Articles

This article focuses on corruption cases in the area of military-technological cooperation between India and other countries in the context of Indian political development from 1947 to the present. Among the biggest scandals that changed the political landscape of the nation were the cases of HDW and Bofors (both 1987), “Operation West End” (2001), Scorpene (2006) and AgustaWestland (2014). All of these contributed to political crises and aff ected the balance of political forces in India. The struggle against corruption has been and continues to be complicated by the fact that strong ties have emerged between government, business and the armed forces over the years of Indian independence. At the same time, in modern conditions politicians fi nd it increasingly diffi cult to hide their participation in corruption schemes thanks, on the one hand, to the increased capabilities of the media and public organizations and, on the other, to competition within political elites.

This article discusses the concept of global design in the USSR, focusing on the Soviet artistic futurology of the 1950s that contrasted Soviet ideals — the “Soviet man,” the Soviet system of interpersonal relations and ideas about communist society — with individualistic ideals of the Western type. Using the example of the novel “The Nebula of Andromeda” (1957) by Ivan Antonovich Efremov, the author examines the value foundations of ideal design — anthropological, ethical and ontological — that correspond to the level of a person, to interpersonal relations and to society as a whole. Efremov set himself the task of modeling the political system of the future and determining the ways in which it would be formed. The writer’s political project exists at the intersection of the interests of government and society, refl ecting both the offi cial guidelines of the Central Committee of the CPSU ( formulated in the text of the third party program of 1961) and the hopes of society inspired by scientifi c and technical romanticism.

The focus of this article is the state policy of the Russian Federation in the fi eld of physical education of undergraduate students. The subject of the study is an indicative assessment of this public policy from the perspective of an integrative approach. The author raises the question of the validity of the current quality indicator, enshrined in regulatory legal acts, of the implementation of state policy in the fi eld of undergraduate physical education. Based on an analysis of the strategic objectives and the regulatory framework of this policy as well as the characteristics of the infl uence of students’ physical education on human capital indicators, the article demonstrates the unsatisfactory quality of the selection of quality indicators for the implementation of state policy. As an alternative, the author proposes to consider the quality of the formation at the university of a motivational-value attitude among students towards physical education and sports. The article further describes the methodology for assessing this indicator, which is based on the use of sociological survey methods and mathematical modeling. The author concludes by presenting the results of testing this methodology using the example of Lomonosov Moscow State University.

This article describes the mechanism of the behind-the-scenes displacement of N. V. Podgorny from the post of Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR to facilitate the installation in that position of L. I. Brezhnev. First Podgorny received 56 negative votes at a Kharkov Regional Party Conference; then at the XXV Congress of the CPSU (February 24 — March 5, 1976) he lost his post. The displacement was carried out by a troika of fi rst secretaries of the Dnepropetrovsk Regional Committee of the party from diff erent periods who, over time, came to occupy time major posts in the party and the state: L. I. Brezhnev, A. P. Kirilenko and V. V. Scherbitsky. These three personally developed the removal operation and carried it out indirectly through a narrow circle of proxies, bypassing the offi cial procedures for resolving personnel issues that existed then in the party.

Several decades ago, coding systems were developed for event analysis: Charles McClelland introduced the event analysis coding system WEIS (World Event Interaction Survey) and Edward Azar developed COPDAB (Confl ict and Peace Data Bank). In these systems the encoding process is performed by translating a verbal message about an event into a formalized set of data in a specifi c format. Both systems were created during the Cold War to analyze inter-state interactions; their use did not involve analysis of ethnic confl icts, organized crime, multilateral interventions or other threats. They were replaced by the integrated Confl ict Early Warning System (ICEWS). However, this system is still not widely used and all existing real-event analysis systems are based on WEIS and COPDAB. If one takes into account modern methods of interaction between states and introduce new indicators into the initial WEIS event analysis, the system can be used to study interstate relations at the present stage. The author attempts to use this system for the analysis of relationships between the Russian Federation and a selection of Caribbean countries.

In the analysis of the political process time can be represented as an institution — a set of temporal rules that are meant to be a resource and a constraint at the same time. These temporal rules are a constitutive element for any political system. They become a key point in the institutionalization of political order owing to their infl uence on the process of political decision-making and the choice of political instruments. The theoretical and methodological foundations of this approach, however, remain understudied. Turning to the theoretical basis of historical institutionalism and historical sociology, the author highlights the main methods of analyzing time as an institution in political science. The fi rst is the method of analytical decomposition of an event series: the emergence and development of temporal rules are presented in a sequence of decision-making series. Possible alternatives, the cumulative eff ects of time and the multiplicity of temporal variants of institutional functions are the focus of analysis here. The second method is that of structural-conditional analysis. For various types of political regimes, as well as in conditions of social, technological and bureaucratic acceleration and the forms of political participation generated by it, time can be understood as one of the limiting factors necessary for the articulation, discussion, adoption, implementation and consolidation of a decision.

This article discusses the main problems and threats that arise in connection with the study and exploration of outer space. Based on a theoretical review of these space challenges, the author maintains that the unresolved nature and further exacerbation of problems in the fi eld of space exploration pose a threat to both multilateral space activities and the security of all participants in contemporary world politics. Therefore, he continues, it is necessary to develop the most eff ective methods of solving the problems with the equal and active participation of all actors in “space relations.” In addition, the article concludes. it is extremely important to establish and maintain a regime for the free exploration and use of outer space, its objects and resources, by all participants in space activities — including the states and commercial organizations that are increasingly involved in the study and development of near space in the 21st century.

This article presents the fi rst study of special electoral bodies that combine the functions of electoral administration and the highest court in the consideration of electoral disputes. Using cross-case analysis, the author examines the functional experience of electoral tribunals in 17 countries of the world. Distinctions between electoral tribunals and election commissions and electoral courts are discussed. The phenomenon of the electoral tribunal is characterized as historically the fi rst and most radical form of realization of the idea of the autonomy of electoral management. In terms of scope and concentration of powers, electoral tribunals are the strongest electoral bodies. Formally having the status of a fourth branch of government in some countries, the electoral tribunal actually violates the principle of separation of powers in a system of public administration of elections. The lack of opportunity to appeal against the actions of the supreme electoral body is a source of internal political tension and prevents the electoral tribunal from gaining recognition from international organizations.

This article attempts to formulate the key features and defi nitions of buff er zones by comparing the positions of Russian and foreign specialists and analyzing the process of the creation of such buff ers in the 20th century. Variants of a wide and narrow approach to the interpretation of the “buff er zone” concept are proposed by the author and the concept is compared with other territories with a special regime — enclaves and exclaves, mandate territories and territories under international guardianship — that are close in meaning and character but far from them in goals and content. Given the fact that this study is mainly focused on the events of the fi rst half of the 20th century, the author does not consider other dependent territories with special status, such as vassal territories, dominions and others. Since the main focus is on the strategic presence of Russia and Japan in the East Asian region, most of the examples and analytical positions, are focused on the eastern direction of scholarly thought. This is important due to the fact that East Asia, as a specifi c geographical and ethnocultural region, had tangible features in the construction of buff er spaces and territories. They were expressed in a lower degree of participation of the international community in comparison with other regions of the world,; in the deep historical traditions of interaction of the states present in the region; in a mentality that does not presuppose haste and quick and radical solutions; in the absence of colonial practices; and in other ways.

This article treats the study of the theoretical foundations of the use of social technologies in foreign policy, describing various stages in the development of social technologies as well as their role in the foreign policy of modern states in achieving a leading position in the international arena. The author maintains that in the context of a changing world order, states seeking to strengthen their positions in the world actively use various forms and methods of humanitarian infl uence on the populations and political leadership of opposing states. Modern states employ various forms and types of social technologies, the article continues, for expansion in various areas of geopolitical space: territorial, economic, informational, social, cultural and ideological. The author further outlines the various forms and means of applying social technologies in foreign policy that are included in the arsenal of non-military methods for implementing a nation’s foreign policy objectives.