Igor Okunev

Moscow State Institute of International Relations · Institute for International Studies

This textbook on political geography is devoted to a discipline concerned with the spatial dimensions of politics. This course is an introduction to the study of political science, international relations and area studies, providing a systemic approach to the spatial dimension of political processes at all levels. It covers their basic elements, in...

This volume delves into a key part of the comprehensive Russian administrative and territorial reform of the 2000s—the merger of six previously separate ethno-national regions into larger constituent entities of the Russian Federation. It deals with the accession of the Komi-Permyak, Taymyr Dolgano-Nenets, Evenk, Agin-Buryat, and Koryak Autonomous...

Ce manuel de géographie politique est consacré à une discipline portant sur les dimensions spatiales de la politique. Ce cours constitue une introduction à l’étude de la science politique, des relations internationales et des études territoriales, offrant une approche systémique de la dimension spatiale des processus politiques à tous les niveaux....

Electoral geography is the study of the spatial dimension of the electoral process. It examines the factors and patterns underlying long-standing ideological and political splits in society and their territorial diff erences, as well as the political activity of voters and their voting habits by administrative and territorial unit, constituency and...

Trends in a changing world order look like general chaos or rather a combination of all sorts of disorder. This is not a rearrangement of addends, but a structural and qualitative transformation.

The first law of geography by V. Tobler — “everything influences everything, but what is closer influences more” — implies that the distribution of any phenomenon in the world is determined by a geographical factor. Spatial dependence, or the so-called neighborhood effect, is of interest to researchers for various reasons, including, for example, t...

Given that socio-political processes develop not only in time but also in space, their relative spatial configuration caninfluence their genesis and further evolution, which is manifested in the existence of neighborhood effect. Similar values of a phenomenon are clustered: the characteristics of the phenomenon in one location are determined not on...

The thesis that there is a direct correlation between ethnic composition and the frequency of conflicts on the territory in question has become widespread in ethno-political studies. At the same time, the post-Soviet space is marked by a complex ethnic structure and high conflict potential. A regression model allows us to come closer to answering t...

This article aims to investigate the factors influencing the perception of high corruption levels in a country and examines the potential existence of spatial dependence in the distribution of these factors. It specifically focuses on exploring the interdependence between the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) and forty four other factors categorize...

Цель. Выявить особенности проявления этнического фактора воображаемой столичности в культурном ландшафте на примере Лихославля и Олонца. Процедура и методы. Проведены полевая политико-географическая экспедиция, глубинные полуструктурированные и неструктурированные интервью, нарративный анализ. В фокусе исследования были всестороннее рассмотрены нар...

Электоральная география — это наука о пространственном измерении избирательного процесса. Дисциплина обобщает факторы и закономерности, лежащие в основе устойчивых идейно-политических расколов в обществе и их территориальных различий, а также в политической активности избирателей и распределении их голосов за партии и кандидатов по административно-...

The heuristic potential of spatial methods depends heavily on thechoice ofa spatial weight matrix. The article illustrates the creation and use ofabsolute geographic versus relative socio-political matrix and tests both by calculating spatial autocorrelation for development indicators. Particularly, a comparison is made of spatial association patte...

In the post-pandemic years of 2021–2022, the post-Soviet space has entered a stage of decisive transformation, which will test the maturity of the state institutions formed 30 years ago for the region’s countries. The study captures a snapshot of public sentiment in these countries on the eve of this wave of transformation it is based on a series o...

Regional convergence is one of the greatest strategic challenges for the Russian Federation. Socio-economic zoning directly affects the regional policy in Russia, as most administrative and political practices are reproduced within a federal district or an economic region. This study is aimed at identifying steady clusters or, in other words, group...

В данном исследовании авторы используют коэффициент столичности в качестве нового критерия классификации столичности, на основании которого посредством математических расчётов выделили четыре возможных типа столичности. Определённый по двум критериям: населённость трёх крупнейших городов и цефальность (множественность центров) — коэффициент столичн...

В пособии "Политология для географов. Практикум" представлены контекстно-ориентированные кейсы, упражнения, практические задания и лабораторные работы для проверки и углубления знаний в ходе освоения курса по основам политической науки. Пособие предназначено для преподавателей и студентов, обучающихся по укрупненной группе направлений подготовки 05...

Статья посвящена рассмотрению макрорегиона Большого Средиземноморья, объединяющего входящие в него государства на основании исторического, культурного и географического сближения. Большое Средиземноморье понимается не только как совокупность стран, имеющих средиземноморское побережье, но и как результат длительного эволюционно-исторического процесс...

В статье представлена модель геохронополитических трансформаций, которая легла в основу семиотики столиц, и произведен разбор концепта «восприятие пространства» на примере столичности. В терминах восприятия пространства авторами представлено видение анализа пространственных феноменов посредством модели и показан возможный путь их закрепления и посл...

The task of this work is to identify the phenomenon of geographical favouritism in parties and electoral systems, which consists in the degree of the tendency of the latter to territorial differentiation. In our opinion, this is a mandatory step towards finding ways to take into account the degree of spatial distortion of the electoral and party sy...

The Lipset-Rokkan cleavages cover the period before the formation of the basic structure of the modern ideological spectrum and, accordingly, the party system, but this does not mean that new types of splits cannot continue to fragment communities. Interestingly, some cleavages continue the logic of the described divisions, simply acting in new con...

In this investigation, the authors use the capitalness coefficient as a new criterion for classifying capitalness. On that basis four possible types of capitalness were identified through mathematical calculations. Determined by two criteria: the population of the three largest cities and cephalality (multiplicity of centers), the capitalness coeff...

The present study attempts to answer the question, which is not considered in the United Nations’ annual Human Development Reports, namely, how spatial patterns of the world countries differ in terms of human development indices. The quantitative research includes three phases. First, functional relations between indices were analysed based on Mora...

The capital is one of the backbone institutions in the political and administrative structure of the state. This is not only the location of the central authorities, the center for managing political processes in the country, but also the most important political institution that forms, reproduces and transforms its statehood, primarily influencing...

The article continues a new page in political geography related to the use of performative rules in the interpretation of spatial phenomena. The capital, in our case Jerusalem, as the brightest embodiment of spatial relations in the state, from the standpoint of performativity will be presented as a special symbolic system that contributes to the c...

В монографии представлено комплексное исследование феномена столичности и обобщены работы политических географов по изучению столичных городов. Авторы подходят к столичности не с точки зрения социально-экономических функций, а с позиций их символического значения. Обозначены идентифицирующие признаки центральности, приведен обзорно функций, выполня...

Received 23.03.2020. Security studies are going through a new stage of development. The 20th century was marked by scientific discussions about globalization itself and its possible impact on international security, the need to adjust concepts and methodologies. Many modern challenges are a direct consequence of increased global interdependence. At...

The article focuses on the methods of spatial and cluster analysis to study electoral behavior in the states bordering on the Russian Federation. This article aims to determine how electoral preferences of voters are affected by the spatial factor as well as how the proximity to Russia can strengthen the level of pro- or anti-Russia attitude of pol...

This article analyses the phenomenon of states with problematic sovereignty, which has arisen in recent decades, primarily in the former Yugoslavia and the USSR (but not only). The existing model of the world order, in which only UN member countries are recognised as participants in international relations, does not reflect a real picture of the wo...

The perception of neighboring states is one of the main focus areas in sociology and political science. However, the issue of regional differentiation of public opinion often remains outside of sociological and political research. This article aims to determine regional differences in the perception of Russia by Belarusians. The study uses the resu...

This article presents the results of the development and application of improved methodological tools based on spatial econometrics. The authors started with analyzing the spatial distribution of two social phenomena – democratization and suicide level. The following procedures were carried out for each indicator: a selection of reliable and regula...

This article assesses the 2000s reforms of the Russian administrative divisions and the implications of the reforms for the institutional structure and related discourse through institutional and discourse analysis. The authors reach the conclusion that the “special status” of the newly formed territorial entities remains undefined, while the repre...

As part of the 2000s federal reforms, two constituent units of the Russian Federation were merged: the Kamchatka Region and the Koryaksky Autonomous District. As a result, the Kamchatka Territory was formed. Before the merging, these regions had had a variety of problems, which the federal government attempted to resolve by creating a new territori...

Одним из последних административно-территориальных преобразований стало объединение регионов России в начале 2000-х годов, в результате которого был образован Пермский край посредством присоединения Коми-Пермяцкого автономного округа к Пермской области. Приоритетной задачей данной реформы должно было стать ускоренное развитие автономного округа при...

The article centers on the political aspects of international news making, i.e. the coverage of major political news by global media. Nowadays we are witnessing rising interest towards the modus operandi of global media, its newly-acquired functions and its role as a world politics actor. In this study new empirical data is used to assess the role...

Столица представляется ключевым элементом политико-территориальной структуры государства, формирующим, воспроизводящим и транслирующим государственность, в том числе и вовне. Номинация столицы - это процесс познания нацией самой себя, эссенция представлений народа о своем прошлом, геополитическом позиционировании, образе желаемого завтра и представ...

Задачей исследования было выявление геополитических кодов и пространственных идентичностей отдельных регионов постсоветских государств с учетом предполагаемой множественности пространственной идентичности в многонациональном государстве. Исследовательский вопрос заключался в том, возможно ли найти феномен конструирования идентичности путем противоп...

Journal “Comparative Politics” in Web of Science.

Our research will make an attempt to analyse the institution of capital cities at the functional and symbolic levels. Not only do capitals serve as headquarters for government bodies, but their functions also include the representation of a nation to itself and its environment. Capitals are the idealized image of a nation and national history, a na...

The article covers the concept of "capitaleness" and "geographical identity". Our research will make an attempt to analyze an institute of capitals at functional as well as symbolic levels. In that case capitals serve not only as a place to dispose the governmental bodies, but their functions include national representation to themselves and the en...

В сентябре РИА Новости и НИУ ВШЭ опубликовали очередной мониторинг качества бюджетного приема в вузы России. В этом году Факультет политологии МГИМО МИД России согласно этому мониторингу вновь стал лидером политологического образования в стране.

The article examines the processes of constructing identities in Moldovan ethnic minorities of Gagauz and Bulgarians. It reflects the results of the field study in relevant regions of the country in 2015. As Moldova is located in a contested zone defined by competition between Russian and European discourses the local population faces a serious, al...

Столица представляется одним из ключевых элементов политико-территориальной структуры государства. Это не только место размещения центральных органов власти, центр управления суверенитетом страны, но и важнейший элемент, формирующий, воспроизводящий и трансформирующий ее государственность, в первую очередь оказывающий влияние на административно-тер...

The article represents a collective research of space identities at the Russian-Chinese border. The authors analyze the space configuration formed at the frontier of Blagoveshensk and Chei-Che regarding it as a social construction. It was an attempt to define the mechanisms of creating space identity at the flexible border marked by fluctuations of...

The article describes the methodological basis of the study of the spatial identity of the inhabitants of Russia-China borderland held a Сlub of Geopolitical Studies of MGIMO

The article describes the methodological basis of the study of the spatial identity of the inhabitants of Moldova held a Сlub of Geopolitical Studies of MGIMO

The article describes the methodological basis of the study of the spatial identity of the fake capital cities held a Сlub of Geopolitical Studies at MGIMO

Th e study shows how diff erent images of space on the same territory act as intermediate variables between objective territorial characteristics and citizens’ identities. As the geographical position at the border of Russia provides the citizens with geopolitical alternatives to identify their location as a fortress defending the nation (as in the...

Th e article presents a review of the new geopolitics approach that developed in the West in the last two decades — the critical geopolitics. Th e article analyzes its methodological and thematic innovations, the contradictions between classical and critical geopolitics, and regards possible future cooperation of the opposing approaches as post-cri...

Comparative Integration continues to evolve.

Comparative studies of the problems of political geography and geopolitics.

School of Political Affairs of MGIMO-University proves to be the oldest of all Russia’s political science schools, however at the same time it is very young — it celebrated only 15 years in the year of the 70th MGIMO anniversary. In contrast to many other universities, oriented towards training political science lecturers or practical political con...

The quantitative analysis of an opinion poll conducted in October 2013 in three Russian cities located near Finnish border (St-Petersburg, Kronstadt and Vyborg) explores European identity of their citizens. This area was chosen to illustrate the crucial importance of space interpretation in spatial identity formation by using critical geopolitical...

Статья исследует объяснения в геополитике. Географические факторы – размер и местоположение государства (или группы государств), характеристики соседних территорий, внутренние асимметрии, характер отношений между центром и регионами – могут служить важными независимыми переменными для анализа и даже предсказаний поведения государств на международно...

The debate of whether Russia belongs to the European civilization has been a long-running one. Russian elites have traditionally held that Russia should follow the European track of development, while the masses have held rather anti-Western views. Currently we are seeing sea changes in how the Russian elite view Russia’s geopolitical code. In fore...

Russia is currently at the beginning of the process of international think-tank development, which will increase the quality of its foreign policy process. It is essential at this point to learn from the experience of Central European countries, which have overcome the barriers to cooperation with think tanks over the last twenty years. The diversi...