The author wonders at the problem of the leadership in the present Asia, which is the region of the economic growth and the area doesn’t affected by the crisis. At the present four countries aspire to the leadership in Asia: India, Japan, China and United States. The author presents reasoning that the present China is the nearest to the leaderships in the Asia. China tries to push out the USA from the Asia and addict the United States by its economic policy and the ransom of indebted papers. At the present the America is in debt on approx. 17 bln USD., and 7% of this debt has at Chinese. In the India it came to slow down of the economic development and in the Japan after the period of the stagnation, it just slowly comes in on the path of the economic development.

The geopolitical situation of Ukraine and the threats of the modern world, such as international terrorism, organized crime, illegal emigration, as well as international and internal conflicts necessitate conducting an effective foreign policy and national security policy. Choosing the vector of its foreign policy, Ukraine also made a choice of the concept of its national security. The analysis of the concept of national security of Ukraine in the years 1991–2012 allows to verify the thesis put forward in the introduction of the paper that the evolution of the concept of the national security policy in a significant way mirrors the evolution of the foreign policy of Ukraine. Both the security policy and the foreign policy can be described as having multiple polarity, balancing between the Euro-Atlantic and the Euro-Asian spheres of influence.

The work Fri: “Strategies in competitive political parties in elections the Assembly of Citizens of Bremen in the years 1947–2011 “the authors analyze the voting behavior, the balance of power and the changes taking place in the Assembly of Citizens of Bremen on the sixty-four years. The hypothesis, which has been subjected to verification implies that the evolution and even late in the existing balance of power party Meeting in Bremen Citizens can speak after the election, which took place in May 2011. The work was divided into two parts, the first author addressed the analysis of the political system of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, and other strategies rywalizacyjnymi political parties in the elections to the Assembly of Citizens of Bremen. The first part will be devoted to the specifics, described the status of the region, the relationship between the government and the historical circumstances and constitutional Bremen. The second will focus on the analysis of the political scene, the results of ongoing since 1947 elections and the why in May 2011 can be considered as a breakthrough in this matter.

The article examines the work of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) over twenty years. It shows the internal conflicts of the ICTY relating to the different positions of countries which had influence on the judicial investigation of war crimes committed during the wars in the post-Yugoslav space.

Special role of the USA in creating financing and follow-up activities of the ICTY is noted. The attention is paid to the political importance of the ICTY. Attention is also paid to the political importance of the ICTY as a factor in preventing crime and the international community – ethnic cleansing and genocide in the future.

The ICTY’s activity in the context of search and punishment of the major war criminals of the Bosnian – Radovan Karadzic and Radco Mladic is discussed. The article also tells about the so-called "exit strategy” of the ICTY, that is the completion time of its activities.

Gaining by Syria independence from France in 1946 and the rise of the State of Israel supported by Western countries, which from the beginning was in the political and military conflict with the Arab states, created for the Soviet Union the new possibilities of the political game in the Middle East. From 1955 to 1991, USSR became the main supplier of conventional arms to Syria (displacing the United Kingdom). In the years 1955–1991 Syria bought in the Soviet Union arms for $ 34.6 billion in SIPRI trend indicator values , which accounted for 8.04% of the value of the total Soviet arms sales during this period. After the collapse of the USSR cooperation in this regard was continued and throughout the years 1992–2012 Russia remained the main and dominant arms supplier to Syria, though not on this scale as earlier. However, especially the 90s of the twentieth century meant a huge setback in comparison to the previous period – then delivery has been completed of diesel engines for the modernization of tanks ordered in Soviet Union, and 3,000 antitank guided missiles were ordered in Russia. In the years 1992–2012 Russia has sold Syria arms for $ 1.254 billion SIPRI trend indicator values , which accounted for 1.21% of the total sales of Russian arms and weapons of 103.393 billion $.

Polish contacts with the Caucasus region one date back to the late Middle Ages, and intensified in the period of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth’s greatness, as it sought allies in that region in the fight against Turkey. After the partition of Poland in the 19th century a large group of Poles – several hundred thousand strong – was exiled to Caucasus. They were political exiles and soldiers serving in the Russian army, and later civilians of various professions. Their fates become at first the subject of interest of memoirs authors, and later the subject ofscientific research. This promoted Polish-Caucasian relations, which reached its apogee in the interwar period. It was connected with the Promethean movement, which then gained wide popularity in Poland. Hitherto achievements of the Polish Caucasology invites us to reflect on its condition today. The paper aims to present the most important changes in Polish studies of Caucasus, focusing on the most recent achievements. The purpose of this activity was to determinante the feasibility of Polish Caucasology in solving research problems. Therefore, an attempt was made to analyse Polish Caucasological publication, paying particular attention to the area of the issue of research, the methodology used and the cognitive value of results. Attention was focused on several selected publications, which according to the author characterized the most important directions of research of contemporary Polish Caucasology. This applies to the work of Polish scholars and those from the West, which lived to see the Polish editions. This stems from the belief that it is this group of publications that have the greatest impact on the face of contemporary Caucasus research in Poland, and thus the strongest influence on the younger generation of researchers. Analysis of the achievements of contemporary Polish Caucasus studies demonstrate their intensive development. This applies both to a significant expansion of the area of research interests of Polish Caucasologists, as well as the intensification of scientific exchange with foreign centres. After a period of domination of historical issues we can observed expanding interests in various areas of contemporary political and social change. In recent years, there have been publications of results of own research on the problems of the political elite and the mechanisms of governance in Caucasus. Scientific level of these publications is extremely diversified– from highly original research to repetitive works and compilations. It is difficult to blame for this state of affairs only researchers who have not yet livedto see a single Caucasological research centre. It is an example of the lack of ability to adapt the structure and organization to current needs in Polish science.

Ukrainian-Chinese relations have taken on new importance since 2010, along with the economic crisis. Ukraine tried (like the U.S.) to get new sources of funding for business, but primarily as an antidote to the stagnation of the Ukrainian economy. The multiplicity of agreements signed between Ukraine and China in 2010–2013 was also demonstrates that Ukraine was looking for a new direction of foreign policy. The strategic partnership between Ukraine and China is primarily economic and economic, not political. However, the perception of China in Ukraine is carried out through the prism of state influence on the political, economic and social processes in the world. China on the other hand see Ukraine in the context of the so-called region. New Eastern Europe (including Belarus and Moldova), which is regarded by Beijing as an opportunity to expand markets to sell their goods to the markets of the EU and the Customs Union.

In 2010, Byelorussia undertook an ambitious plan to reduce dependence of its energy sector on supplies of Russian energy sources. In accordance with the adapter concept, participation of local fuels in the country’s energy balance is to increase from 20.7% in 2010 to 32% in 2020. Implementation of the strategy for increasing participation of local and renewable energy sources in the country’s energy and fuel balance encounters numerous problems. Insufficient financial resources, corruption scandals in the background, and problems with finding foreign investors seem to jeopardise chances for implementation of the government strategy concerning the renewable energy sources. Thus, Byelorussia will still remain a country strongly dependant on supplies of Russian natural gas.

The main aim of this article is to describe the system of higher education in Russia. Moscow is the biggest academic center in Russian Federation. There are about 60 universities. The largest and most popular are Moscow State University, The Pushkin State Russian Language Institute, International University in Moscow and Moscow State Institute of International Relations. They are two levels of higher education in Russia – Bachelor’s degree (4 years) and Master’s degree (2 years). Both could be obtained while studying full-time or part-time. After that, there is a possibility to finish postgraduate studies. Russian universities cooperate with many foreign educational institutions (including Polish universities). Not only do students have the opportunity to leave in Moscow but also study at Russian academies, for example, Pushkin State Russian Language Institute, Moscow State Institute of International Relations and Diplomatic Academy.

Higher education in Moscow is affected by various problems. One of them is a decreasing level of education. In fact, students do their specializations, however the level of their general knowledge seems to be low. Furthermore, the education is commercialized since everyone would like to receive a Master’s degree. It suggests that in the near future not only will Russian society have a bigger cadre of professors but also more business and financial universities.

The First World War (1914–1918) was inextricably connected with regular conscription. Undoubtedly it had a huge impact on reducing the population of Sorbs in Germany. Their number decreased from 102 801 to 70 998 people between the censuses in 1910 and 1925. After World War I, Lusatia failed to become a country independent of the German Empire. On 7 October 1925 the national organizations of Sorbs united (Maćica Serbska, Domowina, Lusatian Alliance) and established the Wendish People’s Party, which on 26 January 1924 accessed the Association of National Minorities in Germany. The Association’s publication was the monthly “Kulturwille” (since January 1926 “Kulturwehr”), which was issued until 1938. Its editor was a Sorb – Jan Skala (1889–1945). The censuses of 1925 and 1933 claimed that nearly 73,000 Sorbs lived in Germany. Under Hitler all Sorbian associations were dissolved and in both parts of Lusatia more than 60 Sorb ian place names were removed and replaced by German ones. The years of World War II (1939–1945) is the most tragic period in the history of the Sorbs – a period of even worse persecutions, arrests, taking the Sorbs to the concentration camps, the destruction of their properties, the suppression of all forms of autonomy and selforganization. Freedom from Fascism was given to the Sorbs on 6 April 1945 by troops of First Ukrainian Front and the Polish Second Army. On 23 March 1948 – under pressure from the Soviet occupation authorities – the National Parliament of Saxony (Landtag) passed a law guaranteeing the rights of the Sorbs. GDR authorities sought to reduce the population of the Sorbs and the use of Sorbian language. Only after the absorption of the GDR by the FRG – called the second unification of Germany – on 3 October 1990, the Sorbian population began to use civil rights emerging from the Basic Law of the FRG. Currently about 60,000 Sorbs live in Germany, out of which 20,000 in Brandenburg (Protestants) speaking Lower Sorbian (similar to Polish), and 40,000 in Saxony (Catholics) speaking Upper Sorbian (similar to Czech). The majority are elderly people (60 and over). Younger generation speaks almost exclusively German.

The article points out that:

1) The Polish-Mongolian and Mongolian-Polish contacts devloped rapidly after the World War II as a consequence of the international cooperation of the socialist states.

2) Science and education were particularly important factors.

3) Poles significantly contributed to the cultural and civilization transformation of Mongolia, including the spheres of construction, industry, and agriculture.

4) Memories of the Polish-Tatar contacts still remain in the collective consciousness of Poles; the negative image of a community which destroys the cultural achievements of conquered peoples has formed.

5) The contemporary knowledge about Mongolia and Polish-Mongolian relations is largely shrouded with a mist of myths and stereotypes.

The aim of this article is to present the eastern policy in conceptions of Stronnictwo Konserwatywno-Ludowe (SKL). Stronnictwo was established in 1997 as result of uniting such political parties as Partia Konserwatywna, Stronnictwo Ludowo- Chrześcijańskie and the group of Members of Parliament from Unia Wolności. The youth organisation of SKL was Młodzi Konserwatyści AWS. Stronnictwo is categorised as a postsolidarity and conservative party. In the field of the eastern policy, SKL appealed to historical geopolitical conceptions: the Promethean conception, the political thought of the Parisian „Kultura” and indirectly to ideas of Adolf Bocheński. The party believed that independent Ukraine had fundamental meaning for the security of Poland. In the opinion of SKL Russia returned to imperial policy towards the states of the Central and Eastern Europe. The accession to NATO and the European Union was supposed to be a chance for Poland, which could become the creator of the EU eastern policy in this way. The members of the party and the youth organisation to cooperated also with the opposition in Belorussia, for example Białoruski Front Ludowy.

The history of the areas (incorporated to the Belarusian SSR in 1939), which in the Belarusian and Russian historiography adopted the geopolitical term “Western Belarus,” in Polish historiography is seen as an integral part of the overall history of the multinational Polish State. Regardless of the form of the state, which have evolved in the course of historical development (i.e. as part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, founded in the 16th century, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth – which from the late 18th to the early 20th century was under Russian domination; finally revived in 1918 as the Second Polish Republic of interwar era, which has become a victim of Nazi on the one hand and on the other hand, the Stalinist aggression in September 1939) the history of “Eastern Borderlands”, including areas inhabited mostly by Belarusian peasants, is recognized in Polish literature in the paradigm of “our common and only homeland”, to which the love, affection, compassion are inseparable from the whole Polish patriotism. The distinction between methodological principles of Polish and Russian-Belarusian (tsarist, Soviet and post-Soviet times) lies in the fact that in the last so-called “Western Belarus” occurs as an entity independent of the fate of Poland, subject of research and legal entity (on the basis of which, among others, it was incorporated in the Belarusian SSR), while in Polish studies and assessments of all aspects of the history and culture of the people of this country and its political transition are presented through the prism of Polish historical issues. This applies to threads, causing debates (for example, about the borders approved by the Treaty of Riga in 1921), grief, accusations of treason by a certain group of Belarusian activists of inter war era, a sad irony in relation to the so-called national enthusiasm with which Belarusians erected “welcome gates” for the Red Army. The first part of the article concerns texts by Józef Mackiewicz, Kazimierz Podlaski, Sokrat Janowicz and other authors who in Poland and in exile dealt with the history of “Western Belarus” until 1939.

There are considered problems of imperial administration`s intervention in legal proceedings affairs of the nomadic population of Turkestan.

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The article is devoted to the historical evolution and modern development trends of the Constitution of Poland. It provides the general characteristics of formation and development of the Republic of Poland. It is emphasized that Poland is the earliest explorer of the European constitutionalism. Since 1791 in the constitutional history of Poland were approved the nine constitutional documents. In addition, consideration is given to such historical constitutions as the Constitution of May 3, 1791, the Grodno Constitution of November 23, 1793, the Lower Constitution of February 20, 1919, the March Constitution of 1921, the Constitution of 1935, the Constitution of the Peoples’ Republic of Poland of 1952, the Constitution of 1976, the present Constitution of 1997. The article reveals the main features of the present Constitution and characterizes contemporary constitutional system of Poland.

The article is dedicated the role of the national leader of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev in the formation religious tolerance. The author considers the main principles of tolerance in the country, the role and relevance of religious values in a sovereign democratic country.

The process of political disintegration of the Soviet Union has not ended with official dissolution of this state in the end of 1991. The best evidence of instability of the post-Soviet space are “frozen” ethno-political conflicts in Transnistria, Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. The main goal of this article is to analyze the attitude of South Ossetian political elites to the idea of independence. The author presents the development of political life in South Ossetia since the declaration of its independence in 1990. He argues that despite of strong will to get sovereignty, South Ossetian politicians are considering the future of separatist quazi-state within Russian Federation. In fact both Ossetian elite and Russian authorities get advantages of current status quo.

On February 3, 2014, the American task force, including the command ship USS „Mont Whitney” entered the Black Sea. The ship was a flagship during the last few military operations of the USA on the Mediterranean Sea for example against Libya or in the area of Syria. The American task force appeared on the Black Sea without giving the official reason. It is possible that it happened in frameworks of anti - terrorist operations by the way of the Olympic Games in Sochi but it is also possible that it was to support Georgia and to represent American political interests.

Anticipated effect of democratization is not only the establishment of effective democratic institutions, but also to consolidate behavior patterns typical for this system. Unfortunately, this process does not always achieve the assumed effect. It is recognized that the democratic transformation can be completed in three ways: success, failure (back to authoritarian rule), or the establishment of hybrid regime, “hanged” between democracy and authoritarianism. An example of such a system is competitive authoritarianism, which model was firstly described by S. Levitsky and L. A. Way. In the article author intends to analyse the political situation in Ukraine during the presidency of Viktor Yanukovych in the years 2010–2013 using this model. Thanks to this an attempt to explain the systemic causes of the events taking place in this country at the turn of 2013 and 2014 will be also undertaken.

The paper attempts to estimate chances for modernisation of the Byelorussian Energy system in the years 2011–2016. In accordance with the government strategy, in 2015 Byelorussia is to become an energy independent country. The ambitious government plan provides for modernisation of several tens of power facilities. It also aims at reducing the dependence of the domestic energy sector on Russian energy sources. However, the modernisation plans of the energy system include a significant risk, as their financing largely depends on obtaining foreign loans. The current implementation rate of the government strategy indicates that chances for modernising the outdated Byelorussian energy system are small. Only commissioning of a nuclear power plant will end Byelorussian problems with electric power shortages.

This publication is part of the doctoral thesis, written in German with the title: Die Energiepolitik der Russischen Föderation im Zeitraum 2000–2009 und derem Auswirkungen für die energetische Sicherheit der EU (The Russian energy Policy 2000–2009 and its impact on the European energy security). The article presents how the Russian Federation is using its energy resources to achieve their current and future foreign policy goals. The author makes an attempt to explain a numer of fundamental issues relating on the one hand to the main motives of the Russian Federation in this field and on the other to its methods. He also analyses the Russian energy strategy and its negative impact on the energy security of the European Union. As important elements of this strategy the ”Gas-OPEC” as well as the direct and indirect investments of Gazprom in EU are mentioned. It is claimed that the implementation of pipeline projects by the Russian Federation (Nord-Stream and South-Stream) isn’t carried out at the bilateral relations level randomly – Nord-Stream (Russia-Germany), South-Stream (Russia-Italy) – but rather is seen as an opportunity to strengthen Russia’s relations with selected countries. This can be seen as an attempt to make the European Union weaker as a multilateral organization.

The article analyzes the importance of the energy factor in the system of relations between United States and Russia. It defines the role and place of the oil monarchies of the Persian Gulf, as well as Iraq and Iran in the energy policies of the United States of America and the Russian Federation. The paper discussed the conceptual content of the energy factor as a foreign policy tool, which can simultaneously act as an element of “hard” and “soft power”. The mechanism of the formation of the United States of a regional network on the system of so-called “energy outposts.” The author analyzed the basic mechanisms of the US-Russian energy dialogue in the Gulf region, as well as highlighted reasons for the rise of competitive confrontation between the superpowers in the energy sector of the region and presents main directions of Russian-American cooperation and competition in the energy sector of the Gulf States.

Article is devoted to the analysis of relations between Russia and the Polish in the 90ies of the 20th century. The author comes to the conclusion that it was not an easy time for formation of the relations between the countries on the foundation of the principles of partnership and democratic. Considering different geostrategic interests of both countries and the heavy historical heritage it’s hard to talk about harmony.

The article considered written sources concerning the practice of imperial power, represented by administration of K.P. Kaufman, the first governor-general of Turkestan and national courts of Turkestan.

Nucleation process architecture of the ancient Kyrgyzstan, the historical forms and patterns of organization skusstvennogo space, which originated in the bowels of a nomadic society.

The Slavs came from the steppes of Eastern Europe to Balkan Peninsula in the firsthalf of the 1st millennium A.D. At the turn of the 6th century some of the tribes,looking for new places to settle, arrived at the area between the Elbe and Oder– occupying an area abandoned by Germanic tribes, who moved to the ScandinavianPeninsula – and were called Wends. Southern Slavs invaded and settledin Lusatia and reached the Saale. In the middle of the 9th century there were almost 50 Slavic settlements in Lusatia under the rule of Prince Derwan, an ally of Samo. At the turn of the 10th century, the Sorbs came under the influence of the Great Moravia (822–895), which adopted Christianity as early as the 9th century(831), and then Bohemia (895–1018), and from 1002 Poland (Christian since 965) tried to take control over the area. Boleslaw I of Poland invaded Lusatia and won it in the Peace of Bautzen (1018). In the Reformation period, Sorbian peasants and common people massively supported the teachings of Martin Luther, although he was opposed to translating the Bible into Slavic. Evangelicalism proved to be beneficial for the Sorbian national culture. It influenced its revival and strengthening. The University of Wittenberg became Sorbian cultural center, with its rector between years 1559–1576 being a doctor of Sorbian origin – Kasper Pauker from Bautzen. What strengthened the Sorbian national identity at the turn of the 19th century was the activity of Moravian Church (seeking to transform Lutheranism in people’s church), which was then settled in Upper Lusatia in Herrnhut, Niesky and Kleinwelka. At the turn of the 20th century the number of Sorbs in Germany decreased to about 157 000 people, out of whom as many as 10 100 lived outside Lusatia (including 4147 in Saxony – but without Lower Lusatia, 2687 in Westphal ia, 1521 in Rhineland, 847 in Berlin and 898 in other areas of the German Empire). The language widely used in Lusatia was Sorbian with its Lower and Upper dialect. The basis of the national activities of the Sorbs in Germany was “Serbian House” founded on 26 September 1904 in Bautzen to serve as a library, museum, bank, bookshop and publisher. The outbreak of World War I in the summer of 1914 gave hope to the Slavs to establish their own countries.

Roman Dmowski’s journey to Japan after the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War is a well-known episode in the modern history of Poland. As far as we know, Dmowski, after his arrival in Japan, wrote two memorandum in English (one is about political and social relations in Russia and the another is about the political situation in Poland) for the Japanese General Staff, and in the name of the Japanese government wrote an appeal to Polish soldiers in the Russian army to leave it and surrender. In a street in Tokyo Dmowski by chance met Józef Piłsudski, a member of the Polish Socialist Party and Dmowski’s political opponent, who was also visiting Japan, seeking for military aid from the Japanese government. Three days later they had their famous „nineteen hours’ talk” at the hotel. After it Dmowski sent a memorandum to Baron Jutarō Komura, Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs, in which he expounded how harmful it would be for the war strategy of Japan if an insurrection breaks out in Poland. Besides these activities, we should pay due attention to the effect of Dmowski’s stay in Japan on his view of nation or society. Dmowski’s nine weeks stay in Japan (from 15 May to 22 July, 1904) was only in a part of the first stage of the war which broke out in February 1904 and ended in June 1905. Despite this fact, it should be emphasized that Dmowski’s knowledge about Japanese people was so much richer than we suppose. This paper presents some interesting episodes with a special Focus on the conversation with General Gentarō Kodama and his experience of his visits to Japanese prisoner-of-war camps in Matsuyama, where he interviewed Polish soldiers. Dmowski was strongly impressed by the behavior and way of thinking of Japanese people and stated later that it influenced his views immensely, among others his view on society and the nation. The effect of his experience in Japan mostly ap pears in his work „Essentials of Polish Politics” which was published in „The All- Polish Review” in May 1905 and was added as supplementary chapters to the third edition of „Thoughts of a Modern Pole” (1907). In this important article the father of modern Polish nationalism could clarify his views on „national instinct” and „national ethics”.

Ammian von Beck is a literary pseudonym of Kyrgyz scientist and linguist, Doctor of Philology Sciences, famous Russian-language writer proven as a historical novelist, Professor Bekbalaev Amangeldi Abdyjaparovich. The article analyzes the historical prose by A. von Beck consisting of three novels: “The road of a thousand miles, or Legend of the Dungan people”, “Hayreddin Barbarossa – a legendary Ottoman Admiral” and “Huns”. The historical content of works, the relationship between historical truth and artistic fiction and artistic originality of the narrative form is revealed in his works. Treatment to the national origins of the Kyrgyz people as a Turkic ethnic group is set as a goal orientation of the historical romance philology. Ethnographic realism is an artistic level of creative method chosen by the author. It concludes that historical prose of A. von Beck, being a significant achievement of modern Kyrgyz literature, will find a wide range of Russian-speaking readers.

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