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One of the achievements of the reflectivist turn in international relations theory in the late 20th century was the attention given to the role of discourse and other ideational factors in international politics. In recent years, however, approaches critical of the discursive emphasis in international studies have emerged, seeking to restore the significance of non-discursive aspects of international relations such as geography, technology, and the non-human. This article offers a perspective on the development of international relations theory from the standpoint of the debate between materialism and idealism. Within this framework, it provides a brief overview of the historical evolution of international relations theory and subsequently delves into a detailed analysis of three strands of the new wave of materialist theorizing in the field - critical realism, new materialism, and neoclassical geopolitics. The article suggests considering the new materialist wave as, on the whole, a positive development, but also points out the necessity of taking into account the risk of "exiling" the human element from international relations research as such concepts proliferate. The possibility of collaboration between reflecivists and post-reflecivists, as well as between idealists and materialists in general, is underlined for the comprehensive study of contemporary international realities.

This article is devoted to English historian F.S. Northedge (1918-1985) and his role in the development conception of international society and English School of International relations in 1960-1980.

This school consists of small group of scientists and diplomats, who were well educated in elite British universities like Cambridge and Oxford. They were acquainted with each other personally. British Committee for the Theory of International Politics in 1960-1970 was the center for the study of International Society. Such composition of the school demonstrated aristocratic character of the International relations study as intellectual pursuit in United Kingdom. Meanwhile, such people like Charles Manning, Fred Northedge, Edward Carr and some other famous people, who usually were English School members, did not taken part in the British Committee due to different reasons.

Thus, F.S. Northedge was untypical participant of English school and his scientific heritage need to be studied. Key factors of his biography and his views on International Policy are studies in the article. "Diplomatic style", "System of the state" and "International society" were the central concepts in his works. He met with these ideas in the London School of economy, where Charles Manning, Martin Wight and Headley Bull – founders of English School - had worked at International relations chair in different time. The analysis of these categories let make conclusion that F. Northedge agreed with main ideas of English School of International relations. But at the same time he understood them very originally. His system of the views demonstrated that British Committee for the Theory of International Politics, but not London School of economy, was the main center for the development conception of International Society in 1960-1980.

The paper defines the main approaches to understanding the strategic partnership between states in the international arena, identifies the main features of such a partnership. The author substantiates the thesis that at present the strategic partnership between states in the social, spiritual and cultural sphere is no longer of a secondary nature. The article defines the main directions of strategic partnership between states in the social, spiritual and cultural sphere at the present stage. The concept of changing the vector of Russia in the social, spiritual and cultural sphere at the present stage is substantiated.

The article deals with the complex and controversial problems of the new regional communities' formation and the impact of the interethnic relations sphere on them. The author notes that the processes of interaction between representatives of different cultures and civilizations, ethnic groups and religions have become increasingly controversial and tense in the context of continuous social dynamics. Similarly to the Russian society as a whole, regional communities are in a state of transitivity. They get transformed, they acquire new qualities such as multicasting and heterogeneity, multi-ethnicity and multi-confessionalism, fragmentarity and multiculturality.

This fact increases the risks and uncertainties, problematizes future prospects. National non-governmental organizations are increasingly positioning themselves as civil society institutions at the present stage of social development at the regional level. They perform a difficult dual task: on the one hand, they ensure the preservation and development of history, native language, culture, ethnic traditions, and on the other hand, they work on the integration, on the common identity and the Russian nation formation.

On the territory of the Volgograd region, largely due to the active cooperation of regional authorities and local authorities with national public associations, international and inter-confessional relations are stable. The basis of such activity is respect for history, native language, culture, tradition, religion, national dignity of all people in the region, regardless of their belonging to a certain ethnic group or religion. Over two decades of accumulated considerable experience of joint inter-ethnic dialogue and cooperation, provided tolerance and peace, harmony and mutual understanding between people of different ethnicities and religions in the country.

The problem of the application of punishment to realization political goals in international relations is considered. The author characterizes the social institution of punishment, indicates its place and role in the structure of social relations. The political and legal component of punishment is analyzed in the context of unilateral sanctions of some sovereign states against others. The main forms and content of the influence of political goals on the institution of international legal sanctionspunishments are determined. The author's vision of such specific phenomena as "self-punishment" and "political engagement" is substantiated. An algorithm for identifying the political bias of decisions on the imposition of international legal penalties, as well as possible ways to develop an adequate response to them from the "punished" subjects (target states) is formulated. The empirical base of the study includes materials on the application of punishments by individual and collective subjects of international relations against the Russian Federation, including the geopolitical consequences of the relevant sanctions decisions.

The article is devoted to analysis of youth tourism as a specific socio-cultural formation of the image of the territory, countries in the international youth environment. This is especially true in the context of tourism active interaction of youth, which sets the stage for the development of multidirectional trends in the international stage. The authors refer to the analysis of some aspects of this phenomenon in the context of contemporary international relations, in which there is a clear movement towards the universalization of youth tourism. Today the trend of transition of youth relations and tourism contacts to the area of international politics and public diplomacy is being shaped more and more clearly. For the first time attempt to understand the role of youth tourism as a mechanism of soft power of Russia, allowing it to be used as an in-demand feedback channel with foreign youth, and the role of social and cultural influence on the international space are presented. The authors discuss the problems of formation of image of the country from the point of view of effective use of the potential of having a "protracted" form of development of the Institute for international youth tourism, as a part of foreign cultural policy of Russia. The authors identified the main problematic aspects and factors that characterize a promising role and place of youth tourism as a desired tool of soft power and channels of influence of Russia in the international space.

В статье рассматривается история и предпосылки формирования проблемы кибербезопасности на примере первых хакерских атак и случаев крупной утечки информации в интернете.
Авторами проводится анализ эволюции данной проблемы, выявляются закономерности и формы влияния кибератак на мировые правительственные структуры и международные отношения. По мнению авторов взлом компьютерных сетей становится не просто утечкой информации или поражением данных того или иного ведомства, но и поводом для международных скандалов.
В статье указывается на необходимость определения рамок влияния государства в области сети Интернет, выработки единого мнения, считается ли кибератака фактом нападения одной страны на другую. Данные проблемы все чаще находят отражение в научных трудах отечественных и зарубежных ученых, что говорит о положительной динамике в общемировой деятельности по разработке мер усиления кибербезопасности.

The article presents a brief overview of India-U.S. relations during the period of Narendra Modi's government and Barack Obama's administration. The author analyzes the dynamics of cooperation development after the victory of Bharatiya Janata Party in the 2014 Parliamentary elections in India and studies the key directions of bilateral agenda. The current condition of India-U.S. strategic dialogue and the influence of human rights issues on the countries' cooperation are characterized.

Since 2014 the states' cooperation has been growing rapidly. The bilateral investment, trade and economic interdependence have significantly increased. Some experts and mass media note that Barack Obama and Narendra Modi are having friendly relations. From a different angle, a number of agreements between countries still remain unaccomplished. For instance, the U.S. support for India's permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council, its accession to APEC and the implementation of nuclear deal have yet to be turned into achievement.

Together with strengthening the bilateral strategic dialogue, the U.S. has intensified the criticism of India's human rights record. The main part of it includes the cases of religious intolerance, which are observed in the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom reports and the remarks given by U.S. lawmakers and official representatives, including the Ambassador to India. Washington's careful attention to the human rights issues and religious violence in particular is one of the major irritants in the U.S.-India relations.

The engagement of Indian Americans in the local U.S. politics and their lobbying efforts in the context of U.S.-India relations are revealed. The author outlines the near-terms perspectives of bilateral cooperation.

At the turn of the century, the rogue state concept has become an integral part of the theory of international relations. However, even contemporary approaches lack the appropriate academic tools to reach a comprehensive understanding of the international community's role in determining the normative frameworks of the proper behavior of the states as the main actors of international system, leaving the relations between global community and the rogues almost an uncharted territory on the international stage. The article considers the category of rogue states as "excluded" members of the international community through the sociological lens of "stigma" (E. Goffman) and "labelling theory" (H. Becker and E. Lemert). Engaging an empirical case of Iraqi foreign policy during and after the Gulf War 1991, the author demonstrates two thresholds of the labelling state as the rogue: public initiation of the offender and self-fulfilling prophecy. It is possible to define some specific features of the outsider's behavior on the international stage: the high level of cooperation among the representatives of the same category, "unsustainable bravado" as the set of fluid and inconsistent actions of the rogue state in foreign policy, finally, the tendency toward obtaining the "secondary gains". Contrariwise, global community tends to pay greater attention to rogue states and exercise some discrimination practices on the ground of their outcast position in the world normative structure with the category of "wise" actors, for example China, being an exception from the common mainstream and maintaining close cooperation ties with rogues.

The article is devoted to the study of the Iran-Azerbaijan relations during the first year of Muhammad Khatami's presidency. The main task of the research is to follow the evolution of Iran-Azerbaijan relations during that period, to describe the most important events of these relations and to find an answer to the question why such a successful beginning of the period led Iran and Azerbaijan to the verge of a diplomatic catastrophe. The coming of the liberal president Khatami to power in Iran created an opportunity to overcome mutual mistrust in the Iran-Azerbaijan relations and to direct them into a constructive course. The fact that in 1997-1998 Iran and Azerbaijan foreign policy agendas partly coincided also contributed to this concept. The first serious attempts to stabilize the Iran-Azerbaijan relations were made during the eighth OIC summit in Tehran, when Iran initiated passing of several documents, condemning the actions of Armenia in the Karabakh conflict. However, this proved insufficient to stabilize the relationship. Soon, because of problems in ethnic and energy spheres the Iran-Azerbaijan relations began rapidly to deteriorate. The priority given to relations with the United States by Azerbaijan served as an additional source of irritation for Iran. That eventually became the main reason for Iran to change its position on the international legal status of the Caspian Sea that created the basis for Iranian claims to Azerbaijan oilfields. In three years dramatic events of the first year of Khatami presidency led Iran and Azerbaijan to a military conflict in the Caspian Sea when Iranian warships drove away Azerbaijan research vessels from a contract zone Araz-Alov-Sharg.

The author studies the influence of the "Shia factor" on the relations between Iran and the Gulf Arab countries. In most countries of the Persian Gulf, there are Shia communities that constitute a significant part of the population. After the Islamic revolution of 1979 relations between Iran and most Arab countries have become particularly tense. In the 1980s, the Gulf monarchies also became wary of exporting the Islamic revolution in their countries. This was due to the fact that, being inspired by the success of the co-religionists in Iran, the Arab Shiites became more involved in politics. It should be noted that the way the Arab Gulf countries treat the Shiites in the region is influenced by the fact that Iran and the Arab Gulf countries compete for political and economic predominance in the region. Often the Shia Muslims are discriminated by the authorities of the Arab countries, and are regarded as the so-called "fifth column" of Iran. In the author's opinion, the policy of oppression of the Shia Muslims in the Persian Gulf monarchies not only worsens the political situation in these countries, but also complicates relations with neighboring Iran. This policy is not constructive. Moreover, the mythical "Iranian threat" does not go to any comparison with the threat posed by the Islamic State. According to the author, although after the execution of the Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr in Saudi Arabia at the beginning of 2016 Iran's relations with Arab countries became even more strained, the further escalation of the conflict is not in the interests of Iran. Especially now, at the initial stage of removing sanctions against Iran's nuclear program, the military operations against the Shiites in the Arab countries may slow down the process. As for Saudi Arabia, in the event of the outbreak of hostilities Riyadh may seriously damage relations with the United States. This is because Washington sees no benefits in involving Saudi Arabia, its biggest ally in the region, into another armed conflict in the region.

This paper deals with the dynamics of changes in relations between followers of Christianity and Islam in Egypt since the 1970s. The relevance of our research consists in the fact that the aforementioned world religions play a significant role in the formation of Egyptians' mindset and the predestination of their behavior. The novelty of the topic is associated with the attempt to speak about the problem of interfaith relations in the light of main "players' view". The list of players includes the State, the Coptic Orthodox Church, the Muslim Brotherhood Movement and other Islamic institutions under presidential control. The research is aimed at analyzing the interfaith relations in Egypt over the last fifty years in order to determine their current status. To achieve this goal, we consistently solved a number of tasks. At first, we found out prerequisites of problem's emergence, then we described interests of each group, considered their activity and made general implications. Methods: For complex study of the role of the State and religious structures, we have applied an institutional research method. A historical and a system method allowed us to comprehend a genesis of the question and show how internal and external factors affect these institutions. Results: We've made the conclusion that the main impact on interfaith relations was made by authoritarian leader who specified their evolution in a favorable way for him. The official Islamic clerics get benefits from the President and therefore do not criticize his power. The Coptic Orthodox Church also collaborates with the State under the threat of terroristic attacks. The Muslim Brotherhood Movement shows independent views, so it can condemn or support President's decisions based on their vision of the role of religion in the country. Thus, in the 21st century, the choice between Secularization and Islamization will became principal for Egypt's development.

The article is devoted to history of the first contacts between the Russian Empire and Regency of Tunisia at the end of the 18th century. The research is based on works of the Russian, Tunisian and French historians. In Russia it was Catherine the Great's era, the empress who considerably moved apart borders of the country, expanded the international contacts of Russia, laid the foundation for development of the Russian trade including Mediterranean trade relations. The Tunisian governor Hamuda Pasha also sought for development of international relations and the statement of the authority of the country. Although between Russia and Tunisia at this early stage had not yet been an official contractual relationship, but through the activities of freelance Consulate between the countries established trade, began political and cultural contacts. A special role in the development of Russian-Tunisian relations belongs to the family of the Dutch consuls Nyssens, which became a freelance Russian consuls in Tunis. The article analyzes the causes of weakness of trade relations between Russia and Tunisia, the slow development of political contacts. Special attention is paid to the problem of Mediterranean piracy, in which the main role played the corsairs of Tunis and Algeria. The distance of countries from each other, the difference of scale, cultures and political aspirations did not prevent them to do in the end of the 18th century the first steps towards each other, to establish friendly relations.