Moscow University Bulletin. Series 12. Political Science. 2023. 4.

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 article examines the problems of the current state of Russian-Turkish relations through the analysis of the theoretical and methodological apparatus of neo-Ottomanism (new Ottomanism) as a foreign policy tradition, which, from the author’s point of view, today occupies one of the leading places in the foreign policy course of the current government of R.T. Erdogan. The complexity and uncertainty of this phenomenon require the use of specialized analysis methods: a system-structural analysis of the foreign policy of states (developed by the corresponding MGIMO school), a scientific approach within the framework of FPA (foreign policy analysis), separate tools for analyzing the strategic culture and foreign policy institutions of Ankara (according to the methodology of G. Almond and S. Verba). According to the author, for the current foreign policy of Ankara, the tradition of neo-Ottomanism is system-forming due to its ideological saturation of the initial ideological foundation. At the same time, the ambiguity of its interpretations lays down an expansive interpretation of Turkey’s foreign policy behavior in the international arena, which is fraught with problems and conflicts for Moscow’s foreign policy in realizing its interests in areas of international politics that cross Ankara.

This article examines several issues related to Hungary, the personality and management style of its leader Viktor Orban, and the policies pursued by this European country towards migrants and refugees. Hungary is a state whose migration policy over the past years has been at odds with the European mainstream. This is largely due to the views of Orban himself. For him, the issue of migration is central, axial in his worldview. This course is perceived differently: the Hungarian Prime Minister has both supporters and opponents. In the scientific research literature one can also find polar assessments. At the same time, Orban is a significant figure for the study of migrant discourse, and his policies obviously strive to be framed in a new eclectic ideology. The Prime Minister of Hungary continues to pursue his course, maneuvering between various forces and interest groups — potential allies from other states, opponents from the European liberal establishment, his own electorate, and voters of other Hungarian parties.

Combating corruption in rapidly developing countries is one of the key directions of state policy. Despite decades of research, no universal approach has been proposed that can guarantee a minimum level of abuse of power for personal gain. Governments of countries, considering successful experiences, have to develop unique management approaches to address this issue, taking into account the specific political system, sociocultural characteristics, and dynamics of economic development. The goal of this article is to trace the evolution of anti-corruption policies in China. The study has demonstrated that the party leadership promptly changed approaches to combating corruption, in line with the changing forms and scales of corruption, understanding its origins and causes at different stages of the country’s development. China has a zero tolerance policy towards any manifestations of corruption and is actively combating abuses in government agencies. China’s current anti-corruption policy in the territory uses coercive instruments.

The subject of the essay is the main stages of the historical past of French civilization, in the depths of which the political mentality of the ruling elites was formed. In the beginning, the authors consider the mental and civilizational results of the five hundred years of Romanization of Gaul as a province of the Roman Empire. The role of Christian proselytism in the formation of the monotheistic mentality and the political role of the Church of Gaul are revealed. The thesis about the mental heritage of the Roman Empire in the conditions of its collapse and the formation of the foundations of an original Christian nation is revealed. Then there is the convergence of the Roman and barbarian social structures of the Frankish Empire, as a result of which a monotheistic mental space was formed and Catholicism became the state religion. The conclusion is made about the historical and mental-political significance of chivalry. In the next section, the authors turned to the philosophical, theological and scientific heritage of the enlighteners of the Middle Ages and the New Age, who influenced the development of the political mentality of the French elites. The separate part of the essay examines the influence of the French Renaissance on the ruling elites, who, having mastered the mental models of the Italian Renaissance, began to build their national identity on their basis. The centuries-old theological and political nature of French political power in the Renaissance was transformed into a subject-pragmatic one. For the first time in the political history of Europe, politics was separated from religion. Christian dogmas as the basic mental attitudes of the elites gave way to the semantic primacy of secular principles of existence. During the period of absolutism, on the soil cultivated by the Renaissance, anti-absolutist and anti-clerical mental and political attitudes were formed in the elite environment, which determined the nature of the revolutionary events of the 18th-19th centuries. During the period of the Consulate and the First Empire, Napoleon I, seeking to ensure the economic dominance of the Empire and its military superiority over the countries of the continent, pursued a policy of mental reconstruction of the elite in order to create a new nobility. In the course of the analysis, the authors reveal the dialectical nature of the mental dynamics of the French elites.