Tsygankov Pavel

The theory of international relations demonstrates the unattainability of absolute security for participants in European and world politics. The juxtaposition of “correct” and “incorrect” approaches to security does not take into account that the very notion of “security” comprises both objective content and subjective meaning. A universal formula for the ultimate solution to the problems in this fi eld does not exist. Insisting on the superiority of “European values” actually renders plans for a common European security community that protects both the EU and Russia from destabilization futile. International security is a continuous process requiring constant dialogue, effort, compliance with treaties and confi dence-building measures.

In an article dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the journal “Moscow University Bulletin. Series 12. Political Sciences”, we examine the history of its formation and development from 1971 to the present. Despite the changes in the name, caused by cardinal changes in the political life of the country, the journal is characterized by a historical relationship that expresses the logic of political development and its scientifi c understanding. Since the introduction of political science into university education in Russia, the development of the foundations of political science in close connection with the study of topical issues and the development of political science education has become a priority in the journal’s activities. The creation of the Faculty of Political Science at Moscow State University strengthened the role of the journal as a venue for research and the application of results into the practice of pedagogical work. The focus of the journal constant attention is the topic of the domestic and foreign policy of Russia. In this regard, the problems of the transitional nature of the current stage of world development, ways of overcoming its inherent contradictions, dangers and crises are investigated. Another group of questions concerns the relations between the state and the market, the state and civil society, ways to preserve sovereignty and political stability in its diverse dimensions. An important place is given to issues of information and cybersecurity, digital society and the political aspects of social networks. Topics related to ideological currents and the competition of traditions, interests and values are also widely presented in the journal. The combination of academic emphasis with constant attention to topical issues of domestic and world politics, mutual enrichment of theoretical and empirical approaches, theoretical research and applied analysis allowed our journal to achieve good results in domestic and world rankings of journals with the topic “Politics. Political Sciences”, which, of course, is not a reason for slowing down, but instead, an incentive for further development.

The foreign policy of the state has its own specifics because its effectiveness depends on many circumstances that go beyond the framework of national sovereignty. Differences in approaches to the analysis of foreign policy, as well as in the definitions that are given to it, are explained by the variety of factors affecting it and its associated “diversity”. In general, foreign policy is both the general course of the state, the basic principles that characterize its position in a foreign environment, and the practical actions or behavior of the state outside its borders, finally, it is a complex, multi-level process of preparing and making appropriate decisions. Often, it is the process of making foreign policy decisions and related organizational, bureaucratic, psychological, and other problems that occupy a central place in the analysis of the state foreign policy. At the same time, for all the importance of the results of the analysis of the decision-making process, they do not give a complete picture of the foreign policy of the state, leaving without due attention its conceptual foundations and the behavior of the state in the international environment. Russian authors, without denying the place that decision-making takes in the foreign policy of the state, proposed to consider its formation and implementation in the unity and continuity of all its stages based on the concept of “ foreign policy process”. At the
same time, the need to pay attention to the dialectics of the factors of the foreign policy process is especially emphasized. In the light of the exacerbated value, culture and politics-based contradictions in the contemporary world, factors of civilizational, political, cultural, and regime nature affecting the foreign policy of states are attracting increasingly growing attention.

The formation and functioning of various models of the world order has a deep and complex history that does not fit into the traditional chronologically consistent scheme, and these models themselves did not inherit each other, but were combined in varying degrees of harmony. The dynamics of international relations, at least in the medium term, will be determined by the trends observed over the past decades — such as inequality in the levels of economic development, the redistribution of shares of world wealth, the rivalry for global dominance between the United States, gradually losing its position as sole leader, China, Russia and other global players, and finally, the search for new tools balancing the global status quo.
Expansion geopolitics will also remain the dominant trend in the short- to medium-term perspective. One of its striking manifestations is the Belt — Road Initiative, implemented by the PRC. Expansion geopolitics seems to get start most intensively in West Africa. The region, on the one hand, needs large infrastructure investments, on the other hand, — has a number of advantages that could create a production and logistics hub in it, the starting point of a project similar to the Chinese Belt — Road initiative.

The formation of a global world order in the short and medium term proceeds in several ways: through the creation of systemic alliances organized on a multilateral contractual basis (for example, the European Union, NATO), membership in which may imply the cession of a share of state sovereignty, and through the creation of informal "spontaneous" (situational) alliances. Current trends in international relations show that the systemic path is less effective. In unions of this kind, contradictions between individual members make it difficult for the entire structure to function, making it impossible for it to carry out coordinated joint activities. Spontaneous unions are more stable in times of crisis, as the dynamics of individual members' relationships do not immobilize the entire union. In this regard, informal cooperation between the United States and India, on the one hand, and Russia, China, and Iran, on the other, looks like the foundation of the future. The role of global supranational regulators, including the UN, tends to weaken.
Until any of the global players have military technologies at their disposal that qualitatively surpass the current level of weapons development, i.e., reducing the advantages of nuclear weapons to zero, the importance of logistical factors will be decisive for shaping the contours of a new world order. Depending on which of the competing models will be able to make the most of the geo-economic advantages of West Africa, the contours of the global world order will take one shape or another.

The article argues that in conditions of global instability, a national understanding of world realities and the further formation of the Russian international theory (RIT) is not a luxury, but a necessity for the survival and development of the country. At the same time, a special role belongs to applied research, combining the rigor of empirical research and close relation to the ideology of national interests and values. According to the authors, such a combination, defining the boundaries of the national-ideological and general scientific, can protect the RIT from both scientific utopias and ideological isolationism.
In the first section, the authors present their understanding of the ideological and value assumptions about “Russian,” from which one should proceed in the formation of scientific knowledge within the framework of RIT. The second section is devoted to Russian research questions of a contextual and external nature and their specification based on the material of modern world processes. The third section examines the specifics of answering empirical questions by selecting special theories and formulating hypotheses to test them. The conclusion stresses the importance of RIT and the development of applied knowledge for the practical policy of modern Russia.