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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