The article discusses the method of situation analysis of international relations, developed in the 1960s in the Primakov National Research Institute of World Economy and International Relations by Academician Evgeniy Primakov. It has incorporated many elements of existing problem-solving methods such as “brain storm”, “Delphi”, and others. Its key innovation is understanding the international political situations under analysis as integral dynamic subsystems of international system. It proceeds in three stages: first, building a scenario of a situation development; second, getting a large number of expert assessments representing various fields of social sciences; third, producing a final document with critical summary of the assessments. Primakov encouraged organizers of situation analysis to have experts focused on the issues of practical importance, and then prepare the results of the situation analysis in a concise, understandable form to make them useful in the decisionmaking process. He viewed the method as an effective means of communicating expert knowledge to decision makers. The article reviews the method as it has been practiced in the Primakov National Research Institute of World Economy and International Relations. It gives the intellectual roots of its development, which include “grounded theory” by Barney Glaser and Anselm Strauss; systems theory by Talcott Parsons and a variant of its application to international relations by Thierry de Montbrial. The more direct roots of the method are various problem-solving techniques practiced in world’s leading international relations think-tanks such as RAND Corporation. The article also overviews the major principles of situation analysis: 1) participants must have high level of expertise; 2) situational analysis is multidisciplinary; 3) situational analysis allows focusing on key aspects of a problem when there is no clear, unambiguous understanding of it and when the views of experts vary widely; 4) to obtain significant analytical results, it is necessary to move above the situation under analysis in search of wider generalizations; 5) situational analysis is opposite to propaganda, it must be averted to conformism and partisanship; 6) situation analysis should be aimed at realizing national interests; 7) situation analysis is directed towards future. In addition to the general principles of situation analysis, the article gives two specific examples of its application. The first example is the phenomenon of the extreme-right political movements in the European Union. In this case the situation analysis gives a balanced assessment of what is happening in Russia’s neighbourhood. The second is Russia’s adoption of trade restrictive measures in response to the "sanctions" from Western countries because of the Ukrainian crisis. The situation analysis shows contradictory effects of the sanctions for the Russian economic development. These cases are small but important illustrations of global changes in both the internal life of sovereign states and the relations between them. The post-bipolar world obviously goes through a transformation, which many assess in terms of a multipolar or polycentric world order. The configuration of future polycentricity is not defined in advance and will depend on decisions of leading global players. Situation analysis can contribute to understanding and forecasting them.

In the mid-1950s-1960s the Soviet Orientalists were facing serious challenges. The collapse of the colonial system, the growth of national liberation movements, the entry of new forces that did not fit into the rigid framework of the Communist ideas about the revolutionary process, demanded realistic explanations of what was happening. The article attempts to consider some breakthrough ideas and assessments of historical events in the Middle East put forward by the Soviet experts. The review is primarily based on the publications of Soviet specialists published in the 1970’s. Among those who studied the new trends and tried to explain their further development were Soviet Arabists. At that time their circle was small. Among those who were engaged in political problems of the Arab world, one can name I.P. Belyaev, E.M. Primakov, G.I. Mirsky, A.M. Vasilyev. They had different backgrounds, but all had managed to form in their studies a fairly complete picture of political trends and state-building in the Arab world. Despite the domination of the official dogmas the leading Soviet researchers were able to present a realistic picture of the region, although their «untimely meditations» were presented in a form acceptable to the Communist ideology.

The primitive division of society into the bourgeoisie, the proletariat, peasantry and landlords and the hopes for eventual development of communist parties worldwide both did not reflect the realities in the Third World countries and did not leave room for the Soviet Union there. Due to ideological reasons the USSR could not support nationalist movements abroad. Nevertheless, the Soviet leadership passed the first test for the ability to reassess their ideological stereotypes in the early 1950s, when the leaders of the Egyptian revolution turned to the USSR for military assistance. In order to justify the pragmatic choice in favor of supporting the new Arab nationalist leaders, the Soviet scholars developed the concept of three consecutive and co-dependent revolutionary flows: first, the national liberation movement overthrowing the colonial system; second, the world labor movement overthrowing the capitalist system politically; and, third, the world communist movement overthrowing the capitalist system in economic terms.

It was also important for the Soviet leaders to explain the orientation of the young decolonized nationalist regimes towards the USSR, without using the argument of just political expediency. Such an explanation was the theory of the non-capitalist path of development or socialist orientation. It posed that capitalism cannot solve any of the problems of developing countries. Their interest in rapid overcoming of backwardness and maintaining national sovereignty cannot be combined with the choice of a capitalist development model. The theory of socialist orientation was based on original ideas of Marxism founders and further developed by Lenin who insisted that economically underdeveloped countries can with the help of the proletariat from advanced countries go directly to socialism bypassing capitalism.

The reality of revolutions without the proletariat and the desire to take advantage of the anti-colonial struggle to establish full-scale presence of the USSR in the Middle Eats made the Soviet leadership more tolerant of scientists' attempts to realistically analyze regional trends and developments.

For instance, in the Soviet era, politicians were tempted to explain all conflicts in the regions of the Third world, and particularly in the Middle East exclusively by the workings of imperialism. However, Soviet scholars, E.M. Primakov among them, warned in their studies of the dangers of such simplified estimates. Still relevant today also is G. Mirsky’s explanation of the major role the army plays in the politics of the Middle East. He argued that in the traditional societies of the region the army was the only modern, nationwide institution.

The works of the Soviet scholars can help better understand contemporary trends. Their studies of driving forces of the revolutions in the Arab world, of the nationalistic regimes, of regional conflicts have not lost their relevance today. They warn the modern generation of researchers against simplistic conclusions, a temptation of politicized assessments and of ignoring the complexity of regional issues.

The article analyzes specific elements of the Arab societies’ political life which distinguish it from political relations in the Western nation-states. Admitting the existence of a large number of such kind of elements, the authors focus only on three of them which are related to the sources of power and its distribution. Emphasizing that these elements are deeply rooted into the Arab-Muslim political tradition, so that they have tended to be present throughout the whole Islamic period of the region, the authors find out that each of them has its own medieval countertype. Thus, the article addresses the dichotomy of the supreme power of caliphs and sultans, formed in the IX – XI centuries and manifested today both in Jihadist organizations (i.e. ISIS, Al-Qaeda) and in the political strategies of moderate Islamist movements, such as Tunisian party Al-Nahda. The second example is the urban militias, which are correlated with the medieval phenomenon of «young hero» or «chivalry» communities – fityan. The fityan communities have seven specific traits, which not only are characteristic of the militias, but also demonstrate fundamental difference between the militias and urban criminal groups. Major attention is paid to Libyan militias, which are studied on the materials of field research conducted by one of the authors. Finally, the third element discussed is the particular role of the army and other security forces in the Arab political systems.

The authors provide three possible interpretations of all the revealed coincidences. According to the first one, they are presented as aberrations of the researcher’s scientific consciousness, which make them look for historical equivalents to contemporary issues. Second interpretation belongs to the tradition of «the new medievalism». According to it, the described phenomenon is in fact the revival of some medieval practices, caused by the end of the Modernity era. The last interpretation views the analyzed elements as distinctive civilization traits of the Arab world.

The article is dedicated to the emergence of the Arab national movement at the beginning of the 20^th century. This topic is still relevant in our days since revealing the origins of political and social processes in the Middle East of the 21st century is necessary for their understanding. The main issues which are considered by the author are the following: which factors had crucial influence on the emergence of Arab nationalism (panarabism as well as regionalism), when exactly it was formed and what were the specifics of its emergence in Palestine.

The author defines three main periods in the genesis and formation of the Arab national movement at the beginning of the 20^th century. The first is the Nahda, the Arab cultural revival of the second half of the 19^th century, which became a foundation for the later development of nationalist ideas. However, the author tries to show that the cultural revival itself was not nationalistic. The second key period is the political expression of the Arab national movement in the first decades of the 20^th century, with the ottomanist and later pan-Turkist policy of the Ottoman government having the decisive influence. This policy was nationalist in essence. Zionism, as noted in the text, was not such an important issue for the nascent pan-Arab movement before the First World War, although it caused concern among the locals in Palestine. The third key stage, that was decisive in the Arab national development, is the Great Arab Revolt, which, despite the fact that it was not massive and universal, forced the pan-Arab movement enter the international arena for it attracted the attention of the great powers – mainly with the help of McMahon–Hussein correspondence. In result, during the postwar settlement, pan-Arabism became more popular and internationally recognised phenomenon, although eventually it happened to be divided into a multitude of regional movements, in particular – Palestinian nationalism fostered by the Anglo-French division of influence zones in the Middle East.

In general, the formation of the Arab national movement was a multidimensional and gradual phenomenon influenced by a variety of factors. At the same time, the emergence of the regional groups had its own specifics; originally belonging to the Pan-Arab movement, although with their own features, after the First World War these groups became largely independent.

The article analyzes the role of the Egyptian military-political elite on the eve of the Revolution of 1952, when the military came to power, led by Gamal Abdel Nasser. The study of the history and activities of the organization «Free Officers» is hardly possible without considering the evolution of the national-patriotic and political movements in the Egyptian army. During the second quarter of the 20 th century the Egyptian society experienced fairly turbulent and eventful political process that influenced the further development of the country. At present the study of role of army in liberation movement in the Middle East is extremely urgent since military structures have become the base of the state system of many Arabic countries. The army has sufficiently influenced to the political development of the states. In connection with the recent transformations in the Middle East, that witnessed crises of political systems and statehood, the consideration of military elites, their coming to power and impact on a political system is important for the study of the general issues of the Middle East.

The author considers the factors which influenced the evolutionary transformation of the Egyptian military before and after the World War II, as well as the social origins of the officer corps. Moreover, the object of the study includes the entire period of the national liberation movement of the Egyptian people, when almost all segments of Egyptian society were involved in this struggle. An important aspect of this trend is that, in the run-up to the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, the officers and the military elite became a more prepared and organized than other groups and was able to quickly and almost bloodlessly take power into their own hands.

The article notes that it is impossible to solve urgent social problems and overcome economic backwardness without centralized strong leadership. While forming the Egyptian statehood and the Kingdom of Egypt, there were three centers of power – Wafd party led by Saad Zaghloul, the king and his supporters, as well as Great Britain, which retained control over Egypt. Given the absence of one center of power in the country, as well as the weakness and dependence of the existing ones, opposition movements with different views on the development of Egypt were created. The society of «Muslim Brotherhood» was one of them, eventually discrediting itself during its further development. «Free Officers» were able to establish themselves as a secret society, which ideologically did not belong to any political camp. Coherence, hierarchy and army solidarity became effective advantages in their struggle for power.

Lebanon has a number of features that determine its special position in the region and its importance in the system of relations between the Middle East states. An important role in this is played by the ideological and strategic aspects of world politics in the region in which Lebanon is organically inscribed in both the historical and geopolitical plans. The stability of a country that has passed through a long civil war makes it stand out from a number of states in the region. The author's hypothesis is that the reason for the extraordinary stability — of Lebanese society, the system of state power, political elites, economic ties and foreign policy contacts, despite all the negative regional factors — can be rooted in the consociational principle of making key decisions based, paradoxically, on the notorious political confessionalism. The peculiarities of the Lebanese political model (although they are subject to well-deserved criticism) distinguish it from the multitude of “customary” democracies, bringing together with examples of the unique democratic systems of Europe and other continents. The motley confessional composition of society, along with the historically determined foreign policy guidelines of individual communities, suggested a special informal decision-making mechanism throughout the country — not on the basis of majority power, but on a contractual, compromise principle. Leading theorists of consociationalism often had in mind the Lebanese pattern of democracy in their political studies, and many of their developments are still well applicable for analyzing the functioning of the main state institutions of Lebanon. A theoretical study, along with an analysis of the current regional situation, convince the author of the correctness of the hypothesis put forward. Both in Lebanese history and now, it is the inveterate forms of external influences that forced Lebanese society to balance on the verge of aggravated intercommunal clashes. The combination of external factors served as the beginning and further warmed up the civil war. Heightened relations with Syria by 2005, the Israeli attack in 2006, the gravest threat from jihadi-caliphatists – all these factors have negatively affected intra-civil and inter-group relations. Stereotypical forms of use of religious communities (Shiites, Sunnis, Christians of different denominations, etc.) from the outside and even direct pressure from abroad continue to confront them, imposing ideas on social relations and political participation that are alien to Lebanese. Diversification of political and business contacts of Russia with representatives of different Lebanese communities can serve as a good example of Lebanon’s perception of all the features of its political system as a full subject of international relations.

The article considers the role of ideology and values in the formation and implementation of the current foreign policy of the Republic of Turkey. Taking into account the increasing role of regional actors such as Turkey in international politics, studying their tactics and mechanisms of influence on the global political environment is necessary to explain the further transformation of the international system.

The study reveals the strengthening role of the ideology and values in world politics in general and in individual states, such as Turkey, in particular. Under the rule of the Justice and Development Party headed by the current President R.T. Erdogan the country began a gradual transition from «Kemalism», which includes the preservation of secularism, ProWestern democratic values and a gradual departure from the Ottoman heritage, to a more conservative domestic and foreign policy, characterized by the strengthening of Islamist and nationalist sentiments, as well as the transition to the policy of «neo-Ottomanism», «neo-pan-Turkism». The return of the idea of «aggrandizement» of the country to the official political discourse has affected the conduct of Turkey's foreign policy towards both the regional states and the world arena as a whole.

The Republic not only began self-restoration as an autonomous actor of international relations in the eyes of the key world powers, but also started to spread its own values and ideas among the population of both the Middle East and among the states which constitute a national interest for Turkey (Russia, the post-Soviet space, etc.), thus influencing them at various levels and involving them in its orbit of influence – both politically, economically and from a humanitarian point of view.

Using «hard power» abroad no longer meets the current Turkey’s policy. Instead it relies on forging humanitarian ties, combining initiatives in the cultural, educational and scientific fields to achieve a long-term influence. The Republic of Turkey is trying to spread the following values among the world community:

«Justice». International relations must be just and fair. For Turkey it means conformity with its national interests.

«Religious fatalism». Government actions both at home and abroad are legitimized through references to religion and fate.

«Democratic values». The Republic of Turkey considers itself the most democratic state in the world and contrasts itself with “Western democracies”, which, according to the Turkish leadership, are spreading hegemony rather than democracy.

«State-centrism» and collectivism. The interests of the state, society, and especially the Muslim Ummah, are placed above the values of the individual.

«Traditional values». Given the Islamization and conservatism of Turkish society as a whole, traditional values also begin to play a major role in the general political discourse of the state.

«Culture». Turkey also makes adjustments to the concept of «culture» in very inclusive terms, presenting its culture as a «melting pot» that can turn anything into Turkish.

«Respect». In the eastern tradition, it is customary to show respect to elders, as well as neighbors and guests. Turkey uses a demonstration of respect in foreign policy instrumentally and pragmatically. An example of this is the address of the President of Turkey in relation to the leaders of other states: Nursultan Nazarbayev – «aksakal» of the Turkic world, Vladimir Putin is a «dear friend».

Turkey and Iran are two Middle Eastern neighbors building their relationship on the basis of competition and cooperation. Both countries aim at the position of regional leader and want to offer their own «model» of development to the Middle East. Historical neighborship has provided Turkey and Iran not only with the experience of struggle for influence, but an ability to interact in the spheres of overlapping interests as well. Turmoil in the Middle East attracts the attention of researchers to the issue of Turkish-Iranian relations. The article deals with the key areas of regional relations of the two countries reflecting their efforts to keep the power balance though they have contradicting interest. Islamic revolution in Iran in 1979 has put Turkish and Iranian «models» in adversary positions to one another emphasizing religion vs secularism.

The Turkish side has broadened the range of its instruments after Justice and Development Party coming to power in Ankara, although its aim remains to be the promotion of Western concepts in the Middle East. The Party’s strategy to expand Turkish influence in the region takes into account the Ottoman heritage, which modern Ankara seeks to popularize in order to reinforce its claims to regional leadership. The competitive arsenal of the Turkish leadership includes historical ties with the peoples of the region and the experience of the Europeanization of the Muslim state.

Iran is promoting its vision of Muslim democracy, positioning itself as a staunch fighter against the expansionism of the West and, despite the decline in warlike rhetoric, does not refuse to export the values of the Islamic revolution. Ankara is at odds with Western countries on private issues or methods, but generally it shares the same strategic approaches. Tehran, on the contrary, rejects the ideological rapprochement with the West and the borrowing of Western development models, advocating maintaining its own path. In fact, Iran and Turkey offer Middle Eastern countries alternative political transformation options.

Iraq and Syria represent both the sphere of Turkish-Iranian competition and the possibility for tactical alignment on the basis of converging interests. The events of recent years have demonstrated that at the times when the Turkey and Iran sense common threats, they put their contradictions on the back burner. Pragmatism and rivalry in Turkish-Iranian relations are not alternatives but exist in parallel as a way of maintaining a regional balance of power between the two countries. This explains the ability of Ankara and Tehran to seek compromises. At the same time, the various approaches of these states to the future structure of the Middle East region will continue to hinder the creation of a stable alliance between them. These realities must be taken into account when assessing the prospects for the development of the regional situation and the potential of Turkish-Iranian relations, the study of which is especially important for Russia, taking into account trilateral cooperation to resolve the crisis in Syria.

Relations between the United States and Turkey, the two military-political allies of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), are experiencing an unprecedented crisis in their history. Its depth and scale is so significant that it affects the long-term foreign policy strategies of both countries, as well as the process of building a unified security architecture. In the study the author raises a question to what extent the current crisis in the US-Turkish relations is systemic? How high is the probability that it will turn out to be a long-term one? To answer this question, the study is divided into two parts.

The first part analyzes the evolution of American approaches to Turkey in US foreign policy, the implementation of these approaches since the end of World War II till nowadays. On the basis of a system-historical approach, the author analyses the evolution the Turkey’s strategic positioning in the US foreign policy strategy and the transformation of political, economic and military relations between the two states since the moment of their institutionalization. The author distinguishes two stages of this evolution. During the first one, for the United States Turkey was one of the key countries that was blocking the Soviet expansion southward towards the Persian Gulf and the Suez Canal. The author notes that by the end of the bipolar confrontation, Turkey was de-facto losing its functional purpose in the logic of the Cold War. During the second stage, the US regards Turkey as one of the key NATO allies, whose geo-strategic location can be used for pursuing American national interests in the nearby regions. Author posits, that bilateral relations are gradually moving away from such a model of interaction. This happens because of the Turkish desire to diversify foreign relations and accumulation of contradictions between Washington and Ankara due to the divergence of their foreign policy strategies.

The second part analyzes the contradictions in the American-Turkish relations under the presidency of Donald Trump on political, military and economic issues. The author comes to the conclusion that the crisis is indeed a systemic one. Firstly, the existing problems began to affect significant elements of the military-technical infrastructure of their relations. Secondly, it is difficult to resolve these problems without reformatting the interaction as between equivalent actors of international relations. Thirdly, the expert and political communities have not presented any kind of a new approach to rethink the allied status of American-Turkish relations.

Yevgeny Maximovich Primakov knew the Middle East so well as, perhaps, nobody else in Russia did: he worked in Cairo from 1965 till 1969 and visited the city regularly after that period of time. He was personally acquainted with all of the highest representatives of Egyptian political and military elite. He had visited Israel multiple times since August, 1971. Five PrimeMinisters of the Jewish state (Golda Meir, Yitzhak Rabin, Menachem Begin, Shimon Peres, Benjamin Netanyahu) were his interlocutors in different years. Whatever views and powers he had in different years of his extremely intensive and multifaceted activity, the Middle East lacks very much statesmen of such magnitude and with such depth of understanding of geopolitical and regional processes which distinguished Yevgeny Maximovich, to the memory of whom the current essay is devoted.

The June War of 1967 year, which is called in Western and Israeli historiography the Six-Day War, has radically changed the Middle East. Dozens of books and hundreds of scientific articles on this war have been published. The current research demonstrates the central role of Egyptian leaders in the onset of the war which nobody sought for. These lead-ers were driven by considerations and interests of pan-Arab solidarity which significantly contradicted in this case the interests of Egypt itself. By analyzing the causes of the war of June 1967 between Egypt and Israel it is proved that they laid to a certain significant extent beyond the context of bilateral relations of these countries.

The tragic experience of June 1967 is important nowadays when it is taken for granted that a new war between Israel and Egypt could not erupt because these countries have nothing to divide after the return of the Sinai Peninsula. Once upon a time, in March 1957, Israel has already withdrawn its forces from the Sinai. The same situation of lack of territorial claims did not prevent abrupt escalation of conflict in May 1967 and the following outbreak of hos-tilities. Another important lesson is that security of any country, including Israel, cannot be guaranteed neither by deployment of the “blue helmets” nor by receiving American guaran-tees. As events of the second half of May 1967 demonstrated, both UN forces and American authorities were ready to shirk when the task of war prevention was most acute.

Changes in Israeli regional politics were triggered by the current political situation in the Middle East, characterized by a high degree of intensity and unpredictability. The region experiences a complex process of serious political changes making Israel adjust its regional policy to the new challenges. The article focuses upon the new elements of Israelis strategy on key regional issues: the settlement of Palestinian-Israeli conflict; new approaches to countering Iranian nuclear program; the Syrian civil war and escalation of terrorism activities. The aim of the article is to describe and analyze new trends in Israeli regional strategy over the past 10 years identifying its external and internal factors. The main external factor is a close partnership of Israel with US, which plays a key role in supporting Israel’s regional and international status. The changes taking place inside the region could be considered as internal factors. They include Arab Spring; prospects for settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict; the growth of the Islamic radicalism and terrorism, new terrorist groups such as ISIS, and the civil war in Syria.

The main changes of Israeli regional policy include toughening approaches to resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, in particular, de facto abandonment of the «two states for two peoples» formula. Equally important are events that, although not directly related to Israel, are changing its regional agenda. Assessment of Iran’s nuclear program as an existential threat explains Israel’s negative attitude to the international agreement with Iran in 2015 during the presidency of B. Obama (JCPOA). The subsequent withdrawal of the Trump administration from this agreement strengthened Israel’s anti-Iranian position. This also allowed Israel to develop cooperative ties with the so-called pro-Western states of the region, such as Saudi Arabia and some Persian Gulf countries in pursuit of containing the Iranian nuclear threat and its growing regional influence. Saudi Arabia and the Gulf countries became real partners of Israel in confronting Iran. This gives the Israeli state the opportunity to at last enter the regional system and free itself from the traditional image of rogue state among the Muslim countries in the Middle East.

International labor migration is one of the most important elements of the modern global economy. Amid growing knowledge economy, migration of highly skilled specialists plays an increasingly important role. For Israel, as an immigrant society, migration issues have been of paramount importance since the early days of the independent state. However, in the first decades the discussion focused mainly around the influence of immigrants on the economic development of the country and identification of the most effective ways to adapt immigrants. At present, the Israeli economic model is built in such a way that the institutions of the knowledge economy are at its core, that requires a significant amount of labor with an appropriate level of skills. At the same time, today Israel witnesses emigration of such specialists, mainly to the United States. This paper is devoted to the analysis of the current situation. The article substantiates the relevance of the chosen topic not only for Israel, but also for other economically developed countries and gives a brief bibliographic review in the field. Next, the author analyzes the tendencies of high skilled work force immigration to Israel at the present stage through the analysis of the supply and demand in the country's labor market in the high-tech sector and assessment of the government programs created to attract foreign non-Jewish specialists to the country which appear to be not effective. The article also deals with the problems of emigration of high skilled workers from Israel. An overview of the magnitude of the phenomenon is given based on international comparisons; main reasons of the trend are identified and analyzed; government programs for the return of compatriots are assessed. It is argued that Israel should pursue a more effective policy to attract highly skilled non-Jewish immigrants into the country, which will fully realize the existing positive externalities and dampen the problem of brain drain.

«Soft power» is a set of activities designed by a government or regional and international actors aimed to influence external public opinion, promote external image or attract support for a particular policy, which is implemented through all the available tools and new technologies. The non-governmental actors also play an effective and important role in this diplomacy. Considering the public diplomacy and soft power of the Islamic Republic of Iran as a deliberate and conscious approach can be of great importance in the country's grand strategies that will strengthen national interests in the domestic sphere and influence them at regional and global levels. The article analyzes the role of Iran’s soft power in confronting Iranophobia. The study is aimed at presenting a theoretical definition of public diplomacy and soft power in foreign policy and international system, and then examines its role in the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran with an emphasis on confronting Iranophobia.

The authors answer the research question: “What is the role of soft power in the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in confronting Iranophobia?” The research method is descriptive-analytical based on historical evidence, documents, and analytical issues of theorists, authors, and media being expressed in the theoretical framework of soft power. The paper is based on a synthesis of Stephen Walt’s “balance of threat” theory with Alexander Wendt’s social constructivism to explain the Iranian “threat” in American foreign policy.

The findings of this research show that without the use of force and disturbing the balance in the international relations, using a variety of tools and instruments the Iranian public diplomacy and soft power might be effective to reduce the global and regional atmosphere of Iranophobia and undermine anti-Iranian solidarity.

Review of the textbooks:

Islam in World Politics in Early XXIth Century: A Textbook / L.M. Yefimova, M.A. Sapronova, eds.; [A.M. Ahunov, V.A. Ahmadullin, R.I. Bekkin a. o.]; Moscow State Institute of International Relations (University) of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Russian Federation, Dept. of Oriental Studies. Moscow: MGIMO–University, 2016. 345, [1] p. (In Russ.);

Islam in the State and Socio-Political Systems of the Eastern Countries: A Textbook / L.M. Yefimova, M.A. Sapronova, eds.; [K.P. Borishpolets, R.D. Daurov, B.V. Dolgov a. o.]; Moscow State Institute of International Relations (University) of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Russian Federation, Dept. of Oriental Studies. Moscow: MGIMO–University, 2018. 350, [1] p. (In Russ.);

Muslim Socio-Political Ideas in Front of the Challenges of Modernity: A Textbook / L.M. Yefimova, M.A. Sapronova, eds.; [B.V. Dolgov, S.B. Druzhilovsky, L.M. Yefimova a. o.]; Moscow State Institute of International Relations (University) of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Russian Federation, Dept. of Oriental Studies. Moscow: MGIMO–University, 2018. 192, [2] p. (In Russ.).

The set of textbooks, written by the lecturers of Department of Oriental Studies, MGIMO–University, is a very useful publication both in terms of research and education. It covers the wide field of key problems of contemporary Islam and fills out some gaps in Russian studies of Islam.

The first book of the series is focused on processes of globalization and democratization in Islamic world. The authors examine the role of Muslim states in multi-vector development of regional and global politics, analyze the impact of Islamic structures and concepts on present system of international relations. In the second book the authors emphasize the role of Islamic factor in domestic political life of specific countries and regions of the Muslim world. The authors focus on fundamental issues of constitutional law, functioning of supreme state bodies, building of parties and political systems. In the third book of the series the authors review the ideas of contemporary Muslim philosophers, public figures, political writers – both of conservative-fundamentalist and liberal-modernist orientation, basing on numerous facts. The authors managed to present the diversity of solutions, proposed by Muslim politicians and thinkers aimed at facing a number of challenges such as modernization and globalization, migration crises, poor ecological conditions, rise of social inequality, erosion and substitution of traditional values of Islam, etc.

The textbooks in review may be of special interest not only for teachers and students at universities and high schools, but also for specialists in Oriental studies, political studies, as well as for broad audience of readers.

Book Review: V.P. Vorobev, R.L. Iliev. Human Rights in Judaism and the Jewish Legal Tradition. Moscow: “Nazionalnoe Obozrenie” Publ. House, 2018. 248 p. (In Russian).

V.P. Vorobiev and R.L. Iliev analyse the causes associated with the emergence of the concept of human rights and its understanding, referring to Judaism, which largely identified the modern definition of «human rights». The publication will be useful for all those interested in human rights issues.

Book review of Gregory S. Mahler The Arab-Israeli Conflict: An Introduction and Documentary Reader, 2nd Edition. Routledge, 2018. 416 p.

Review of a monograph: Guy Fiti Sinclair. To Reform the World: International Organizations and the Making of Modern States. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017. 368 p.

The book by Guy Fiti Sinclair is a highly professional and richly contextualized scientific research which analyzes the processes of expansion of powers exercised by international organizations under international law. Particular attention is devoted to the reasons which made this expansion possible and legitimate.

Sinclair views international organizations as the creatures, instruments and even originators of international law which incarnated and epitomized its transformative potential for the purposes of their expansion and development. Heterogeneous interests and ambiguous functions of the International Labour Organization, the UN, and the World Bank are inspected through the prism of their abilities to intervene in the name of international law and, at the same time, to subject themselves to its improving and modernizing influence.

The reviewed work comprehensively explores the state-making activities of full-fledged democracies and the ambivalent consequences of such modernization which usually deploys under the guise of transformative liberal ideology.