Abstract: The article analyzes the reforms of the "silent revolution" performed by the leader of the Justice and Development Party Recep Tayyip Erdogan since 2002. The paper considers transformations in the spheres of the interior and foreign policy. The author compares President Erdogan with "The Father of the Nation" Mustafa Kemal, and points at similarities of their rhetoric. The author emphasizes the importance of the revolutionary nature of the reforms, which had helped the Turkish President to gain absolute power. The author analyzes Erdogan's and Atatürk's reforms using the system approach. It allows forming a comprehensive view of the performed transformations and links between them. The scientific novelty consists in comparing two Turkish leaders - Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Mustafa Kemal in terms of their reforms and rhetoric. The author concludes that Erdogan draws a parallel between his transformations and the reforms of the first Turkish president. Using this parallel, he wants to form a positive image of the reforms performed by the Justice and Development Party. 

Keywords: referendum, Turkey, AKP, revolution, internal policy, reforms, Ataturk, Erdogan, Republic of Turkey, Ottoman Empire

Abstract: The research object is the political culture of the countries of Latin America. The author focuses on the statistical data illustrating different aspects of political culture of such countries as Brazil, Venezuela, Honduras, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago and some others. The research subject is the results of sociological surveys, which had been held within the Latin American Public Opinion Project at Vanderbilt University during a long period of time, their analysis and interpretation in the context of the current political culture theories and history of the region. The author concludes that political values of Latin Americans are, firstly, traditional and conservative, and secondly, some of them hamper democratic transition. The analysis shows that the components of political culture of the region, which at first sight have negative sides, are nevertheless the part of history and culture of the region and reflect the people's worldview. 

Keywords: pluralism, democracy, religion, descrimination, political participation, political tolerance, political culture, Latin America, equality of opportunities, political traditions

Abstract: The subject of the study is the first stage of establishing interaction between the European Union and NATO in the military-political sphere (1999-2015), which implied that the two organizations should undertake a number of steps towards each other to ensure European security in the interests of the EU Member States and NATO member States. The object of the study is documents of the governing bodies of the European Union and NATO in which both organizations state their positions regarding the expediency of joint activities in the field of security and defence.  The article pays a particular attention to the evolution of the EU's attitude towards ensuring security and defence of the EU Member States. The work is based on historical, logical, comparative and analytical methods of scientific knowledge of reality and the methodology of system analysis in order to conduct the in-depth study and obtain the most complete and objective conclusions. The main conclusion of the study is that, as a result of the measures taken by the European Union and NATO for a mutually interested rapprochement, the organizations have come to the establishment of a strategic partnership between the European Union and NATO. The author's special contribution to the study of the topic is identification of the fact that, as a result of strategic partnership establishment, NATO has provided the European Union with a guaranteed access to NATO's military capabilities, primarily for crisis management operations in which NATO generally does not participate. The novelty of the study is in identification of motivation for the rapprochement between the European Union and NATO in the military-political sphere.

Keywords: NATO , defence , security , strategic, partnership, crisis, peacekeeping, EU Member States , Atlantic, European Union

Abstract: The object of the study of the article offered to readers is a "soft power" strategy that now can be found in the foreign policy arsenals of any power claiming global or regional status. The subject of the study is sports diplomacy which is an integral part of public diplomacy - the key and most effective "soft power" tool. The author elaborates such aspects of the topic as importance of sport in international relations, as well as various types of sports diplomacy: "Football", "cricket", "ping-pong", "basketball", etc. The article pays particular attention to the role of the Olympic movement and the Olympic games in world politics. The methodological basis of the study is systemic, structural-functional, comparative-political approaches, methods of historicism, analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction, and observation. The author comes to the conclusion that sports diplomacy plays an increasingly important role in the modern world. There is no doubt that today the states that can expertly combine various aspects of sports diplomacy as an important factor of "soft power" would benefit in the international arena.  Despite the increasing role of sports diplomacy in world politics, it must be noted that a very limited number of research papers address the intersection between such spheres as "soft power" and greatest sporting achievements. This article is intended to fill this gap and to demonstrate relevance of such studies in the context of the upcoming major sporting events that will be held in Russia.

Keywords: soft power , sports diplomacy , public diplomacy , Olympic Games , international sports organizations , ping pong diplomacy, football diplomacy, cricket diplomacy, basketball diplomacy, international relations

Abstract: The article investigates geopolitical aspects of the contemporary international order in the Arctic region. Arctic states have not only different political, military and economic interests, but also common ones – primarily environmental. Global warming increases the strategic importance of the Northern Sea Route and the Northwest Passage. The international order in the Arctic region is primarily determined by the provisions of international law, the balance (correlation) of power potentials of the Western states and Russia as well as by geopolitical aspects of interaction between them. The main research methods which have been used are abstraction, analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction, geopolitical modeling and comparative political method. In the relations between the Western Arctic states (the USA, Canada, Norway and Denmark) there are contentious issues, but they are not of conflict character. There is revitalization of Arctic geopolitics of the United States and enhancement of its influence on the situation in the region. The Arctic is of vital geostrategic and geoeconomic importance for Russia. Russia seeks to use international legal basis for legitimization of its claims upon extension of the continental shelf in the Arctic and establishment of control over the area of the North Pole. Canada and Denmark put forward similar claims. China is interested in internationalization of the Arctic. The NATO Arctic countries and Russia develop their military potential in the region. Bipolar confrontation in the Arctic between the West and Russia will probably increase. The International institutions particularly the UN and the Arctic Council have limited opportunities for settlement of the disputes. To optimize the regional international order it is necessary to improve the methods of Arctic diplomacy. The establishment of the polycentric order of peaceful interaction in the Arctic region involves reaching a geopolitical compromise between the Western states and Russia.

Keywords: international order, Arctic Council, geopolitical interest, continental shelf, Northern Sea Route, Arctic sector , bipolar confrontation, Arctic diplomacy, geopolitical compromise, polycentric order

Abstract: The article focuses on consideration of the Turkish-Syrian conflict on the Euphrates transboundary river. The author analyses main reasons for the formation and development of interstate contradictions on water-share in the context of general political instability in the region. Turkey (has the largest reserves of fresh water) in desires for regional hegemony and uses water as a strategic tool of political pressure on the downstream States suffering from severe water shortage. The author reveals the degree of effectiveness of the concluded agreements and other interstate regulatory legal acts on use of the regional waters of the Euphrates river basin. The article applies a historical-political method for studying the water conflict in historical dynamics. Event-analysis and case-study methods contributed to the analysis of the formation and development of the conflict of interests of Turkey and Syria in the distribution and use of transboundary water resources. The article concludes that the conflict with regard to the water sharing regime of the Euphrates River in the near future is to grow due to an increase of the anthropogenic pressure on the water resources, a climate change that contributes to reduction of the available fresh water for the needs of irrigated agriculture, economic development of the countries of the river basin and human life activity. The lack of political will among the leaders of the neighbouring countries, prevalence of national interests over regional ones do not help to solve the water problem and threaten the political stability in the region.

Keywords: Islamic state, political instability, international law, Turkish-Syrian relations, the Euphrates River, water conflict, transboundary water resources, national interests, water policy, Middle East

Abstract: The article researches the theory and practice of organizing and conducting operations of information and psychological wars in the media including the Internet. The object of this study is types of modern information confrontation (including information wars and psychological operations), the subject is forms and methods of their application in competitiveness between states, in international relations and world politics. The purpose of the research is to reveal features of waging modern information wars and organizing psychological operations. The methodological basis of the research is a structural and functional approach, methods of analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction, systematization, and observation. The author draws attention to the fact that modern information warfare is an interstate conflict that arises at the stage of comprehension and aggravation of political contradictions between future antagonists represented by states and political elites. The conflict forms a future structure of conflict relations and creates conditions for use of direct armed force by one of the Antagonists. Information warfare is a special stage of political (international) conflict, encompassing preliminary and preparatory phases of the development of an armed conflict. Structurally, information warfare consists of a sequence of information operations, and the operations themselves - of a sequence of information attacks coordinated in terms of goals, tasks, objects and time of information impact. In modern international relations and world politics, information war operations are planned not in a template way, but in situ using a variety of different schemes, techniques and approaches. At the same time, the effectiveness of information war operations often depends not on the selected means and methods of informational influence on the enemy but on the width and synchrony of coverage of mass audience by this influence. That is - on the channels that bring the manager of information-psychological influence to minds of concrete citizens.

Keywords: political system, Russia, world politics, US foreign policy, international relations, diplomacy, international conflicts, state, security, USA