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A serious academic debate in general, let alone on theoretical and methodological issues, is rare for both Western and Russian peer-reviewed journals. In the context of discussion, launched by a polemical article by a prominent Russian IR expert Alexey Fenenko, published in 2018 in the 'International Trends' journal, is more important and noteworthy. Nominally both this article and the subsequent responses from Denis Degterev, Igor Istomin, Andrey Baykov and Konstantin Khudoley focused on a long-running dispute between the proponents of quantitative and qualitative methods in IR studies. However, the true essence of this discussion, as well as its implications, goes far beyond a mere technical argument about methods. The present article examines this discussion as well as developments in contemporary IR theory through the lens of critical realism (CR). The first section considers the arguments of the discussants and shows that they tend to focus on secondary, technical issues leaving out the key subject of the dispute, i.e. how should international studies be organized in order to have a right to be called a science. In order to bring this issue back into the spotlight and to provide a new perspective on the issue, the second section considers the problem field of the contemporary IR theory from the viewpoint of CR. According to critical realists all predominant approaches in the mainstream IR theory are rooted in the Humean empiricism which to a large extent explains both epistemological and practical limitations of the contemporary IR studies. As an alternative, they advance the ideas of the founder of critical realism, British philosopher R. Bhaskar. The third section examines the key epistemological and ontological provisions of CR, which include the fundamental recognition of objective reality, existing prior to and beyond human activities, reality, which is stratified and differentiated. They also entail a specific perception of causality and of possible limits of cogniscibility and predictability of social phenomena. Nonetheless the article is far from a straightforward apology of critical realism. The fourth section identifies certain weaknesses of contemporary interpretations of CR in the context of IR theory, which include a static nature of their methodology and inconsistency of their implications. The author concludes that the major contribution of CR to the IR theory lies in providing a clear path for further research – that is development of materialist theories and approaches.

Theory represents the highest form of scientific knowledge in any discipline, a sort of certificate of maturity of the latter, and, at the same time, the key to its systematic teaching and understanding. From this point of view, international studies show a somewhat paradoxical picture. On the one hand, at the moment there is no shortage of either theoretical studies of international political issues or textbooks on the theory of international relations. On the other hand, their common leitmotif remains the idea that international studies either have not yet acquired a full-f ledged theory, or, due to their inherent complexity, dynamism and inconsistency are not subject to systematic generalization in principle. As a result, teaching of the IR theory turns out to be equally inconvenient for the lecturers, if they want to not just bombard students with terms and personalities, but teach them to effectively use different concepts and approaches, and for students. The author argues that these difficulties stem not only from the objective complexity of international processes and problems, but also from the subjective theoretical, methodological and philosophical specifics of the textbooks on the IR theory. To substantiate this claim this paper examines a selection of modern Russian and foreign textbooks on IR theory. The first section summarizes their key advantages, which include, first of all, the fact that they all successfully perform an educational function, introducing the reader to the key approaches, schools and theories that form the 'body' of modern IR theory. In this regard, one can easily find both textbooks specially designed for an unprepared audience which provide an introduction to the discipline, and publications containing an in-depth analysis of the driving forces and internal logic of the IR theory development. At the same time, as shown in the second section, all modern textbooks on IR theory share a number of common short-comings, which can be divided into methodological and philosophical ones. The former include not sufficiently substantiated logic of presentation, the lack of clear criteria for structuring the material and explicitly formulated principles for selecting approaches to be considered. The latter imply reliance on extremely shaky philosophical assumptions, which, consciously or not, reproduce post-modernist views on the problems of ontology and epistemology of international relations and international studies. And it is in a critical revision of these basic philosophical principles where, according to the author, lies the key to addressing the problems in both teaching the IR theory and formulating the theory of international relations in the strict sense.

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 present paper from the constructionist perspective is examined one of the most controversial issues of the modern western historiography of the First World War - the issue of patriotic enthusiasm of 1914, its scopes and nature. On the basis of a wide range of primary sources, including Russian and foreign archives, memoirs and letters of contemporaries the author carries out a comparative analysis of the response to the beginning of the war of urban and rural population of Great Britain, France and Russia. Against the backdrop of numerous patriotic demonstrations in large cities, the rural population's response looked much more constrained and passive. At the same time the latter attests rather to the peculiarities of rural culture than to the absence of patriotic upsurge. The author points out that besides apparent distinctions there was a lot of similarities in the urban and rural population's reaction to the beginning of the war. This refers to an immensely successful mobilization of continental armies, a rush of volunteers to the British army, and a drop of the labor movement in all European countries. The author comes to the conclusion that the patriotic upsurge in Europe in 1914 was not founded on a momentary outburst of chauvinism, but reflected a broad popular consensus on the war.

The article focuses on the comparative analysis of the image of the enemy in propaganda of the countries of Entente at the beginning of the First World War. On the basis of the wide range of primary sources the key elements of this image, certain stages in its development, its common and distinguishing features in each of the countries of Entente are examined.