Abstract. The topic of nationand state-building in the former emperial spaces is relevant. According to many researchers, the path “from empire to nation” is far from complete, although until recently the formation of nation-states has been perceived as a natural desire of peoples for self-determination and independence. In fact, it turned out that the empires themselves mimic nation-states (China, Iran), the former imperial centers think about restructuring their “lost” spaces (Istanbul / Ankara), Moscow), and the new nation-states find it difficult to develop state capacity.
The authors focus on the so-called continental or contiguous empires (AustroHungarian, Russian, Ottoman), since they were based on the idea of an inclusive political space, and the empire’s collapse meant the destruction of its state structure. Considering that, the article determines the problems of stateand nation-building in post-imperial political entities. The authors also focus on the extent the imperial institutional legacy is relevant for these problems, and on possibilities of “reconciliation” of “old” and “new” institutional orders in the case of conflicting consequences of their interaction.
Reflection on these issues required (a) detecting the idealtypical features of the empire and the nation-state in an international context, (b) defining the problems that arise with interaction of both institutional orders, and (c) identifying approaches to the solution of the problems.
To illustrate the depth of the problem, the authors have chosen the extreme cases of confrontation between the principles of the organization of imperial space and territorial borders (ethnopolitical conflicts and secessions). Since that imperial models of cultural-symbolic, military-political and economic interactions take a long time to form and to disintegrate, a number of respective conflicts have been analyzed in the logic of violation of spatial dependence between the elements of imperial structures correlated with ethno-cultural segments.
The study showed that the imperial centers can not always be replaced by emerging national state ones. That requires their “return” in an updated form. At the same time, modern political mechanisms aimed at maintaining the manageability of the segments’ interactions under conditions of a weak center (consociationalism, autonomization, etc.) can be used to stabilize, at least formally, the boundaries of post–imperial polities. 

The problems of the post-Soviet space remain an extremely controversial topic with a high degree of uncertainty of the subject field. However, studies of post-Soviet identity are more conceptualized, and the relevance of the topic in theoretical and practical terms is reflected in a large array of studies. The analysis of this array consists in searching for common logic and differences in the development of identity processes in certain groups of post-Soviet countries. By analyzing the content elements of memory policy and symbolic policy, as well as their structural relationships, it is possible to define models of post-Soviet identity and draw conclusions about their further features. Basing on the analysis of Russian and English-language literature the interpretive models of post-Soviet identities are to be constructed. Visualizing the key messages of the symbolic and memory policy of the post-Soviet countries (tag clouds), as well as analyzing of the expert survey (N 12), the authors highlight the deepening of trends that have developed over three decades of post-Soviet history as well as the regionalization of post-Soviet identities grouped around several models: the model of “national-civilizational community”; “neo-Soviet” model; “geopolitical” or “antiImperial” identity; the model of finding a balance between state, ethnic and religious identities; transitional “Caspian” identities; ethno-cultural model. The survey on the post-Soviet identities shows the ongoing process of distancing the societies from the former USSR basing on the new forms of perception of social and political phenomena. 

Imperial formations occupy a key place in the political and religious history of Humankind. The article traces the evolution of this phenomenon, with a future global perspective, from the time of the emergence of macrostates in the Ancient World, through the period of the classical empires of Antiquity to the religious empires of the Middle Ages and the late empires of the New Age, in the space of Asia Minor and the Greater Mediterranean. The focus is on the transformation of the ideological foundations of imperial formations, traced primarily on the basis of titular formulas, which are the most important source on the history of the ideological self-identification of states. The analysis revealed several evolutionary phases of imperial construction, characterized by the following features: 1) “mechanical” consolidation of primary polys-nomic political formations around a particular military-administrative center, with the preservation of mosaicism and polycentrism in the religious sphere; 2) formation of the new generation of all-imperial religious systems (usually associated with the ruler’s cult), designed to complement military and political consolidation by an ideological one; 3) displacement of primary personality-oriented imperial cults by more morally authoritative universal religions with a transcendental ideal (Christianity, Islam); 4) secondary politicization of theocratic empires, leading to the consolidation of religious-state dualism (emperor / patriarch; caliph / sultan); 5) final decline of politicized theocracies and their more or less painful transformation into national states of the modern type, formed in the specific conditions of Western Europe. The phenomenon of instability of monopolar geopolitical structures and, on the contrary, the impressive stability of bipolar configurations, embodied in the evolutionary space of the Greater Mediterranean in the competitive coexistence of Hellenism and the East, Rome and Iran, Byzantium and the Caliphate, the Russian and Ottoman empires, was identified. 

The article discusses various options for the institutional construction of imperial structures, one way or another identified with the classical empire of Rome. The review covers the Roman tradition proper and the formation of successive versions of the imperial-republican complex. There are two ways of using institutional: direct and direct inheritance with predominantly vertical transfer of properties and indirect perception with predominantly horizontal transfer. The continuation of its modified existence of the Roman tradition in the form of the theocratic symphony of the Kingdom of the Romans (Βασιλεία < ωμαίων) in the eastern Mediterranean and Chrysalis (theocracy with a feudalized horizontal and hierarchical vertical) of the Christian Republic (Respublica Christiana) in Western Europe is considered. There are three attempts to restore the completeness of the imperial structure even within the framework of the Western European chrysalis: the successful Charlemagne, not quite successful in the form of the Holy Roman Empire, and the completely unsuccessful efforts of the Plantagenets to establish an empire in the west of the Christian Republic during the Hundred Years' War. Further variants of the already mediated reproduction of the classical Roman orders in the United Kingdom, and then in the United States, as well as in the First French Empire, are being analyzed. Other imperial projects focused on the Roman heritage are also touched upon. The experience of European integration and the EU's use of republican and imperial aspects of the Roman complex, the use of institutional models of the Christian Republic and the Carolingian Empire are discussed. Special attention is paid to the imperial component of the national political tradition. It is shown that in all the cases under consideration, the imperial component is combined with other orders from patrimonial and monarchical to modern (corporate, consociative, federal, etc.). The use of the Roman heritage is carried out in the form of direct reproduction, indirect restoration, partial copying, imitation and even simulation. 

The political present of the Europe in its geographical understanding is to a decisive extent determined by the historical retrospective and traditions, which mainly originate from the border of antiquity and the Middle Ages. The formation of the complex of European ethnic and regional identities, for the most part, took place in the second half of the 1 st millennium AD. e., and finally it took shape in modern times. That is why the initial stage of the “birth of Europe” is closely related to the problems of post-Roman influence or direct Roman tradition, as well as the regional characteristics of the barbarian social organisms themselves, which at times were extremely variable. The basic division into Western Romanesque and Eastern Romanesque models of early political genesis (according to G.S. Lebedev) undoubtedly needs multiple clarifications. Based on the explanatory and heuristic potential of the concept of S. Rokkan and S. Lipset, primarily the conceptual map of Europe, extrapolated to earlier eras, the article attempts to detail the geopolitical map of the Dark Ages and the early Middle Ages in general, the correlation of the six geographical clusters identified with the processes politogenesis in post-Roman Europe. The focus is on the role of the imperial legacy (unique in each cluster) in the formation of the early barbarian kingdoms and their destinies. The methodological basis for the analysis of early political genesis is the concept of the dominance of the military factor in the creation and transformation of social and political-administrative structures of barbarian kingdoms and early medieval states (C. Tilly, F. Stanton, C.W. Hollister, C. Petit-Dyutailly, etc.). It is also noted that the “Frankish model”, supplemented by the less viable Eastgothic, Visigothic and Burgundian, clearly opposes the North and East European models of the early Middle Ages finale. The key importance in the article is given to the definition of the boundaries of the regions and the qualitative differences of the Roman heritage within them, as well as to the peculiarities of the barbarian systems of socio-political self-organization. The main task is to clarify and detail the picture of “two Europes”, defined by the line of the Roman border and having a decisive influence on the political events of our time and the foreseeable future. 

The article looks at the new trends in the contemporary UK’s political life. Recent years have reintroduced the discussions of the empire and its role for Britain in numerous directions. It is being reconsidered in relation to the UK and EU interaction in the context of Brexit; in connection to the ideological content and planning of the UK foreign policy under the new circumstances; and in terms of revising of the empire’s historical legacy. The author analyses the recent developments examining the research papers on this topic, the speeches of important political figures and experts, the government’s strategic documents and media publications.
The re-emergence of the empire rhetoric can be most prominently observed in the discussions around Brexit. Its opponents regularly accused the ‘leave’ side of imperial nostalgia, while the proponents of Brexit tried to portray the EU as a new form of empire itself. In the search of new ideas and points of reference for the future UK foreign policy, policy makers and experts turn to the countries and regions with historical ties, common language and cultural affinity with the UK and this, in turn, is met by criticism and can be seen as attempts to rebuild the British Empire.
At the same time, the new cycle of global movements aimed at combating racism and exposing the historical injustices on the global and national levels, leads to re-emergence of heated discussions about the destructive legacies of colonialism and is reflected in the new events in the British political and social life.
As a result, the perceptions of empire and its legacy contribute to the political and social divisions, and the discussion of empire acquires new characteristics.

The article focuses on the impact of the Ottoman institutional legacy on ethno-confessional minorities incorporation into the post-imperial national states. Iraqi Kurdistan was selected as a relevant case for analysis. The tested hypothesis is that informal rules and practices exercise a significant influence on the political process in post-imperial societies, which, in case of compatibility of goals between informal and new formal institutions, can contribute positively to the formation of a stable structure of government. In this context, the author analyzes the interaction between the Kurdish communities and the centre in the Ottoman period, identifies the specificities of the Kurdish segment incorporation into the newly formed state of Iraq, and weighs the performance of consociational mechanisms established in Iraq’s political system after Saddam Hussein’s ouster. The application of such methodological approaches as neo- institutionalism and historical institutionalism makes it possible to define the institutional parameters of the Kurdish minority incorporation into Iraq and, through this lens, to assess the political performance in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region. It is stated that the historical informal institutions of the Kurdish community remain functional and substitutive for the formal ones. At this point, the consociational pattern is assessed as the only possible solution that reduces transaction costs in the centre-periphery interaction.

Thе article considers how social networks produce an online memory of the Soviet past. Social networks are described as arenas that are open and accessible to many actors. These actors operate in a freer discursive field, not limited in their activity by dominant narratives about the past. It has been noted that social media can be used by citizens as a means of discussing the shared past and can act as a counter to elite discourse.
In order to understand how the discussion of the Soviet past is structured in social media, a qualitative content analysis of three online group records and comments on them was conducted. The goal was to examine the main themes and arguments, as well as the characteristics of the discussion that emerged. Three popular social networks in Russia were chosen: Vkontakte, Instagram and Facebook. Three records with the most generalizing topic, devoted to the Soviet past, were selected.
It was shown that during the process of constructing new meanings and creating interpretations, the actors of online memory rely both on the official discourse of the political elite about the Soviet past and the Russian present and on their subjective biographies and personal experiences. At the same time, social networks provide opportunities for the creation of alternative and counternarratives. The conclusion is made about the «absorptive» properties of the memory of the Soviet past, since actors are able to build into it any current events, including the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Some of post-imperial spaces (especially former colonial ones) face with the emergence of hotbeds of instability on their territory. This problem may be delayed and has emerged long after the declaration of independence. One of the key examples is the armed conflict in Mali (since 2012) that was part of former French colonial empire.
If the state cannot independently overcome a diverse internal crisis, it will have interest in playing by external actors the roles of its secure and stable development guarantees. The article shows the features of this process, using the concept of tidal and ebb “waves”.
The author tries to explore German strategic penetration to Mali and G5 Sahe countries (also Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Niger, Tchad) as the traditional zone of French interests. The scientific paper issues why exactly the post-imperial spaces of former French colonial empire were the key directions of Bundeswehr usage not only in Africa but also in Asia. The features and “narrow places” of German-French cooperation in Sahel is presented. Berlin has been trying to achieve strategic autonomy from France in the region. Germany has used the “roll-over” tactic. It means the usage of the resources, including military, in areas that France itself did not pay due attention to. The article shows FRG`s contribution in multilateral strategic penetration into Mali in 2013–2015 (before the signing of inter-Malaysian agreements), during the second half of 2010-s and in the beginning of 2020-s where there were two military coups in the country. The paper concludes about the perspectives of strengthening of German line in «G5 Sahel» countries for the perspective.

The article studies populist regimes, their relationship with authoritarianism and democracy and modes of their transformation. First, the approaches to conceptualizing populism are critically analyzed; second, the concepts are systematized through the maneuvering on the ladder of abstraction; third, the ways of classifying populist regimes are studied, and fourth, the influence of populism on political regime change is assessed. The authors made an attempt of radial categorization of populism having distinguished its central and peripheral features. On the basis of the minimalist definition of populism by C. Mudde “the idea” revealing itself in the antiestablishment and will of the people discourse, was taken as a central category. Such approach allowed to distinguish three species of populism including ideational, personalist and charismatic, thus making the categorization applicable for comparative research. The conceptualization of populist regimes was reviewed. It is noted that populist regime is rarely conceptualized as a separate type of political regime and is more often associated with personalist regime or as a sub-type of democratic regime. The further development of the B.G. Peters and J. Pierre’s approach led to conclude that populism is a regime modification, inherent in all types if political regimes. Democratic and hybrid regimes are more inclined to such regime modification, that is why the populist regimes evolve multidirectionally.
The study concludes that the establishment of populist regime in polities at different levels of political development – from consolidated democracies to premobilized authoritarian and democratic systems – leads to differentiation of functions. In the former cases populist regimes foster the redetermination of the effectiveness criteria for ruling elites and democratic governance in general, and in the latter – populist regimes support the general framework of the in-country political process by filling the institutional gaps. 

The article examines the conceptual foundations of Turkey's contemporary foreign policy. Based on comparing a range of empirical data with a list of theo- retical indicators compiled by D. Nolte the author classifies Turkey as a regional power and at the same time highlights the concept’s insufficient explanatory capacity for analyzing the country’s contemporary foreign policy. The author forms a hypothesis consistent with H. Spruyt's theory of institutional competition between political forms and of their selection. The hypothesis states that the current political dynamics lead to the emergence of novel political entities – neoempires. To test it, the autor defines ‘neoempireness’ as a feature of foreign policy and undertakes a comparative analysis of ‘empireness’, ‘post-empireness’ and ‘neoempireness’. It is noted that the term ‘post-empireness’ reflects spontaneous, unintended influence of the imperial past on the subsequent development of the former empire's core and peripheries as independent national states, whereas ‘neoempireness’ implies deliberate adaptation of the imperial experience to the contemporary realities for the purpose of engaging in the global competition more efficiently. The analysis of a range of significant political decisions and actions recently taken by the Turkish government allows to make the conclusion that its foreign policy has assumed a neoimperial nature.

The article focuses on the issue of minorities political actorness during the current armed conflict in Syria. The author speculates on why a country where the ethno-confessional structure of the population has not changed significantly for decades, suddenly faced an intensive politicization of communal identities. The tested hypothesis is that this has emerged from a long process of the state capacities weakening both in the territorial and functional aspects. In this context, the author studies the community of Syrian Turkmen, the third largest ethnocultural group in the country. The selection of this case was guided not only by a lack of relevant in-depth studies, but also by the group's self-identification as a part of the Turkic (Ottoman) world. The application of “Brubaker's triangle” as an analytical tool made it possible to view the nationalism of such minorities in relation to the policies of the “nationalizing state” and “external national homeland”. The study involves analysis of (a) the system of regulation of socio-cultural pluralism in the Ottoman Empire, (b) the peculiarities of stateand nation-building in Syria and (c) the process of Turkmen community politicization during the civil conflict. It is concluded that its political actorness was formed due to such factors as violation of the “social contract” between the ruling elite and the population during the period of neoliberal reforms, the “external homeland” (Turkey’s) support, as well as the persistence of mechanisms of tribal solidarity and self-government among the Turkmen, which allowed them to partially implement the project of cultural autonomy in Northern Syria.