Discussion of definition of defence and security cooperation between Chinese and Russian scientists

Khan' Shiin PhD in Politics Postgraduate Student, Chair of International Security, School of World Politics Lomonosov Moscow State University 119991, Russia, Moscow, Leninskie Gory str., 1 hanshiying@bfsu.edu.cn

In turn, constructivists are of the opinion that international cooperation plays an important role in international society, and the goal of cooperation between countries is not only to obtain benefits, but also to form a sense of identity. For historical institutionalists, cooperation is the result of international and domestic historical social and political factors ^{[8, p.454]}.

Differences exist not only in the definition of safety, but also Chinese and Russian scientists have their own preferences in choosing theoretical approaches. Chinese scientists in their research often cite the works of liberal researchers such as Robert Cohen, Joseph Nye Jr., Helen V. Milner and others ^{[15, 16, 18]}. Among them, the theory of hegemonic stability by Robert Cochain is widely discussed, who believes that "discord, which is the opposite of harmony, stimulates demands for policy adjustment, which can lead either to cooperation or to continued intensified discord" ^{[12, p.61]}.

Russian scientists do not share the position of their Chinese colleagues regarding the liberal school of thought, and although they generally agree with the conclusions of Helen Milner, nevertheless, in the process of research they pay more attention to the achievements of realist researchers such as Arnold Wolfers, Morgenthau, Steven Krasner and others ^{[4, 7]}. In security issues Russian researchers are focused on the interests of states and their positions in the international arena. The concepts of these scientists are characterized by a pessimistic attitude towards cooperation in general.

As for the definition of cooperation in the field of defense and security, it should be noted that there is still no internationally recognized definition of the concept as a whole due to the vagueness of the formulations of the definition of security and various areas of research. Despite the differences in schools and views on the problem of security and international cooperation, the opinions of individual researchers began to converge on a number of important issues. For example, P.A. Tsygankov believes that the concept of "international cooperation" reflects a process of interaction between two or more actors in international relations, in which the use of armed violence is excluded and joint search for the realization of common interests dominates. As in the case of security studies, early works devoted to the topic of international cooperation were mainly limited to the field of foreign policy and diplomacy problems. However, with the development of the international community, the sphere of interests of researchers began to cover other areas, such as economics, security, environmental protection, etc. ^{[5, 8]}. Li Xuebao summarized the views of Su Hao, Yan Xuetong and other Chinese political scientists and eventually came to the conclusion that international cooperation in the field of defense and security - these are measures that have been taken between two or more States (actors) in the international community to protect their own security interests, achieve common security goals and resolve contradictions and conflicts through coordination, dialogue, integration, alliances, etc. ^[18].

The analysis and comparison of the points of view of scientists belonging to various scientific schools allows us to draw the following conclusions: taking into account the fact that the concept of "national defense" includes political, economic, diplomatic, cultural characteristics, and also provides for the development of measures to prepare for the armed defense of the state, the integrity and inviolability of its territory, in particular the concept of "national defense security" can include the use of armed violence; cooperation in the field of defense and security is understood as formal or relatively informal interactions in the field of defense and security between two or more actors in the international community in order to protect their own interests and achieve common goals, as well as to mitigate mutual contradictions that may arise in in the process of this cooperation.