In 2015 Syrian President turned to Russia with a request for military assistance to fight the jihadist organization “Islamic State” (ISIL) prohibited in Russia. The RF Council of Federation has given permission to RF President to use armed forced of the Russian Federation in the territory of Syria. One of the purposes of the Russian involvement in military actions was to prevent spreading of terrorism at the distant approaches to our country. Military actions have been waged on vast expanses of Syria with its specific landscape and climatic conditions, in deserts and semi-deserts. The consequences of military actions that flared up time and again in this region and their effect on the natural environment have been investigated in detail and discussed in mass media. Modern military actions have acquired special nature owing to technological advances in the military area and they turned into the new, so-called “hybrid war”. This war of a new military and technical generation combines traditional and non-traditional irregular wars and requires hi-tech weapons. In other words, the hybrid war required the hybrid methods of its waging. High-accuracy weapons allow for conducting military actions without intrusion to the enemy’s territory and making strikes over many thousand kilometers using aircraft and seabased missiles equipped with the modern devices of objective control, satellite navigation, etc.
As a result, the spatial and in-depth damage and destruction of the natural environment become sharply reduced. So, we are speaking here about new ecologized military actions which consequences may be termed as “hybrid ecology”.

Marine direction of foreign policy is for Russia one of key. It is determined geographical position of the Russian state banks of which is washed plenty of Maureies. Also it is related to that considerable part of population lives on the coast of Russian Maureies, and industry, located in an off-shore bar brings, in a large contribution to the economy.
Many Russian marine travelers were the discoverers of «new» earths. The contribution of the Russian scientists to the hydrophysical, geological and biological study of Maureies and Oceans is great.
Russia possesses a navy, to the constituents approximately one-third of total tonnage of world VMF and one of large in the world a rybopromyslovym fleet. Transport ships under the flag of Russian Federation it is possible to meet planets in the remotest corners. In a number of areas of military shipbuilding and civil shipbuilding Russia had and continues to save priority.
Enhanceable interest to the Seas and Oceans found the reflection in the fundamental Russian documents, including, in the Marine doctrine of Russian Federation, ratified Russia President in 2015. In it the value of marine spaces for the Russian state is marked. In the Marine doctrine of Russian Federation is writtenin: «The skilled providing, marine teaching and education play an important role in the increase of efficiency of marine activity. They are directed on preparation, bringing in and maintainance of skilled shots of all levels, maintenance of professionalism, marine traditions and not indifferent relation of citizens to marine history of country, serve positive presentation, propaganda and support of national marine policy, to marine activity and marine service in society».
Marine direction, marine science about regions found a reflection in the publications of row of the Russian authors, devoted research of policy of Russia in such regions, as: Black Sea region, Caspian region, Arctic, and also in the series of Encyclopaedias, devoted the Seas of Russia.

The South Caucasus has always been a vital link and an artery between the West and the East. For centuries the rich lands and strategic location of this region attracted the attention of strong neighbors who tried to include the region in their borders. After the First World War and the independence of the South Caucasus states, the region turned into one of those points of the world where began a big game for influence. This game ended with the sovietization of the South Caucasus.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the South Caucasus has become a focus of global transformations and political upheavals. At the current age, here are appearing the profits of regional as well as global actors of international relations.
The disintegration of USSR created vast opportunities for Turkey to spread its influence not only in the South Caucasus region, but also in Central Asia. In conditions of Karabakh conflict, Armenian-Turkish, Armenian-Azerbaijani complicated relations, Georgia assumed significant role in the context of Turkey’s regional policy, realizing an important function of a corridor between Turkey and Turkic speaking countries of Central Asia and South Caucasus.
Based on these facts and giving special importance to the transportation of Caspian energy resources Turkey has been developing close relations with Georgia since the mid-1990s and has successfully reached a high level of cooperation in almost all spheres.
In the article has been analyzed the role of South Caucasus in the foreign policy of Turkey. Has been reviewed the main aspects of Turkish-Georgian relations at the current stage. Special attention was paid to the place of Georgia in foreign policy of Turkey. General conclusions were made in regard to Turkey’s foreign policy towards Georgia for the effectiveness of vector and further progress.
The author contends that despite the fact that Georgia is trying to diversify its foreign policy Turkish-Georgian bilateral relations will continue to develop at a fast pace.

The study examines the general and excellent in the Arctic policy of India and China and the likelihood of rivalry between the two Asian powers in the allocation of resources to the Arctic. Also, Indian and Chinese research trends on Arctic topics were considered.
Since the middle of XX century. India and China act as long-standing rivals. Periodically, military clashes broke out between the two sides on a common border. Despite the fact that the key territorial issues on the common border between India and China are resolved military provocations from both sides do not stop. The latest incident was the transfer of Indian troops to the Chinese border zone in the province of Sikkim. Both powers of Asia are major consumers of energy resources, they are more or less interested in the situation on the global energy market.
In the Arctic there are colossal reserves of various resources. Certain difficulties and limitations with access to resources and their equitable distribution can force these countries to compete with each other. However, the lack of a specific position on Arctic issues or the formulated regional strategy for India and China creates a lot of doubt about their true intentions. The study of research trends, the activity of Indian and Chinese business structures, as well as the arctic activities of India and China, gives approximate answers to this question.
The potentials of India and China are very different in the Arctic. China’s strengths are active participation in international scientific research, the availability of a qualified ice-class crew, active investment in energy and infrastructure projects in the Arctic countries, and fairly stable trade relations with most Arctic countries. The weak side of China is its negative image. Residents of many Arctic countries are very wary of the «rise of China» and its growing interest in the Arctic.
Strengths of India are a positive image and a representative diaspora in the Arctic countries, especially in the US and Canada. In the future this will allow Delhi to successfully promote initiatives in the Arctic. The weak side of India can be considered the absence of a ship «icebreaker class», the weak investment activity of Indian business structures and poor knowledge of Arctic problems from the point of view of Indian issues.

The interest of Western countries in the Arctic region is growing with each new statement about the sharp climate change and the melting of the Arctic Ocean’s glaciers. In addition to the threats related to the environmental situation in the Arctic zone, the desire to participate in shelf research and development, the potential of using the sea routes of the region by both the Arctic and non-Arctic states creates threats to the security of the Nordic countries.
The coastal states, which in case of the escalation of tensions will be in the midst of a regional conflict in the Arctic, are Norway and Denmark. Therefore, the analysis of a level of Norwegian and Danish military security against a backdrop of increasing confrontation between Russia and West and changing climate situation in the region is urgent ., Nevertheless, to ensure a necessary level of defence capability as well as security of borders and zones of exceptional economic interests in the conditions of low temperatures is not so easy. This article examines the Norwegian and Danish approaches to the new military security challenges in the Arctic region. The paper contains examination of the doctrinal basis of military security along with the main documents that form the security concepts of the two countries in the Arctic region, and the reports of the defense ministries and scientific institutions surveys of military activities in the Arctic.
Three directions of coastal countries’ policy making in the issues of military security were chosen for comparison. Firstly, the relationships with the USA, the leader of the North Atlantic alliance, which allow us to determine the significance of Norway and Denmark in building NATO security in the north. Secondly, the relationships with the EU and separately with the Nordic countries are considered. This case shows the level of involvement of the European community in the issue of ensuring the Arctic security . Thirdly, the relationships with Russia which has the largest military contingent in the northern latitudes among the members of the Arctic Council, are reviewed. That gives an opportunity to analyze the possible development of Russian-Norwegian and Russian-Danish relationships, particularly the dialogue on maintaining security in the region.
At the end of each subsection the author highlights the main findings on selected vectors of the security policy. In conclusion, the assessment of the current defense capability of Denmark and Norway is given, as well as the impact of NATO joint exercises on Russia’s Arctic policy making is considered in order to highlight the role of coastal states in this context.

The lasting ties of cooperation and cooperation that have been formed for several decades in the Czechoslovakia-Russia format, and after the «velvet divorce» and Slovakia’s independence and sovereignty in 1993 - in the format Slovakia-Russia prove that Russia has been and still is remains a stable, reliable and strategically important partner of Slovakia not only in the areas of foreign policy and diplomacy, economic and economic cooperation, education, culture, but also in the energy and non-governmental organizations.
The article analyzes in detail the foreign political and economic cooperation of Slovakia and Russia, while taking into account the transformations taking place today in the international arena. In particular, special attention is paid to the position of Slovakia on the Crimean issue and the problem of anti-Russian sanctions, which at the moment are among the most discussed topics regarding not only European political structures, but also EU member states, including Slovakia.
The author proves that the anti-Russian sanctions introduced by the West in 2014 and annually prolonged, after three years showed their senselessness and counterproductive nature, since their main goal - to drive out Russia into the corner of the international arena - was not achieved. The long-term «freezing» of political and economic relations between the West and Russia, on the contrary, caused significant damage to EU member states, including Slovakia, which is a subcontractor of large states. The negative impact of anti-Russian sanctions and the subsequent imposition of retaliatory sanctions on Russia adversely affected the Slovak economy, primarily because of the «forced» reduction in Slovak exports to Russia. Therefore, it is not surprising that the Slovak government is extremely concerned about the current situation and officially expresses interest in the complete cancellation or at least partial easing of anti-Russian sanctions.
Analyzing the current situation, the author also draws attention to the personal factor that directly influences the formation of the foreign policy direction of Slovakia in relation to Russia. The analysis is supported by statements of high-ranking political figures and representatives of political forces of Slovakia.

The problem of the globalization of risks is examined in this article. Based on the World Economic Forum (WEF) report on global risks 2015-2017, the impact of global risks on the social and economic development of countries is examined. Economic, social, environmental, geopolitical, technological risks are analyzed in a coordinated fashion. The article notes that the main risks are in the field of environment and ecology. Anthropogenic pressure amplification, scientific and technological advance have an influence on the natural environment. The risks of infrastructure and environmental damage in danger zone are increased because of the growth of the frequency of extreme weather events. The measures for the protection of the environment are examined. The unilateral approach to solving international issues, instead of the collective efforts of the international community; the deployment of weapons of mass destruction (nuclear, chemical, biological) and technologies for the production of radioactive materials; escalation of economic and resource nationalization (the desire of States to expropriate or restrict the export of important for the world economy of resources), etc. promote the increasing geopolitical risks.
Economic risks include the risk in terms of their likelihood their impact on the macroeconomic, as from the financial systems and infrastructure to price volatility and regulatory issues. Social risks are the risks relating to instability of population dynamics, social crises and human survival.
Technological risks include such problems as software defects, failure of important information systems, upon which today industrial production is depended, the services and communications sector; the escalation of large-scale cyber-attacks; theft of electronic information and the illegal usage of personal data. The trends that can intensify the global risks or to change the correlation between them are analyzed in this article.

The article analyzes the situation in the fuel and energy sector that developed in the Kyrgyz Republic after the collapse of the USSR. The independence was accompanied by the disintegration of a unified system, in accordance with which the supply of electricity and hydrocarbon resources was rigidly linked with the use of water and energy potential. The termination of the mechanism, which took into account the energy interests of all countries of Central Asia, had a negative impact on the situation in Kyrgyzstan. As a result, the problem of supplying the republic with energy resources was acute before Kyrgyzstan. First of all, it concerned the provision of fuel resources to the population.
Particular attention is paid to researching the factors that influence the formation and implementation of the modern energy policy of the Kyrgyz Republic. Emphasis is placed on the development of water and energy potential. A solution to ensure energy security is closely related to the solution of this problem.
Minor reserves of oil, coal and gas, which are concentrated in hard-to-reach mountainous areas with complex climatic and geological conditions of occurrence and lack of the necessary means to develop these deposits, increase the interest of Kyrgyzstan in the use of water and energy potential. With the use of the potential of cross-border rivers in Kyrgyzstan bind hopes for the economic development of the country, the solution of socio-economic issues.
To this end, Kyrgyzstan has all the conditions, since the country has facilities that were built during the USSR. However, the deterioration of the infrastructure and the shortage of Hydroelectric power station capacity prevented the stable provision of electricity to the entire population and negatively affects the development of industry. However, Kyrgyzstan's difficult interstate relations with the neighboring countries of the region have a negative impact on this issue. As a result, the crisis in the energy sector of the republic was aggravated for a long time by political confrontation on the water issue with the neighboring states of Central Asia.
In recent years, there has been a change in the situation. The negotiation process on the use of cross-border rivers of Central Asian countries has been intensified, and trade and economic relations between the countries of the region are developing. This allows us to expect an improvement in the situation in Kyrgyzstan and solution of disputable issues in the energy sector.

Author analyzes the practice of functioning of political elite of modern Russia, the phenomenon of high rating of one of its actors and the crisis of alternative political leaders. The article pays special attention to the existing, in accordance with the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the breadth of presidential powers. Separately discusses the features of current and in General closed for the controlled companies to the private process of formation of the Russian political elite. According to the author, this process takes the form of selection of candidates by a narrow circle of senior officials for subjective reasons, in connection with which the political elite even more segregated from the controlled companies and rising to a new, unattainable level of elitism. Referring to the existing practice of the presidential elections in Russia in the early 90-ies of XX century to the present focuses on the stagnation of the political opposition, lack of political competition among major political parties and their low electoral support in view of the existing political absenteeism. In the article the author considers the historical context of the formation of elite groups and privileged minorities, and draws attention to features of "technocratic parliamentarism", which is inherent in States with a parliamentary form of government and does not implement at present in Russia, with its prevailing system of governance by public authorities. In conclusion, the special attention of author is turned on the existing in society political absenteeism, latent protest potential and, as a consequence, the request for the renewal of political elites, particularly in the framework of the upcoming presidential elections of the Russian Federation in 2018, the participation of new candidates. According to the author of the inventory of such social demand companies will allow to stop the risks enhance the destructive part of economic and regional political elite, will enhance the possibility of rotation of political elites, strengthen the role of civil society institutions and lead to the reproduction of an authoritative political leaders.