After withdrawal from Afghanistan, the United States is shifting its military activity to the European direction, in the center of which are Russian-Ukrainian contradictions. In response, Russia for the first time in history put forward a number of stringent demands regarding the non-expansion of NATO to the East. In implementing its anti-Russian policy, the United States runs the risk of underestimating a number of other important international problems, including those in the Middle East, as well as overestimating its own strength. For Russia, a favorable way out of a crisis situation lies not only in the art of diplomacy, but also in the right choice of tools for its policy.

The article reveals the relevance of the category «energy transition» for the modern international agenda in connection with the processes of climate change and related complex of other world problems. Particular attention is paid to the economic and political balance of interests during the «energy transition», the positivity and new opportunities of the «climate» channel of dialogue with Russia, the United States and other key countries in a difficult period of aggravation of international relations are argued.

The article examines the provision of Russian military assistance to the Syrian Arab Republic, identifying the main directions and characteristics of activities in the framework of military assistance and Russian Middle East policy.

Abstract. In contrast to common geopolitical and historical interpretations of political events in Afghanistan the authors analyze connection between the change in political order and the peculiarities of Afghan society. The conclusion is made about the existence of a special type of social contracting («the Afghan model of society of decentralized network structures»), «the Afghan network phenomenon» which have been reproduced and influence the stability of political orders since the middle of the twentieth century.

Mass protests in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, which began in the summer of 2019, became a serious test for the domestic and foreign policy of the Chinese leaders. These events are enrooted in the history and peculiarities of this former British colony status, the conflict between the liberal democracy ideals and the specific policy of the central government of China, as well as in the threat of Hong Kong’s dissolution in the whole of the PRC ‘s economic space.

With the increasing attention paid by the international community to the unifying possibilities of sport, its depoliticization cannot be achieved, sport becomes a hostage of foreign policy rivalry. The article considers sports diplomacy as a foreign policy tool to create an attractive image of the country in the international arena by holding and participating in international sporting events, sending representatives to international sports federations and specialized agencies.

The course to build an information society contains certain challenges for the system of public administration, puts before the law enforcement agencies the task of ensuring openness and effective interaction with the external environment. The article examines the current state and problematic issues of digitalization of law enforcement. The conclusion about the possible change of its content in the digital era in the direction of the actualization of the preventive component is substantiated.

The article analyzes the confrontation between the State Duma and the Russian Foreign Ministry in 1994 after the election of the new parliament. The State Duma of the first convocation took control of the Balkan problem and reacted to every aggravation of the situation in the former Yugoslavia. The Russian parliament did not treat this topic formally, tried to exert at least moral pressure on the Foreign Ministry, kept the problem under constant control.