Abstract: The key research focus of this article is the emergence and further development of the multipolarity concept in international relations academic discourse in the United States, Western Europe, Russia and China. Initially, the term was rooted in Western IR school, and was elaborated as an attempt to counter-balance USSR in the context of bipolar world. The article also covers the modern practice of using multipolarity discourse in Western international political science. Particular attention is paid to the formation of the concept of multipolarity in the Russian Federation and in the PRC in the post-bipolar world. Academic discourse of multipolarity is presented in close link to the practical dimension of the foreign policy concepts of the countries mentioned in this study. The re-emergence of multipolarity was closely associated with changes in the balance of power and an attempt to overestimate the role of superpowers in the world. The consistent development of the theoretical basis of the concept was carried out until the end of the Cold War in the framework of the Western school of IR. In Russian and Chinese studies, multipolarity mostly acts as an image of the desired world order. In recent years, a number of Western scholars have recognized the objective nature of a multipolar world and the need for strategic adaptation to its realities.

Abstract: This article is devoted to the analysis of the status of countries of the post-Soviet space in the system of international relations, studied in the framework of the traditional approach (in the context of the neorealist paradigm of the TMO) and relational (in the context of the constructivist paradigm). The article has applied the quantitative methods of analysis of the international potential of the post-Soviet countries, developed in the framework of the information-analytical system "Eurasia Index". These techniques allowed the operationalization of the main approaches to the assessment of international status and make a comparative analysis between the two approaches. For the traditional assessment of the aggregate potential of the countries of the post-Soviet space, the additive composite index of the national potential of D. Singer (the project "Correlators of War") and the Global Firepower Index are used. Within the framework of the relational approach, a network of embassies of foreign countries accredited in the countries of the former Soviet Union is analyzed, as well as a network of embassies of the countries of the former Soviet Union abroad. The findings allow to clarify the existing ideas about the international hierarchy that has developed in the framework of the post-Soviet subsystem of international relations. Of particular interest is the analysis of the dynamics, as well as the identification of discrepancies between the two methods of calculation, traditional (resource-based) and relational that is based on the international recognition of the country and the network of its diplomatic missions.

Abstract:  
This article is dedicated to the analysis of the concept of balance within the foreign and Russian international political science – one of the most well-known and at the same time controversial concepts. The authors examine the aforementioned concept in the context of the theory of international relations (first and foremost, in terms of realistic paradigm), categories of system approach regarding international relations (dynamic equilibrium in the complex system), as well as historical retrospective (on the example of the “European concert” and bipolar world of the cold war times). Special role is given to the notion of power within the framework of international relations, diverse quantitative methods of its assessment, theoretical game model of the balance of powers and establishment of international coalitions, as well as the notion of asymmetric conflicts. The scientific novelty consists in combination of the classical and contemporary theoretical concepts of the balance of powers with operationalization of this concept within the framework of the applied quantitative analysis in the international political science.  
 

Abstract: The subject of the study is the different levels of conceptualization of international relations - a metaphor, an analogy and a model. This article shows the role of metaphors and analogies in the process of scientific cognition of international relations, showing their limits and possibilities. The basic types of models of international relations, including the game-theoretical, econometric, simulation, network and others, are described. The author discloses various approaches to the study of international processes - as unique social phenomena or as subjects used for identification of common patterns. Analyzing the metaphors, analogies and models, the author gives special attention to their characteristics in the context of the laws of logic (inductive or deductive reasoning). The author gives the examples of true (positive), neutral, and negative (incorrect) analogies. Theoretical generalizations are illustrated by a significant number of practical examples from the field of international relations. Metaphor and analogy are not the models of international relations, in fact they are the pre-model forms of conceptualization of international relations. Nevertheless, one should not underestimate the importance and effectiveness of metaphors for the stimulation of a creative process on the initial stages of the analysis of international relations. Metaphor, helping intuitively imagine the phenomenon under consideration, is the first step towards formalized modeling. To harmonize the contradictions, contained in the metaphor, it is necessary to use the analogy, which is an intermediate step between imagination (intuition) and logical thinking. The model helps more accurately transfer the characteristics of international processes necessary for the solution of the problem under study.

Abstract: The object of this research is the participation of the Albanian organized crime in opiate transit by the so-called Balkan route (Afghanistan - Western Europe). The position of Albania in transit network and its role in drug trafficking is being analyzed. The authors thoroughly explore such topics as the structure and principles of the Albanian Mafia, mechanisms of decentralization and conspiracy of organized crime, problem of the analysis of its activity at national level, as well as structure and characteristics of the Balkan route of drug shipments to Europe. In the first part of this research the authors assume that Albania is one of the main drug distributers in Europe.The research is based on the method of network analysis, involving the construction of a network graph and identify the most influential actors by evaluating the betweenness centrality and closeness centrality expressing various measures to control a particular node on the network. Network analysis has been successfully applied to study the logic of attitudes and behavior in many informal or criminal organizations, including terrorist networks.The main conclusion of the study is the position of Albania as a network broker which has a direct access  or an access through its Balkan neigbors to the two out of four largest European markets. The hypothesis on its status as of the country responsible for drug distribution in Europe has not been confirmed. The mechanisms of interaction with the neighboring countries of Albania and their access to European markets are analyzed. The special contribution of the authors is a research of organizational structure of the Albanian mafia and Balkan route through the prism of network analysis. The novelty of the research consists in the implementation of the network method towards cooperation of the cpuntries with regards to drugs distribution in Europe.