Vol 20, No 4 (2018)

Organized rallies are gaining more influence in socio-political processes in Russia and Europe. Modern protest is taking on new forms and is using new technical capabilities to mobilize participants. Determining potential capacity of a rally, its “unstable equilibrium points” and gauging the public’s possible negative reactions to the political elite’s decision making is becoming an important goal in contemporary political management. The article examines the heuristic potential of two approaches to studying political protest: theory of collective action and theory of mobilization of political opportunities. The first approach stems from the idea of dominance of symbolic values in modern political consciousness, while the second looks in more detail at the “balance of power” and resources that lend to the effectiveness of a protest. Does the environment created by the “new methods” have an impact on the efficacy of a protest? How important are institutional defects in order for citizens to want to organize a rally? Studying these aspects can help gain insight into the public’s real protest potential at regional and local levels in Russia.

In recent years, ensuring the national security of the UK has become an urgent and challenging task. This article aims to analyze the main goals in the sphere of national security, which were outlined in British strategic documents - in particular, the National Security Strategies of 2010 and 2015, and the accompanying strategic defense and security reviews. The author examines the methods used to achieve these goals, and the actual accomplishments in the security sector. In addition to scientific literature, the article studies recent official government documents in the sphere of national security and defense, as well as relevant materials of leading British “think tanks” and British media. The author enquires into practical results that have been achieved by the D. Cameron government in the main areas of national security: anti-terrorism efforts, resolution of armed conflicts and instability abroad, and fighting cyberterrorism. In view of the results of the referendum on the country's membership in the European Union, UK has found itself entangled in an entirely different paradigm of relations with the EU, while trying to resolve its own internal political problems. Therefore, matters of international, as well as national, security have slid by the wayside. At the same time, British government maintains continuity of the national security policy in terms of responding to significant threats. Under T. May, the danger of terrorism, threatening Europe and the entire world, has become a matter of urgency for UK. Consequently, the May government will most likely be forced to change its course of action, and perhaps rewrite the whole strategy of ensuring national security, as well as adopt a number of unpopular, harsh measures. In the period between 2015 and 2020, terrorism, international military conflicts, pandemics and natural risks remain the first level risks for Great Britain. Long term, geopolitical and economic changes on the global scale are expected to be the prevailing risk factors. Climate change is also gaining significance and starting from 2035 it is predicted to have the greatest impact on national security.

The article reflects on the process of visualization as one of the types of political technologies used in the contemporary world. The author analyses the concept of visualization as well as its key tools on several political cases. The article stresses that the main feature of visual content is that it is an important source of social information and at the same time it transforms the political reality. In this regard, the article considers visualization process as one of the types of political technologies used in the contemporary world. Visualization of political appeals, data and agendas helps to increase the level of political participation, to update and strengthen dialogue mechanisms of political communication between civil society and state authorities.

The primary objective of this paper is to reveal the role of the FPTP electoral system and the parliamentary government system in reinforcing single-party dominance in Ethiopia. For this purpose, the author uses secondary sources of data in his research. The data analysis showed that both the FPTP electoral system and the parliamentary government system have contributed substantially to the existing single-party dominance in Ethiopia. The FPTP electoral system encouraged a single-party rule by awarding seat advantage in parliament to the stronger party, EPRDF. The parliamentary government system has also promoted single-party dominance across all branches of the government by vesting parliament sovereignty with the EPRDF. The researcher comes to the conclusion that due to the inequality of perspectives and opportunities for all political parties (or no genuine multi-party system), the FPTP electoral system and the parliamentary government system inevitably contribute to the development of single-party dominance, which may further lead to authoritarianism.

With all natural resources at its possession and the ambition to conquer the globe, China has set its role as one of the biggest international players in the world economy. Considering liberalized policies recently employed by China, it was just a matter of time before the country shifted from being a communist state to becoming a capitalist economy. The effect of China’s ‘going out’ policy is remarkable in both developing and developed nations. China has become a phobia for western countries, especially the United States, imposing a threat for their state enterprises which cannot sustain the competition, and a lifesaver for those trying to improve their living standards. This paper will review six articles on China's outward direct investment (ODI), its formation and effect on other states.

This article discusses the impact of short migration in Syria on neighboring countries. Since the begging of the civil war in Syria an exodus in large numbers has emerged. The turmoil and violence have caused mass migration to destinations both within the region and beyond. The article discusses the political, social and economic effects of these crises on the regional security in the Middle East and beyond. Refugee crisis provokes many difficulties in receiving countries and living conditions of refugees are often questionable due to difficult humanitarian situation. The article analyzes the challenge to the neighboring countries of Syria (Jordan, Turkey, Lebanon and Iraq), that has been hosted more than five million forced refugees according to UN last statistics. It is concluded that The Syrian refugee crisis remains one of the biggest problems facing the Middle East. It is more prone to more humanitarian and political problems, especially as it is a crisis of chaos, turmoil and protracted conflicts in the region.

As part of the 2000s federal reforms, two constituent units of the Russian Federation were merged: the Kamchatka Region and the Koryaksky Autonomous District. As a result, the Kamchatka Territory was formed. Before the merging, these regions had had a variety of problems, which the federal government attempted to resolve by creating a new territorial unit. The local authorities and residents were highly skeptical as to the prospects of the new region’s further development. From the perspective of the interests of various groups, the unification results were rather ambiguous, as despite the first years’ successful economic and social performance indicators, management problems remained. The consequences of the merging continue to have a great impact on the modern economic, social and political situation in the region. The present study aims to analyze the after-effects of merging the Kamchatka Region with the Koryaksky Autonomous District into the Kamchatka Territory taking into consideration the motives and interests of federal authorities, local governments and the two regions’ population. Document analysis, analysis of statistical data and comparative method are used in this study. There are a few research works about the Kamchatka unification; and this study presents an attempt to assess the objective changes since the formation of the Kamchatka Territory until now, taking into account the perspectives of different political actors.

The article analyses preparation, key stages, structure, character and the results of the work of XXV World Congress of International Political Science Association «Borders and Margins», held in Australia, Brisbane 21 to 25 July 2018. The overview considers the key problems and directions of discussions that took place during the Brisbane`s Congress: borders, frontiers and margins in politics and the world, human right in the era of globalization and nationalism, contradiction of migrations processes, contemporary challenges of liberal democracy and global rise of populism, federalization, tradition and democratic innovation in electoral system of Australia, research methods and approaches in political science, participation of Russian political scientists it the congress. The author considers XXV World Congress of International Political Science Association «Borders and Margins» as a logical stage in its seventy years genesis.

The monograph of candidate of historical sciences, americanist K.V. Blokhin is a comprehensive analysis of the historical background of emergence and formation of the phenomenon of American neo-conservatism. A distinctive feature of the author's work is its interdisciplinary nature, thanks to which the book will be interesting not only to professional historians, political scientists and specialists in the field of international relations, but also to politicians, as well as political analysts and consultants.

This year's monograph by young Lebanese political scientist Ahmad Kilani “Comparative analysis of media hegemony: propaganda and production of consent in US media” is of both scientific and practical interest to political scientists, political analysts and journalists. The book presents a comparative study of theoretical and conceptual approaches to analyzing and substantiating media hegemony in the United States. Drawing on the analysis of various research theories and concepts, including various historical and modern cases, the author comes to meaningful conclusions that could be of interest to a wide range of readers.