No 2 (2016)

The article deals with the main aspects of cooperation between Russia and Israel during Russian military operation in Syria. The author argues that in modern realities there was a rapprochement of Russia's and Israel’s national interests as both nations were equally interested in preventing the strengthening of the terrorist organization “Islamic state” and the stabilization of the situation in the region as a whole. The leaders of Russia and Israel have managed to find a common language, and in the moment two countries have established close cooperation during the military operation in Syria by Russian air-space force. However, the author predicts that in the short term both parties will have to make mutual concessions to maintain their favorable relations.

The article examines the ideological dimension of dominance of the Justice and Development Party in the Turkish political process. Analysis of the party's doctrine and its leaders’ statements reveals the pivotal elements of the ideology that facilitated strengthening of the JDP's stance as a dominant party, i.e. liberal and democratic values, social conservatism, modernism, globalism and Neo-Ottomanism. These center-right orientations, being vague and eclectic, helped “democratic Islamists” to show both ideological rigidity and flexibility necessary to mobilize broad masses of Turkish voters and to keep long-term public support.

The article examines the role of international environment influencing the image of Russia. The author reveals the psychological mechanisms of perception of the image of Russia in the EU. Considerable attention is paid to the analysis of objective and subjective factors constructive and negative perception of Russia and its political leader. Status conflicts are analyzed in the article as well, including methods and techniques of purposeful distortion of the image of Russia in Europe.

The article presents the characteristics of those professionals who make political careers (politicians, mediators, experts, political technologists, speechwriters, image-makers, etc.). The peculiarities of their professional activity are based on their multifaceted roles as the actors who construct a new social reality. The specificity of the professional morality and actualized norms of professional morality of policy-makers are analyzed in the given article.

The paper comprises the materials of the “round-table” “Within sanctions regime: problems and perspectives of Russian economic and political development” which was organized by the chair of the comparative politics of the Peoples` Friendship University of Russia (PFUR) and took place on February 20. 2016 on the faculty of the humanities and social sciences. Among the questions discussed within the “round table” were economic and political aftermaths of the sanctions imposed on Russia by the West and Russian countersanctions against the EU, USA and the further perspectives of Russian economic and political development, cooperation with the West. Among the participants of the “round-table” were the lecturers and the students of the political department of the PFUR, the students of the faculty of applied political sciences of the National Research University of Higher School of Economics as well as political experts.