Vol 21, No 1 (2019)

The article focuses on the international activity of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) as an actor in the global economy with a full-fledged legal standing. It analyzes the current state of Eurasian integration within international cooperation and spotlights its correlations with intergovernmental organizations and integration associations. By means of examining the Eurasian Economic Commission’s (EEC’s) regulatory documents, the Main Directions of the EAEU International Activities for 2019 and the agenda of the Russian EAEU presidency in 2018, the author determines key conceptual approaches to evaluation and prognosis of the EAEU integration strategy. By applying comparative analysis, the author studies the experience of other integration associations relevant to the EAEU. The article determines the highestpotential models of EAEU international cooperation with due regard to the unstable global economic and geopolitical context. The author points out priority directions of the EAEU cooperation with an eye on strategic interests of the Russian Federation, differentiating them according to geographic areas of focus and taking into account the current state, risks and opportunities. The author concludes the article by giving recommendations on the implementation of the international agenda of the EAEU on a long-, midand short-term horizon. The author offers her ideas on further development of the EAEU international cooperation with a view to maximizing economic benefits for both Russia and the Union with future partnership in mind.

In the article, the author analyzes the Kurdish question and national minorities’ rights. The aim of the article “Territorial Autonomy and National Minorities’ Rights: the Kurdish Question” is to analyze national minorities’ legal problems and the effect of religion on their solution. Territorial autonomy as an element of the territorial structure of a state is traditionally regarded as part of the state’s jurisdiction regulated by the national constitution. The research is based on a set of scientific methods, historical and comparative-legal approaches being the key ones. The historical method, used in the study, allows us to trace the evolution of approaches to territorial autonomy standards. The comparative-legal method, in its turn, permits us to compare different law enforcement norms. The article looks at the current problems related to the Kurdish question and its resolution.

China today is a powerful state and an influential player in the global arena, as was demonstrated during the Syrian crisis, when China took a counterposition to the United States’ stance in Syria and supported the Assad regime. Beijing put a veto on the international resolutions related to the Syrian crisis and abstained from voting, as it did in the past when dealing with the crises in the region. In a move that marked a new page in China’s foreign policy, Beijing backed what was known as the sixpoint plan, calling for a ceasefire and settlement of the crisis through internal dialogue and proclaiming the inviolability of Syrian national sovereignty. In a subsequent move, China sent its envoy Li Huaqing (former Chinese ambassador to Syria) to Damascus to encourage the initiation of a dialogue between government forces and opposition. Following that, China sent Assistant Foreign Minister Zhang Ming (who had previously visited Egypt, Saudi Arabia and France) to the region to discuss ways of approaching the Syrian crisis. For the first time in its modern history, China renounced its policy of non-interference in crises outside its direct interests and immediate geopolitical space. The following paper will focus on China’s stance in the Syrian crisis (supporting its peaceful settlement and keeping equal distance from all the parties in the conflict) and the future of Sino-Syrian relations based on the common history of the two countries.

The article addresses the question of how a regional approach to dealing with current safety threats could contribute to the consolidation of security and stability in Cameroon, and Africa as a whole. The problem with states like Cameroon is that they are no longer able to fulfill some of their official functions and are consequently powerless against new security threats. Some of those threats are temporary phenomena, however, other dangers, such as poverty growth or environmental degradation, are more chronic issues. Therefore, in order to cope with the latter, efforts should be made to reinforce regional structures. The author presents a different approach to explaining the relevance of cooperation, particularly in the field of security, and looks at it from the perspective of the institutionalist theory. Relying on the anarchic conception of the world, which is similar to the realistic conception, institutionalists see the role of co-operation in reducing uncertainty and mistrust between states. As confrontation and struggle for power lead only to a situation of constant uncertainty, states have to seek an appropriate way to reduce this insecurity by establishing institutional structures, common rules and standards in order to further regulate their coexistence and interactions. However, the evolution of international relations from unilateralism to a system of stable alliances would only be possible if cooperation is more advantageous than the unilateral approach. In other words, Cameroon's decision to integrate community structures and adhere to a number of principles and rules is, in the first place, in its national interests.

The authors offer their definition of national-state identity: a macro-political construct that projects the image of “us” (an “imaginary community”) to various dimensions (value-based, temporal, spatial, and symbolic). This image is supported by state institutions as well as the political and cultural tradition of national sovereignty. In the article, special attention is paid to the four systemic challenges of the Russian national-state identity. The first challenge - internal political - stems from the costs and contradictions of the institutional organization of state identity policy in modern Russia. The second national identity challenge is due to information globalization and, as a result, a drastic change in the information and political landscape of Russian society. The third challenge is determined by weakness and vagueness of the collective image of the future in the political consciousness of Russian citizens. The fourth Russian identity challenge is geopolitical in nature and is associated with memory wars, which actively unfolded in the post-Soviet space in the 2000s-2010s. The authors conclude that an effective response to the Russian national-state identity challenges could be a complex state identity policy. This policy can be described as a long-term strategy for the formation of a conventional all-Russian identity “matrix” through building and promotion of a balanced, internally consistent image of “us” and a set of social and political views, attitudes and values associated with it.

The presented study is dedicated to the rehabilitation of the Nazi regime, its supporters and accomplices in modern cinema as part of the memory policy. The relevance of this work is determined by the growing influence of ultra-right politicians in a number of economically developed countries, an increase in the number of memorial wars due to the rehabilitation of Nazism accomplices and the spread of right-wing radicalism in the United States and European Union states. The aim of the study is the evaluation of the rehabilitation practices of Nazism and its supporters in new motion pictures, which have not been previously studied by representatives of the expert community from this perspective. Indirect apologetics of the Nazis and their adherents, including representatives of organizations recognized as criminal in accordance with the decision of the Nürnberg Tribunal, are widespread in modern cinema. The thesis is being promoted that even numerous members of organizations recognized as criminal secretly opposed the Nazi regime. Cooperation is considered as a necessary measure. The audience gets the impression that even highranking representatives of the army leadership were not aware of war crimes. People who for many years supported Hitler’s regime are shown as its victims. There have been attempts to re-evaluate certain aspects of the Nazi regime as a positive experience, in a way of referring to actual matters nowadays.

Political parties are crucial for the development of democracy in Bangladesh. They represent interests of different social groups and, by means of participation in elections, affect the development of political and socio-economic power strategies. Thus, political parties provide guarantee of equal rights of all the country’s citizens and contribute to their involvement in the democratic process. The democratic institutions in Bangladesh are represented by 40 officially registered parties, among which the largest and most popular are the Awami League, the Nationalist Party, the Jatiya Party and the Jamaat-i-Islami. The article studies political parties’ participation in the life of the country since the establishment of Bangladesh and compares the four main political parties in terms of their ideology, organizational structure, leadership and popular support during elections. Throughout the country’s political history, the winning party has always enjoyed the monopoly of power, which has contributed to the aggravation of conflict between opposition parties and authorities. This situation significantly hinders the country’s socio-economic development. Strikes, often accompanied by extremist violence, are taking place in different parts of the country. The author uses the historical method to analyze the nature of the opposition of various political forces in Bangladesh.