The article examines evolution of scholarly approaches towards the  phenomenon of the  “national security.” By the early 21st century this notion found its way in the official strategic documents of a wide range of states. The authors examine the Russian and international record  of analysis in the field of national security, and assess the adequacy of existing views on this subject taking in the account emerging threats, risks and challenges, as well as the tasks of sustainable development of a country in the social, economic,  political,  information,  spiritual and  other  areas. They  start  by presenting the  early conceptualizations of this term in the debates of  American experts in the 1950s and the 1960s. An important innovation of that period was disentanglement of the national security from purely territorial and military threat, by preparing for other types of contingencies. The article additionally examines the struggle between two alternative approaches towards protecting the national security in the United States: the one founded on unilateral domination and the other prioritizing collective actions. It demonstrates that the one important result of the Western debates was the emergence of a new field of study defined by policy relevant studies, which produce useful, original, and verifiable inferences, which are then injected in decision-making process. In order to promote a similar institutionalized expertise, the article suggests seceding the study of the national security in a separate discipline. This step will enable to further promote the training of specialists not only in the field of national security and strategic planning, but also political scientists and future specialists for the public service. The need for this is obviously related to the tasks of improving the quality of policy making and strategic planning in the Russian Federation, the implementation of national projects in an extremely complex international environment.

After the  disintegration of the  USSR,  the  Central Asian countries started to  pursue  independent development strategies and identified new domestic policy priorities. It is of special scholarly interest to compare the efforts by Central Asian governments to improve female representation in politics. The article is devoted to the consideration of state policies and measures aimed at increasing the participation of women in political institutions in Central Asia. The most and the least effective strategies for women's political empowerment were highlighted based on the analysis of the regulatory framework in the field of women's empowerment, as well as on the degree of application of gender statistics and gender budgeting. In particular, the authors address the matter of electoral gender quotas, which are already introduced by Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. It is stressed that the adoption of this policy tool in the two counties has had its  limitations, taking into consideration the existence of legal ways to circumvent the  gender­quota requirements. The authors also indicate Kazakhstan’s progress in collecting gender data that is “open, accessible, comparable, free and  understandable”. Improving data  quality  and  representativeness facilitates the development of practical steps to achieve gender equality in politics. At the same time, the authors point out a negative trend in the region: some countries are gradually moving away from having a distinct strategy pertaining to gender issues. Such approach may shift the focus from closing the gender gap to solving a wider range of social policy issues. The article shows that in general the countries in question implement a conservative gender policy and are not inclined to fully effect such practices as gender budgeting and the collection of relevant and complete gender statistics. It is concluded that Russia has an opportunity to act as a  trendsetter, in particular by applying a gender­sensitive approach in providing development assistance to the countries of Central Asia.

The article deals with the study of the anti-soft power. The concept of soft power took over the modern political discourse. The opportunities to counteract such power have not been considered properly so far. The proponents of liberal paradigm, trapped in ideology of its exclusiveness, failed to study this issue. Thus, the present article aims at answering the question whether there exists an anti-soft power, both as ideology and practice, which could be efficient enough for the state to protect itself from the impact of external informational and cultural influence. The theory of soft power is based on the idea that its object accepts normative subordination. Consequently, such object should not pursue major political ambitions, should be ready to collaborate within the established world order and, above all, agree with superiority of the world leaders and the rules they impose. Anti-soft power is different. The core idea is that its holder is not willing to comply with the opponent’s superiority as well as its rules of the game. The subject of anti-soft power is politically ambitious and never recognizes its dependence or inferiority. Regardless of being strong or weak, it will not admit its junior or secondary position in a community. We saw a few such subjects during the era of globalization. However, the globalization crisis may change the situation and thus give rise to a new political trend, that is the resurgence of anti-soft power. The article states that anti-soft power has repeatedly blocked the attempts of one country to influence another country. In the course of history, we can single out three main types of policy: 1) the policy based on supremacism, or chauvinism; 2) the policy based on ideological alternatives; 3) the policy based on segment restrictions of the opponent’s soft power. Each of these, though, can bring its subjects both political benefits and unwanted costs.

The relevance of the research is determined by the fact that  in the current conditions  economic, technological, social, cultural, and religious competition between states becomes  increasingly acute. Global threats are constantly increasing which proves the need for international cooperation in this area – right now many countries around the world are working together to reduce the threat of a large-scale epidemic of acute respiratory infection. New challenges of global scale are emerging, and there are still risks of natural, man-made, bio-social, and other catastrophes that could lead to global crisis situations, which requires Russia to strengthen its role in this area. The article is devoted to the problems of selecting prospects for national innovation and  technological strategies that  allow giving a  new impetus to international humanitarian  cooperation and emergency humanitarian response. The main aspect of methodological and legal bases of innovative management in international economic cooperation is the implementation of interrelated measures that provide large-scale assistance in areas of major disasters. Materials and publications of domestic and foreign experts working in the humanitarian field were used as sources in this analysis. The main purpose of the research is to substantiate the prospects for innovative management of international cooperation in the humanitarian sphere  and  in the field of disaster risk reduction. In  accordance with the stated purpose of the study,  the key tasks of substantiating the organizational foundations for the  formation of an  integrated system of international emergency humanitarian response, creating a new economic  model of innovative management of international cooperation  in  the  humanitarian field in  order  to  increase economic security were solved. The methodological foundations of the  research provide for the theory of constructing a new system of economic interstate humanitarian interaction. As a result of the research, the prospective directions of international economic cooperation and humanitarian cooperation, identified on the basis of a specific historical analysis of the development of such interaction, are analyzed. The article analyzes not only the stages of building an international humanitarian response system with different countries, but also the experience of creating institutional joint organizations in the field of ensuring life safety at the international level. On this basis, a modern economic model of innovative management of international humanitarian aid is proposed, which meets the principles and spirit of international law. Practical recommendations for increasing the  importance  of the  Russian  Federation  in  the  international  system of emergency humanitarian response are substantiated. We have developed proposals that will allow our country to make a technological breakthrough in the international humanitarian sphere. The results of the research can be applied in the formation  and  implementation of the national international policy of humanitarian cooperation in the field of life safety.

As a result of the Post­Cold War development, the international relations have shifted from bipolarism to a multipolarism. Once relevant Western­born IR  theories lack explanatory  power. Current IR witness the  growing role of the  non­Western states both in regional and  international domains. Consequently, there is a growing need for appropriate IR theories that  could explain the changing world structure, describe the role of new powers in international politics and define future development. Thus, it is essential to study non­Western research that  focuses on conceptualization of ongoing processes from its perspective.

The authors analyze the IR theories developed by South Korean scholars. The purpose of this article is to analyze South Korean interpretations of the middlepowermanship that considers the Republic of Korea’s unique regional and global context. South Korean scholars agree on a particular geostrategic location of the state. The geopolitical location, absence of natural resources and limited military power hinder South Korea’s ability to use hard power in regional and international politics. However, South Korea’s economic development and creative approach in foreign policy translate into  middle power diplomacy, which includes niche diplomacy, moderating role in relations between  greater powers, regional cooperation promotion, and development of the international legal system.

The authors conclude that the South Korean version of the middle power theory is continuously being (re) interpreted and adapted to the country’s foreign policy and South Korea should be a bridge between the great powers in the region.

This article offers an analysis of why Russia has been struggling to implement the environmental policies adopted by the government. While Transnational Advocacy Networks (TANs), much  discussed in the Constructivist scholarship and concerned with forces behind normative and behavioral change, do indeed have an independent effect on the adoption of environmental laws, they act predominantly through inter-governmental channels, not necessarily impacting on society itself. This partly explains why norms get adopted but may end up not getting implemented. Based on the existing literature on TANs, the authors’ inquiry establishes the fact that, to be successful in facilitating implementation, transnational networks can operate not only in the capacity of Advocacy Networks for the adoption of norms, but also as what the authors of this article previously chose to refer to as Expertise and Experience Networks, primarily aiming to aid norm implementation. Countries can be affected by TANs but not by TEENs, which might account for the paradoxical situation in Russia regarding norm implementation. The difference between the two only becomes apparent in cases when they do not operate simultaneously.

In the multipolar world regional powers play an increasingly important role, as they strive to become leaders and shape the regional order. It is a common situation, when in one region several powers compete to become a sole leader, however, other types of interaction also exist for example, asymmetric leadership. Asymmetric leadership denotes a situation when one power does not strive to become a sole leader in one region in all spheres, but the scope and type of its involvement in addressing common problems in the region varies. This paper explores the phenomenon of asymmetric leadership using the PRC policy in Central Asia as an empirical case. The  theoretical  part of the paper outlines the major points of the leadership theory in international relations, which are later used to evaluate China’s policy in Central Asia. In the empirical part we explore institutions, regional focus, goals and resources of the Chinese initiatives, as well as analyze factors that influence regional strategy of a rising power. In Central Asia the PRC has expressed leadership ambitions in several issue areas, such as non-traditional security, economic cooperation and development assistance, financial governance, and environmental cooperation. However, its strategy has varied from sphere to sphere in terms  of institutionalization, overall regional focus, involvement of other regional power, etc. For  example, in the sphere of non-traditional security and financial governance, the PRC has initiated the establishment of special institutions, which are absent in other spheres. The case of Central Asia, which has traditionally been Russian sphere of influence, allows us to investigate the possible responses of one regional power to leadership projects of another. Russia plays different roles in Chinese projects in Central Asia: a co-leader in counter-terrorism sphere, a follower in financial governance, a competitor in economic cooperation, and an observer in environmental protection sphere. The role of Russia is determined by the available resources in each area and its own leadership ambitions, as well as the desire of the PRC to maintain friendly relations with Moscow.

A serious academic debate in general, let alone on theoretical and methodological issues, is rare for both Western and Russian peer-reviewed journals. In the context of discussion, launched by a polemical article by a prominent Russian IR expert Alexey Fenenko, published in 2018 in the  ‘International Trends’ journal, is more important and noteworthy. Nominally both this article and the subsequent responses from Denis Degterev, Igor Istomin, Andrey Baykov and Konstantin  Khudoley focused on a long-running dispute between the proponents of quantitative and qualitative methods in IR studies. However, the true essence of this discussion, as well as its implications, goes far beyond a mere technical argument about methods. The present article examines this discussion as well as developments in contemporary IR theory through the lens of critical realism (CR). The first section considers the arguments of the discussants and shows that they tend to focus on secondary, technical issues leaving out the key subject of the dispute, i.e. how should international studies be organized in order to have a right to be called a science. In order to bring this issue back into the spotlight and to provide a new perspective on the issue, the second section considers the problem field of the contemporary IR theory from the viewpoint of CR. According to critical realists all predominant approaches in the mainstream IR theory are rooted in the Humean empiricism which to a large extent explains both epistemological and practical limitations of the contemporary IR studies. As an alternative, they advance the ideas of the founder of critical realism, British philosopher R. Bhaskar. The third section examines the key epistemological and ontological provisions of CR, which include the fundamental recognition of objective reality, existing prior to and beyond human activities, reality, which is stratified and differentiated. They also entail a specific perception of causality and of possible limits of cogniscibility and predictability of social phenomena. Nonetheless the article is far from a  straightforward apology of critical realism. The  fourth section identifies certain  weaknesses  of contemporary interpretations of CR in the context of IR theory, which include a static nature of their methodology and inconsistency of their implications. The author concludes that the major contribution of CR to the IR theory lies in providing a clear path for further research – that  is  development of materialist theories and approaches.