The modern international security system is undergoing a structural crisis. The key factors of destabilization include the erosion of arms control, the fragmentation of international law, the growing conflict potential, and technological changes. The future of the system depends on the ability of actors to form a sustainable configuration based on the principles of polycentricity.

The article analyzes the evolution of the concept of the European Union’s strategic autonomy under the influence of the Ukrainian crisis. Special attention is paid to the transformation of the concept after 2014, when the conflict in Ukraine escalated. The author demonstrates that the Ukrainian crisis has served as a powerful catalyst for the militarization of European politics. The article concludes that the escalation policy in the Ukrainian crisis does not contribute to strengthening the EU’s autonomy.

Arab countries are increasingly acting as mediators in various disputes, armed conflicts, and wars. This activity has its roots, causes, and peculiarities. Recently, Arab mediators have remarkably expanded their activities beyond their region, gaining authority and trust among main global actors.

The article, based on Brazilian sources, provides an analysis of the main directions and mechanisms for implementing the country’s foreign policy, namely: the ability to build bilateral relations with geopolitical competitors (the EU, China, Russia, and the United States), participation in alternative international organizations (the G20, BRICS, MERCOSUR, and others), the implementation of global projects (combating hunger, assisting developing countries, the climate agenda), and active mediation activities in settling hot conflicts.

The article analyzes France’s Arctic policy amid contemporary geopolitical processes. Based on an analysis of documents (the 2016 National Roadmap, the 2022 Polar Regions Strategy, and the 2025 Arctic Military Strategy), the key directions of Paris’s policy in the Arctic and its integration into EU and NATO policies are identified. The evolution of the policy is shown, from scientific and humanitarian engagement to a comprehensive strategy with a strengthened military-strategic component.

The article examines the evolution of Turkish-Syrian relations in the context of global and regional changes in the Middle East. It traces Turkey’s transition from the doctrine of “zero problems with neighbors” through the policy of “hard balancing” to post-Assad pragmatism. Special attention is paid to the events of 2024–2026: the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, the rise to power of «Hayat Tahrir al-Sham», and the defeat of the Syrian Democratic Forces.

The «diplomatic dissonances» that arose between Russia and Iran in the first half of the 2020s are analyzed, revealing the peculiarities of the political culture of the Islamic Republic of Iran, stemming from both the centuries-old history of Iranian statehood and the country’s current political regime.

The article is dedicated to the year of the Russian Federation’s chairmanship in the CSTO. Special attention is paid to the institutional activities of the CSTO to form a regional system to counter the use of information and communication technologies and artificial intelligence for terrorist and other criminal purposes.

The article discusses the difficulties of forming an attitude towards aggressive war as a crime, and points out the contradiction between the small number of people convicted for waging aggressive war in 1939–1945 and the millions of victims of war crimes, despite the fact that the International Military Tribunal clearly condemned aggressive war and listed the signs of war crimes.

The article is devoted to the specifics of the USSR’s participation in the League of Nations (1934-1939) and the United Nations (1945–1950). It summarizes the contribution of the Soviet Union to the development of international institutions and law (the principle of sovereign equality, the right of veto, anti-colonialism), as well as the lessons of interaction with the League of Nations, which influenced the subsequent strategy of the USSR in the United Nations. Using the examples of speeches by A.Ya. Vyshinsky and A.A. Gromyko, the article analyzes the transformation of the country’s role: from criticism of the Versailles system to active participation in shaping the new architecture of international security during and after World War II.

The authors provide an analytical review of Russian legislation on countering terrorist and sabotage activities, and also examine the work of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

The article is devoted to the historical and cultural context of the content and, in part, the practical implementation of classical ideologies in Russia. Their non-trivial transformation on domestic soil has given rise to unique and contradictory hybrids in Russia: conservative liberalism, enlightened conservatism, Russian socialism, and others.

The first part of the article examines the contradictions of Russian conservatism and Russian liberalism.