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Book Review: Ponomarevа E., Arlyapova E. 2024. The Western Balkans in the run-up to and during the current crisis: players and figures. Moscow: Prospekt Publishing House. 318 p. (in Russian)

В XXI в. религиозный фактор стал играть всё более значимую роль в мировой политике. Это прослеживается как в глобальных и региональных процессах, так и на уровне отдельных стран. Отношения России и Саудовской Аравии являются подтверждением данного тезиса. Несмотря на определенные разногласия по ряду вопросов, Москва и Эр-Рияд поддерживают тесные контакты с начала 1990-х годов. Важную роль в развитии российско-саудовских отношений сыграл религиозный фактор. После распада СССР мусульманские народы России и Постсоветского Востока получили возможность совершать паломничество к святым местам ислама в Саудовской Аравии, что напрямую отразилось в государственной политике обеих стран.

The article scrutinizes Turkish-Azerbaijani key areas of cooperation – political, economic, military-technical, cultural and humanitarian. For instance, in addition to intensive interaction at the level of high-ranking political elites, Azerbaijani-Turkish unity in the political context is largely built on the basis of classifying foreign policy partners into common friends and common enemies (the "friend-foe" principle). Thus, both Ankara and Baku are building friendly relations with the Turkic states of Central Asia. At the same time, Armenia acts as a common "enemy". In the military sphere, both states seek to form Turkey-oriented militarized structures and, moreover, to create a unified Turkic army in the long term. The nature of economic relations between Azerbaijan and Turkey is largely based on a competitive basis. Energy acts as a unifying and at the same time a divisive factor since both states strive for leadership in this area, seeking to occupy a special place in the regional energy market. In the cultural and humanitarian sphere, the unfolding Turkey-centric integration is of particular importance. The author comes to the conclusion that nowadays the bilateral relations between Turkey and Azerbaijan are characterized by the "merging" of the two countries into a single Turkey-centric space, which manifests in almost all fields of interaction. The Republic of Turkey seeks to influence Baku in order to make it a reference point of the "Turkic world" under its auspices. This trend is most likely to strengthen in the future.

The article considers the role of ideology and values in the formation and implementation of the current foreign policy of the Republic of Turkey. Taking into account the increasing role of regional actors such as Turkey in international politics, studying their tactics and mechanisms of influence on the global political environment is necessary to explain the further transformation of the international system.The study reveals the strengthening role of the ideology and values in world politics in general and in individual states, such as Turkey, in particular. Under the rule of the Justice and Development Party headed by the current President R.T. Erdogan the country began a gradual transition from «Kemalism», which includes the preservation of secularism, ProWestern democratic values and a gradual departure from the Ottoman heritage, to a more conservative domestic and foreign policy, characterized by the strengthening of Islamist and nationalist sentiments, as well as the transition to the policy of «neo-Ottomanism», «neo-pan-Turkism». The return of the idea of «aggrandizement» of the country to the official political discourse has affected the conduct of Turkey's foreign policy towards both the regional states and the world arena as a whole.The Republic not only began self-restoration as an autonomous actor of international relations in the eyes of the key world powers, but also started to spread its own values and ideas among the population of both the Middle East and among the states which constitute a national interest for Turkey (Russia, the post-Soviet space, etc.), thus influencing them at various levels and involving them in its orbit of influence – both politically, economically and from a humanitarian point of view.Using «hard power» abroad no longer meets the current Turkey's policy. Instead it relies on forging humanitarian ties, combining initiatives in the cultural, educational and scientific fields to achieve a long-term influence. The Republic of Turkey is trying to spread the following values among the world community:«Justice». International relations must be just and fair. For Turkey it means conformity with its national interests.«Religious fatalism».Government actions both at home and abroad are legitimized through references to religion and fate.«Democratic values».The Republic of Turkey considers itself the most democratic state in the world and contrasts itself with "Western democracies", which, according to the Turkish leadership, are spreading hegemony rather than democracy.«State-centrism»and collectivism. The interests of the state, society, and especially the Muslim Ummah, are placed above the values of the individual.«Traditional values».Given the Islamization and conservatism of Turkish society as a whole, traditional values also begin to play a major role in the general political discourse of the state.«Culture».Turkey also makes adjustments to the concept of «culture» in very inclusive terms, presenting its culture as a «melting pot» that can turn anything into Turkish.«Respect».In the eastern tradition, it is customary to show respect to elders, as well as neighbors and guests. Turkey uses a demonstration of respect in foreign policy instrumentally and pragmatically. An example of this is the address of the President of Turkey in relation to the leaders of other states: Nursultan Nazarbayev – «aksakal» of the Turkic world, Vladimir Putin is a «dear friend».

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The article examines key private military companies affiliated with the Republic of Turkey. In a new type of security architecture that is being formed non-state actors play a growing role. These actors include private military companies (PMCs) and structures close to PMCs in the form of their activities. In Turkey, there is neither legislation in the field of PMCs, nor generally accepted classification of such organizations, which, however, have a significant impact on the country's foreign and security policies. The main approaches of Turkish analysts to the study and classification of PMCs are largely similar to those adopted in the West and are confined to dividing them into military service providers, military consulting and military assistance companies. Of several PMC-type structures formed by the former Turkish military, the most famous ones are SADAT and rapidly developing Akademi Sancak. These companies do not position themselves as combat actors despite the existing evidence of the participation of some of their employees (especially in the case of SADAT) in armed conflicts in Libya, Syria, and other regions. At the same time, in Turkish socio-political discourse, SADAT is often referred to as the government's "shadow army" due to its alleged ties with Turkey's ruling elites. The authors conclude that for Turkey, private military companies form a relatively new phenomenon. However, many Turkish experts as well as the leaders of the PMCs underscore the need to develop this area of military activity, as PMCs could potentially implement a number of important foreign policy tasks and serve as an auxiliary force for the state and the Turkish Armed Forces.

Central Asia is one of the focal points of Turkish foreign policy. Attempts to stimulate integration processes in the former Turkic republics of the Soviet Union under Turkish aegis have been underway since the early 1990s. Turkmenistan, due to its large reserves of natural resources and favorable strategic position on the shore of the Caspian Sea, is of particular interest to Ankara. Promoting the concept of "Two states – one nation" Turkey is building interaction with official Ashgabat in the field of trade, military cooperation, humanitarian ties. This article examines the current state of affairs in these tracks and points out in which areas the Republic of Turkey is already successful, and which may soon attract more attention from Ankara.

In recent years, large-scale reforms in all spheres of life have been carried out in the Republic of Uzbekistan. During the reign of President Sh. Mirziyoyev, there have been noticeable changes in the political, economic and social life of the country. It is important to note that the country's policy has become more open, which gives the people an opportunity to participate directly in the discussion of the ongoing reforms. The article analyses the role of the updated Constitution of the Republic of Uzbekistan and the early presidential elections. The reasons and relevance of the amendments to the legislation of Uzbekistan are revealed, the degree of support for the reforms carried out by the government by the citizens of the country is examined. The importance of the work of the Constitutional Сommission and distinctive features of the technology of early elections are also determined.

The article analyzes Turkey's policy in the framework of the Syrian crisis. The Arab Spring brought dramatic changes to the region, and Syria has since become an area of never ending conflict. At the first stage of the war in Syria, Ankara demonstrated a moderate position in relation to the events in that country, but it soon turned to harsh criticism of the B.Assad regime. Special attention is paid to Turkish military operations in Syria. The interaction with Russia and the United States within the framework of the Syrian settlement is analyzed. The issue of Syrian refugees and their impact on Turkey EU relations are also discussed. It is concluded that in the context of the 2023 elections Ankara has moved to a more constructive position on the Syrian crisis.

In the era of new challenges and threats, the most dangerous of which has occurred terrorism, the Republic of Turkey becomes one of the key centers of power in the Middle East and pursues the goal to create a regional security architecture around itself as well as to counter various terrorist organizations. The aim of the research is to scrutinize the peculiarities of Ankara's anti-terrorism policy both – inside and outside the country – and its political and legal approaches to understanding the phenomenon of terrorism and methods of its combating.The study of Russia and Turkey's aspects of interaction is of particular importance. This issue seems to be especially relevant in the scope of strengthening of Russian-Turkish cooperation in recent years including the field of combating terrorism, ensuring global and regional security, and maintaining international stability. As a result of quantitative content analysis of President R.T. Erdogan's public speeches and the use of general scientific research methods, the authors conclude that the fight against terrorist threat, especially the so-called "Kurdish terrorism", is a matter of great importance for the country's leadership. At the same time Turkey's anti-terrorist activity has certain specifics and is characterized by Ankara's desire to lead anti-terrorist missions in different parts of the world and using a predominantly militaristic approach to solving the problem. This approach primarily consists in conducting cross-border anti-terrorist military operations on the neighboring states' territories. However, the military campaigns that have become an integral part of Turkey's anti-terrorism policy in many respects do not contribute to the demolishing of terrorist elements. Instead of that such operations on the contrary become an extra destabilizing factor in the Middle East. Besides that, due to the peculiarities of Turkey's interpretation of the concept of "terrorism" and its policy's implementation, Ankara's foreign anti-terrorism actions in most cases are limited to the realization of its own interests but not to achieving the goals set within the framework of the ongoing campaigns.

The article analyses Turkish-Ukrainian relations during the presidency of V. Zelensky. Various aspects of bilateral cooperation in the political, economic and military-technological spheres are analyzed. The authors note that Ukraine sought to intensify military-technical cooperation and enlist the support of Ankara. Turkey, in turn, systematically deepened economic cooperation, receiving privileges from the Ukrainian side. It is concluded that Ukraine has not been able to achieve equal relations with Turkey.

After the collapse of the bipolar confrontation and in the era of globalization and regionalization of IR world and regional states face rising flows of information and extending mechanisms of foreign policy of different states. Turkey is not an exception. In this respect think tanks start playing a more significant role for its formulating of foreign policy.

The peculiarity of the current moment in the development of post-Soviet Eurasia is its ever-increasing involvement in the processes of redrawing the previously relatively stable field of world politics and economics. In a changing global political environment, the region is facing a number of new challenges. At the same time, the situation is unique in that the region exists in the "post-economy" mode, when the problem of self-identification becomes fundamental, from the point of view of both formulating internal development goals and determining one's place in the world. The increase in external pressure on post-Soviet Eurasia gives birth to two contradictory tendencies: towards the weakening of internal ties, which is fraught with the destruction of its integrity, and towards the consolidation of space in response to expansion from outside. The transformations taking place in the region largely reflect global trends, including the increasing role of ideological aspects that sideline economic considerations, the global search for ideological and value orientations, and the growing importance of ethnic and religious affiliation. Having analyzed in detail the processes unfolding in the Eurasian space, the authors come to the conclusion that the confrontation of various civilizational identities will be the most important factor in its further development. According to the authors, post-Soviet Eurasia might face either a complete loss of subjectivity, or a partial loss of economic sovereignty and preservation of subjectivity through its political affiliation with Russia. However, the implementation of the second scenario requires from Russia not only its readiness, but also its ability to assume the functions of the core of the region.