A Word to Young Politological Scientists

The article covers theoretical and practical aspects of implementing foreign cultural policy by Spain. Drawing on various studies (both Russian and foreign ones) and official documents, the specific nature of the foreign cultural activity of Spain is analyzed and a conclusion is made about potential lines of its further development.

The process of nation-building in modern societies within the framework of national integration is considered in the article from different approaches and taking into consideration analysis and understanding of foreign experience. Special attention is paid to the concepts and views of Francis Fukuyama and Robert Cooper along with their importance for practice of nation-building. An inference is made that today these concepts and attempts to implement them in practice cannot be recognized as perfect and adequate to current challenges of internal and external origins.

Strategic culture, as a phenomenon and a concept, was not taken seriously for a long time. Today, western researchers understand that strategic culture has a direct impact on political decision-making process in foreign policy. The study of the strategic culture of France, Germany, and China can help to optimize the Russian policy on the world stage.

The article focuses on the Kurdish conflict in the Middle East at present time. The conflict erupted on the territory of four countries: the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Republic of Iraq, the Republic of Turkey, the Syrian Arab Republic. The cause of the conflict is the desire of the Kurd›s to fulfill their dream and create their sovereign state of Kurdistan, but for this it is required to separate parts of the territories of the sovereign countries under consideration, which of course don’t agree, because it contradicts their interests.

The article discusses the foreign policy of Turkey in the Black Sea region in the context of its interaction with such global entities as the Russian Federation and the European Union, as well as with the states of the Black Sea region. For each of the global entities, the main areas of cooperation are defined, such as security, trade relations, energy and so on. The general conclusion is made that the basic strategy of Turkey in the Black Sea region is the form of bilateral relations, including a wide range of mutual initiatives.

This article demonstrates the flaws of EU intelligence agencies the past decade in the field of counterterrorism, in particular regarding Jihadi terrorism. Since 2014 the West European countries fell victim to the violent actions of Islamic State (IS), which has a huge presence on social media, both on the surface web and on the Darknet. The goal is to outline the most important case-studies of Jihadi terrorism that were plotted and carried out by the terrorists and yet, not prevented by the classical intelligence authorities.

The article considers the phenomenon of nationalism in a multi-ethnic environment from the point of view of various approaches. The idea is substantiated that in modern multi-ethnic states it is customary to single out civic nationalism and ethnic nationalism. The main causes of the surge of nationalism in different historical periods, the main theoretical and methodological approaches that explain the nature of nationalism are highlighted.

The article reviews the basics of the concept of “soft power”, which is actively used by the United States to promote its interests in the essential country of Southeastern Asia – the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Basing on studying of materials of Executive authorities of the United States, such as the State Department and the U.S.

Using the method of traditional analysis and content analysis of documents, the article studies the political interaction of Russia and Syria in historical retrospective: from 1956 to the present. The author forms his original vision of the history of these relations on the basis of consideration of several strategically important documents signed by the Syrian Arab Republic on the one hand, and the USSR and the Russian Federation on the other. Objective and subjective factors of these relationships are revealed.

The article deals with the process of formation of morality that justifies terrorism. The author analyzes the conditions which lead to the employment of terrorism as a method of reaction by an agent in an environment. Finally, the author considers the “bottom-up strategy of inclusive counterterrorism”, which implies the marginalization of terrorism among the local population through interaction with the most oppressed groups. The role of non-state actors, in particular NGOs, in the implementation of the “bottom-up strategy of countering terrorism” is assessed.