the administrations of B. Obama and D. Trump respectively, the priorities outlined therein, as well as importance of the  conflict in the South China Sea for the US foreign policy. The author examines the practical steps taken by Washington in relation to the South China Sea question, as well as concludes on the objectives of the United States and possible steps in this direction. Although the theme of territorial disputes in the South China Sea, including the degree of  involvement of Washington into this issue, as well as other East Asian affairs, is quite popular in the scientific works,  the novelty of this research consists in the innovative approach towards consideration of the conflict in the South China Sea not as a separate problem of international relations, but as the foreign policy instrument of superpower and regional powers (including the United States) used for formatting the East Asian regional subsystem of international relations and structuring the Greater East Asia macroregion to their benefit.