International relations have entered a new era of dramatic transformation, which has already manifested itself in the sharp aggravation of interstate rivalry. However, this transformation is underpinned by much deeper objective processes caused by the crisis of the entire neoliberal model of economic development. In this context, the world economy is said to be drifting towards deglobalization. In order to grasp the scale and prospects of these developments, it is necessary to analyze the key features of modern societies. One of them, which has become all the more important given the growing industrial automation, is the emergence of an ever-increasing number of ‘superfluous people’. The paper identifies the origins and distinctive characteristics of this socio-economic phenomenon, with a special focus on modern strategies to address the issue of ‘superfluous people’. In this regard the author outlines two key strategies, referred to as culture of utilization and culture of development. The first strategy places the struggle for rent at the heart of all social and political activities, which implies distribution of benefits according to one’s social status rather than economic productivity. A notable example is the creation of the so-called bullshit jobs, associated with recurrence of pre-capitalist and feudal forms of social relations. The second strategy entails the engagement of ‘superfluous people’ in socially useful forms of work aimed at improving the quality of education, medicine, environmental protection, etc. In conclusion, the author elaborates on the prospects for implementing these strategies under the present conditions. The author argues that deglobalization will not resolve the deep contradictions that give rise to the issue of ‘superfluous people’, but it will shift the responsibility for its solution to the regional economic and political entities. This, on the one hand, may facilitate the search for alternatives to the modern neoliberal model of social development. On the other hand, it may lead to the entrenchment or even exacerbation of the negative social and political processes outlined above.

Amidst dramatic transformation of international relations, both traditional and new actors are undergoing major changes. The multinational corporations (MNCs), which have dramatically strengthened their positions in the world economy and politics since the middle of the 20th century due to favorable economic environment, as well as their ability to quickly convert considerable material, financial, intellectual and institutional resources into political clout, are no exception. All this points to the need to address MNCs as full-fledged political entities and examine their impact on traditional actors in a changing international context. The first section examines various approaches to conceptualization of the evolution of MNCs as actors of world politics. It also identifies the specifics of their position within the framework of the contemporary international relations system. The author focuses on such trends as digitalization, growing influence of companies with a platform business model, increasing engagement of corporations in addressing global issues, scaling up investments in the host countries’ infrastructure through new formats of public-private partnership, as well as growth in the number of state-owned TNCs. The second section examines the activities of TNCs as political actors in contemporary international relations from two angles. On the one hand, it considers the TNCs’ operations in terms of power, legitimacy and sovereignty that is how these categories manifest themselves in the activities of corporations and their interactions with other actors and society. On the other hand, it poses the question about how various trends in the development of TNCs, in turn, affect the content and essence of these categories. The author concludes that cooperation with TNCs offers national states new economic, social and political opportunities. At the same time, corporations are becoming increasingly autonomous, which can have a serious impact on conventional ideas of power, legitimacy and sovereignty, up to the erosion of the state monopoly on legitimate violence. The latter may have a serious impact on conventional ideas of power, legitimacy and sovereignty, up to the erosion of the state monopoly on legitimate violence. There is thus a pressing need to further study various types of TNCs, their functioning and interactions with individual countries, as well as the impact of new technologies, in particular, artificial intelligence on corporate activities.

Transnational organized crime (TOC) is among the most pressing new challenges to international security due to both its direct economic and social repercussions and the threat it poses to the very institution of the sovereign state. This problem is particularly acute in the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), which are marked by exceedingly high rates of TOC activity and influence of cross-border criminal groups. This study identifies current trends in the development of TOC in the region, as well as the approaches of the Latin American countries to combating it. In the first section the author advances a hypothesis that TOC is not an anomaly, but an integral part and an attribute of globalization. From this point of view, cross-border criminal groups may be perceived as a specific kind of TNCs. The second section considers the key trends and specific features of organized crime development in LAC countries. The author shows that cross-border criminal groups and TNCs share a number of common traits. In particular, their activities contribute to the erosion of national sovereignty as they seek to oust states from their sphere of interests by both legal and illegal means. The third section examines the current approaches of LAC countries to combating cross-border criminal groups. The author emphasizes the growing role of the armed forces in fighting organized crime, and the increasing militarization of public security on the whole. On the one hand, this trend towards the ‘policialization’ of armed forces shows that the authorities of Latin American states recognize the threat posed by cross-border criminal groups. On the other hand, it indicates their inability to counter this threat effectively. The author concludes that the TOP problem is unsolvable within the existing system of public relations in LAC countries, since it is rooted in the very nature of the current model of globalization.

Globalization has turned transnational corporations (TNCs) into the key actors in the world economy and at the same time strengthened their political ambitions. In order to establish a monopoly over certain markets, create opportunities for additional revenue growth and geographic expansion, TNCs are actively using a wide range of political instruments, in which various humanitarian projects and initiatives play an increasingly important role. In this context, it seems appropriate to consider the humanitarian activities of TNCs through the lens of the concept of soft power. The first section of the paper examines the views of Russian and foreign experts on the role of political considerations in the humanitarian initiatives of TNCs, as well as on the possibility of achieving a balance between the development goals of host countries and the interests of foreign capital. The author shares the view of those scholars who argue that the humanitarian activities of TNCs can not only create a favorable political climate for the corporation in the host country, but also subtly introduce Western (globalist) narratives into the public consciousness. The second section examines the activities of Nestle in Colombia as an example of effective use of the humanitarian agenda to promote the economic and political interests of TNCs in developing countries. The author shows that within the framework of corporate humanitarian expansion Nestle implemented a wide range of humanitarian projects, which allowed it not only to secure a foothold in the Colombian market, but also to penetrate its political system, as well as to gain opportunities to further expand its political presence in the region. The author concludes that the growing influence of TNCs erodes the government structures and may even put into question the political sovereignty of their host countries. In this context, the Russian authorities should not only be very cautious about the activities of TNCs on its territory, but also provide a clear legal framework regulating the presence of transnational businesses in the humanitarian space of the country. The third section outlines a set of principles that, if implemented, could minimize the opportunity for TNCs to influence political processes in the Russian Federation through the use of various humanitarian actions and projects as a tool of soft power.

In the context of a sharp aggravation of interstate rivalry, an increase in natural disasters and the emergence of new epidemiological challenges, the problem of timely provision of humanitarian assistance to the population of the most affected countries and regions becomes especially acute. Its solution, already fraught with a whole complex of objective economic, political and other difficulties, is further complicated by the existing practice of imposing unilateral and multilateral or international sanctions, which have become one of the key instruments of the leading subjects of world politics. And although formally sanctions regimes are provided with humanitarian exceptions designed to minimize their negative consequences for the population of target countries, their imposition inevitably results in new obstacles to the provision of humanitarian assistance to those in need. The paper identifies the key challenges associated with provision of humanitarian aid under the existing sanctions restrictions, and assesses the prospects for addressing them in the contemporary context. The first section examines political and academic debates on the negative humanitarian consequences of sanctions and possible ways to overcome them. In particular, the author identifies the logic behind the transition from comprehensive to ‘smart’ sanctions, as well as the specifics of applying humanitarian exceptions. The second section outlines key aspects of the complex disruptive impact of restrictions on humanitarian assistance, including the technical and political barriers faced in the implementation of humanitarian exceptions. Finally, the third section identifies current trends in the use of humanitarian exceptions by the main initiators of restrictive measures. In this context, particular attention is paid to the UN Security Council Resolution 2664, adopted in December 2022, which mandates the inclusion of standardized exemptions in UN sanctions regimes in order to minimize the impact of restrictive measures on the provision of assistance and to alleviate the suffering of those in need. The author concludes that although there still remain possibilities to address the negative humanitarian consequences of sanctions, this requires strong political will on the part of the international community.

The contemporary world order is rapidly changing, which is manifested, inter alia, in the growing erosion of the US global military superiority. This trend is acknowledged in the US military-strategic and policy planning documents. In this context the strengthening of the military potential of both the Russian Federation and the PRC, coupled by the expansion of political and economic cooperation between them, is a matter of particular concern for the US ruling elites. At the same time, recognizing a problem does not mean assessing it correctly. A closer examination of key strategic documents published in recent years shows that if from a political and military point of view, the US strategists come up with a generally rational list of measures aimed at countering the challenge, posed by Russia and China, from an ideological point of view they doggedly follow liberal-hegemonic premises that are increasingly inconsistent with current international political realities. The author notes that the policy of D. Trump and J. Biden administrations towards China is characterized by a high degree of continuity. The main role in containing the PRC should be played by a system of military-political alliances with the countries of Southeast and South Asia located along the perimeter of its borders. In addition to the alliances inherited from the Cold War, the Biden administration is seeking to develop new ‘bloc structures’ in the Indo-Pacific region, in particular the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QUAD). However, not all countries in the region, in particular India, support the anti-Chinese orientation of the US initiatives. Washington’s relations with Moscow deteriorated sharply after the start of the special military operation in Ukraine, but even before that, the United States faced serious challenges in maintaining strategic parity with the Russian Federation. This primarily concerns the quantitative, rather than qualitative side of the equation: according to the US military strategists, Russia has made significant progress in modernizing its strategic nuclear forces and developing fundamentally new types of nuclear delivery vehicles. At the same time, the Biden administration’s approaches to building relations with Moscow are no less ideological than in the case of the PRC, which makes the prospects for resuming Russian-American (and ideally trilateral Russian-American-Chinese) negotiations on strategic arms control extremely vague. The question arises to what extent this ideologized foreign policy of the Biden administration meets the new international realities and the strategic interests of the United States itself.

The book under review is a new research by Cameroonian scholar Francois Xavier Noah Edzimbi ‘Russia and the West in Central Africa: How African countries can adapt to the challenges of the post-bipolar era’ (‘La Russie face aux Occidentaux en Afrique centrale: Pour un arrimage des Africains aux enjeux de puissance post-bipolarite’), published in France in 2022. The reviewer emphasizes that in the context of a new exacerbation of great power rivalry on the African continent this research is particularly relevant since it shows how the situation is perceived directly in Africa, which in turn can help Russia better understand the worldviews of Central African partners and develop a more balanced policy in the region. The book under review synthesizes the elements of realist and constructivist approaches in order to provide a comprehensive view of interactions between African states and extra-regional powers, their respective interests and values. The research focuses on the reasons for Russia’s growing presence in Central Africa. It is in this context, and in order to illuminate the specifics of Russia’s foreign policy in the region that the author addresses the approaches of other actors (namely, the United States and France) towards the relations with African states in the post-bipolar era. According to N. Edzimbi, Russian foreign policy in Central Africa is rather ambiguous: on the one hand, Russia counterbalances the influence of the United States and France, but, on the other hand, it pursues its own pragmatic goals and in this sense differs little from other leading powers. The author argues that despite seemingly friendly rhetoric, all global actors regard Central Africa as yet another arena of interstate rivalry, and suggests that the African countries should develop an independent foreign policy strategy, including, among other things, a force component. At the same time, the Cameroonian researcher emphasizes that this issue can be addressed if African states overcome the ‘learned helplessness syndrome’ and abandon the subordinate role in favor of developing their own power policy. The reviewer concludes that this work may be of interest to a wide range of readers, but it will be especially useful for specialists in African studies and international relations experts who specialize on the challenges faced by Africa and on the Russian-African relations.