Intensive introduction into actual political practice of digital communication technologies causes the need for scientists and experts to study several important issues related to the phenomenon of digitalization at the current stage of human civilization evolution. First of all, we are interested in the question of whether the introduction of digital communications into contemporary political processes causes corresponding transformations in the spheres of the functioning of the state and society. How correct is it to talk about the digitalization of the state and society by political scientists? Another essential issue for us is the definition of influence vectors: do the emergence and widespread dissemination of new types of communication technologies affect the emergence and development  of new types of social and political systems, or the state only uses new technological capabilities to ensure the effectiveness of political governance processes in today’s environment, maintaining and supporting the potential of traditional political regimes? What is the mutual influence of new communication technologies and political power institutions at present? Finally, the extremely important for us issue is what effects in the political sphere are generated by the implementation of digital communication technologies into actual practice and what are the main scenarios for the transformation of the contemporary political space in such conditions. Consideration of these issues is the subject of this work. The author makes an attempt to show that we can talk today about real transformations in the parameters of the state and society functioning, as well as in the sphere of their interaction. At the same time, traditional political regimes, having ceased to act as a monopoly source of political information due to the emergence of alternative actors of information and communication activities and the formation of competitive political space, are actively trying to maintain political control and stability in the current environment. Most scenarios of the evolution and transformation of the political space in the context of digitalization are associated precisely with the attempts of traditional institutions of power to maintain control over the sources, channels, and content of digital communication processes. At the same time, the socio-political interaction of the state and society becomes more intense in quantitative terms. However, the content side of this interaction is not undergoing significant changes.

The article discusses the growing interdependence between the geopolitical competition of great powers and the development of digital technologies. Throughout the 2010s, the contradictions of the leading states regarding the control and regulation of the Internet have noticeably intensified. In the absence of universal rules for information security, the Internet is evolving towards a kind of “gray zone” in which various actors can use the wide range of available tools to achieve their political or other goals without fear of being drawn into a full-scale conflict.

Nowadays, the geopolitical rivalry, primarily between the United States and China, covers a wide range of digital technologies, including artificial intelligence. It is highly likely that during the 2020s, China and the United States will create two competing and increasingly less compatible global ecosystems for the development of the Internet of things, big data processing technologies, 5 G mobile communications, additive technologies, robotics, etc. The choice of one of the ecosystems will at the same time become a geopolitical choice, which, obviously, during the next decade all state actors in the system of international relations will have to make.

In the scientific literature, it is customary to consider and analyze war exclusively as a violent (conventional) confrontation of subjects of international politics. However, this does not take into account that modern wars are increasingly unfolding in the “grey zone”, that is, outside the framework of international law, they are conducted both in physical and in other dimensions – informational, cybernetic, cultural, cognitive – and mainly by non-military means and with the involvement of irregular formations (rebels, terrorists, etc.). As a result, today’s interstate confrontation is becoming more complex and hybrid, presenting new mechanisms for non-nuclear deterrence.

It is important to understand that the inability to recognize the enemy’s ongoing war in time, to determine the direction of the strike destroyed many states, starting with the Roman Empire and ending with the USSR. This determines the relevance and timeliness of this study, which is aimed at analyzing the content of the phenomenon of hybrid war, determining the main methods of its conduct used today and proposing counteraction measures.

It should be recognized that in the modern scientific literature there is no single approach to understanding what a hybrid war is, which is quite understandable precisely because of its essence – the variability and complexity of ways of it conducting, as well as flexibility and adaptability to specific circumstances. There are quite a lot of disparate studies on individual components of hybrid war, such as “soft power”, information, economic and cyberwar, “color revolutions”, etc.

The subject of this research is the phenomenon of hybrid warfare, its content and specific ways of conducting hybrid warfare. The purpose of this work is to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the subject of research, as well as to structure the manifestation that form the phenomenon of hybrid war in its complex, determine their correlation and mutual influence of various methods of conducting hybrid war, as well as to develop specific proposals for countering threats to Russia’s national security.

The importance of developing comprehensive strategic approaches aimed primarily at identifying vulnerabilities, as well as including spiritual security as the basis of the entire security system and countering hybrid threats is emphasized.

Taking into account the specified subject and purpose, the introduction reveals the relevance of the study of the phenomenon of hybrid war and the danger that this type of interstate confrontation poses for Russia. Then we analyze the concept of hybrid war and its content, as well as the four main ways of conducting it. The results of the analysis are followed by conclusions and proposals on countering threats to Russia’s national security.

The paper presents the results of two studies conducted in the early 2010s and early 2020th, which allow us to identify trends in the development of state communications in the digital public sphere of Russia. The studies were carried out on the same series using the same methods with some adjustments. The sites of all Russian public authorities at the federal level, as well as state communications in social media, were analyzed with an interval of 9 years. State communications are understood as communicative relations, the subject of which is the state as a whole, a state institution or a public authority, and which can be labeled as state PR. The subject of state communications is relations regarding the governing of state power. Comparing the results of two studies of state communications in Russia, the author analyzes the changes over the decade and draws conclusions about the active, but ineffective development of such communications that do not allow citizens to actively participate in political decision-making processes, as well as the ambiguous development of the digital public sphere of modern Russia in general. The wide interactive possibilities of modern social media which imply the priority of intermutual communication remain generally unclaimed. Despite the growth of channels, tools, services provided by modern Internet technologies, they are used by public authorities mainly for informational purposes only, without facilitating two-way communication with the population and therefore do not lead to a significant improvement in the image of power.

The article deals with the modern specifics of digitization of the fundamental library functioning in one of the leading Russian scientific institutes for social sciences – Institute of Scientific Information for Social Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences (INION). It is shown that after the fire in January 2015, the INION’s library never stopped to work. Nowadays, more than 3 million books and journals are available to readers in 18 departments at academic institutions in Moscow. INION receives mandatory copies of Russian publications and new foreign books and journals due to international exchange. Other funds are still preserved in the warehouse due to insufficient funding from the Russian Ministry of Science and Higher Education, but after moving to a new building on the historical site on Nakhimovsky Prospekt in Moscow, the INION’s library will expand its opportunities for readers. In preparation for this move, several digitization projects are being implemented at once in INION – from the development of famous bibliographic databases, which are still in commercial demand not only in Russia but also abroad, to the digitization of books and the creation of electronic catalogues of the library. The authors draw parallels between the modern objectives and methods of the modernization of the INION’s library in accordance with the challenges of the digital era and specifics of creation of the Library at the Socialist Academy of Social Sciences (which after several reorganizations in 1969 originated the INION) by difficult financial and political conditions of 1920-30-ies. It is concluded that any steps towards digitalization should be focused primarily on the needs of readers (postgraduates, researchers and university teachers) and not based on the proposals of technocrats who have little idea in which direction social and humanitarian sciences are developing. The ultimate goal of the development of the INION’s library should be to increase the competitiveness of scientific products of Russian social scientists in the world.

The article is devoted to a theoretical analysis of the possible consequences of the digital transformation of modern societies. The authors carry out a comparative analysis of three political and economic models of digital transformation: the cognitive capitalism model, sharing economy (the peer production economy) model and the digital totalitarianism model. It is concluded that these theoretical models reflect conflicting trends in the development of society at the stage of digital transformation. The authors suggest that in reality a wide range of mixed political and economic models of a digital society will emerge, each of which will include a particular combination of analyzed ideal types. The implementation of this or that model will depend on a group of factors, including: the national structure of the economy, the system of international relations, the territorial structure of urbanization and the ability (political, economic and technological) of a particular national state to maintain its sovereignty in the digital world.

The article shows the evolution of the theoretical understanding of the “monitoring revolution”, including the difference between the ideas of “post-capitalism” as the aestheticization and fascization of reality, heterotopia and divid (F. Jameson, J. Deleuze, F. Guattari), as well as the ideas of “cognitive capitalism” and modern concepts of “platform capitalism” (N. Srnicek, G. Lovink), “communicative capitalism” (S. Zizek, etc.). The article shows the fundamental differences between the monitoring model of the new digital society and the old Panopticon, primarily related to the formation of local and closed communities, the complexity of interaction between online and offline behavior and its assessments, the possibility of correcting the algorithm due to rapid changes in behavior patterns, as well as the ability of a person to “interact” consciously with the data collection and processing system for their own purposes. Two directions of digital monitoring are identified – “non-soft” and “soft” coer cion. In the first case, we are talking about the actual data collection and rewards for “doing the right things”, as in the version of the Chinese social credit system. The second is about creating a reality in which an individual can only act in a “set” way. It is emphasized that, contrary to forecasts, these systems do not develop along the path of “virtualization” of reality, which implies a conscious, though predetermined choice, but along the path of influencing the brain, bypassing the symbolic. Based on the analysis, the main directions of possible public control of monitoring procedures are identified. These are, first, the problems of “localization” of platforms (territorial and other “binding” of them) and the development of the concept of “citizen as user”; second, the differentiation of data classes to establish responsibility.

The article analyzes the experience of development of electronic scientific journals in Russia and Bulgaria in the context of general trends of digitalization and transformation of the sphere of science management in recent decades and also the implementation of a strategy to increase the competitiveness of science in the global scientific community, which is reflected in the activities of scientific journals. The main problem that draws attention of the authors is how universal digitalization changes the usual view of science, affecting the development of periodicals, and how, on the contrary, the network form of social institutions of science affects its development, what place such journals occupy in the general view of science. The article examines the potential of journals in Russia and Bulgaria to promote the achievements of scientists, increase the credibility of representatives of individual scientific and educational institutions, meet the requirements of scientometrics, reflect the trends of transformation of the global scientific landscape, and fight against “fake” science. The object of the research is a number of journals in the fields of political science, philosophy, history, cultural studies, sociology, psychology, communications and information technologies published in Russia and Bulgaria, which originated as a network or use the network form as one of the main ones in their activities. The main method used in the study is an expert survey. The guide of the expert interview includes 18 questions in Russian and Bulgarian. A total of 12 interviews are conducted with editors-in-chief and members of editorial boards of 9 Russian journals, and 8 interviews with editors-in-chief of Bulgarian journals. The comparative analysis reveals similarities and differences in the goal setting of creating electronic journals, their advantages and disadvantages, the role of scientometrics, the choice of access forms and technological solutions for communication, and development prospects. The role of electronic journals in the digital socialization of scientists – authors, editors, and reviewers, and in the transformation of the usual forms of research activities of modern researchers is shown. The question of the key role of electronic journals in the fundamental change in the global scientific landscape at the same time identifies the problem of the crisis of confidence in e-magazines related to as with tradition, accepted by the scientific community, and with inadequate understanding of goal setting of electronic periodicals and their differences from print publications.

The article is dedicated to exploring the phenomenon of international political communication, changing in the context of world development digitalization. The logic of comprehension and sequence of material presentation stem from a number of circumstances. Firstly, the modern socio- political practice of responding to digitalization is characterized by fragmentation, discreteness and incompleteness. Nevertheless, digitalization is a real phenomenon that has a political dimension, and its manifestations, consequences and exposure perspectives need scientific understanding. Furthermore, the very international political communication remains understudied. The research on communication processes is focused mainly on the domestic sphere. Consequently, the content and direction of changes in the sphere of international political communication under the influence of digitalization are not fully evaluated by the scientific community.

The methodological basis of the research is the theory of political communication and realism. The disclosure of the stated topic required the use of structural and functional analysis, document analysis, comparative analysis, and performance analysis. The author derives the definition of international political communication. Based on the study of specialized literature and available examples from practice, problem clusters of international political communication are being identified and characterized, some measures of response to digitalization are being proposed. In order to assess and understand the prospects for responding to the digitalization of international political communication, attention is paid to the study and comparison of the doctrinal documents of Russia, the USA, Germany and Austria. It is substantiated that changes in the practice of international political communication in the context of digitalization will increase.

The first part of the article shows that modern consumer society, with all the fairness of its negative ethical assessments, has reduced the threat of overproduction of huge volumes of similar consumer goods and, at the same time, has stimulated the creation of new places of employment. This is justified by the data on the multiple expansion of the range of products and services demanded by the consumer. The second part of the article shows the most important foundations for the functioning of the information society, which ensured its expansion beyond corporate and national borders and transformation into a global phenomenon of our time. The unique role of the Internet in “mass digitalization”, in the formation of the “digital economy” and in the constant expansion of the consumer layer of its goods and services is analyzed. In the third part of the article, the organic and complementary combination of consumer society and information society features is called the information society of consumption.

The purpose of this article is to identify the technology of political holograms, as well as an attempt to comprehend possible scenarios for the development of this little-studied phenomenon. The main methodological techniques were the principles of comparative and content analysis. The article defines political holograms, holographic policies, and periodizes the evolution of political hologram technologies. The results of the study show that the introduction of holographic technologies in politics is so far more widespread among political leaders than among mass civil movements and parties. The author gives an explanation of this phenomenon. It is revealed that the hologram in politics is embodied not only in limited technologies, but also acquires much more diverse practical functions. Moreover, the paper gives three scenarios for the further development of a political hologram: radical, authoritarian and deliberative. Finally, author’s considerations are given regarding the risks and opportunities of political holograms for the development of communication and democracy.

The emergence of the “posttruth” phenomenon as the dominance of emotions and opinions over facts, the widespread dissemination of false information, and the rapid growth of fake news in the modern political communication space are the external manifestations of a more complex system of challenges, the basis of which lies in the changed nature of the media environment and ways of processing information by people’s minds, which, in turn, are caused by prevailing political and economic relations. This system of challenges is called “Truth Decay” and characterized by a set of four interconnected and interdependent trends in the contemporary political communication processes: the increase of the contradictions between facts and interpretations of these facts; the erasure of the differences between facts and opinions; the amplification of the opinions and personal points of view influence on the perception of facts; the drop of the mass audience confidence to the sources of information that were previously considered as authoritative. It is obvious that the indicated tendencies were appeared earlier, but their impact on the public consciousness becomes especially more significant and noticeable with the advent of the “digital era”. There is reason to consider that this indicated impact in a certain extent may be due to the premeditated efforts of some political actors pursuing their own interests. The authors are analyzed the recently published results of studies conducted by specialists of the RAND Corporation, which are clearly demonstrated the erosion of the civil discourse and con- vincingly explain it from the standpoint of the “Truth Decay” concept. This research area is innovative for the modern political science and is so far based solely on the analysis of the materials concerned to American realities. However, the authors are believed that the results reached by the scientists from the USA are more general and this conclusions can be used for the study of the modern political communication in processes other countries.

A complete analysis of protest activity in the XXI century is not possible without an account of complex interrelations between online and offline behavior of different actors. Social media and the whole internet-space become a placement for new forms of behavior that transform the classical types of protest activity. Digital placements are not neutral to the communication due to specific laws and characteristics of online-interactions that affect the way actors try to communicate in the online and the extent they succeed doing that. This work investigates the influence of quantitative characteristics of text style on communication around protest movement in social media. The set of used characteristics consisted of mean length of a word in a post, the number of words in a post, a fraction of question marks over number of words in a post, a fraction of exclamation marks over number of words in a post, a fraction of brackets over over number of words in a post and a dummy on the difference between opening and closing brackets. Using regression analysis on a sample of original posts published in social media “Vkontakte” in 2018, we found that quantitative characteristics of text style have statistically significant impact on the promotion of the politically engaged posts. However, the predictive ability of these predictors to describe the variation between activity and broadness of protest communication in different context was inconsiderable.

The article addresses the issue of civic participation in online communities. It is shown that modern network technologies make it easy to combine institutionalized forms of civic participation with informal practices through social media. In today’s digital world, unique activities have appeared that were not feasible before the introduction of online technologies: hacktivism as a new type of civil disobedience, Internet propaganda, the viral launch of hashtags and challenges in TikTok, monitoring of electoral procedures for webcams, etc. According to the author of the article Numerous publications by scientists about the deep crisis of civil society institutions, in fact, do not describe the decline in civic participation, but its complication and reorientation to more non-hierarchical and creative practices with t ud amenable to analysis by customary methods. According to the author, the increasing influence of information and communication technologies on the political process has contributed to a refocusing of civic activism towards the mediation of politics and media activism. The article emphasizes that the capabilities of Internet technologies contribute to the alienation of citizens from real problems, the rooting of virtual imitation of civic participation, forming the so-called foci of fake activism.

The article presents an analysis of a new form of citizen activity – online rallies. The April case of online rallies in 2020 is analyzed in detail using the “Talkers” service of the popular car navigator from Yandex. It is concluded that online rallies will gradually be introduced into the Russian political process. In this regard, online space is becoming more polarized and politically dangerous. It is proved that the self-organization of citizens in online communities contributes to the slow transformation of the existing institutional framework.