Articles

The article analyses the use of video games with a historical plot to develop or erode the ingroup favoritism of the Russian population and its national and state identity. The methodology of the work is based on a combination of elements of comparative and structural analysis with the analysis of the secondary sociological research literature. Collecting and analysing data from recent opinion polls, the author proves that in the current situation the image of the present, the future and “significant others” do not represent the source of the development of ingroup favoritism among Russian youth, a fact that in the long run threatens the stability of identity of citizens of the Russian Federation. Although the results of the opinion polls indicate the possibility of exploiting the image of the past in order to develop ingroup favoritism, the younger generation demonstrates a rejection of traditional forms of narratives of memories. Accordingly, video games seem to be the most promising resource for constructing the image of the past. However, from a commercial point of view, the implementation of these projects is fraught with high risks, indicating the need for state intervention and support. The article suggests that in intervening in this sector the state should take into account the shortcomings identified in the system of state sponsorship of commercial filmmaking industry, as one of the closest sectors capable of forming a positive national-state identity.

The image of Russia is one of the key components for determining self-identity of the population, the growth of trust in the government, and understanding the current political and economic directions of the country. The purpose of this study is to identify the image of Russia in Russian political and non-political print-based media for the period of 2017–2020. The research methodology includes content analysis and case studies of publications in the leading Russian print media. From a theoretical standing point, the image of a country consists of a spatial image, an image of a population, an image of power, and an image of the leader. The investigation is based on the analysis of the following main topics: conflicts in Ukraine and Syria, sanctions against Russia, presidential elections in the Russian Federation and the United States, issues and topics raised by non-systemic opposition and the Covid-19 pandemic. The article finds that the image constructed by print media refers to Russia as a strong, cognitively complex, and dynamic country. Most of the messages are positive, as they are aimed at the domestic audience. Negative characteristics refer specifically to one component of the image — the image of power. Finally, the study reveals that newspapers, as a technical means of transmitting information in the framework of the Lasswell’s communication model, appear as inferior in speed if compared to other channels of mass communication. As such, print media discovered a new niche of interaction with the reader through high-quality expert analysis.

The article discusses the influence of contemporary Russian YouTube bloggers on the political views of school students. Based on the analysis of quantitative (survey of adolescents, N=500) and qualitative (257 in-depth interviews) data, the article identifies the authors of the most popular YouTube channels as well as analyses the reasons for their popularity, including the key factor based on their tactics of building trustful relationship with their audience. The second part of the article examines the content of popular videos taking into account its political context. Although most of the videos popular among pupils contain entertaining and comic content, bloggers repeatedly appeal to political topics in their comments and remarks. All the political content can be categorized as follows: reaction to the current political context, the image of modern Russia and its problems, as well as the views on patriotic education. The videos of YouTube bloggers cause a strong emotional response among young people for several reasons: they address adolescents’ issues of concern and appeal to values shared by teenagers: accessible education, fight against corruption, ecology, pacifism.

The article discusses the ‘technologies’ of the colour revolution used in Northern Macedonia starting from the analysis of the activity of the pro-Western opposition (since 2011) aimed at political destabilization and preparation for protest actions. In 2015, indeed, the pro-Western opposition was able to mobilize a significant number of protesters in Skopje and organize a so-called “Maidan.” Due to this large manifestation and protests, N. Gruevski announced his resignation as Prime Minister, a transitional government was established, and the results of early parliamentary elections were invalidated. In 2017, a pro-Western politician, leader of the SDSM party, Z. Zaev, became Prime Minister and in 2020 new parliamentary elections were held. The victory of the parliamentary coalition “We can” (led by the SDSM party), which gained more seats than the VMRO-DPMNE party in the Parliament, allowed Z. Zaev to form a government. The results of the study show that since 2011 the pro-Western opposition has destabilized the political situation in the country organizing a protest movement. The pro-Western opposition also carried out a series of ‘information attacks’, spreading unconfirmed information compromising N. Gruevski and Sasho Mijalkov (a cousin of N. Gruevski, who led the secret police). These elements allowed the opposition to mobilize the population in Skopje and organize a colour revolution, which overthrew the Prime Minister and led to a change in the general balance of political forces in the country.

The article adopts the civilizational approach in its diachronic aspect, which considers the development of human civilization as a consistent change of various types of global world order. The authors analyze the crisis of the modern technogenic-consumer civilization associated with its key explicit and implicit values. The essential features and lines of formation of a new type of civilization, which has already been called spiritual and ecological, are outlined. The article analyzes the emerging civilizational shifts in the sphere of culture, politics and economy. The key argument of the article is that the formation of new civilizational relations has a point-like spatial character of origin and an embryonic period of maturation. According to the authors, one of the key ‘locus’ in the transition from the technogenic-consumer civilization to the spiritual and ecological civilization can be identified in the Siberian region due to its objectively inherent spatial, climatic, historical and cultural features. The peacemaking and cultural-synthetic potential of Siberia, which lies at the intersection of transport, energy and civilizational corridors of Greater Eurasia, is of particular importance in the current situation of crisis. The article concludes by providing specific recommendations for the implementation of the Siberian spiritual and ecological civilizational project.

The article presents a comparative analysis of the features of foreign transport policy taking into account the examples of the development of the Suez and Panama Canals, the results of which can be used for further research and practical application in the formation of Russia's transport policy for the development of the Northern Sea Route (NSR). The author applies comparative research methods, which first identifies the general and individual elements of the transport policy for the development of international waterways of foreign countries and then analyzes the features of the development, implementation, execution, and effectiveness of these elements in the corresponding transport route. The purpose of the work is to emphasize the importance of the international experience of developing the policy of international shipping routes as an analytical starting point in the formation of the transport policy of Russia (NSR). The methodology of the study of transport policy for the development of international shipping routes is based on a systematic and structural-functional analysis that helps to establish and apply the positive experience of international transport policies to the Russian case. The empirical analysis is based on the comparison of policies for the development of navigation on the Suez and Panama Canals from their inception. The specific methodological and empirical approach allows the author to formulate the hypothesis and explore the opportunity of the application of these cases to Russia. The article concludes that the highlighted characteristics of the transport policy of the Suez and Panama Canals should be used in the implementation of the Russian NSR policy, taking into account the designated tasks of the strategic development of the Arctic.

The concept of ‘Russian malign activities’ is often used both in public speeches by many Western officials and in discussions within government bodies, but it remains not clearly defined. The first section of this article provides a definition and a general meaning of the concept while the second presents the overview of two approaches used to describe this phenomenon in its application to the Russian case. Indeed, according to the first approach, “Russian malign activities” are integrated into a developed plan of measures for the dissemination of certain information or disinformation with the final objective to increase the international clout of the Russian Federation. The second approach looks at these “malign activities” as a part of the hybrid war waged by Russia, primarily against NATO countries. Finally, the third section of the article analyses the origin and possible explanations for the widespread diffusion of the speculations about “Russian malign activities.” The article argues that the idea of “Russian malign activities” is broadcasted primarily through the United States and Great Britain with the aim of portraying Russia as an enemy and consequently to delegitimize all of its activities, especially within the informational field. This thesis became widespread only in the British-American world, which already contained fertile ground for such a perception of Russian politics. The use of this thesis affects both international relations and global security.

The effective supply of regional public goods is the fundamental driving force for the sustainable development of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). After the expansion of the SCO, member states have increasingly diversified demands for regional common goods. The article analyses the supply of the regional public goods in three different fields: security, economy and cultural cooperation. Although currently the SCO regional public goods supply appears at its peak, several problems and constraints remain, such as the disequilibrium between supply and demand, shortage of funds, lack of effective organizational and procedural mechanisms, and a degree of regional overlap. These issues seriously constrained the SCO regional activities such as the effective supply of public goods that requires integration of the development of new and old members. As one of the important SCO member states, China should actively promote the optimization of regional public goods supply through several steps. First, based on the “Shanghai spirit” China should promote the SCO’s community building, political mutual trust, enhance the political cooperation between member states and consolidate the regional environment facilitating the public goods supply. Second, the design of the SCO system should be improved through the innovation of the mechanisms of regional public goods supply able to increase its efficiency. Third, Russia and China should coordinate their activities more closely in order to create a harmonious environment in which both countries play the leading role in regional public goods supply. Fourth, the SCO should strengthen the cooperation with “One Belt and One Road” initiative to promote a rapid regional economic development. Finally, mechanisms of cooperation with other regional organizations such as the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) and the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) should be also strengthened in order to create an integrated and complementary supply system.

This paper continues the series of articles published in the journal devoted to the analysis of the challenges of the current global crises in terms of their impact on world politics and international relations. The authors highlight several features of the pandemic crisis of 2020–2021, in particular the “global empathy,” violation of the spatial logic of globalization and the spread of “infodemics”. The paper presents an extensive overview of current research on the Corona Crisis through the prism of social science. The common understanding of all the risks and dangers generated by interdependence, the vulnerability of the transitional world order, democratic institutions, and the inevitability of the common fate of humankind are all elements dictating the need for transnational cooperation, reforms in global governance, regional integration, and greater legitimation of supranational factors. The authors emphasize the importance of the “global health” category in international relations and its growing influence on the world order. It is emphasized that global risks derived from the ongoing crisis are inherently political. Indeed, the coronavirus pandemic provides a compelling basis for bringing anti-crisis policy to the forefront of research in the whole range of “crisisology disciplines” like political science, world economy, global studies and environmental political studies, social psychology, international relations, political forecasting, and theories of sustainable development. Finally, the article focuses on the emerging opportunities for Russia, the implementation of which is associated with maintaining biotechnological leadership in the development of vaccines and its transformation into the increasing international authority, trust, and soft power.

The article analyses the attitude of French conservative thinkers of the late 19th — early 20th century towards social policy, drawing on the intellectual heritage of two conservative authors, namely Adrien Albert Marie, Comte de Mun and Henriette-Lucy, Marquise de La Tour du Pin. The article provides the intellectual and political context in which the two thinkers developed their views regarding social policy. The analysis draws on comparative and historical methods to trace both, the intellectual milieu influencing the two conservative thinkers and their own ascendancy on other intellectuals of the time. The article also relies on a series of legal documents and traces the development of social institutions in order to estimate the influence that Comte de Mun and Marquise de La Tour du Pin had upon laws and practices. The research finally identifies the most important ideas of the two authors in the context of social policy: reliance on the Catholic church and Christian norms in social issues, corporative organisation of the society, responsibility of the upper class. Based on this set of ideas, indeed, both authors suggested the introduction of retirement schemes, sickness and unemployment benefits and medical insurance.