Moscow State Institute of International Relations

The article analyzes the role of Islamist parties in the Arab East beyond the established portrayals of them either as "enemies of stability" or, conversely, as "agents of democratization." The goal is to show how Islamist parties are embedded in Arab party systems and how their interaction with the state is structured. The analysis is grounded in the classic theory of social cleavages developed by S.M.Lipset and S.Rokkan, adapted to the Middle Eastern context. The study argues that durable cleavages in the region run primarily along the "national project - Islam" and "center - periphery" lines, and that these cleavages are exacerbated by factors such as the division of Islam into "official" and "societal" forms and the dominance of the state. Methodologically, the article employs a structured, focused comparison of eight countries (Morocco, Jordan, Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, Syria, Yemen, and Libya) using a most different systems design. The author uses the following four variables as parameters for the analysis: the dominant cleavage, the state's strategy, the party's organizational maturity, and the outcome of institutionalization. Based on the case studies, the author develops a typology of party-state relations: (1) controlled integration, (2) conflictual pluralization, (3) a fragmented system, and (4) repressive dominance. The article demonstrates that these interaction patterns are shaped by the form of religious legitimacy underpinning political authority, the state's strategy of co-opting and/or excluding Islamist parties, and the degree of central state consolidation. The study refines our understanding of trajectories of party institutionalization in the Arab East and offers a transferable framework for analyzing Islamist parties in other world regions.

The paper investigates, through the analysis of original expert interviews, the conditions under which a group of great powers has emerged in the international system to challenge the hegemonic leader. The findings reveal that the current transition to a multipolar world order is fashioned by challengers which use the values, once promoted by the West, of equality, non-discrimination, self-determination, as well as the institutions originally designed to uphold them, to call out US conduct on the global stage and advance a new multipolar international decision-making model. The US appears as a mammoth, a representative of a past world order governed by coercion, that has lost its credibility as an international peace broker. Beyond cooperating between themselves to dislodge the hegemon, great powers are benefiting from the support of a group of rising middle powers who wish to see China and Russia take on the role of social stabilizer, global spokesperson, and economic leader.

Since the mid-2010s, the concept of connectivity has gained traction in international studies, having secured a significant place for itself in the debate around structural factors of leadership. This growing academic engagement with the topic has been rising partially due to active integration of the term into the foreign policy discourse of the European Union and its interpretation as a competition instrument for the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative, aimed at strengthening the EU presence in the neighboring regions. However, existing research remains confined to the current phase of the EU policy, preventing the scholars from tracking down the evolution of the European connectivity policy, identifying similarities and differences between periods and, therefore, from accessing the depth of the EU foreign policy toolkit transformation. The article presents the diachronic analysis of EU transport, logistics and infrastructural policies. Through a comparative assessment of the official documents and the accompanying discourse in the 1990-2000s and the 2010-2020s provides for identifying main objectives of the EU external connectivity practices and, mainly, the key features of the current international infrastructural Global Gateway initiative. The authors conclude that it would be incorrect to interpret the EU's connectivity policy as a fundamentally innovative instrument of influence projection for the European Union. On the contrary, the research demonstrates that the core instruments of EU engagement with partners in the infrastructural domain were initially established to enhance internal connectivity and support enlargement by promoting European norms and standards, upholding the EU energy security and exploring new transit opportunities. The active integration of the connectivity concept into the EU's foreign policy discourse in the late 2010s is, in its turn, part of a self-reflection process on the nature of the EU actorness and is driven by its agenda-setting ambition.

This article analyzes the linguistic and communicative features of employment discourse in Russian Telegram channels, which represent aAnew dimension of professional communication in the digital age. The study emphasizes Telegram's role as a dynamic, interactive multimodal platform that differs significantly from traditional digital job search platforms such as hh.ru or Superjob.ru. AThe research material consists of 604 posts identified through targeted sampling from 20 Telegram channels, as well as a broader sample of posts from 1007 channels in the "Career" category of the TGStat analytical service. The collected material was analyzed using content analysis, multimodal and critical discourse analysis, and semantic-stylistic interpretation. The study identifies characteristic features of employment discourse in Telegram, including interdiscursivity (integration of elements from pop culture, psychoanalysis, and esotericism), segmentation (focus on professional niches and regions), and genre diversification (presence of informational, educational, motivational, and entertainment content). Features such as immersiveness, interactivity, colloquialization, visualization, psychologization, personalization, and gamification enhance the appeal of Telegram employment discourse-particularly for millennials and Generation Z, who value flexibility, mental health, and self-actualization. Employment discourse in Telegram reflects new labor market trends-the growing popularity of remote work, emphasis on psychological well-being, and the significance of corporate culture for talent attraction. Telegram channels are created by both large companies and individual enthusiasts, offering diverse content (textual, visual, and mixed) and forming an emotionally rich and accessible environment. The communicative repertoire of discourse participants combines Russian and English, enabling flexible, often playful communication that creates a relaxed, humor-infused atmosphere. English borrowings in employment-related Telegram channels serve multiple functions: they modernize and globalize the language, emphasizing connection with international trends; attract a young audience; construct professional and social identity; provide emotional and stylistic expressiveness; and economize linguistic means. This creates a translingual and transcultural space where global and local cultural codes intertwine. Telegram channels not only reflect changes in professional communication but also actively shape new expectations among job seekers and employers, adapting to digital and global trends. The study underscores Telegram's growing role in recruitment, particularly in IT and other digital sectors, and lays the groundwork for further investigation of its influence on job seeker behavior and the evolution of HR practices in the digital age.

The subject of this study is social relations that develop within the framework of regulating measures to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). The hypothesis of the study is that legal and organizational mechanisms of SME support, implemented at the organizational level, can stimulate entrepreneurial activity, foster economic development among SCO member states, and strengthen international cooperation in this important and topical area. The study relies on general scientific and specialized research methods. General scientific methods include analysis, synthesis, the inductive-deductive method, the systems thinking method, comparison, among others. Specialized methods comprise the comparative legal method, the historical legal method, analysis of regulatory acts, and analysis of law implementation practice. The study concludes that joint efforts of SCO member states are crucial for SME development and recommends improving legal and organizational support mechanisms to boost entrepreneurship. Key points include: addressing legal gaps through interstate cooperation, supporting SMEs at both national and international levels, differing national SME regulations, the SCO's role in providing legal and organizational foundations, the need for an international treaty due to stronger organizational mechanisms, and the establishment of a specialized SME body to enhance existing structures' effectiveness.