The article deals with the key western works on Pan-Slavism, published during the Cold War period. The author analyses an ideology influence on research concepts. The geopolitical realities of the Cold War consolidated the Pan-Slavic historiography myth that was created as far back as the inter-war period. These realities also contributed to the fact that the myth – without any critical analysis or scientific comprehension – was included in the research on the history of international relations and the Russian foreign policy of the 19th – 20th centuries. Nevertheless, together with the works based on ideological cliché, in the USA and Western Europe there developed a scientific school that investigated the Slavic factor in its entire complexity and that was grounded on the comparison of various sources.

Perception by American contemporaries of the principle of intervention, in the context of the visit to the United States of Louis Kossuth, the leader of the Hungarian national movement (late 1851 – first half of 1852), is analyzed by material of US Congress and American press. Understanding of the concept and practice of intervention reflected their sectional, party, political, ethnic prejudices. In the opinion of most Americans, intervention is differentiated from war, especially seen in the light of a “just war” tradition. The principle of intervention is associated by some of them, in particular, by the advocates of “Young America” – the faction of the U.S. Democratic Party, and a number of their opponents, with both the containment and the promotion of revolutionary ideology. Intervention is viewed as a tool of an international order transformation, as a transnational practical experience. So the interpretation of an idea of intervention in keeping with the modernity is proposed.

The article is devoted to the analysis of the Marshall Plan films during the first stage of the Cold War. The attention of the author is aimed at studying propagandistic strategies, which were used by the USA to form the European audience views about the Marshall Plan purposes and the advantages of free trade. This perspective of the study allows us to suggest that the objectives of the Marshall Plan were far broader than the economic ones and included elements of “soft power”. By exporting American goods, technologies and culture under the guise of an unprecedented charity campaign, the USA tried to provide itself with a reliable strategic partner – the so-called “United Stated of Europe”, what met the American vision of democracy and the way of life.

This article focuses on the results of the research project that has been realized within The Stanford US – Russia Forum (SURF), which is a platform for Russian and American university students to work together on some of the most important issues two nations face today. Participants of the working group on Education & Foreign Area Studies sought in their research to explore whether bilateral exchanges do in fact serve as an effective tool for producing area studies knowledge in the situation when both the US and Russia have undergone a sharp decline in skilled expertise. The results of the project provide strong evidence for positive program outcomes, especially regarding language acquisition and cultural competence. However, the participants of the project also find that the reviewed orientation pre-exchange materials often contained non-neutral language that may reinforce pre-existing stereotypes.

The paper describes the policy of the US in the Gulf region since the 1970s, when the US depended on its energy deliveries. For a long period of time the US was the main exporter of weapons to Arab monarchies of the region, and in the 2000-s it became their principal strategic ally. The production of shale oil in the USA resulted in reducing Washington’s involvement in the regional affairs. Another negative factor for the Gulf States became the improvement of relations between the USA and Iran. With the rise of President Trump to power, the situation has changed since he took a course to strengthen the strategic alliance with Arab countries of the region and to fight together with them against Iran.

Political elites largely determine the main development vector of a particular state. After collapse the Soviet Union collapse in the postSoviet states, including the Baltic, new power wielding groups were gradually formed. The article presents results of research on the role of structural factors in the formation of the Baltic States elites and their influence on the society economic and political development. The authors show that the process of forming politically active circles, acting as a kind of transformation drivers in the studied territories, began long before their independence.

This article describes the relations between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, the major complications taking place in the two countries’ collaboration.The author also analyzes the roles and positions in the modern geopolitical system. Special attention is paid to the Worldpowers  policy in regard to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. According to the author, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan as two leaders of Central Asia have significant potential for expanding the political, economic, cultural and humanitarian ties, what will contribute to the stable development of those states and strengthening the region security.

The article is considers the establishment of the EAEU common financial market, the main areas of cooperation and the achieved results. The focus is on the Kazakhstan project of International Financial Center “Astana” project and its significance for the common financial market formation.

The article considers the revolutionary crisis that Russia faced in 1905 through the assessments of the top bureaucracy representatives and a number of conservative thinkers. The author seeks the criteria of determining the political situation in the country as “disturbance” or “revolution” as well as the factors and stages of the revolutionary crisis transformation from one of these phases to another. The terminological  analysis undertaken by the author makes it possible to reveal some specific political reflection of authority and society and to ask a question whether the chronological and typological characteristics of the First Russian Revolution, generally accepted in historiography, are legitimate.

The article is aimed at revealing the content of such a phenomenon as Governance: the author considers an origin of the concept and demonstrates prevailing approaches to Governance study. Special attention is paid to the normative approach. This is due to the fact that it helps to identify something normative and common in many documents being in the root of the practical political transformations in the countries of the world. The generalization of the use of Governance
concept in each of the approaches enables us to identify common features and suggest the author’s definition of the concept.

The article reveals principal issues in forming the relations of business actors with public authorities, particularly GR-strategies realization process. This process includes five interrelated stages which play a huge role in the determination of development direction, aims, objectives and level of business actors’ competitiveness in politics. The author considers that the observance of the stages is the main factor for success in business-government relation.

The article discusses the theoretical and methodological basis of a new generation manual. The process of teaching a foreign language is set up on an implication ground when an educational text is rated as a unit for education. The manual assignment selection provides insight
 into both the outer and the inner structure of a text; the exercises model the situations that arise in the sphere of professional communication. The correct text interpretation, adequate reaction, reproduction and the consequent text production lead to the formation of the professional and communicative competence of students majoring in International Relations and Foreign Area Studies.

The article deals with the need for the use of axiological approach in teaching foreign languages in Russia. According to the author’s point of view, the introduction of this approach in the updated pedagogical paradigm is a way for the humanization of education, preservation of national identity, culture and values.

Book review: Saunders R.A. Popular Geopolitics and Nation Branding in the Post-Soviet Realm. N. Y.: Routledge, 2017. 258 p.