Aim. To develop methodological principles and approaches for the formation of a new social science discipline – Westernology – and to define the subject of Westernology research.

Methodology. The formation of the discipline of Westernology is based on the development of the civilizational approach and is determined by the corresponding consideration of Western civilization.

Results. It is noted that the prevailing view of the West is not as one of many civilizations but as an advanced community standing above others. Ethnocentric views of the West and claims to the universality of Western discourse are identified.

Research implications. The findings provide a basis for systematically decolonizing Russian social sciences and overcoming dependence on Western-centric perspectives.

Aim. To reconstruct the worldview and ideology of the Western elites with a focus on identifying their religious/quasi-religious foundations.

Methodology. The “black box” method was used, considering the potentially possible latent teachings of the global elite.

Results. The hypothesis that the religious foundation of the global elite’s teachings is highly likely to be Satanism was substantiated. The contemporary elite, in their genesis, used various heretical teachings as an alternative to Christianity in their struggle against the medieval system, which determined the anti-Christian direction of their synthetic doctrine. The evaluation given by the President of the Russian Federation, V. V. Putin, regarding the Western elites’ actual shift to Satanism was confirmed.

Research implications. The practical potential of the study lies in the possibility of using its results to critique the West as Russia’s opponent in the current phase of the Russian-Western civilizational conflict.

Aim. To address problems related to feminism and propose solutions that can help overcome them.

Methodology. A critical analysis of the implications of feminist propaganda is undertaken, with a particular emphasis on its potential impact on demography. The following methods were used in the study: statistical method, correlation and regression analysis, sampling, comparative and historicalgenetic method.

Results. The connection between the spread of feminism and fertility in different countries of the world is analyzed. Solutions to overcome the demographic situation are proposed.

Research implications. It is assumed that addressing issues of women’s equality within the framework of Christianity can provide a more organic approach, devoid of the costs that arise in the course of Western propaganda of feminism. The article is a comprehensive examination of the subject, shedding light on the potential consequences of feminist propaganda.

Aim. To justify the thesis that the Western construction of the cinematic image of a Russian person directly depends on its geopolitical relations with Russia.

Methodology. The study’s primary methodological foundation is the concept of network-centric warfare, according to which the media content produced by the collective West serves as a tool for the formation of a social stratum within the society of the political opponent that positively relates to the ideologemes and mythologemes broadcast by the invading state. The study also applies a Westernological approach, which suggests regarding Western discourse not as a universal cultural phenomenon but rather as a product of a distinct civilisation, different from Russia. Through an analysis of the largest film platforms, the authors identified 103 film materials in which characters identified as Russian in origin are depicted. It is notable that the majority of these characters can be characterised by one of three predominant clichés: mafia, KGB, or scientists. Each of these clichés has specific historical roots and represents an inheritor of the stereotypical perception of the Russian person formed during the Cold War. To study the influence of geopolitical processes on the representation and mythologisation of the image of Russia in general and of the Russian people in particular, the authors carried out a content analysis and constructed graphs showing the results of the study and their a geopolitical interpretation.

Results. A content analysis of film materials has demonstrated a correlation between the explication of these clichés in contemporary Western mass cinema and the political relations between the Global West and Russia. Thus, during the period of the greatest geopolitical tension, negative images associated with espionage and totalitarian political systems prevail in contemporary Western mass cinema. Conversely, the détente of relations entails a decrease in the share of Russian actors in cinema and/or the construction of their neutral image. The observed dependence can be explained through the lens of the network-centric warfare concept and the view of cinema as an instrument of secondary mythologisation of politically and ideologically significant phenomena and a means of constructing memetic warfare.

Research implications. The study of contemporary Western mass cinema through the lens of the network-centric warfare revealed the primary mechanisms by which pro-Western citizens are formed within the population of the Russian Federation.

Aim. To review the concept of "pool tax" in relation to the taxes of the Russian Empire of the 18th – first half of the 19th centuries.

Methodology. In addition to general scientific methodological principles, the author uses special methods which include historical-genetic, historical-comparative, historical-typological, historicalsystemic and the method of terminological analysis.

Results. The article shows that by the middle of the 19th century the tax, called in historiography "poll tax", was structurally not quite the same payment that was introduced in Russia by Peter the Great, therefore the concept used in scientific literature to designate this tax is quite conventional. It is concluded that the transformation of the "poll tax" in the late 18th – first half of the 19th century, which was a gradual merger of several per capita payments into one, reflects one of the sides of the rationalization of the collection of direct taxes.

Research implications. The research results contribute to the study of the history of direct taxation in Russia.

Aim. To identify the main contradictions of the process aimed at developing and adopting a law on countering political extremism in Russia in the second half of the 1990s.

Methodology. Legislative initiatives aimed at countering the ideology and practice of political extremism, coming from deputies of the State Duma, the Moscow City Duma, as well as the Commission for Combating Political Extremism under the President, are considered. For the most complete disclosure of the topic, problem-chronological, institutional, systemic, as well as foral legal approaches were used.

Results. The analysis showed that the adoption of a special “anti-extremist” law in those years was not among the priority tasks of both the legislative and federal executive authorities. The study proves the general disinterest of both the authorities and the parliamentary opposition in the adoption of an advisory normative act dictated by political considerations.

Research implications. The article summarizes the legislative material on the topic under study, new documents are introduced into scientific circulation, and the author’s interpretation of the concept of “extremism” is proposed.

Aim. To study the process of formation of Russian civil identity as a cultural and civilizational phenomenon in its historical retrospective, to identify the origins and main stages of development.

Methodology. The main content of the study is an analysis of the process of interaction between peoples and their cultures at different stages of the development of Russian society, the characteristics of each of them, the role of objective and subjective factors. When conducting the research, the modernist and civilizational approaches to studying historical processes were used.

Results. It has been confirmed that the formation of Russian civil identity is a natural result of the development of Russian society as a Eurasian cultural and civilizational phenomenon. The author comes to the conclusion that the constant spatial expansion of the territory the Russian state was determined by a number of objective factors, the most important among which is the need for defense against external threats due to the lack of natural protection in the form of powerful mountain systems, large expanses of water, etc. But this required the ruling Russian elites to be able to find mutually acceptable forms and methods of interaction with the peoples living in the newly annexed territories, first of all, preserving their cultural and historical identity.

Research implication. The forms and methods of interaction between peoples and their cultures at various stages of the development of Russian society have been studied, both material and spiritual factors that determine the similarity of interests of different ethnic groups have been identified. The author’s interpretations of such categories as the Eurasian cultural and civilizational phenomenon, Eurasian civil identity, the content of the cultural and civilizational code, agricultural cultures, nomadic cultures are introduced.

Aim. The article is devoted to the origin, dating of the initial core of the Nart sagas and a new interpretation of the epos as a historical source in connection with possible Indo-Aryan and ancient European attribution of the Early Bronze Age cultures in the western and central parts of the North Caucasus.

Methodology. Comprehensive analysis based on archaeological and linguistic data.

Results. The hypothesis of the dating for the initial core of the Nart sagas is proposed. According to the authors, the epic tales that later formed the core of the Nart sagas had been created in Central Europe in the 3rd millennium BС in the environment of dissolving Indo-European community. The article shows the parallel development of two versions of the Nart sagas in the North Caucasus – the Adyghe version, going back to the legends circulating in the Indo-Aryan environment, and the Ossetian version which is connected with the Old European epic.

Research implications. The integrated approach based on correlating data of mythology, linguistics and archeology for solving problems connected with the origin and dating of the Nart sagas.

Aim. To identify the specifics and the state policy evolution direction in the field of higher education as a factor in the development of international relations of the Kyrgyz Republic (KR).

Methodology. A content analysis and a focus group with seven experts were conducted in the course of the research.

Results. The specific trait of state policy in the field of higher education of the Kyrgyz Republic is improvement of the education quality with the help of non-profit foreign organizations (ACCELS) and the focus on internationalization by attracting foreign partners to the country. This has become a noticeable factor in the development of its international relations. The positive trend of this development is manifested in the steady flow of foreign students, in terms of the number of whom the Kyrgyz Republic ranks first in Middle Asia, which strengthens the position of this country in the wider Central Asian region and the international arena as a whole.

Research implications. Conceptually, new data with recommendations for optimization are summarized and the author’s forecast is given.

Aim. To analyse the perception of the concepts of “statehood” and “independence” in modern Catalan memorial culture and historical memory.

Methodology. The problem is analysed through the prism of intellectual history and the history of ideas, as well as the achievements of the memorial turn.

Results. The role and place of regional intellectual communities and political elites as the main participants in historical politics, defined as forms of development of nationalism and the Catalan nationalist imagination, are analysed. The article examines the current stage in the development of the historical policy of regional Catalan society through the prism of a confrontational model of the development of memorial culture in the context of the deliberate actualization of the concepts of “statehood” and “independence”. Research implication. Analysis of the images of “independence” and “statehood” as narrative constructs of historical politics shows that the range of memorial practices of regional intellectuals in Catalonia is limited primarily by their participation in strengthening civic identity and participation in the legitimation of the political program of nationalism.

Aim. To form an idea of the peculiarities of studying by domestic authors the genealogy of the House of Romanov (starting with Emperor Peter III) in the 19th – early 20th centuries.

Methodology. The complex of domestic historiography of the 19th – early 20th centuries dedicated to the genealogy of the Russian Imperial House starting with Emperor Peter III is analyzed.

Results. Conclusions are drawn that the study of the Romanov genealogy was used for practical recording of data on kinship (mainly during the 19th century) and for scientific purposes. Some authors of genealogical studies about the Romanovs pursued political goals.

Research implication. The article summarizes the main historiographical material, including works stored in Russian archives and not introduced into scientific circulation.

Aim. To evaluate the democratic potential of political relations between modern Russia and Belarus.

Methodology. As the methodology of the article, it is proposed to use socio-economic ranking together with the results of a mass survey of the regions of Belarus, which will allow us to get the most complete look at the changes in the preferences of the population and complement the study.

Results. In general, inconsistencies have been noted between the regional division of Belarus as a unitary state in the socio-economic context. The border regions of Belarus to Russia (Vitebsk, Mogilev and Gomel regions) tend to evaluate relations with Russia in a more positive way. The western regions of Belarus (Grodno and Brest regions) have a little more skepticism towards Russia, but in general, the unified international and foreign policy of Belarus allows us to balance democratic assessments of Russia. The contradictory results of Belarusians’ assessments of the “EuropeRussia-Neighbors” relations focus on regional specifics and understanding of the difference in political views across the entire geography of the state.

Research implications. A scientific assumption is made regarding the existence of various zones according to estimates of the level of democracy within one political regime, using the example of Belarus. The qualitative conclusions of the ranking of the regions of Belarus are substantiated in order to develop recommendations for improving the regional policy of Belarus and stabilizing the political regime. The political relations between Russia and Belarus at the present stage are touched upon.

Aim. To identify and characterize the features of the formation and implementation of the food sovereignty policy in the Republic of Ecuador.

Methodology. With the help of a retrospective analysis, the author identified the reasons for the integration of the concept of Food sovereignty into the legal space of the Republic of Ecuador. The method of unity of the logical and historical was used to determine the role of the New social movements in the process of institutionalization of the idea of Food sovereignty. Using the method of comparative analysis, the author determined the discursive similarity between the idea of Food sovereignty and the principles of Andean cosmogony. Using the method of secondary data analysis and an institutional approach, official documents of the state were studied and classified, authorized executive authorities were identified, specialized programs contributing to the implementation of the food sovereignty policy were described.

Results. According to the results of the study, the author concluded that the policy of food sovereignty is contradictory, characterized by asymmetry in land ownership, financial prioritization of large agriindustrial business, monopolization of sales markets and export-oriented production of “flex crops”. Research implications. The author identified the key aspects of the state's food sovereignty policy, noted its strengths and weaknesses, outlined the contours of further development. The forecast of four alternative scenarios for the development of the Ecuadorian food system until 2030 is presented.

Aim. To identify current trends concerning the issues of systematization and registration of ideas about the international assistance in the papers of Russian researchers involved in the field of International Development Assistance.

Methodology. The key research method is the content analysis of secondary sources of information which are mainly scientific articles published in 2023 regarding international relations, foreign policy, and International Development Assistance.

Results. The current problem of insufficient theoretical and practice-oriented studies regarding the essence of International Development Assistance has been identified. Moreover, promising directions for further research have been proposed.

Research implications. The study established areas of perspective research in the field of foreign policy issues of the Russian Federation that are significant for managerial decisions aimed at implementing state policy of International Development Assistance.