The concept of a “just war”, of intervention for humanitarian purposes in the historical perspective, of estimates by European politicians, intellectuals of the right to intervention with the aim of supporting “the principle of nationality” in the mid-19^th century has been analyzed by researchers. However, specialists did not seem to adequately examine the understanding of the issue by contemporary Americans. The author of the article tries to trace the perception by “The United States Magazine and Democratic Review” of the principle of intervention in the context of the national movement in the Old World in the 1840-s. It is concluded that the journal paid great attention to the national organizations of the Italian, Irish, Polish and other nations, highly appreciated the works and activity of Henry Wheaton, an American jurist and diplomat. The mission, on behalf of the European power, of giving aid to the “oppressed nationalities” of the Old World by using military force was constructed. That mission was thought to be aimed at their political and national liberation. In rhetoric, it was connected with ideology. The right to intervention was not associated with the problem of extending freedom to slaves. On the whole, this “invented” American mission reflected partisan, political, sectional prejudices of the “Democratic Review” columnists, who were mainly radical Democrats, the followers of the U.S. President A. Jackson. During that period, the U.S. missionary role in relation to the European nations was mostly limited, in the imagination of the political writers, to the “exemplary” vision.

The article continues a unique study of the contemporary Czech-Austrian relations in Russian historiography. The purpose of the work is to analyze how and why the claims of Austria related to the events of 1945–1946 have almost prevented the entry of the Czech Republic into the EU, and are still complicating the bilateral relations. In the article, the author makes use of the problem-chronological and comparative research methods. They help to identify the moments of the greatest aggravation of the relations and to compare the approaches of the two countries to the issue. It is for the first time that the bilateral disputes after 2007 have become the subject matter of the research. Millions of the Sudeten Germans remained in the Czech Republic after 1918. They helped A. Hitler to destroy Czechoslovakia in 1938–1939. The German population was deprived of their property and evicted to Germany and Austria in 1945–1946 on the basis of the Beneš decrees. The Czech Republic managed to settle the disputes with Germany, but not with Austria. During the negotiations over the admission of the Czech Republic to the EU, the Austrians did not demand the return of the lost property to the Sudeten Germans, but insisted on the abolition of the Beneš decrees. The Czech Republic, on the contrary, believed that the Decrees should not be cancelled since they constituted an integral part of World War II. As a result, the European Union decided that the Beneš decrees could not prevent the Czech Republic from entering the EU. But even after the completion of the Czech European integration process, Austria continues demanding the abolition of the Decrees. The problem has acquired a pan-European scale and has not been resolved yet. In this case, each of the parties has set the principle of “national justice” above the pan-European solidarity, many times testing it for strength.

The article reveals the content of international security from the point of view of various theoretical concepts and the possibility of creating a sustainable security model in the post-bipolar world. Analyzing the patterns of the formation of international security principles, the author tries to determine which of the theoretical concepts of international security are most appropriate in modern conditions and can best help to overcome the turbulence and uncertainties of world politics. The novelty of the study consists in the critical understanding of the basic theoretical concepts of security and the identification of the international security model that would reflect the practical experience of the past decades and take into account the interests of Russia.

In the XXI century Germany consistently tries to enlarge its role in the sphere of international security. The distinctive characteristic of this German policy is not only the usage of international structures` (the UN organization, NATO, the EU) potential, but also the development of two- and trilateral links with partner states. In this regard, the article considers the German relations with Austria and Switzerland in political-military sphere at the present stage. The paper notes that the scope of cooperation between Germany and these states has increasingly grown since 2016–2017. Concerning this, the author pays special attention to the D-A-CH format (Germany – Austria – Switzerland). Russian and Western researchers have taken little notice of this issue. The key research methods are an event-analysis and a comparative analysis. The methodology of the article is the theory of armed forces development. It was launched at the levels of defense ministers, general inspectors and the managers of structures responsible for military exports. The article also analyzes the character and the internal reasons of the temporary decline in the German-Austrian relations during the first half of 2018. The paper explores the character and the perspectives of practical cooperation between the armed forces of the German-speaking states triangle, including the cases of coordination under the UN organization. The article also considers the trilateral cooperation opportunities in the struggle with cyber challenges and in the sphere of armed forces building. Given their rapidly expanding armies, Switzerland and especially Austria are interested in the development of military, including military-technical, cooperation with Germany as a senior partner. Germany tries to play the part of the “frame nation” in the process of creating military groups under the aegis of the EU, NATO, the UN, with the participation of the two neutral German-speaking states.

The article is devoted to the relevant issue in the history of modern Europe and the history of international relations. Major changes took place in the foreign policy and foreign economic relations of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe because of the collapse of the Soviet Union. Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia formed the Visegrad Group – the first alliance of states in the European post-communist space – four months before the dissolving of the Comecon (Council for Mutual Economic Assistance) and the Warsaw Pact in 1991. The contradictions in the military-political area within the region became one of the factors, that had a destructive influence on the global security agenda, including the process of the Russian-American negotiations on disarmament. Special focus in the article is on the consequences of joining the V4 countries to NATO in 1999–2006 and on the phases of the deployment of the US anti-ballistic missile defense system. The article analyses the US allied strategies toward the V4 countries implemented mainly through the military and defense spheres – from the collapse of the socialist system to the end of George W. Bush’s presidential term (after that the plans for the deployment of the ABM defense system in CEE were fundamentally revised). At the same time the author makes an attempt to evaluate the strategic position of Russia in the region of Central Europe against the background of its inclusion in the system of Euro-Atlantic security and European integration. The novelty of the research is determined by the chosen perspective of studying the foreign policy development of the Visegrad Group and the countries forming it, through the internal evolution of the approaches to US and NATO security, as well as through their particularity of military and political interests in the region. The author used historical research methods to meet the posed challenges and to study various categories of sources. The historical-genetic method was used to identify the factors and causes that had affected the choice of the foreign policy of the Central European countries after the dissolution of the Comecon and the Warsaw Pact. The narrative method was used to study the plans for the deployment of the US anti-ballistic missile defense system in the V4 countries during George W. Bush’s presidential term.

The article attempts to consider the influence of the geopolitical factor on the foreign economic relations of Canada in 2014-2018. The author concludes that the Canadian political elites associate their foreign economic activity primarily with those states, that are united with them in strategic military-political alliances. A typical example of this is the free trade agreement with the EU, concluded by the Conservative government of Harper, as well as the U. S. M. C. A. agreement, coordinated by Canada first and foremost with the United States, its main ally in the military-political alliance of NATO. This study is based on the historical sources, which are connected with the existing programmes of Canadian Liberals and Conservatives, Donald Trump’s speeches, as well as on the analysis of foreign and domestic historiography on this issue.

After gaining its independence, the Republic of Uzbekistan acquired an opportunity to implement its foreign policy, the special place in which is taken by an internally fraternal state – the Republic of Azerbaijan. The article traces back the main stages of the formation of the legal basis for bilateral interstate relations. The author demonstrates that since 1991 great work has been accomplished in this sphere, including the initiation of diplomatic relations, opening the embassies, scheduling the summits, that have resulted in the signing of more than 130 documents, promoting the development of the two countries’ fruitful collaboration in different areas.

The political space of the European Union is characterized by the interweaving of crisis processes at both the national and supranational, integration levels. The crisis of the Spanish statehood has been added to the debt crisis. The signs of separatism have also been shown up in other states of the European Union. “Brexit” and financial and budgetary battles have further aggravated the political functioning of the EU. After the adoption of the Treaty of Lisbon (2007), its progressive development was expected. Reality has overturned these expectations. In such an environment, the political well-being of the national EU member states is an important factor of stability. But even here in recent years there has been a heterogeneous evolution of their activities. The migration crisis that shook the EU integration framework had become a kind of «trigger» of the political aggravation in the countries. Having these processes as a background, the results of the parliamentary elections in Germany attract attention. This country holds a dominant position in the economic system and in the political space of the European Union. It follows thence its exceptional role in overcoming the signs of crisis in the European Union, finding optimally compromise solutions for their curbing and creating prerequisites for the stable functioning of the European Union. The results of the Parliamentary elections in September 2017 have evolved into a spectacular event in the entire post-war political life of Germany. Such election results have become a turning point in the country’s political development. There are all signs that the country is entering a new phase of political national development, which will affect the prospects of the European Union.

At the beginning of the last century, left-wing and right-wing political movements came to power in the European countries; they were the reaction of the society to the processes caused by the First World War. In the XXI century we again observe a shift of the political pendulum in Central Europe, this time to the right-wing direction. The various crises (expansion to the East, financial, economic, migration, demographic crises, identity crisis of the Europeans – the citizens of the EU), shaking the European Union, have led to the emergence of right-wing populist parties on the political arena. Through democratic elections, nationalist forces supporting the tightening of migration policies have won some power in the European parliaments. Until recently, such moods have not been characteristic of Europe, which has experienced the horrors of the Second World War. The article presents the results of the multifactorial analysis of the global and European processes, which resulted in an increased support for right-wing populists. The author defines the term “populism” and separates its right wing from the left wing, presents a brief excursus into the history of populist parties on the European political scene. Among the emphasized factors of rising rightwing populism there are globalization, Islamization of the European society, the advent of the post-truth politics era and fakes, the emotional deficit of Europeans and the influence of public opinion, the rapid development of technology, the growing demographic problem, and the issue of national identity.

The article is devoted to the analysis of discourses about the Great Patriotic / World War II in three newspapers published in the Republic of Moldova. Through this analysis we consider which tactics and strategies are used in the media space of Moldova in the struggle for historical memory in relation to those periods, the importance of which affects the current (geo) political choice of the country. Thus, the analyzed Russian-language publications devoted to the Great Patriotic War appeal to the theme of the joint heroic efforts of the peoples of the former USSR and marks Moldova as a friendly country to Russia, emphasizes Moldova’s involvement in the post- Soviet space. The analyzed Romanian-language publications include Moldova in the list of Eastern European countries affected by totalitarian communist regimes. At the same time, May 9 is used as a resource to emphasize the urgency of the problem of interaction with the heirs of totalitarian regimes, since May 9 is not Europe’s Day, but Russian Victory Day. However, despite the presentation of positions that compete with each other and often give the opposite assessment of history, the publications use the same strategies of depiction of the past of the Republic of Moldova.