Research and publications

constructivism
, the main focus is on the role of ideas in shaping the 
international system. Ideas here mean goals, threats, fears, features and other 
elements of reality that influence the policies and actions of state and non-state 
actors of international relations in various situations. 
Proponents of constructivism argue that international relations are social 
construction of knowledge that attaches importance to the material world (in other 
words, the idea-forming factors are capable of surpassing material fears). Thus, one 
of the key factors influencing the formation of the foreign policy of the state is the 
type of internal social system. According to the adherents of constructivism, states 
with a market economy will strive for an open international system of relations, and 
democratic states - for diplomatic resolution of conflicts, since such actions reflect 
their approach to solving internal problems and conflicts [8]. 
The source and basis of the political conflict are the contradictions between the 
political society as an integral system and the inequality of individuals and groups 
included in it, expressed in the hierarchy of political statuses. The reasons for the 
emergence of political conflicts can be very diverse: issues of power, lack of 
livelihood, mistakes of political elites, divergence of individual and public interests, 
differences in intentions and actions of individuals, social groups, parties, classes, 
racial, national and religious hostility, etc. In this case, the specific cause of the 
collision of the subjects is the object of political conflict. 
Depending on the level of participants in the political conflict, there are: 

---

196 
− regional political conflicts, where regional political forces act as subjects. The 
"Arab Spring" in Syria and the subsequent confrontation and contradiction between 
the internal political groups of the country led to a civil war, to a military 
confrontation between them and to an aggravation of the military-political situation 
in the Middle East region; 
- interstate political conflicts with subjects represented by states and their 
coalitions. The issue of ownership of the Senkaku Archipelago has been open for 
many years, tensions between Japan and China remain, and the territorial dispute 
itself remains "frozen", which at any moment can flare up with a new force; 
- state political conflicts, where the subjects are branches of state power and 
political parties. Unclear boundaries between state bodies in relations, as well as 
conflicts arising in the activities of political parties and movements, are examples of 
state political conflicts [9]. For example, the main factor of instability in the Republic 
of Kyrgyzstan continues to be the tendencies of unconstitutional transfer and 
succession of power. The struggle for power between political groups (the" tulip 
coup") unfolded in the spring of 2005 and it led to the forceful removal of the 
country's president Askar Akayev and the arrival of Kurmanbek Bakiyev to his post;
- interethnic (ethnic) conflicts leading to socio-political destabilization of society. 
One of the features of interethnic conflicts is their sudden rapid (explosive) 
appearance and development [9, p. 91]. In turn, the ethnically mixed population is 
potentially fraught with danger and, under unfavorable conditions, can serve as a real 
pretext for conflict, as was the case, for example, in Rwanda in 1994, where the 
genocide of Rwandan Tutsis by local Hutus took place. 

---

197 
Thus, the features of modern political conflicts are that with the strengthening 
of global interdependence no conflict is closed within the borders of its region, the 
conflict affects the interests of not only individual states, but also the entire world 
community (especially world powers). The world powers, first of all, are interested in 
strengthening their power in a particular state or region of the world and for this 
purpose mainly use the so-called “soft power”, which covers the entire range of 
resources and advantages of the state, not related to the armed force, called “hard 
power”. If “hard power” is intended to punish and intimidate the enemy with 
weapons, then “soft power” is intended to attract him to its side or, in any case, to 
neutralize him by peaceful, bloodless means. Soft power is based on culture and 
values, ideas, symbols, myths, and so on. “When you can induce others to desire 
what you want yourself ”, wrote one of the developers of this concept, J. Nye, “the 
threats and bribery needed to move people in the right direction are cheaper for you. 
Seduction is always more effective than coercion and values such as democracy, 
human rights and individual opportunity are deeply seductive. But attraction can turn 
into disgust, if arrogance or hypocrisy is felt in politics” *10+. 
Currently, for the management and resolution of political conflicts, the world 
community uses the Anglo-Saxon model, which provides for the resolution of 
conflicts in the complete forced transformation of the political systems of the 
conflicting parties, more precisely, its opponent, who must adopt the political norms 
and standards of the Anglo-Saxon civilization (“democratic institutions”). 
Traditionally, the Anglo-Saxons use methods of forceful pressure (“forceful 
appeasement”, “humanitarian intervention”, “fight against international terrorism”), 
and methods of non-forceful influence (“soft power”, “color revolutions”, 

---

198 
“psychological warfare”). It should be noted that each third party involved in the 
conflict seeks to transform the political systems of the conflict participants in 
accordance with its own picture of the world and value system. “Color” revolutions 
are a typical example of the Anglo-Saxon approach to conflict management. In world 
politics, technologies of "color" revolutions are considered one of the types of 
modern technologies for information-psychological conflict management. As a rule, 
for their successful implementation, the country must necessarily be in a state of 
political instability: there must be a crisis of power, it is even better if one or several 
local armed conflicts develop within the country or the country is drawn into one 
major international conflict. In other words, there must be an object of influence - a 
political conflict in any phase of development. If the government is stable and there is 
no conflict as such, it must first be created [11].
Also today, military strategists talk about the “controlled’ use of military force in 
conflicts of “low intensity” or limited wars. However, the question remains whether 
such conflicts can in all cases remain under control and keep from escalating into a 
major international war. This is especially true in relation to conflicts involving great 
powers and countries possessing weapons of mass destruction (for example, the 
United States, Russia, etc.). Currently, the most typical manifestation of military 
violence in world politics is precisely the civil war, during which the internal armed 
forces are fighting to change the constitution, the political structure of the country, to 
change the balance between ethnic groups, to secede and form their own 
independent state. Particular importance for world politics has the growing tendency 
for the internationalization of civil war, that is, the involvement of foreign military 
forces in an internal conflict. 

---

199 
Based on such a variety of political conflicts and their components, it can be 
concluded that each conflict is unique and peculiar; therefore it is impossible to find 
one single way to settle or resolve all conflicts in general. However, the search for 
technologies for regulating political conflicts is based on the solution of a number of 
universal problems: 
- to prevent the emergence of conflict, to prevent its increase in the early stages 
of the escalation of political conflicts; 
- to bring all hidden, latent conflicts into an open form in order to avoid the 
sudden development of uncontrolled processes; 
- to minimize the degree of social excitement caused by political conflict, to 
prevent its spread to other spheres of society; 
- take into account numerous internal and external factors: the degree of 
openness of the political system, the level of cohesion of the conflicting groups, their 
strength, the nature of the population's involvement in the conflict, the emotional 
aspects of the behavior of leaders and their supporters, as well as cultural-historical, 
socio-economic, ethno-national and others features of society.