Review: This work focuses on one of the controversial topics of the constitutional debate in Europe, namely the deviations from democratic norms in the constitutions of several new EU member states. This issue is not yet studied in sufficient detail by Russian political science, as well as legal doctrine. Despite the fact that many international studies already addressed this issue, a general analysis of the political and constitutional causes of this apparent democratic decline is not well-developed. The author employs a cross-cultural method of legal study, which involves a historical approach with numerous political implications. The novelty of this article is based on the study of the particular traits of Central and Eastern European democratic transaction. The author examines the mechanisms of Law enforcement in EU member countries and points out the causes of their lack of efficiency, and shows that the prime reason of the said inefficiency is the immaturity of the democratic institutions. Another factor is the unevolved political culture, as well as a lack of outlined constitutional regulations of new EU member countries that do not have advanced constitutional engineering.

Keywords: Constitutional debate, Eastern Europe, European Union, legal doctrines, democratic norms, political culture, law enforcement, democratic institutions, constitutional framework, constitutional engineering

Review: The object of this paper is Chinese policy in Africa. The subject of research is ‘soft power’ as a tool of this policy. Chinese researchers use a broad interpretation of this concept - they consider that the main source of 'soft power' of China should be viewed in the context of the Chinese model of development - the foreign policy of China, its national institutions and its international practices in all fields. Everything, excluding military and violent actions, is viewed by them as ‘soft power’: economic assistance, debt relief, cultural and scientific cooperation, etc. This article analyzes the implementation of this concept in Chinese African policy in the areas of education, health, cultural and scientific relations. The method of comparative political analysis and the implementation of new historical sources (primarily, documents of international organizations) allowed the authors to identify the role of 'soft power' instruments in the formation of African elites that are interested in "South-South" format of cooperation. The substantive content of the Chinese ‘soft power’ concept has not received enough attention, and the authors reach a conclusion that Beijing uses actively the means of ‘soft power’ to create the positive image of China in Africa as a friendly country, ready to provide assistance and support to Africans. ‘Soft power’ is a significant instrument for implementation of China’s foreign policy objectives in Africa.

Keywords: scientific research, training professionals, people-to-people exchange, education, human resources, soft power, healthcare cooperation, cooperation, Africa, China

Review: This article studies the main mechanisms of administration used by developed countries for managing controlled territories. The basis of this research is the historical analysis of the cases of large international zones of influence competing. As a result the author shows that natural conditions promoted the formation of states that became economic centers and used financial instruments of the free market and ideology and wealth-based attractiveness to influence other states. These methods are considered to be primary methods. States that strive to develop independently when a large financial center is present, had to employ defensive methods. The author shows that, in normal conditions, a state that exists in more favourable conditions compared to its neighbours often force uneven agreement terms on others. In time such a state becomes a major financial center with an almost-free economy. Sometimes influence was spread via nominally-independent international organizations. States that develop with a large economic center present, in order to gain the ability to compete, had to limit outside influence first, by the means of economic isolation, or economic dependence of the state from its territory. One of the prime instruments of foreign politics for competing against major economic centers are unions with other states, based on equality. Those were not the conditions that could be offered by a state that builds its superiority on the dependence of its neighbours. At later stages, these states transition to expansionist politics and attempt to establish direct dominion over annexed territories.

Keywords: competition between countries, independent organizations, international agreements, centralized administration, planned economy, free trade, democracy, financial centers, influence spread, state administration

Review: The subject of this study is the military and political conflict that broke out in the Republic of South Sudan two years after receiving its independence from the North Sudan in 2011. Analyzing the failure of yet another American democracy-promotion project on the African continent, the author turns to the origins of the conflict, analyzing the multitude of factors that hardly promote economic advance of a young sovereign state, but rather contribute to the spread of corruption, conflict, degradation of power, impoverishment, and transformation of the country into a battleground. As part of the study the author used a structural and functional method of analysis (taking the conflict of parties, opinions and forces as a basis of the conflict), as well as the comparative-historical method, by comparing the development of the conflict in the Republic of South Sudan with the experience of other countries of the African Continent being "democratized". The usage of these tools has allowed the author to study the nature of the military and political conflict. The word «conflict», according to the Great Encyclopedic Dictionary, is interpreted as a collision of parties, opinions, forces. The author explores the origins and the nature of the South Sudan conflict in the context of these three categories, and expands the range of supposed factors that influence the emergence and development of the said conflict in the modern geopolitical conditions, viewing the existing problem as a complex model. The author draws attention to clash if interests as an important aspect of conflict in the modern age of depolarization and redistribution of spheres of influence, which would allow to predict future conflicts, and thus lower the risks of "hot spots" forming in different parts of the world.

Keywords: military-political conflict, UN peacekeepers, race for power, sovereignty, independence, interethnic contradictions, South Sudan, humanitarian disaster, global hegemony, ISIL

Review: The article discusses the mindsets among the black population of the United States of America. In particular, the author studies an important aspect of mutual perception of - and relationship between the settled black US citizens (the descendants of the slaves brought to America centuries ago) and the recent immigrants from African countries. The author draws attention to network communities that serve the migrants as means for both, more successful adaptations in the host society, and the support of their own cultural identity, and also focuses on African immigrants’ voluntary associations. The article is based on field research conducted in seven states in 2013-2015. The field research has allowed to conclude that the relationships between African Americans and African immigrants are characterized by simultaneous attraction and repulsion. They understand that, of all ethnoracial communities in the country, they (and also immigrants from the Antilles) are closest to each other (to the degree that non-black Americans don't distinguish them, at times), they recognize common roots and relate to similar problems in societies for which racial division is pronounced. But myriads of social, cultural and linguistic differences immediately surface during attempts at mutual attraction in the process of “translating” images between different cultures, causing mutual repulsion.

Keywords: cultural identity, network communities, cultural difference, race, African immigrants, African Americans, Africa, United States, mentality, cultural images