No 2 (2013)

On 21 of November 2012 at the department of comparative politics of the PFUR was held the round table: “Soft power in global politics: regional and functional dimensions”.

This article is about the transformation of the institute of public service in post-Soviet Russia. Politological approach focuses on the transformation processes in the context of the post-Soviet political changes, evolution of the political system and state-management practices.

The article considers the evolution of foreign policy of Russia in the Caspian Region at the present stage (1991—2012). It analyzes the changes in the Russian foreign policy approaches to the key problems of the region: international legal status of the Caspian Sea, extraction and transportation of the Caspian hydrocarbon resources, militarization and ecology.

The article is devoted to analysis of the main drug trafficking routes from Afghanistan, in particular “northern route”, which passes through states of the former Soviet Union. The control of the route is a critical point in the policy to stop drug trafficking.

The article contains analysis of approaches to the study of political image of the state in such disciplines as international relations, communications, public relations, marketing. It also determines the specificity of each approach and the most important aspects in demand for design practices. The article underlines the necessity of complex use of the achievements of various disciplines to improve existing methods.

The author states that not only qualitative and quantitative indices of migration require scientific attention, but also migration consequences as they have an impact both on the lives of migrants, indigenous people, and on the social, demographic, economic and political situation in the world as a whole.

The present article provides a retrospective of the “Asian values” debate which can be traced to the late 20 th century with the contemporary topical statements from Southeast Asian political actors, most notably those of Singapore and Malaysia, acting as a starting point. The declamatory proclamations of Southeast Asian political leaders and the numerous articles by esteemed scholars provide a fascinating literary landscape which the author attempts to traverse in the aim of producing what could be considered the concept's most important principals. Still, it is the contention of the author that “Asian values” represent the reaction of a select number of political leaders and thinkers in light of the so-called "Southeast Asian economic miracle". Consequently, a review of various critical statements dealing with the viability of the concept provides the highlight of the article.

In the article there is presented analysis of potential and current problems of application of Internet-technologies in Russian electoral process.