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This article presented as a review to the textbook of the Doctor of History Shakhalilov Shamansur, The History of International Relations: Driving Forces, Global Tendencies. Moscow State University Press, 2015. The author focuses readers attention on the regularities of formation, development and peculiarities of legal regulation of international relations, considers these relations as an ongoing, highly controversial and multidirectional developing process of the formation of the world system of States and international relations, explores the driving forces, events and phenomena, who had in his time, and many still have a decisive influence on international policy the leading powers of the world in the framework of nonlinear processes of globalization and the current, seriously flawed by today's standards, world order and system of international law. The article draws readers attention to everything presented in the tutorial main substantial characteristics and patterns of international relations in their historical context. Emphasizes the inadmissibility of violations of principles and norms of functioning of the traditional system of international law; analyses the factors of influence on the world trends of globalization processes is the gradual destruction of the boundaries between national and international levels of government and governance, the increasing role of supranational political actors. Attention is drawn to the increasing importance in international Affairs information and communication technologies and social networks, expanding the access of citizens to discuss government decisions on international issues. Article will help not only students, but all interested in the patterns, principles and features of international practices in different historical periods and in different civilization. Will foster in the reader a holistic view of the system of international relations and diplomatic activities, to learn, to understand the origins, motivations and basic principles of foreign policy in different historical and structural conditions, a deeper understanding of the relevant definitions, concepts, norms and traditions of international relations and the professional culture in diplomacy.

Book review: Strategic prognostication of international relations: the count. monograph / ed. A.I., Podberezkin, M.V. Aleksandrov; [A. Podberezkin I. et al.]; Moscow State Institute of International Relations (University), Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation the Center for Military-Political Studies. - M.: MGIMO-University, 2016. - 743 p.

Applied foreign policy analysis is the hallmark of MGIMO-University. 2016 marks 40th anniversary of introduction of this element to the identity of our university in a form of Problem Research Laboratory. MGIMO development as a leading think tank took place in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in close cooperation with other key institutions that shape foreign policy and are responsible for ensuring the national interests of Russia in the world. Today MGIMO's priority is the development of political policy expertise and analytical development-oriented scientific and practical support of the activities of state bodies. Such studies are the main but not the only focus of the Institute of International Studies.

Dynamic development of international processes at the regional level, various trajectories of regionalization in Europe, Asia, Latin America and other parts of the world created a complex and multidimensional picture of the contemporary international relations. However Social Sciences and IR retained a distinct eurocentrism. This eurocentrism only partly meant that students of IR did not take into account non-European or non-Western realities. Thus, a German Scholar J. Vullers from German Institute of Global and Area Studies analyzing in 2014 three leading International Relations journals (International Organization, World Politics, European Journal of International Relations) diagnosed a serious geographic imbalance in the international studies, which meant a very limited number of articles based on the nonWestern empirical data.Even with such geographic imbalance in IR studies more important for preserving eurocentrism there was the absence of non-Western IR theories or IR theories originating from non-Western political context. The collective monograph edited by Barry Buzan and Amitav Acharya focused exactly on this problem. The title of the book was provocatively asking why there is no non-Western IR theory. Thus, the book in question provoked a lively academic debate on the topic. Russia was not covered in this book. Therefore, this very fact gives one some reasons to reflect on how Russian research in the field may face a double challenge of a changing international environment and an inappropriate level of its intellectual assessment. Against this background this article analyzes World Regional Studies, a research framework and discipline, which is rapidly developing in Russia and may to some extent contribute to a more correct understanding of the international processes.

The article is the form of scientific report on the results of three year long project on methodology of long term forecasting the development of the system of international relations. The methodology is based on the following assumptions: input information is accurate and complete; international relations constitute a system, scenarios for different levels of international relations development are hierarchically interdependent; the speed of development is different on various levels of international relations; various national capabilities affect the development; elites affect international relations; civil society affect international relations. Based on this assumption the author builds the most probable scenario of intercivilizational relations which is military coercive interaction. The role of soft power will increase its share in the toolkit of the confrontational politics. To win in this confrontation it is necessary to review the current practices of strategic forecasting and planning and to rebuild the entire military organization of the Russian army. The principal condition for the victory is development of national human capital, as well as the formation of the national ideology.

The problems of the world order is often seen through the interaction of the leading centers of power. Nevertheless there is another approach, locating actorhood in the state, which forms the world order. State acts in international affairs, it has the right of legitimate violence, it also has the ability to concentrate the economic and human resources. Obviously, the nature of the state as part of the international system has an effect on the system itself, defining its key parameters. From that point of view, some questions arise: what happens to the state? What is the effect of its transformation on the contemporary world order? Why the state is changing? What hierarchy of states exists in the contemporary world order? The author proceed from the following theses. First, the nation state is no longer a universal formula of nation building. However, there is no balance between two key foundations of a legitimate order - fairness and efficiency. Second, the current world order is a mosaic of fundamentally different states. Each state is trying to find a formula for the combination of a fairness and efficiency. These formulas do not always coincide with each other, and it underlays the stability in international relations. Third, a small group of major powers still play the key role in the world order. The issue of sovereignty of many countries remains open. World order, as well as a state, is characterized by imbalance between equity and efficiency. The awaited harmony of these two principles may be spoofed again the triumph of efficiency oover justice -maintenance of order through the balance of power and a rigid hierarchy.

The article "Problem of world order in modern Western studies" is the study of one of the most debated issues in the science of international relations - world order. Discussion of the structure of world order is underway in various countries, both at the state level and in the expert community. Some researchers insist on the fact that after the end of the cold war, the collapse of the bipolar model of international relations, the world has become unipolar. Others argue that the increase in the number of centers of power and the need for a multilateral approach to solving global problems (terrorism, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, environmental and climate issues) talking about the formation of multipolarity. However, it should be recognized that currently no widely accepted theoretical and conceptual apparatus, which complicates not only the study of the world order, but makes it impossible to search for common approaches of the international community in solving the problems associated with global development, new challenges and threats. The author of this article seeks to research and analyze the various theoretical paradigms (neo-realism, neo-liberalism, institutionalism, neo-marxism, etc.) and concepts to form a coherent picture of the structure of the world system, its main features and to offer readers the vision of the concept of "world order". Thus, the article notes that the multidimensional structure of the modern system of international relations established after the end of the cold war is so complex that none of the concepts can claim to accurate interpretation of the world order. The modern system differs from systems of the past centuries. Characteristics inherent in it (on the one hand, the increasing global processes in economy, politics, culture, etc., on the other, the attraction to return to the concept of "nation state", the closure of borders, the disintegration), require new approaches to the study of world order, factors of its formation and its components. The world system is dynamic and none of the previously existing concepts of world order are not able to accurately describe the processes occurring in the world today. For example, a bipolar model is formed based on the principle of "balance of power", a unipolar system exists on the basis of the dictates of the powers, and a multipolar - subject to the availability of the political equilibrium. It becomes obvious that the constantly changing conditions in the global arena require a whole new approach to the formation of a genuine world order. While each country will be guided by their own ideas of the world development plan focused on their interests, often in conflict with the global balance of power, to speak of a stable, efficient, safe development is impossible.

The author argues that the emergence of the first permanent intergovernmental (IIGO) and non-governmental (INGO) organizationsin the second half of the XIX-th century was due to common causes. He tries to justify the need to consider them not as independent objects of study, but as the phenomenon, caused by the high level of internationalization of economic life of states and of socio-economic consequences of the industrial revolution, reached in this period. The emergence of IIGOs, based on international treaty, was accompanied by establishment of a large number of INGOs operating in similar fields of human activity, which performed supplementary functions and regulated areas of cooperation and public needs, not covered by interstate agreements. The article presents the main factors that in later stages of internationalization and development of contemporary international relations gave the impetus to emergence and development of international organizations, including the military-technological revolution, that gave birth to mass destruction weapons and avalanche-like growth of the number of human and material losses during wars and military conflicts, the Cold War between world communism and world capitalism, the collapse of the colonial system and formation ofa new main contradiction of the world politics between the "Club of rich countries" and states of the "global periphery", beginning of development of regional integration processes and, finally, the emergence of global problems. The article emphasizes that both IIGOs and INGOs evolved from the supportive tools in implementation of multilateral interaction of sovereign states towards becoming an integral part of contemporary international relations, fulfilling many vital functions of modern human society and its citizens. Given the involvement of the overwhelming majority of modern sovereign states and tens of thousands of civil society organizations in activity of numerical IIGOs and INGOs, none of the existing centers of world power can afford to trample down and to subordinate activities of all these international organizations. The development of IIGOs and INGOs makes any attempts to create a unipolar system of contemporary international relations impossible.

Abstract: Following the collapse of the bipolar world realist approaches were placed under close scrutiny by neoliberals and constructivists. The legacy of the realist school actually became an object of numerous attacks, which were undertaken to demonstrate its discrepancy with new international realities. In the course of sharp debates proponents of realism managed to show the weakness of neoliberal argumentation and, further, to testify that a number of high-sounding neoliberal theories are poorlygrounded. At the same time, realism’s supporters proved themselves to be incapable of defeating constructivists. The new opponents persuasively revealed the apparent though neglected earlier controversy between the basic materialist assumptions of the realist school and the not entirely materialist tool of their reflection in the international relations, i.e. the concept of power. Only after a time realists managed to find some credible theoretical ground and make first effective steps towards building a consistent system of counterarguments against constructivism. However, ‘the constructivist assault’ caused a profound review of the realist theoretical and practical apparatus. Among currently relevant applied propositions of the school we should name assumptions of statism, of anarchy, of the significance of the power factor (while recognising the dual nature of power in international relations) as well as the ‘relative gains problem’.

Abstract: The article examines the methodology used within the European Union when planning the security and defence policy. The author analyses the key EU documents in this field, the structure of the respective EU bodies and the corresponding decision-making process. In particular, the article looks at the security and defence planning responsibilities of the European Council, the Military Committee and the Military Staff as well as the European Defence Agency. The author conducts a comparative analysis of the EU security and defence planning methodology with that of the US and NATO. He shows that the methodology is very similar. This concerns in particular the structural composition and the logics of the planning, its geographical scope and considerable propaganda component of respective public documents. Similarly to the US and NATO, the EU defence planning relies very little on the strategic forecasting. Instead the EU makes the principle of “strategic uncertainty” the corner stone of its policies. At the same time the EU widely uses elements of “dynamic forecasting” in its planning process, especially for short term forecasting periods. Moreover, the EU moved even further than the US and NATO along this road by applying the techniques that can be described as “dynamic planning”. At the same time the methodology of the EU security and defence planning has some significant specific features. This is explained by the fact, that the EU is mostly a civilian entity and military issues play only a small, though an important role in its work. Thus priority in its planning is given to civilian methods of promoting security, and the use of military force is regarded as the last resort. That is why the main accent in the EU security and defence policy is made on such instruments as crises management, political stabilization, peacekeeping operations and engagement of other states in all sorts of security and defence partnerships. This article is prepared in the framework of the Russian Scientific Fund project 14-18-02973 “Long term forecasting of the development of international relations”.

This paper proposes an approach to long-term scenario building in international relations, based on the analysis of changes in the dialectics of war and peace. Long-term trends in the development of forms and manifestations of violence in international relations, as well as the methods and approaches to its control and management determines the development of international relations. In solving the methodological problem of long-term forecasting, it must be as-sumed that the mere mechanical extrapolation even in the medium term has no meaning. The key current trend in terms of political violence is a blurring of the distinction between war and peace. This trend can be described as networking of war. Network war theory is a model of military strategy in the context of postmodernism. As a model of the new economy based on information and high technologies demonstrates its superiority over traditional capitalist and socialist models of the industrial age, and network war claims qualitative superiority over previous strategic concept of the industrial era. In modern political networks violent and non-violent instruments of influence co-exist in undifferentiated form. Network politics becomes total. Victory in the network war is the fact that the opponent should become part of the network. Since the network is formed around shared values, the network war can be reduced to a war of values. The clash between the networks will most likely wear un-compromising nature, so that in the end there will be only one network. Uncompromising network war is like the uncompromising religious wars and clashes of civilizations.

The article considers new tasks of universities and faculties training students of international relations. The author analyzes the essence of the concept "paradigm" in education because paradigm serves as the basis of the educational process in universities. The content of professional education depends on the aims of professional education of specialists in international relations. The process of globalization, global changes, challenges and threats bring about the necessity to study specific features of international cooperation in ecology, psychology of conflict, psychology of leadership, etc. In the age of globalization, national economies are converging while national cultures are diverging. Representatives of different nations realize the importance of preserving cultural identity. It is of vital importance to instil tolerance in future specialists in international relations and prepare them for cross-cultural communication. At the same time, it is necessary that they should not only enjoy individual freedom and national cultural identity, but realize their own responsibility to the state. In the modern world, the axiological and educational functions of professional training are growing. At the same time, it is crucial to let the students build a number of professionally relevant competences that will make it possible for them to effectively perform their professional functions. It is the competence-based approach that makes the basis of Federal state education standards, including education standards for faculties of international relations. Another direction that needs developing is training and retraining lecturers for universities specializing in international relations. Foreign language training of lecturers in basic subjects will make it possible for the, to give lectures in foreign languages, particularly in English, which, in its turn, will help to make Russia's universities more competitive.

The article points out that the progressive deterioration of the social and environmental situation on the planet and the emergence of the real threat of anthropo-ecological catastrophe necessitate the abandoning of the current model of civilizational development and the formation (first in theory and then in practice) of an ultimately new one. This innovative strategy, which means taking account of the main socio-natural contradiction, is called a sustainable development strategy. This new form of civilizational development must become rationally governed on a planetary scale, thus providing the survival and temporal continuation of the existence of humans and biosphere. The authors regard sustainable development as a vitally important (later on - dominating) orientation of international, political and global processes. This vision makes it crucially important to embed this conception into the proper scientific disciplines and research fields. The authors make use of the A.D. Bogaturov's conceptualization approach for the scientific discipline of world politics and consider the latter as an evolutionary form of global political development. The real global integrity of the world political system serves as a global attractor of this evolutionary transformation, and this aspect represents the specific pattern of all global processes. It is supposed that these processes will unfold through transition to sustainable development. The development of the global system of political actorship is considered a fundamental process within the growth of overall complexity of the global political structure. In the evolutionary sustainable development perspective it should result in the formation of an integral subject of global politics and global activity. The article shows that the dominating state-centric approach reproduces the political model of unsustainable development, which is characterized by archaic prerequisites of political realism, spontaneous formation of system, and growing threats to global security.

This article analyzes the problems associated with the dismantling of the political regimes in modern states (both authoritarian and democratic type) and the role of technology in the process of color revolutions. Problems of dismantling of political regimes and the associated problems of color revolutions acquire extreme urgency and actuality in modern conditions. In the world history always there were problems associated with the dismantling of the political regimes. But formerly the instruments of dismantling included mostly violent methods in the classical sense, applied in armed coups, local armed conflicts, civil wars and military interventions. And the international community managed to develop effective methods to counter these threats and to create effective mechanisms for political control of these processes, even at the international level. Acuteness of the problem associated with the threat of military coups in the various countries of the world does not cease to be actual and not removed from the agenda, but for the whole international community this category of threats is familiar, and the world community knows how to react to it. However, today the world is changing, and technologies of armed coups are replaced by more subtle color revolutions technology that is cleverly disguised as a true revolutionary movement and virtually unopposed from both- countries witch fully developed democracy and of the Oriental type, preserved traditional livelihoods. Repetition of the scenario of color revolutions in Ukraine causes legitimate concern (well founded anxiety), since there is growing confidence that Ukraine -not the end point of this scenario, but simply a bargaining chip to the geopolitical game in which the brunt of American directors (producers) of color revolutions may be directed to Russia, China and Kazakhstan.

The article is an attempt to comprehend the changes in the Russian approach to the post-Soviet space. The analysis, based on the official government documents and speeches of Russian officials, reveals the stages of foreign policy in accordance with the current situation unfolding in the international arena. The Russian policy towards the nearest international environment shows changes in tactics, semantics and its focus on certain spheres of cooperation for the realization of its own interests. At the same time, the goal of foreign policy and the importance of "post-soviet space" remained the same. Although the postsoviet space in not a geographical region, Russian foreign policy refers to it as a whole. Russian leaders looked at the CIS as for it to become the "new confederation", with time, it turned out to be a platform to share common interests. The CIS has become a Forum for the elaboration of improvised automatisms and solutions among the interested countries. The CIS is not only a direction of foreign policy, but also the key element of success in Russia's policy towards international major powers. Over time, Russian foreign policy became more influenced by the external environment than the internal political and economic situation. The post-Soviet space in Russian foreign policy has evolved from the space of problems and threats into the arena of potential cooperation and integration processes.

The article presents a comparative analysis of the official presence on the Internet, including social networking sites, of the state diplomatic agencies of France, Italy, Russia, and others. A new form of "digital diplomacy" on the one hand provides new opportunities for the implementation of the state international politics, and on the other, imposes special requirements on its members. There is the feedback loop between the diplomatic and public agencies (a new phenomenon of the modern information society). Social media play an important role in shaping public opinion, which puts forward specific requirements for how information on the official pages of diplomatic offices in social networks. The new format of close cooperation between the public and diplomatic agencies makes the modern diplomacy more public and less restrained. In these circumstances, it is very important information without losing the initiative and applying new and modern means of communication with their particular style of communication, they can not fall the level of political culture, as happened with the diplomatic authorities of the USA and some other countries. Thus, the ongoing technological revolution complicates the interaction between the participants of international relations. The usage of digital technologies in the diplomatic activity opens up new possibilities for conducting a policy of «soft power» aimed to develop concerted action to overcome the political, social and economic crises, as well as develop the measures to prevent them.

The article discusses the research and development achievements of MGIMO-University and lays out a framework for further development. The author the responses of the humankind to the challenges of history are bound with acute contradictions and chaos in social and international relations. Among the main tools for soothing the contradictions are education and science. The author dwells upon the issue of educating students for Foreign Service. The education programs should include a following subject triad: history of international relations, international law and macroeconomics. This suggestion reflects the developments in worlds top universities. Among the key competencies required for work at Foreign Crevice are inter cultural communication, political psychology and negotiation skills. Th earticle out lines a program for getting MGIMO University to the top of world league tables. This goal is fairly new for Russian higher education; nevertheless it finds great support and encouragement on the part of Russian government in the form of laws and development programs. The government sets a goal of making 5 to 10 Russian universities world's best. The 70 years history of excellent research, education and training is a good ground for MGIMO to achieve this goal.

Для академического сообщества специалистов в области международных отношений высшее образование выступает двойственным образом. С одной стороны, как сфера, влияющая на политическое развитие мира и даже формирующая его: выпускники вузов, получившие образование по международным отношениям, действуют на практике, исходя из приобретенных во время обучения представлений о политическом устройстве мира, внешней политике различных стран, основных проблемах международной повестки дня. С другой стороны, сама образовательная сфера должна быть объектом анализа тех, кто занимается исследованиями в области международных отношений и мировой политики: это и изучение вопросов международного сотрудничества в области образования, и анализ интеграционных процессов, которые сейчас интенсивно идут в сфере высшего образования, и сравнительный анализ образовательных систем различных стран, и наконец, оценка возможностей высшего образования как ресурса «мягкой силы» государства. Вместе с тем, политологами-международниками исследования по всем этим проблемам систематически не ведутся ни в России, ни за рубежом, область фактически отдается на откуп специалистам других профилей. Так, есть исследования по правовым и экономическим аспектам образования в международном ракурсе. Педагоги затрагивают данную проблематику, в частности, анализируя Болонский процессi. Однако можно назвать буквально единицы работ специалистов в области международных отношений и мировой политики (за исключением, пожалуй, представителей МГИМО (У)), в которых обсуждаются данные вопросыii. Впрочем, в последние годы к обсуждаемой проблематике начал проявляться все больший интерес. В частности, вопросы образования стали рассматриваться в качестве одного из направлений анализа Французского института международных отношений (ИФРИ) - исследовательского института Франции, ориентированного на изучение стратегических вопросовiii. Данный факт весьма примечателен: он показывает, какую роль играет образование в современном мире. Вместе с тем, на протяжении более десяти лет в МГИМО (У) разрабатывается проблематика образования в международных исследованиях

Для академического сообщества специалистов в области международных отношений высшее образование выступает двойственным образом. С одной стороны, как сфера, влияющая на политическое развитие мира и даже формирующая его: выпускники вузов, получившие образование по международным отношениям, действуют на практике, исходя из приобретенных во время обучения представлений о политическом устройстве мира, внешней политике различных стран, основных проблемах международной повестки дня. С другой стороны, сама образовательная сфера должна быть объектом анализа тех, кто занимается исследованиями в области международных отношений и мировой политики: это и изучение вопросов международного сотрудничества в области образования, и анализ интеграционных процессов, которые сейчас интенсивно идут в сфере высшего образования, и сравнительный анализ образовательных систем различных стран, и наконец, оценка возможностей высшего образования как ресурса «мягкой силы» государства. Вместе с тем, политологами-международниками исследования по всем этим проблемам систематически не ведутся ни в России, ни за рубежом, область фактически отдается на откуп специалистам других профилей. Так, есть исследования по правовым и экономическим аспектам образования в международном ракурсе. Педагоги затрагивают данную проблематику, в частности, анализируя Болонский процессi. Однако можно назвать буквально единицы работ специалистов в области международных отношений и мировой политики (за исключением, пожалуй, представителей МГИМО (У)), в которых обсуждаются данные вопросыii. Впрочем, в последние годы к обсуждаемой проблематике начал проявляться все больший интерес. В частности, вопросы образования стали рассматриваться в качестве одного из направлений анализа Французского института международных отношений (ИФРИ) - исследовательского института Франции, ориентированного на изучение стратегических вопросовiii. Данный факт весьма примечателен: он показывает, какую роль играет образование в современном мире. Вместе с тем, на протяжении более десяти лет в МГИМО (У) разрабатывается проблематика образования в международных исследованиях