The article considers the civilizational dimension of world politics. In the conditions of the transitional era, the crisis of the Western industrial model of development, the demographic transition and the change in the technological order, the deep foundations of societies that belong to this or that civilization remain important. Religious and cultural factors began to exert a more marked influence on international political and economic processes in both East and West. Examples of this can be seen not only in the countries of the Arab East, but also in Western Europe. The transformation of the world system today is determined by the parameters of globalization and regionalization: on the one hand, the desire of Western countries led by the US to maintain its dominant position in the world, and on the other, the growing importance of nonWestern countries (BRICS, SCO, etc.). An important aspect of the ongoing confrontation is the civilizational differences, in particular, the religious and secular worldview. This circumstance does not make the “clash of civilizations” inevitable, but encourages them to cooperate and more adequately take into account the cultural and civilizational factor in international relations.

Article is devoted to a role of world religions in the modern international relations and world politics. The phenomenon of world religious revival, his connection with globalization processes, formation of the multi-polar, polycivilization world is investigated. A research objective is the analysis of tendencies of a desecularization of the world community, the reasons and possible consequences of this process in global measurement. Article includes Introduction, three analytical sections and the Conclusion. In Introduction the phenomenon of world religious revival and approaches to his studying is presented. It is asked about a desecularization of the world community as a possible subject of the new direction of the international political researches – the international religious studies. The thesis about crisis of secular bases of modern political system of the world is proved in the first section. Revision of bases of a world order and standards of belonging to the world community from positions of the reviving religious fundamentalism, the cultural and political and social and economic bases of this process are considered. In the second section the role in a desecularization of the world community of political Islam (Islamism) is analyzed. It is noted that the greatest danger of politicization of Islam consists in emergence of difficult surmountable civilization break in the world community between the Western world (still confident in universality of the values) and the world of Islam. In the third section the possibilities of prevention of disintegration of the existing system of the international relations and collision of the cultural worlds are considered. The main attention is paid to processes of a global political institutionalization of such dialogue and its justification in the concept of global ethics – purposeful coordination and gradual connection of the basic moral and ethical values concluded in great religious and cultural traditions of the world. In the final section of article the conclusion is drawn that process of an institutionalization of civilization dialogue (civilization communication) it isn’t finished yet and didn’t become irreversible.

Inthearticleanalyzedthesocial and political role of Christian churches, their position in Europe from the pint of view of statistics and presence of the faith-based organizations in the society. The author made a conclusion that the politicized Christianity on the European continent tied with the preserving of the role of Christian churches in the social structure as with the secularizationthatdidnotbecomedesecularization (thereturningofreligiontouchedonlyLatin America,Africa,Asia)andcreatedthevacuum of identity. The weakness of the modern Western European society in its capacity to defend and express the identity forced politicians to seek the support from Christian worldview. Different confessions demonstrated stable development and social mobility in the period of the formation of EU structures. The European politicization of Christianity became the part of the world process of the transfiguration of the religion into a way of the self expression of multiple identities in the circumstances of the inevitable globalization and becoming of the democracy as the optimal form of the social existence. The basic features of the process: the high number of church affiliated (faith based) civil organizations, network church activity, the possibility to reflect various forms of identity in a frames of the Christianized democratic structures.

Russian Orthodoxy is one of the most mythologized and difficult for scientific research fragments of modern Russia’s social life. Thus, the statements still exist on the universal Orthodoxy of the Russian people, because the State statistics does not really characterize a condition of the population or its different groups religiosity (rare exception is few indicators in the reports on periodical population census). Moreover, the researcher constantly faces polar estimates of the same situations in Russian Orthodoxy, both in publications of its irreconcilable opponents and apologists, while analysis of dichotomy “religiosity/ secularism” often goes beyond the boundaries of scientific discussions. At the same time these difficulties shouldn’t be overestimated. Splendid works by domestic sociologists have emerged that characterized actual religiosity of our contemporaries, formation of Church statistics has begun, reliable information on real events in Orthodox life have begun to be published regularly in the materials of cathedral and diocesan assemblies, Orthodox mass-media are becoming more and more informative and analytical (including Internet) and so on. Euphoria in connection with religious life legalization in Russia is passing off, the attitude to what is taking place in the sphere of Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) – the clergy and laity – is becoming
more realistic, while problematic situations are becoming an object of open discussions and for the most part of them appropriate solutions are being found. Along with all the unshakeable fundamentals of Orthodoxy, dynamism of modern Orthodoxy life is very high, as it is shown in the article. Russian Orthodoxy goes far and in various ways beyond Church boundaries. In the article an attempt is made to throw light on just several aspects of this phenomenon. These are estimates of a number of people leading an Orthodox way of life, parameters of rapid expansion of Church institutions and increase of the clergy number, innovations in Church education, ROC’s attitude to non-Orthodoxy and adherence to different faith, problems of real separation of Church and State and the place of Orthodoxy in modern culture. ROC’s role in social and political life of Russia is clearly in contrast with the situation in a number of Western countries and it seems to be one of significant but unfortunately, weakly accented problems of modern politological analysis.

The article outlines the problem of the current crisis of institutional Christianity, which is developing against the backdrop of a systemic crisis of the world economy. In this context, the problems of reducing the mass Christian religiosity of the modern “developed” society, the marginalization of the Christian consciousness, as well as the attempts of the institutional Churches to offer an answer to the current socio-economic issues of the present are considered. The basis for the development of socio-economic teaching of the Roman-catholic theology is provided by a long historical tradition. Its emergence is due to the reaction of the Holy See to the “crisis of faith” associated with the genesis of industrial capitalism. This teaching substantially evolved in time – from classical political economy and trade-unionism through post-industrialism and neo-liberalism in the direction of neo-Keynesianism, while retaining the quite traditional terminological framework of classical political economy. An important place in this took the overcoming of “Catholic Modernism”, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, attempts at institutional reception of a number of phenomena that have arisen within the Church. Russian Orthodox theology passed a more complex and less consistent path in the field under investigation. The genesis and development of industrial capitalism had no real effect on the domestic theological discourse – two or three publications on this subject are an exception. In fact, the first approach to the problem turned out to be the “Outlines of the Social Concept of the Russian Orthodox Church”. The positive potential of its content is connected precisely with the beginning of the path from concept to teaching. Due to a number of reasons, as socio-religious and economic, and conceptual, a system of social initiatives of the ROC is now in the early stages of development.

The article describes the international activities of the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate during the “new deal” in the state-church relations (late 1930s – first half of the 1950s). Depending on the direction of the international activities of the Russian Church, which the Soviet leadership considered to be the priority of the moment, the author outlines five main stages of the “new deal”. The first stage dated to the late 1930s – 1943, when the “new policy” remained a secret policy of the Stalinist leadership aimed at including Orthodox religious structures in the new territories, included into the USSR in 1939–1940, into the management system of the Moscow Patriarchate, and then to establish contacts with allies on religious channels through the anti-Hitler coalition. The second stage occurred in 1943–1948, when the main efforts of church diplomacy were aimed at including the Orthodox Churches of Eastern Europe in the orbit the influence of the Moscow Patriarchate and (after 1945) an unsuccessful attempt was made to achieve the leading role of the Russian Orthodox Church in the world Orthodoxy. The third stage occurred in 1948– 1949, when the crisis of the “new deal” took shape. Finally, the fourth stage began after 1949 with the inclusion of the Russian Orthodox Church in the international movement for peace and overcoming the crisis of state-church relations. The author pays special attention to the Moscow meeting of the heads and representatives of the Orthodox Churches of 1948, which revealed a divergence in the interests of the state and the Church and launched a crisis of the “new deal”. In addition, the article makes an excursion into the history of foreign policy activity of representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church in the period before the 1917 revolution, as well as its international relations in the interwar period�

This article will be consider the main areas of cooperation between Soviet departments and religious organizations in international politics from the mid-1950s to the mid-1980s. Contacts of the representatives of the churches of the USSR steadily expanded in geographical and religious terms at that time. The article shows that the establishment of contacts under the religious line, material support and promotion of international relations of religious organizations of the USSR were part of “people’s democracy”. This was used as “soft power” to spread the Soviet ideological project. Religious diplomacy contributed to the reduction of international tension, was a channel of alternative relations between the two opposing superpowers in a bipolar world. At the same time, the Soviet Union continued the ideological struggle against religion and its institutions, and the socially significant activities of Soviet religious leaders were addressed only to foreign audiences.

In the present difficult circumstances in the Middle East, the position of the so-called Oriental Churches, which is united by the similarity of the liturgical language, the language of the patristic and historical heritage – Syriac, is indicative. The pre-Chalcedon faith confession of these Christians and their special Eastern church rites, despite the separation of the Uniate Catholic communities, gave them an identity that persists to this day. The fate of these ancient autochthonous Christian communities was formed not only in conditions of an alien and heterodox environment, but also in isolation, and even confrontation with the main branches of Christianity. Now, serious efforts are being made by them in the mainstream of the activities of world supra-church structures, primarily the World Council of Churches. A characteristic feature of these communities are relatively prosperous diasporal communities, which far exceed the number of co-religionists in their historical homeland, and therefore, an important part of the ministry of their church hierarchy has become diverse contacts with foreign dioceses. Moreover, against the backdrop of the rise of the national aspirations of the Kurds – their neighbors in the territories of historical settlement – the national argument often referring to the Aramaic or Assyrian origin is often used. The vulnerable position of the flock of these ancient but few communities in the Middle East forces them to seek material, and sometimes even political, support abroad. Russia is still using the resource of only inter-church relations, which once showed its inadequacy, but at the same time the development of cultural ties with these communities in their homeland, the financial recharge of these projects on a secular basis could also contribute to strengthening our country’s image in the Middle East. The implementation of cultural, scientific and educational initiatives to support “Oriental” communities could become additional direction for Russia’s fruitful participation in the fate of the region, could prevent fragmentation of the Middle Eastern societies, to improve the situation of these communities and to normalize interfaith relations in general.

The article is devoted to the role of Shiite clergy in the Islamic revolution and in the political life of Islamic Republic of Iran. The author attempts to analize the possibilities of the Islamic regime’s survival in the context of modernizing society. IRI is a special model of the state system that embodies the idea of the Islamic rule of Imam Khomeini. Its political, socioeconomic, legal spheres are based on Islamic principles. The clergy managed to establish almost absolute control over secular institutions. At the same time, the Iranian regime can not be regarded as the only theocratic. It combines Islamic ideas with republican principles and admits democracy as a form of political participation. Iran’s political system combines elements of the modern Islamic theocracy with republican principles. Over nearly 40-years of its existence (since 1979), the political system underwent certain transformations which were caused by the economic and sociocultural development of the society and external factors. The liberalization of the economic sphere and the development of political parties put on the agenda political changes. Liberal-minded clergy relying on the ideas of religious modernism support the strengthening of democratic elements within the Islamic Republic. Some of them are ready to abandon the principle of “velayat-e faqih” or to reduce the authority of the leader in political sphere. They initiated reforms in political and public sphere.
However, the clergy standing on the positions of fundamentalism, is not ready to reduce the Islamic component. They condemn the modernization trends intensified in Iranian society in recent years and are trying to bring the country back to the first post-revolutionary decade. However, the society is not ready to share such approaches. During the recent election campaigns Iranians have supported the liberal forces. The events of early 2018 demonstrated the protest potential of the society.This shows the desire of the citizens for further democratization of the political system and secularization of the public life. Although, there are calls for overthrowing the dictatorship of the clergy among the opposition groups in the West and inside the country. Hopes for the democratisation of the regime have not been lost. If external factors do not have a destructive effect, then the implementation of the Iranian model of modernization can become a reality.

The article deals with the principal peculiar differences between Islam as a religious system versus Islamism as a political ideology. Despite of some religious roots connecting Islamism with the theological system of Islam at the early stage each subsequent step of Islamist progress was in its way to the political transformation as an ideology but not a religious phenomenon. So it means the differentiation of Islam as a religious idea and Islamism as a political concept. This work analyses the origins and transformations of Islamism in its different types including the Sunni and Shi’i branches. The links between Islamism and Salafiya are revealed. The Muslim Brotherhood is presented as an example of a modern transnational Sunni Islamist organization. The article reveals some social reasons and basement of Islamist radicalization which intensified political character of this movement. The main contradiction between Islamist movement and state is focused on the religious sense of the society contra secular character of the State. As a result a lot of Islamist groups legalize violence against their state authorities and leaders in Jihadism form. The article describes some historical samples and ideological theses used by Islamists. As a result the Islamist terrorism is classified as an extreme antihuman political form of Islamism that is ultimately far from the Religion.

In the 21st century we observe revolutionary changes that happen under the influence of globalization. These changes have covered the whole world. On the one hand, they manifest as a rapid shift of the centre of Christianity from the countries of so-called “global North” to the countries of so-called “global South”. On the other hand, they manifest as migration flows of “Southern” Christians from the countries of Tropical Africa to Europe that bring some archaization not only to modern European Christianity but to secular European civilization itself. This paper presents results of the analysis which has shown that modern European values are secular, and European Christianity is rapidly transforming into culture. In comparison to European values, the values of African Christianity have a genuine religious ground, and the society in countries of the Tropical Africa is traditional and being dominated by community values. Therefore, we can conclude that the “Northern” and the “Southern” Christianity exist in different temporal dimensions from the civilizational point of view. We can make a certain prediction that the meeting of “Southern” and “Northern” Christianity in the environment of modern European civilizational code alien to African Christianity will bring lots of challenges to the both branches of Christianity. In the foreseeable future, the issue of mass migration of “Southern” Christians from the countries of Tropical Africa will not be less acute than extensively discussed Islamization of Europe, although both of these issues have similar origin, namely the Renaissance of archaic in Europe brought about by migration flows.

We are living in an age of reaffirmation and revival of religious/national and cultural identities as a reaction to the sweeping onslaught of socio-economic, cultural and technological globalization. In India the demand for a definition of national identity based on Hinduism or on Hindutva (Hinduness) predates the achievement of independence in 1947 and it was gradually reinforced by successive political crises, such as the partition between India and Pakistan, successive wars with Pakistan, the continuing separatist agitation in the Kashmir Valley and the rise of large-scale Islamist terrorism since the 11th of September 2001 if not before. Historically a distinction has been made between Hinduism, as the religion and way of life of more than a billion people in India and in other countries and Hindutva, a cultural ideology and a sociopolitical doctrine which defines a modernized version of Hindu or in broader sense Indic civilisation (encompassing Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and other indigenous minority religions). Many Hindus do not accept the premises or least the political theory of Hindutva whereas Hindutva proponents may not be ‘believers’ in the ritual and theological aspects of Hindu Dharma and may define themselves as sceptics, materialists or atheists. However they conceive of the common Hindu national civilisation and millenary historical heritage as the cement that can bind the country’s diverse people together and they usually reject the ‘secular’ view that India is the home of a composite culture forged out of many domestic and foreign elements and consisting of diverse ethnic groups which were brought together as a nation by British colonization. This paper succinctly retraces the evolution and expansion of Hindu nationalism in the politics of the country and distinguishes between the various nuances of the ideology which is now the source of inspiration for the National Democratic Alliance led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It strives to answer the often asked question: Is India becoming a Hindu State?