Abstract: The Soft power theory is popular among scholars and politicians, however, the nature of this phenomenon can complicate its evaluation, especially in the research, based on quantitative methods. At present, we are facing a trend of rising violence in the world, and soft power indexes, created by consulting agencies, are not enough. They are important indeed, partially because these reports remind us of the alternatives to coercion. But their authors often put emphasis on the states possessing significant political power resources. Probably, it leads to the misperception that countries, which din't have significant hard power resources, are unable to accumulate enough soft power to implement it as a foreign policy tool.The aim of this paper is to demonstrate that this assumption is not always correct. We use the linear regression model to show that Asian and African countries can use soft power in the United Nations even if their hard power is small. The research contains the information on the resolutions of the General Assembly of the United Nations and 124 countries-submitters and co-submitters of resolution drafts in 2001-2015. As we fully admit that soft power indexes are difficult to create and apply, this paper also covers soft power limits and critique.

Keywords: quantitative methods, political power, empirical analysis, soft power critique, African countries, Asian countries, General Assembly resolutions, United Nations, soft power index, resolutions submitters

Abstract: The article studies international legal aspects of Denmark’s submission of 15 December 2014 to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, in accordance with article 76 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea of 1982. In the context of the legal dimension of Russia’s national interests, the author notes that, according to this submission, Denmark claims to the part of the Continental shelf, which is significantly larger than the country’s Arctic sector, unlike Russia, which, having reduced its Arctic shelf by the actions of its Ministry of National Resources and Environment and Ministry of Foreign Affairs since 2001, claims to the area which is smaller than Russia’s Arctic sector. The author mentions the criticism of professors Gureev and Melkov of the decree of Russia’s Government of 1997, according to which Russia voluntarily refuses to delimit the Arctic shelf thus initiating the delimitation of its shelf from the “common heritage of mankind” area on the base of geological, distance and other technical criteria. The paper shows, how Denmark benefits from the ill-considered decisions of Russian Ministries, taking into consideration that the replacement of international legal principles of delimitation of the shelf with the technical criteria of delineation, realized by Russia since 1997, initially hadn’t met Russia’s interests, but met the interests of its competitors in the Arctic region, especially Denmark and in some degree – the USA. In this context, the author provides the scientific critique of the exchange of notes between foreign ministries of Russia and Denmark, which is attached to Denmark’s submission to the Commission, as an unbalanced treaty which doesn’t meet Russia’s national interests. 

Keywords: international relations, the Arctic region, delimitation , international law, the Arctic ocean, competition, Denmark's sumbission, international custom, the law of the sea, the Continental shelf

Abstract: This article studies the impact of global constitutionalism on the formation and development of socio-philosophical concepts in the Russian Federation.The author substantiates the thesis that global constitutionalism has a significant impact on the formation and development of the modern Russian socio-philosophical concepts which, depending on the relation to the processes of globalization, socio-political, public-legal and financial-economic structure of the Russian Federation, can be divided into three large groups: justifying the positive nature of global constitutionalism for our country; criticizing the processes of globalization according to the Western model; developing alternative projects of Russia's participation in globalization processes.The article examines various neoliberal, neoconservative, liberal, conservative, Marxist, neo-Marxist, national-bolshevik, Islamic, religious and other contemporary Russian socio-philosophical concepts and their relation to the issues of globalization, socio-philosophical, public-legal and financial-economic development of the Russian Federation.We use a number of methods of scientific cognition: epistemological; ontology; formal logic; dialectic; statistical; comparative legal; abstract-idealistic; specifically historical.

Keywords: Islamism, Marxism, neoconservatism, neoliberalism, Izborsky club, socio-philosophical concept, global constitutionalism, Eurasian, Russian Federation, West

Abstract: The article studies the “political system of an integration association” concept and describes its essential features. The research subject is the peculiarities of interaction of the institutions, defining the political system functioning within an integration block. The author touches upon the issues if the integration theory, the history of system and comparative-functional studies in the political science. The article contains a brief description of the key functional elements of the political system of the state and the modes of their interaction. Special attention is paid to the definition of the levels of institutional interaction within an integration association. The research methodology is based on Almond’s structural functional approach and on particular elements of Easton’s system approach. The author applies the provisions of the neofunctionalism theory in relation to integration processes. The scientific novelty consists in the consideration of an integration association as a political system, the formulation of the corresponding concept and the definition. The author defines institutional levels of interaction of such a political system, describes the possible forms of interdependence of institutions on the level of the civil society of a certain country, state, integration association, international milieu. The conclusions of the research develop the methodology of the comparative approach in the political science and help study supranational political objects. 

Keywords: Institutions in integration block, Integration theory, Integration, Structural functional approach, Comparative political studies, Political system, Political system of integratoin associations, Levels of political communication, International relations, Integration association

Abstract: The research subject includes the features and peculiarities of institutionalization of political authority in the Pridnestrovien Moldavian Republic (PMR) in the context of historical and modern political processes. The author substantiates the objective prerequisites to institutionalization of political authority in Pridnestrovie, outlines the key factors of its formation and functioning. The author proves the thesis about the role of international legal recognition of PMR for institutionalization of political authority in the Republic. The article demonstrates the delegitimizing factors of the political regime which influence the condition of its institutionalization. The study is based on the institutionalist approach and comparative analysis. Coupled with other political theories, they help study new polities as an integral independent institution with its own requirements and development trends. The author concludes about a complicated hybrid form of institutionalization of the political regime in the Pridnestrovien Moldavian Republic, institutionalization of public authority as a system historical and political problem, the interdependence of institutionalization and legitimation of power and their internal and external factors. The research materials can be used in political practice and as an additional source of information in political science and regional studies. 

Keywords: hybrid political regime, statehood, self-definition, unrecognized state, legitimacy, institutionalization, secession, polity, disintegration, liberalism

Abstract: The research subject is the conditions and prerequisites of the demand for private military companies. The research task is to compare the advantages and disadvantages of the participation of private contractors in military operations in Russia. One of the most disputable questions of this article is the regulation of their activity which can take several forms: unofficial control (social and corporate) and official (legislative regulation). The research is theoretical and based, mainly, on foreign resources, since Russia doesn’t have direct experience of use of private military companies in modern conflicts. The author applies general scientific methods: generalization, analysis, synthesis and comparison. The analysis of foreign experience shows that among the key social prerequisites to the rise of private military companies are the collapse of the bipolar world system, the decrease of reputation loss in cases of participation of the state in unpopular military campaigns, the redundancy of military specialists and technique, the evolution and increase of outsourcing in the military sphere, the influence of neoliberal ideology. In relation to Russia, doubts occur as to the two latter factors. During Serdyukov’s office, the idea of outsourcing has been discredited; the neoliberal policy is neither popular in Russia. The confidence in private companies is not among the typical features of Russian economy and mind. 

Keywords: Montreux Document, civil control, military consulting, neoliberalism, international humanitarian law, mercenarism , military profession, military sociology, outsourcing , private military companies