Abstract: The object of this research is the effort of the United Nations and the U.N. Security Council to solve the issues of international security. The subject of the paper is the role of U.N. and U.N. Security Council in conflict resolution in Africa and Arabic East. Special attention is paid to the position of Russia as a Permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, and its contribution to conflict resolution and the fight against terrorist threat. The task of this study is to evaluate positive and negative aspects of the work of this international organization, which remains a unique tool for the prevention and resolution of conflicts for 70 years, by analyzing its steps in overcoming challenges and threats in a given region. The methodological basis of this research includes comparative political approach, the methods of analysis and synthesis. The scientific novelty of this work is that, despite the fact that the U.N. has been a subject of many publications, this particular aspect of its peacekeeping efforts and Russia’ role in these efforts hasn’t been in the spotlight of attention. The analysis of this topic is relevant in light of certain state's attempts to regulate crises by force, bypassing the Security Council and the U.N. Charter leading to the escalation of violence. The acuteness of this research is defined by the fact that U.N. peacekeeping efforts often become criticized. The author draws the conclusion that, although the U.N. manages to achieve its main objective to prevent a global disaster, its efforts in regional conflict resolution may not always be efficient largely due to the different geopolitical priorities of member countries. This demands necessary steps to be taken in order to raise the efficiency of U.N. S.C., to improve its ability to meet the demands of regional security.

Keywords: international security, conflict, Africa, Arabic countries, Syria, terrorism, Russia, international cooperation, Security Council, U.N.

Abstract: The subject of the study are social and cultural (ethnic) and confessional (religious) conflicts on the African continent. Particular attention is paid to the study of positive and negative experiences of conflict resolution in the countries with federalism as a form of government structure. The author examines the particular traits of Ethiopian and Nigerian federalism. In this context, the author analyzes various mechanisms for ethnic and religious conflict resolution on the African continent - federalization in particular, as a way for optimizing culturally different population groups. Methodological basis of research is historical materialism and historicism principle. The method of historical reconstruction allowed to justify the conclusion that numerous ethnic and religious conflicts on the continent are caused by the aggravation of economic and social problems, as well as political inequality of various social layers and groups of the African population. The conclusion is that implementing different models of "ethnic federalism" on the African continent did not result in the softening of confrontations between various social and cultural, linguistic and religious communities. On the contrary, the "ethnic" basis of federal subject formation only sharpened the contradictions between the various population groups: conflicts occur either on a horizontal (ethnos vs ethnos) or vertical (ethnos vs center) levels.  

Keywords: confession, population, ethnic segmentation, ethnic conflict, populationethnic federalism, Ethiopia, Africa, comparative federalism, ethnicity, ethnos

Abstract: The object of this study is the influence of war crimes on the background of armed conflict on the regional security on the African Great Lakes region. The subject of research are armed conflicts in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The author draws attention to the issue of crimes committed by military and law enforcement personnel, and the reaction of courts to the demands to punish offenders by human rights organizations and specific political and public figures. This article accents the issue of restoring peace in the central region of the African continent, the humanitarian catastrophes and their consequences. Among the theoretical methods the author gave preference to the systemic, institutional and comparative analysis. Prioritized empirical methods include field research, including interviewing. The scientific novelty of this research is in the uncovering the underlying causes of armed conflicts, and the defining of the contradictory processes in the Democratic Republic of Congo aimed at resolving the military and political crisis, as well as in the examination of the influence of armed conflict on the humanitarian situation in this country. The author introduces a multitude of new sources, previously untapped by Russian researchers and, as presumed, are available only to a handful of foreign scientists who work directly in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Keywords: armed conflicts, refugees, fundamentalist Islam, ethnic-confessional contradictions, U.N., peace, military groups, military crisis, security, Africa

Abstract: The subject of this research is the relations of Senegal with its eastern neighbour, the Republic of Mali, on the precipice of the establishment of Federation of Mali. The author focuses attention on the preconditions for the creation of the political entity named "Federation of Mali". Throughout the post-colonial period of history the relations between Senegal and ex-Sudan (now Mali) were not defined by acute crises and conflicts, as opposed to its contacts with Mauritania, Gambia and Guinea-Bissau. The main reason for this was low density of population of the eastern areas of Senegal (dry areas, not well-suited for agriculture) which resulted in the lack of close contact between the populations of the bordering countries, and the lack of border disputes. The principle of historism forms the basis of this article. The author employs the methods of comparative analysis and historical reconstruction to perform analysis and to draw conclusions. The economic relations between Senegal and Mali have always been intense. In the late 1950s, on the decline of the colonial era, Senegal and Mali (formerly - Republic of Sudan) experienced a short but rather unique period of being united into a federation. The Federation of Mali, which lasted one and a half years (and only 2 months as an independent power), was designed to bring to life the idea of pan-African unity. The collapse of the federation was possibly the only dramatic moment in the history of relations between the two countries. Federation of Mali did not meet expectations of its inspirers and ideologists of Senegal and Sudan, and turned out to be a short period of transition between colonialism and independence.  

Keywords: Federation of Mali, Senegal, Republic of Mali, colonialism, The French colonial empire, General de Gaulle, French West Africa, Fifth Republic, Modibo Keita, Leopold Senghor

Abstract: The object of this research is the portrayal of ethnic conflicts in Soviet caricature. The subject of this work is the national policies and inter-ethnic relations during late USSR. Based on the illustrations of leading satirical magazine of the USSR the authors show that caricature was used as a tool of national policies, and attempt to examine the mechanism of this work in the 1980-1991s. The source material are the illustrations of one of the leading Soviet magazines that existed since 1922 - the "Krokodil" satirical magazine that reached 6.5 million circulations. Due to its potential, "Krokodil" not only allowed to successfully form ethnic stereotypes in the minds of Soviet citizens, many of which exist today, it also set the tone for Soviet satire as a whole. Based on content analysis and visual comparative research of iconographic scenes the article traces the dynamics of the "national issue" becoming relevant in Soviet satirical discourse during the period of study. The understatement of ethnic problems by "Krokodil" created the illusion of the "national issue" being resolved. However if during earlier decades the images with ethnic content constituted a narrative of harmony, late 80s demonstrate a different trend. The visual humour and satire were used to stop and prevent ethnic conflicts in Soviet Union, but on a limited scale and with a considerable delay.

Keywords: soviet history, cartoon, visualization, national politics, ethnic visiotype, 1980s, USSR, ethnic conflict, political satire, humour