Abstract: This article examines the relevant topic of Germany-Russia relations. The goal is set to analyze the German perception of these relations through the prism of specific German national identity. The key task lies in studying the German identity and its reflection in foreign policy of the Federal Republic of Germany with regards to the Russian Federation. The author believes that German identity is a crucial factor in the formation of foreign policy course alongside the establishment of advantageous business ties. The article covers the main characteristics and problems of German national identity since 1990, which allows tracing the evolution of Germany-Russia relations. Special attention is given to the characteristic features of German identity that have formed prior to the German reunification, but their fundamental traits remain essential for studying German identity. Leaning on the scientific research of the prominent specialists in German Studies, the author highlights not only the basic, but also complementary features of the modern German identity, and outlines the landmark events that currently acquire special resonance in German society. The author also traces the evolution of Germany-Russia relations, placing emphasis on the aspects that are of particular importance for the economic and ideological interests of the Russian Federation. The conclusion is made on unfeasibility of continuing the dialogue between Germany and Russia due to the fact that the Federal Republic of Germany is a full-fledged member of the European Union and no longer intends to implement solely national foreign policy.

Keywords: Russian Federation, german-russian relations, identification, nation, german identity, national identity, Federal Republic of Germany, European Union, Reunification of Germany, hybrid warfare

Abstract: The article is based on the results of the study of the political elite in modern Russia. The subject of the study covers  psychological peculiarities of the political elite, important for the foreign policy. The key psychological components of the analysis are the political values as the central elements of politicians' consciousness and the style of interpersonal relations. Special attention is paid to the structure and the content of political values and degree of their representation in different groups of elites. The style of interpersonal relationships is considered in the context of the political leaders playing their political roles.Theoretical and methodological basis of the study includes the political-psychological approach which allows the author to explore the personal traits of the elite as a whole and of its individual members. The theoretical and methodological section of this article defines the nature and the specificity of selected psychological characteristics and outlines the methodological instruments of their study and interpretation. The results of the study show that the most important for foreign policy political values are the nationalist trend and intolerance. The most appropriate style of interpersonal relationships is extroversion with a high level of dominance. The case of S.V. Lavrov, presented in the article, illustrates the example of a balanced personality profile, appropriate for the role of the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Keywords: Minister of Foreign Affairs, political elite, international relations, foreign policy, style of interpersonal relations, political values, political psychology, political role, nationalist trend, intolerance

Abstract: The article aims to determine the influence of political values on the perception of Russia by its citizens.The formation of the country's image in the minds of people is affected by many factors: political, cultural, economic, socio-demographic, psychological. Among the latter the most important are the political values as the most stable components of personality.The article presents the political-psychological approach to the study of political values and the resulting perception peculiarities of the country by citizens. In the theoretical and methodological section of the article the nature and characteristics of political values are defined in the context of the analysis of the political perception process, and methodological foundations of their study and interpretation are also referred.The article also presents the results of empirical studies of political values which determine the influence of values on the country perception. The author concludes that the most important values for citizens are the materialistic values or values of the safety. Russians's orientation to peace, order, law, safety, human rights is a response to the socio-economic and political conditions of life in which people do not feel confident about the future. These values determine the inconsistency of the image of Russia, in which the positive characteristics of the country (territory, history) are combined with the negative representations about the state (politics and government).

Keywords: materialism, political perception, image of Russia, political values, society, policy, postmaterializm, safety, political psychology, creativity

Abstract: The paper presents the results of the political and psychological analysis of Russian Muslims in the context of modern transformation of semantic values of the Russian society. The authors draw the attention to the fact that in the course of liberal reforms the formation of the protest anti-Russian ideological phenomena is going on and they have a destructive character. One of them is connected with the processes of islamisaton of Russian young people and with such a political-psychological phenomenon as islamism. The methodological basis of the research is the systems approach, the structural and functional, the comparative political approaches, the methods of analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction, observation. The article points out the cardinal determination of neophytes' consciousness that is accompanied with the modification of the world model against the background of their infantilism, low subject status and frustrated identity. The authors come to the conclusion that the global operators of political Islam make use of psychological and spiritual predisposition of the marginal part of Russian young people to realize the strategic course on the reformation of their identification ideas and guidelines with the aim to destroy the Russian mental code.

Keywords: neophytes, Russian Muslims, person, state, politician, society, policy, islamisation, Russian islamism, Russian islamists

Abstract: The article contains a conceptual analysis of the phenomenon of Islamic mentality on the basis of the methodological potential of the subjectivity and dogmatic principles. The Islamic mentality is regarded in the unity of historical, theological, psychological and political scientific aspects. The author showed the connection of political mentalities and the monotheistic religious dogmatic systems. The article contains comparative analysis of the dogmatic sources of formation of the Judaic, Christian and Islamic mentalities. The author shows cardinal differences among the three monotheistic mentalities in the political scientific context, showing the fundamental bases for the political subjectivity. The author discusses specific features of corporate national and individual personal types of political subjectivity, as well as non-subject type of political mentality. The author expressed an opinion on the influence of mental-dogmatic positions of the Islam on the political and psychological qualities of the Islamic world. The conclusion is made that being a super-conscience phenomenon, Islam is a supreme value for the Muslims, and it defines the mental-dogmatic quality of the Muslim political world. The author formulates the problems, grounds and possibilities for the political interaction with the Islam.

Keywords: international relations, foreign policy, Islam, Ummah, political mentality, political subject, super-conscience, lack of subject, mental-dogmatic settings, Orthodox Christian – Islamic consensus.

Abstract: The article presents our position of cultural and historic battle type and the brief results of comparative analysis of battle behavior of Russians and Germans in the battles of the Great Patriotic War — near Moscow, in Stalingrad and Kursk salient. These battles were chosen purposefully since they were key factors for the development of both the Great Patriotic War and the 2nd World War. It should be noted that among the polyethnical contingent of the Red Army we focused our attention on the cultural and psychological stereotypes of the Russian army staff, who were 60 to 85 per cent (on different estimations) among the participants of these battles, and in accordance with the goals of this material. The specific features of Russian and German conscience were often analyzed in science. However, the battle qualities of Russian and Germany military men in the wars of the last century were rarely compared. Currently the methodological fundamental of the comparative military studies are actively developing based upon the theory and methodology of psychological and historical disciplines, ethnological, philological and cultural analysis. The studies of these problems open the novel possibilities for the addressing the methods of cultural and social anthropology, religion studies, military social studies, and war philosophy.

Keywords: international relations, politics, Russia, Germany, behavior, cultural and historic type, the Great Patriotic War, the 2nd World War, values, conflict.

Abstract: Currently there are over 500 terrorist groups in the world. Many of these groups are united into the international organizations, they are well-armed, their activities are based upon network principles, they have developed global connections and inner financing sources. The scale, operative character and potential of international terrorism makes it superior to other challenges and threats to international security. The danger of the modern terrorism lies in its strong inner religious and ideological motivation (“true believers” against the “unfaithful”, “clean” against “dirty”, readiness for self-sacrifice in “religious strife”, “Shaheeds”, etc.), unpredictable time, place and objects of terrorist acts, promiscuous choice of methods and means for the actions.

Keywords: political science, international relations, foreign policy, nuclear terrorism, conflict, security, political stability, threat, challenge, interests.

Abstract: The article includes analysis of terrorism within the context of the modern globalization processes, as well as information threats and psychological threats. The author views social, psychological and political prerequisites of terrorism in the modern situation, as well as the influence of the global risks on the terrorist activities. The author then analyzes specific expressions of terrorist aggression within the context of information and psychological influence, then the author shows the perspectives for the further studies of the problem.

Keywords: political science, terrorism, society, risk, threat, security, globalization, influence, information, communications.

Abstract: The French presidential elections for the fi rst time in 17 years brought victory to the socialist candidate – François Gérard Georges Nicolas Hollande. Since France is traditionally one of the leaders of the European and world policy, the issue of possible considerable changes in foreign and domestic policy of this state became more topical. The author of this article gives brief psychological and political characteristics of the former President Nicolas Sarkozy, and current President Francois Hollande.

Keywords: France, President, politics, political science, personal history, Francois Hollande, Nicolas Sarkozy, party, Socialists, Europe.