Abstract: Energy resources are becoming an increasingly politicized commodity, which at the same time retains special technical and economic characteristics, which complicates the work of the foreign policy leadership. Using a cognitive approach to foreign policy analysis, the authors conduct a study of the relationship between energy and foreign policy through the prism of different cognitive structures used by subjects to assess the landscape of the world energy. On this conceptual basis, the authors explore the evolution of the relationship between energy and foreign policy: how much energy is a useful tool of foreign policy, and, conversely, how deeply the goals of energy policy are embedded in foreign policy and affect the sphere of energy security. The main results of this study should be considered the conclusion of the authors that in order to distinguish energy as a foreign policy area, it is useful to distinguish between short-term and long-term energy vulnerability. The degree of long–term vulnerability is determined by the availability of real alternatives - the ability to diversify energy routes and sources.
Thus, energy security is the dominant, but not the only factor determining energy as an area of foreign policy. The problem of energy sustainability is penetrating deeper into the world foreign policy agenda, since it is related to energy independence. Thus, depending on the influence of environmental beliefs on political, economic and social structures, energy sustainability can affect energy needs, energy imports, and hence energy independence. In addition, discussing the importance of energy sustainability, first of all it is necessary to focus on the problem of security, since energy sustainability is associated with the influence of internal resource consumption on the level of energy independence, and energy security focuses on the influence of external factors on ensuring sufficient energy supplies, and hence on energy independence.

Abstract: The subject of the study is to identify the place and role of terrorist organizations in the system of international relations and global security from the point of view of strategic approaches of the Western expert-analytical community and official political institutions of nation states, the EU and NATO. Globalization, the growing influence of non-State actors, including armed groups, as well as changing views on the nature and essence of the State have contributed to the hidden or explicit subjectivization of many participants in the international political process. Special attention is paid in the article to the new concept of "hybrid actor", which is widely discussed among experts and scientists at the present time. For the first time, the paper attempts to compare the positions of the United States and its European allies on interaction with hybrid actors. Thus, in recent decades, non-State actors have evolved in terms of political, social and military capabilities. This trend is evident in the Middle East and North Africa region, where the combination of weak State institutions, the presence of conflicts and instability has provided fertile ground for the actions of armed groups. Non-State armed groups in the Middle East are extremely diverse and include local, tribal and communal formations, transnational criminal organizations and networks, classic rebel opposition groups and so on. Within this broad category, a number of non-State armed groups have evolved to perform political, social and managerial functions.

Abstract: Energy resources are becoming an increasingly politicized commodity, which at the same time retains special technical and economic characteristics, which complicates the work of the foreign policy leadership. The authors, using a comparative method, conduct a study of the relationship between energy and foreign policy in the EU and the USA through the prism of different cognitive structures used by subjects to assess the landscape of global energy. On this conceptual basis, the authors explore the evolution of the relationship between energy and foreign policy in the EU and the United States: to what extent energy is a useful tool of foreign policy, and, conversely, how deeply the goals of energy policy are embedded in foreign policy. By making such a comparison, the authors identify differences and potential similarities between the EU and the US in this area. Thus, comparing the approaches of the USA and the EU, one can see a tendency towards their convergence. Despite the significant difference in the energy landscape of the EU and the United States, Brussels and Washington agreed that they included a common vision of the global energy architecture in their foreign policy. The use of energy as a political tool, at least in rhetoric, was condemned by both sides.
Nevertheless, at the national level, energy issues in the EU are often determined by the foreign policy considerations of a particular country. It is also worth remembering that LNG exports from the United States to Europe are considered to a certain extent as a means of increasing competition for Russian natural gas, as a way to provide US allies with an alternative and help them reduce dependence on Russia, sometimes even as an energy weapon, but in any case as a very effective foreign policy tool.

Abstract: The critical part of preparation for conducting a mass survey is the proper wording of questions that allows revealing and assessing the preferences, experience and motives of respondents’ behavior. Despite the importance of adequate sampling of respondents and use of effective processing techniques of the acquired information, the result of research would be inaccurate without properly worded and comprehensible questions. The choice of words and putting them together is crucial for understanding of the question and its interpretation by a respondent; even small differences in wording may significantly affect the results. This article is an attempt of carrying out a sociological-linguistic analysis of the problems associated with wording of questions for mass surveys on the relevant political topics. The analysis of survey questions used in public opinion polling determined a number of important factors that influence the veracity and accuracy of research results. The detected problems are multifaceted and reflect different aspects of working survey questions. The analysis of structural aspect demonstrated the significance of proper choice of the type of question, either open-ended or close-ended. The suitability of one or another type is first and foremost defined by the content of question, objectives and tasks of research, and characteristics of respondents. Examination of the spoken form of questions (linguistic aspect) emphasized the importance of selection of linguistic units for comprehensible wording. The paramount role is played by lexical and syntactic linguistic units. The results of semantic analysis of the wording of survey questions is also important. The key problems within the framework of this aspect are associated with imposition of certain answers using imbalanced or suggestive questions, as well as various negative effects that appear as a result of particular placement of questions in a survey or creation a necessary context. All of the aforementioned problems significantly affect the quality of the conducted surveys.

Abstract: The subject of this research is the sanctions imposed by Western countries against Russia in response to the Ukrainian events of 2014. Leaning on the available empirical data and expert assessments conducted by various financial and analytical structures, an attempt is made to identify the nature and severity of impact of sanction pressure upon different economic sectors of the Russian Federation, implemented for achieving the foreign policy goals. Emphasis is placed on the absence of uniform sanctions policy due to the specificity of foreign policy goals and peculiarities of sanction mechanisms used by the United States and the European Union. It is underlined that anti-Russian sanctions and Russia’s response in many instances are substantiated by the preceding trends in strategic vision of foreign and domestic policy by the Russian Federation, as well as the nature of its relations with the West. The conclusion is made that the focus in studying the problem of sanctions has shifted towards the political analysis and further analytical and scientific examination. The author believes that in the conditions of uncertainty of the economic effects and absence of common approaches towards understanding the prospects of sanctions policy by the Western countries the two main scenarios of its further development. It would either gradually fade out without “renewed efforts”, slowly negating its practical effect, and prompt the United States and the European Union intensify the dialogue with Russia, avoiding the problematic issues on the status of Crimea, implication in the events in South-Eastern Ukraine, etc.; or it can lead to full “politicization” of sanctions polity and its integration into the negotiation process on settlement of the Ukrainian situation and turning into a powerful tool for conducting negotiations.

Abstract: The subject of this article is the activity of the European expert analytical centers, which attracts substantiated academic interest in the area of applied and theoretical research. The relevance lies in the questions associated with the functional responsibilities of similar centers, their sponsorship, presence or absence of the ideological component, and most importantly, level of their influence upon the process of domestic and foreign policy decision-making. In the conditions of complicated circumstances in Russia-Europe relations, a more adequate understanding of the latent mechanisms of functioning of the European policy seems necessary. Due to this fact, the authors note the need for an in-depth analysis of the forms and active work of the EU oriented expert analytical centers. The authors made the following conclusions based on the analysis of the EU oriented expert analytical centers: in general, the increase of the number of expert centers complies with the extension of European integration and expansion of control; as a rule, the research of the analytical centers, correspond with the EU political realities and its impact upon the domestic legislation alongside the increased awareness of actions. The analytical centers located in Brussels and oriented exclusively towards EU were established at the time when EU member-states agreed to rejuvenate the European project, finish the internal market, and revisit the possibility of the economic and currency union. Naturally, the national expert analytical centers located in the EU member-states began developing more sequential versions of the research programs on the EU topic. It is evident that the national centers have captured the rising opportunity to affect the all-European political agenda and reacted with the activation of their own work.

Abstract: The subject of this article is the activity of the European expert analytical centers, which attracts substantiated academic interest in the area of applied and theoretical research. The relevance lies in the questions associated with the functional responsibilities of similar centers, their sponsorship, presence or absence of the ideological component, and most importantly, level of their influence upon the process of domestic and foreign policy decision-making. In the conditions of complicated circumstances in Russia-Europe relations, a more adequate understanding of the latent mechanisms of functioning of the European policy seems necessary. Due to this fact, the authors note the need for an in-depth analysis of the forms and active work of the EU oriented expert analytical centers. The authors made the following conclusions based on the analysis of the EU oriented expert analytical centers: in general, the increase of the number of expert centers complies with the extension of European integration and expansion of control; as a rule, the research of the analytical centers, correspond with the EU political realities and its impact upon the domestic legislation alongside the increased awareness of actions. The analytical centers located in Brussels and oriented exclusively towards EU were established at the time when EU member-states agreed to rejuvenate the European project, finish the internal market, and revisit the possibility of the economic and currency union. Naturally, the national expert analytical centers located in the EU member-states began developing more sequential versions of the research programs on the EU topic. It is evident that the national centers have captured the rising opportunity to affect the all-European political agenda and reacted with the activation of their own work.