The article is analyzing problems connected with formation of anti-system terroristic underground in Saudi Arabia as a direct result of religion’s liberation from State control. The main reason for this phenomenon was political alliance, which preserved its importance until nowadays, between the dynasty, represented by ruling family Al Saud and corps of Ulama, represented by descendents of Muham-mad Ibn Abdel Wahhab - family of Al ash-Sheikh. Internal conflicts of this alliance ultimately defined the appearance of opposition, which proclaimed the basic doctrines of Wahhabi version of Hanbali Islam, in the political arena and its transformation to the main enemy of present Saudi statehood. The author highlights the main periods of confrontation between Saudi power and anti-system opposition, which is applying to religious dogmatic. He describes rebels of Ikhwans in the 1920th, the capture of Haram al Sharif in Mecca by group of Al Uteibi in November 1979, the movement of stray sect in the end of 1990th - the beginning of 2000th and the terrorist activity in Saudi Arabia in recent period, which is associated by the Saudi power with ISIS. Using the methods of systemic analysis, the author concluded that the religious element, which is the base of Saudi political system represents a factor of opposition’s argumentation to prove the power’s neglecting its duties to conserve “the purity” of religious grassroots of the society and the state. This fact is important because the process of modernization, which is taking place in Saudi Arabia, causes the fall of official Ulama’s corps authority and appearance of oppositional Ulama, which legitimize the activity of terroristic groups, creating first of all from the originals of depressive regions of the country, and are inspired by ideology of ISIS.

The subject of this study concentrates on the problematic of confronting modern Turkey with a terrorist threat. The nature of the subversive activities of combat groups in Turkey, the factors influ-encing the external environment and the internal political orientation, which have an impact on the counter-terrorism struggle in various regions of the Republic of Turkey, are considered in detail. In this work the author also touches upon the problem of transformation of the national protest counterculture in the context of the political course of the Justice and Development Party. The purpose of this study is to analyze the mechanisms and measures used by the entire institu-tional complex of the governmental bodies of the Turkish state at the present stage, whose functional, directly or indirectly, is focused around the task of combating terrorist threat. The use of institutional and system approaches promoted the achievement of the stated goal of the study and the successful resolution of the tasks assigned. As research methods, general and applied po-litical science principles were used, including content analysis of documents and synthesis of extracted information. Particular attention is paid to the analysis of the range of measures and mechanisms used by the Turkish authorities to combat the terrorist and extremist element. A separate contribution to the development of the problems is presented by the structure of the profile law enforcement agencies responsible for the implementation of state tasks in this area and the classification of their functional responsibilities. This aspect of the research forms the basis for further development of the subject, for example, writing a comparative analysis of the work of Russian, American, European and Turkish approaches (at the institutional level) in the context of counter-terrorism activities. In addition, the focus of the study is the problem of using the mobilization of the Turkish population against the backdrop of combating the terrorist threat of the R.T. Erdogan regime to achieve their own narrowly focused interests, which can not always be called completely identical with the national ones. For example, the misuse of the “divided nation” factor (provoked by a false discourse about the associa-tion of a terrorist threat with the Kurdish problem in Turkey) as a mechanism for influencing the elec-torate in some election campaigns.

The article is dedicated to the analysis of ISIS impact on the evolution of jihadist movement in the countries of South-East Asia with implication for heightening the threat of terrorism in the region where 15% of the world Muslim population live and where long standing terrorist Islamite groups have been harboring a plan of creating a salafi caliphate for decades. The author explores the causes of vulnerability of Muslim countries of South-East Asia towards expansion of radical Islam ideology that creates prerequisites for involvement of local jihadists in the international terrorist movement with implica-tion for stability of the region. The formation of ISIS poses direct threat for security of countries of South-East Asia as it stimulates the intensification of activity of local extremist Islamic groups. They share the common position characterized by denial of democratic system of government that should be replaced by sharia governance. The attack on town Marawi (the South of the Philippines), conducted by local ex-tremists that support ISIS has become the warning for other countries of South East Asia of reinforced threat of regionalization and internalization of terrorism and of region becoming the new front of battle for ISIS planning to create its base there. The author analyses risks of growing interest of ISIS towards region where it conducts goal-directed activity aimed at expanding its social base and mobilizing its supporters while looking at the region as its main base for recruiting fighters in the context of promoting its strategy of export terrorism using “lone wolves”. For this purpose, ISIS applies different political instruments considering propaganda of jihad in Internet as the most effective way to exert ideological influence on local Muslim population. The author concludes that the formation of ISIS has resulted in renovation of terrorism in South-East Asia and emer-gence of different small terrorist cells, what leads to upgrading the level of terrorism threat in the region. The impact of ISIS on political situation in the region is displayed directly - by promoting extremism and reinforcing the threat of terrorism and indirectly - by intensifying the process of Islamic radicalization in the political development of Muslim countries of South-East Asia.

This study proposes to retrace Boko Haram atrocities in Cameroon as well as the history of international cooperation against the Islamist sect since the declaration of the war against it in 2014. The principal internal counter-terrorist efforts are shown, including establishement of “Operational Com-mand” missions, partial reorganization of the territorial map of the army’s command, the expansion of defense policy at the subregional level and the gradual redefinition of military, the allocation of re-sources and tools adapted to these new missions. Cameroon engages in a process of multilateralization of the challenges of counter-terrorism coopera-tion, which gives a new dimension to the action of the defense and security forces as well as the multi-lateralization of the stakes of cooperation. The role of major powers and the countries of the subregion as well as the African Union and the United Nations is revealed. Cameroon is a traditional beneficiary of French military assistance. Counter-terrorist assistance also came from Russia, US, UK and Germany. The role of the Multinational Joint Task Force of Commission of the Lake Chad Basin (LCBC) is shown. The author also shows that the war against Boko Haram seems to produce exceptional results that force both admiration and criticism of the Cameroonian people and the international community. The case of criticism by the NGO Amnesty International is analysed in details.

“Arab spring” has launched a process of large-scale political transformation of the countries in the North Africa and the Middle East. There are many “points of tension” in the region of North Africa, in which converge the political and economic interests of external actors, including international non-governmental organizations (INGOs). The lobbying of democratic values as opposed to clan interests led to the strengthening of the role of the West in relation to the state and public institutions of the North Africa and the Middle East. Moreover, academic community recognizes that currently INGOs actively participate in modern international relations, in internal policy of the countries where they perform their activities. Their actions have even more significant impact during the times when the political regimes change. This article aims to analyze the activities of INGOs before, during and after the change of H. Mubarak’s government in Egypt, under the governments of M. Mursi and A.F. As-Sisi (2010-2016 gg.). The article deals with several active INGOs of the “Arab Spring”, such as National Democratic Institute, International Republican Institute, Carter Center and other. The analysis of the activities of the above-mentioned INGO allows us to draw conclusions about their strategies, methods, and instruments of modern technologies facilitating the change of the political regime. The most common mechanisms of INGOs influence on political transition were participation in or-ganization of the electoral process, organization of election campaigns, seminars, consultations for civil society that promote the emergence of new potential political leaders. Great attention in this article is paid to the socio-economic situation in Egypt after the mass unrest. The author shows how the external forces behind foreign NGOs contributed to the political transition, and relates to the ambiguous results for population it has brought. Methodological basis of this study was system and comparative methods of analysis, event-analysis.

The article considers the important geostrategic position of Xinjiang, located at the in-tersection of foci of instability, at least having a common border with Afghanistan and Pakistan. The large-scale military conflict in the Middle East has definitely influenced the geostrategic posi-tion of Xinjiang. The analysis shows that the peculiarity of this conflict lies in the fact that it affects not only the political, but also the economic situation of Xinjiang. The aim of the study is to identify and analyze the main external factors that influence the activation of separatism in Xinjiang. As for the political aspect, the emergence of a new active force in the Middle East represented by ISIS creates certain risks for China, given the presence of radical young people, and the possibility of religious extremists from penetrating into its territory through Afghanistan and the Central Asian republics. China does not benefit from the prolonged destabilization of the political situation in Syria, the disintegration of the state or the victory of religious extremists. The author also comes to the conclusion that the military conflict in the Middle East can negatively affect the implementation of the project of the new Silk Road. Its starting point is Xinjiang. Successful implementation of the project will stimulate trade, economic and energy exchanges with the Central Asian republics and positively influence the stabilization of the situation in Xinjiang. But the problem lies in the fact that the road itself lies close to the Middle Eastern regions, where conflicts with the ISIS occur in the acute phase. The article also examines the US influence on the situation in Xinjiang and support for the Uyghur separatist movement. In the future, the Uyghur issue is more likely to be used by the Americans to weaken and gain concessions from China on various issues. This research is based on the principles of general scientific system and structural approaches, as well as structural and functional approaches; cultural-civilizational and logical methods in order to ensure the study of the problem in accordance with historical facts and realities of the issue under study.

He article discusses the dynamics of the development of the economic situation in the Is-lamic Republic of Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001, and the current state and prospects of development of Russian-Afghan trade and economic relations. Russia and Afghanistan have a long history of cooperation. In the XX century, the Soviet Union provided economic assistance to Afghanistan, including the financing and construction of objects of industry and infrastructure, which are now in need of rehabili-tation and modernization. The accumulated experience of cooperation makes Russia may be one of the major players in Afghani-stan and participate in reconstruction of the country. The relevance of this article stems from the fact that at the present time in conditions of economic sanctions and the deterioration of relations with countries of the West, Russia intends to renew and develop relationships with long-term partners. Today Afghanistan is trying to recover from the devastating effects of years of civil war, and invite Russia to join this process. This means that Russia had a unique chance to return and gain a foothold in the market of Afghanistan, which will be an advantage for the development of cooperation between the two countries. The task of the article is analysis of the economic situation in Afghanistan, in order to study the possibilities of deepening and development of Russian-Afghan trade and economic cooperation. The analysis of Russian-Afghan relations showed that to date, despite the existence of certain problems faced by our country, the development of trade and economic relations is a promising direction of bilateral cooperation.

For almost ten years the G20 brings together the leaders of advanced countries and countries with emerging economy to govern shared challenges. Assessments of its role range from a very skeptical to a highly positive judgement. Nevertheless, the G20 remains a key forum for economic cooperation in the face of shifting values and powers, rising protectionism, environmental depletion and increasing anti-globalization. Each presidency is unique in its search for a balance between national priorities and partners’ interests in the process of charting agenda and forging collective decisions. High expectations of Ger-man G20 presidency were defined by internal and external factors. First, the demand for a response to the increasing challenges of de-globalization, economic inequality and climate change. Second, Germany’s unique potential to enhance G20 effectiveness and consolidate the forum’s role as a global public good sponsor due to the country’s economic power and diplomatic influence. The article reviews German G20 presidency priorities and outcomes in the context of internal and external challenges: the US 45th President’s position on international trade and climate, Brexit negotia-tions, national September parliamentary elections in Germany, the country’s significant and persistent current account surplus. The author claims that G20 has made substantial progress under German presi-dency. Geopolitical problems did not prevent the leaders from crafting decisions on key economic agenda issues. Six ministerial meetings were concluded by adoption of declarations, cooperation on digital economy and health was institutionalized, the leaders agreed 15 documents, including the Declaration and Action Plan on Countering Terrorism, and made more than 500 commitments. The summit hosted around 70 bilateral leaders’ meetings. Thus, despite divergences and tensions between G20 members, internal and external challenges, G20 laid the foundation for future agenda on the presidency priorities of digital economy, health and migration; advanced cooperation on core policy areas; agreed statements which allow to surmount pro-tectionist trends in international trade; consolidated G20 commitment to the Paris agreement implemen-tation; strengthened cooperation on energy sustainability and efficiency. To sum up G20 demonstrated resilience to new tests and confirmed its role as a key forum for economic cooperation.

The article examines the place of the Korean problem in Soviet-American relations of the first post-war years. It reveals the foundations of Soviet and American policy towards the “Korean ques-tion” and introduces two new actors that operated on the U.S. territory and played a significant role in shaping this policy. Stemming from principles of historicism and scientific objectivity, having carefully analyzed Soviet documents and compared them with those of the U.S., the author concludes that before the beginning of 1950, the Korean question has not been a top priority issue neither for Moscow nor for Washington. Both sides advocated the creation of an independent Korea (albeit with different goals and in their own unique un-derstanding of “independence”). At the same time, at the end of 1945, the Korean question became one of the issues that prevented the Yalta agreements becoming a reality. Like a number of other issues that were considered at the same time and did not receive the expected and rapid solution, the Korean problem was no longer perceived by the Allies as an autonomous one. The emergence of mutual misunderstanding and suspicion between the USSR and the United States was partly promoted by the actions of the future irst president of South Korea, Syngman Rhee, who sought to increase his political capital through ex-citing enmity between the Soviet Union and the United States. A certain role in them was played also by the head of the Sino-Korean People’s League Kilsoo Haan. The change in Soviet policy towards Korea, which became one of the main reasons for the outbreak of the Korean War, occurred only in the early 1950 and was the result of a dramatic change in the political situation in the world, which differed dramatically from that of the Yalta agreements.

The author of the article, who is the chairman of the Russian part of the Russian-Chinese working group on interaction in the study and teaching of Russian and Chinese languages, the development of bilateral academic exchanges and scientific and technical cooperation of universities, analyzes the main directions of modern cooperation between Russian Federation and PRC in the field of education. The article also gives examples from the practice of cooperation between Russian universities and organizations and Chinese partners on coordinated areas, joint interaction in the studying and teaching Rus-sian and Chinese languages, the creation of associations of profile universities in Russia and China. The aim of this research is to identify the specifics of the practice of cooperation between the leading Russian and Chinese universities in the development and implementation of joint educational programs with the double diplomas. Separately, the current regulatory and legal framework of Russian-Chinese co-operation in the field of education is also analyzed. Author also considers the cooperation of the two countries in promoting Russian and Chinese lan-guages, the issues of studying the state languages of partner countries. A statistical analysis of the number of Chinese students studying in Russian universities, the number of partnership agreements and programs, the volume of the budget quota allocated for the training of Chinese students in Russian universities is also conducted. In general, the relevance of the article is due to the general tendency to expand cooperation between Russia and China in the field of education, in particular, within the framework of the priority project “Development of the export potential of the Russian education system”, within which China is one of the priority states, as well as Chinese students studying in different forms of training in Russian educational organizations should increase to 100,000 people. It seems that the article will attract the attention of heads of state and private organizations engaged in cooperation with China in education and science.