In this article the authors consider the domestic and foreign experience of using cinema as an instrument of soft power of the state, reveal the peculiarities of the American approach, analyse the Soviet experience, describe the current state of Russian cinema and study a number of causes due to which this soft power resource is not implemented in the most effective way, evaluate the prospects of using cinematography as a way of forming a positive image of the country and its dissemination abroad. The authors conclude that the focus of Russian film producers on commercial gain is the main reason why the artistic value of films is significantly reduced. The authors note the insufficient realisation of the "educational" function of contemporary Russian cinema. The method of analysis is comparative analytical approach and content analysis.

In article the author analyzes the historical, political, economic and military-strategic aspects of the Russian approach toward the Arctic region, shows interaction of various factors that shape the Russian policy in the Arctic, highlights its goals and motivations, and attempts to answer a question whether Russia's actions in the Arctic region are of offensive or defensive character. The general idea of this article is to emphasize the historical role of the North in the process of formation of the Russian nation and the unique Orthodox civilization. The author evaluates the security motivations of Russia both in the regional and global context, draws attention to the fact that Moscow's efforts to develop an up-to date security infrastructure in the Russian North surpass plans aimed at economic development of the region. This creates a so-called effect of militarization of the Arctic. The author’s idea is to highlight internal and external limitations of the Russian economic policy in the region, for example the regime of economic sanctions imposed against Russia that affected the implementation of joint projects of Russian and Western companies. The author’s research method is based upon the comparative and analytical approach.

The author analyzes perspectives of the Russian-Chinese strategic alliance formation in the Arctic, assesses merits and deficiencies of such alliance. The reason for analysis were the Western sanctions against Russia since these measures may call into question implementation of joint Arctic projects and impair the general political situation in the region.

In this article the author makes an attempt to portray different stages of the Arctic policy of Russia, to show that Russia was historically deeply interconnected with the Arctic region, and to demonstrate continuity and novelty elements in the Russia’s Arctic policy. The author analyzes the Arctic policies of the Russian Empire, of the Soviet Union and of the Russian Federation.

The present article is devoted to a current state of relations between Russia and the Baltic States. The author considers various aspects of these relations — political, economic, strategic and humanitarian. The goal of the author is to analyze the basic ‘problem knots' of these relations, to make recommendations concerning the need of a ‘reset' of these relations. The main problem of the Russian-Baltic relations, according to the author, lays in different perceptions of the common history, as well as in attempts of the Baltic political elite to shape their Russian policy according to a certain ideological schema. Only having destroyed this ideological approach, it is possible to open a new page in the bilateral relations.