Communication regimes of the Central Asian states in the context of the national security interests of the Russian Federation

The article reveals the content of the destructive influence of Western countries on the communication regimes and information space of the friendly Central Asian states, which poses a threat to their national security and contradicts the national interests of the Russian Federation. The importance of joint efforts with the states of the Central Asian region, including those in the format of the SCO and CSTO regional organizations, to ensure information security and a positive impact on the communication regimes of this region is noted. Attention is drawn to the role of national mass media in the arsenal of tools for influencing the minds and psychology of the population of Central Asian countries and in this regard gives a description of Western information structures that exercise such influence, the mechanisms of their functioning and the way to neutralize their activities. The dynamism of the matter under study and its subjection to changes in the balance of power in the international arena are noted. The role of the state in ensuring information security and protecting citizens from distorted information and communication influence is analyzed separately. The paper suggests considerations regarding the organization of a systematic counteraction to the destructive actions of individual states in the information field of countries in Central Asia, in particular, it suggests the need to create a comprehensive system, together with the Russian Federation, to block and neutralize malicious information and propaganda materials, and also a proposal regarding the creation of a global communication order based on the formation of an international legal framework for rational civilized regulation of country communication regimes at the global and regional levels.

Communication regimes in Central Asian countries: a scientific discussion

The article contains the main ideas expressed by Russian and foreign participants in the international scientific discussion on the topic «Communication regimes in Central Asian countries». The discussion was held by National Research Institute for Communications Development. Studies of communication regimes conducted on the basis of the author’s methodology revealed: (1) asymmetry of actor models of communication regimes in Central Asian countries (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan); (2) pronounced etatism and policy of state regulation and control of processes and structures of public communication; (3) specifics of social engineering of communication regimes based on securitization of issues of ethnic cultural and national identity; (4) attempts to update communication regimes that have not yet attained serious success. In the course of discussions, scientists from Central Asian countries offered their research materials and keynoted: the role of cultural and religious factors in the formation of communication regimes; the influence of the financial basis of mass media on their structure and media discourse; frequent borrowings of the content from foreign information channels. Russian experts noted: artificially accentuated problems of «historical trauma» in the information space in the Central Asian countries; changes in communication formats within the context of COVID-19; the importance of studying communication regimes in the context of ensuring collective information security, the need to develop common terms and concepts for Russia and Central Asian countries in the drawing up the legislation on communication and information.

The white and red forces of the Civil War: problems of modern public interpretation of historical memory in Finland

The article characterizes the modern public discourse in Finland on the impact of the red and white forces on the developments unfolding in the course of the Civil War through the interpretation of historical sources. It also draws a conclusion about the transformations that historical memory has experienced in Finland over the past decades. The research tasks are solved by using the methodology of historical trauma and mechanisms of its overcoming, the historical narration of everyday life, sociological methods. The article considers the concepts of official scientific and public discourse on controversial historical issues, indicates the different functional content of these categories. The fact of granting independence to Finland in 1918, and most importantly, the fact that the independence was maintained further on, was actualized in the public narrative in 2018. On this basis, it is possible to analyze the assessment of the white and red forces within modern Finnish society, due to the higher interest to the Civil War in connection with the Jubilee data and comparatively larger number of sources on historic memory that have appeared in scientific discourse. In the interwar period, Finland saw the cult of the Civil (“Liberation”) War, where the red forces were presented as opponents of the independence of the state, and the whites, on the contrary, contributed to the acquisition of the sovereignty. However the statistical data, commemorative products, cultural phenomena presented in the article show that the public discourse about the Civil War tends to smooth the categorical evaluations, despite the fact that the discourse about the further Winter War and, moreover, the World War II tends to exacerbate the approach. The Finnish society is aware of the need to investigate crimes against the reds, preserves the memory of war crimes on both sides, and keeps the war graves of both Reds and Whites in the similar way. The rethinking of the legacy of civil confrontation is the potential for humanitarian dialogue between Russia and Finland.

Communication regimes of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia: scientific discussion

The materials of the scientific discussion contain basic ideas, pronounced by Russian and foreign participants in the International scientific discussion on the subject of “Communication regimes in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia”. The discussion was held by the National Research Institute of Communication Development (НИИРК). The Study of communication regimes, held by НИИРК based on author’s methods revealed the following in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia: rigid regulation of all segments of communication and information content , bodies of self-government included ( having the opportunity to align contacts independently, for example, in the border areas), control over the communication participants taken at random, under the pretext of providing informational security, especially mass media and NGO; strive for the consolidation of the society on the basis of articulating of threats to the national identity and threats to ethnic national self-consciousness; dominating of the Russian threat to national security in information discourse; conscious policy of narrowing the Russian language informational, educational and socializing space; incomplete inclusion in the European information discourse and selective compliance with the principles of the EU relative to communication and information (codex of practices relative to misinformation); the beginning of the compaction of communication space by alternative actors, who appeared as a result of mistrust for the acting government and as a result of impossibility to realize their needs. In the course of the debates it was discussed: institutionalization of the countries communication regimes: role of historically shaped and contemporary practices in Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia; actors models of communication regimes in Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia; role of political institutes, mass media, institutes of civil society and business in shaping communication regimes; peculiarities of communication regimes relative to separately taken groups of the population, mass media, neighboring countries.

The transformative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on global higher education systems

The article deals with the long-term implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for higher educational institutions in different countries. The lack of information and verified data relative to the impact of the pandemic on changes in the education systems in different countries, the topic is still poorly learned, and therefore, it is difficult to predict what transformation processes will occur in the near future. The COVID-19 pandemic has posed many challenges for higher education in terms of teaching, learning, research collaboration and institutional governance. At the same time, the pandemic has provided an excellent opportunity for various stakeholders to rethink and even reschedule higher education process with an effective risk management plan for future resilience. The crisis made it possible to reconsider the role of informational and communicational technologies (ICT) and analyze the effectiveness of online learning in higher education. The article attempts to systematize the information available in open sources and assess the impact of the pandemic on such aspects of higher education as problems connected with technical facilities provision, accessibility for different social groups, digitalization and international academic mobility. Methods of systemic and comparative analysis based on international research and online surveys were used. Recommendations are proposed for studying the impact of global politics and geopolitical factors on the future of international higher education.

“Security trap” as a challenge for Syria’s post-conflict reconstruction

The present article is dedicated to comprehensive analysis of business-risks in Syria in the security sphere (the author named it as “security trap”). Among them are the seats of combat activities between the government forces and the opposition, contradictions between the central government and local elite, rise in criminality among former combatants, traumatized by war, “urban” terrorism, stepped up activity on the part of ISIS militants in desert areas and not in the last measure the conflicts of interests among external actors. This topic seems to be quite new for scientific research in Russia and abroad since most analytical work has been previously focused on impacts of security in military political and social spheres rather than in the economic one. Such approach would allow us to make a conclusion that business risks alongside other difficulties such as territorial fragmentation, economy lying in ruins, sanctions, crisis in neighboring Lebanon, COVID-19 pandemic are hampering the revival of businesslike life. This is important and useful for constructing hierarchy of external and internal challenges for Syria’s post-conflict reconstruction, including the stabilizing role of Russia. The author has used empirical materials gathered during the term of his diplomatic service at the Russian Embassy in Damascus (in 2014–2017) along with his subsequent regular visits to Syria.

Chinese Investment and the «Belt & Road» Initiatives in Mongolia (Case of international investment)

In this article we attempt to introduce the current circumstances for the Chinese investment, a basis for mutual trust and coherent cooperation as well as mutual understanding between the two countries in the new period of the Belt and Road Initiatives. In addition, we aimed to investigate thoroughly the above-mentioned circumstances of mutual trust and trustful understanding among citizens, servants and policy makers as called upon to emphasize the human potential and human capital. The article considers the impact of the present structure of the two countries (China-Mongolia) and its level of coherence, efficiency of mutual economy and the value of its conditions. We would like to emphasize that behind any economic policy there must always be agreements, commitments and real cooperation. We believe that foreign relations and cooperation between the two countries are not only measured by investments, but also by the national values, norms, practices, traditions, views and motives of the host country. Therefore, we emphasize that mutual cooperation and investment cannot exist without due account of those mentioned circumstances. In other words, we keynoted the distancing in the relations between individuals, organizations, communities and the government, which are the main influencing forces today. Our proposal is to draw the attention to the lack of communication mechanisms from the two sides. Our attempt is to sum up China’s investment into Mongolia, including the current investment trends and future perspectives which are to be realized within the framework of the project, «The Belt & Road Initiative».

Development of Northern Sea Route: Prospects for International Cooperation

Today due to global climate change the Northern Sea Route is being formed along the northern coast of Russia as a new international maritime passage in the Arctic. Due to the rapid increase in the interest of regional and non-Arctic states, the scientific community and business to this transportation route, there is a need to study the prospects for cooperation between Russia and other countries on the development of the Northern Sea Route. The paper provides a detailed analysis of the interests of external players in the NSR area, taking into account the latest changes and events, while the author uses swot-analysis and a comparative analytical approach to conduct the study. The results of the study have shown that cooperation with some Arctic countries on the development of the NSR could bring mutual benefits: Canada and Russia would exchange experience on the development of similar sea routes, and Norway and Iceland would receive advantages as hubs on new routes. Non-regional countries, such as China, South Korea, Japan, Singapore and India, are interested in the NSR. For them, the Northern Sea Route is potentially shorter and safer compared to traditional routes, and it also allows to participate in projects located near its water area in science, energy and transport sectors. In turn, the participation of foreign partners is important for Russia, since it is usually accompanied by the active use of the route, the creation of large projects throughout its entire length, the attraction of serious funds, modern technologies and knowledge to the Arctic zone of the country.

Politicization of Religion in Theoretical and Terminological Understanding

The article is devoted to an actual interdisciplinary problem at the intersection of political science and religious studies – the discourse of the political in religion, the politicization of religion, the artificial transfer of purely spiritual values, phenomena and categories into the political field in order to use religion for political purposes. The author considers the problem from two angles: (1) the politicization of religion for mercenary purposes and (2) the clergy’s political activity based on a deliberately politicized religious teaching that has a strong political platform (ideology) at its core. This study is purely theoretical, and nevertheless the author undertakes a number of empirical digressions in order to demonstrate how the politicization of religion manifests itself in the socio-political sphere of human life. Thus, the main problem of the study should be designated as a theoretical understanding and disclosure of the practical significance (i.e., risks and effects) of the religion politicization’s negativity and how it could effect on religious groups. The article identifies the objective factors of the mutual influence of religion and politics, the presence of strong political origins in a number of creeds, and the rich historical experience of the political role of faith in society.

Nothern European Lessons for Eurasian Integration

The paper is dedicated to the differences between the classical instruments for regulating interstate political and trade-economic relations from those used in the development of regional integration processes. Traditionally, the Eurasian Economic Union is compared with the European Union, considering the EU as a close example to follow in the development of integration processes. At the same time, there exist the other models of integration. The author proposes to pay attention to the other models of integration and based on the analysis of documents, reveals the experience of Northern Europe, which demonstrates effective cooperation without infringing on the sovereignty of the participants. The author examines the features of the integration experience of the Nordic countries in relation to the possibility of using its elements in the modern integration practice of the Eurasian Economic Union.