The relevance of the topic is determined by the need for a more in-depth study of the public diplomacy’s direction in relation to the European Union in view of differences in cultures, behavior and lifestyle of the Chinese people as it may seem unusual for residents of Western countries, which causes not only misunderstanding, but also increasing concern in international affairs. The article aims to clarify the specifics of the Chinese perception of the world and acquaint Europeans with the original culture of China, as the lack of information about China, its biased interpretation, and as a result of bias towards China, is considered in Beijing as the main cause of misunderstanding and mistrust in bilateral relations. The leading approach to the study of this problem is constructivism, which is used to determine the predictability and stability of international relations in achieving respect and acceptance of other norms and values. This material is applicable in the development of the foreign policy and China’s diplomatic activities, public diplomacy and "soft power." The results of the topic can be taken into account both for adjusting the strategy of Russia in the field of public diplomacy, and for shaping policies towards the People’s Republic of China.

The relevance of the topic is due to the popularity of massive open online courses (MOOCs) as an alternative to traditional education, and the need for universities to adapt to this new market environment. The purpose of this article is to develop an MOOC based marketing mix model to promote offline university educational programs. The standard concept of marketing mix adapted to MOOC’s requirements in the form of a 5Ps model: Product, People, Price, Platform, Promotion is used as a basic approach. The results of the analysis made it possible to formulate essential factors for the effective use of the MOOC as a means of promotion, namely: the need for accurate course positioning, a thematic link-up between the course and offline programs, building alternative communication channels in relation to the MOOC’s environment, reinforcing the role of a tutor-facilitator, discounts for offline programs for students receiving a paid certificate, etc. The results can be used in the promotion strategy development of educational programs by universities that are not among the leaders of online education in the MOOC environment.

The aim of the article has been to analyze active teaching methods used in the pedagogical practice of higher medical schools. The experience of application of the technology “The World Cafe” as one of efficient methods of interaction between the higher school teacher and students is reported in the article.

In this article, we will think through the features of the hockey player psychology, which affect the work, social and other spheres of human life. The article presents the results of studies of foreign and domestic psychologists. Today, much attention is paid to professional sports, which is aimed at achieving the highest results in order to increase the status of the country and sports in general. The dynamically changing world generates intense rivalry for athletes during work; they must survive the crisis and become stronger not only physically, but also psychologically.

An increased attention of modern linguistics towards discourse analysis determined the area of research described in the article below. The article aims to study some linguo-stylistic features of contemporary English political discourse. The leading method for the study is the two-step comparative linguo-stylistic analysis of four public speeches delivered by U.S. presidents. The linguistic phenomena under investigation include evaluative statements and political labels. The study reveals a close connection between these linguo-stylistic features of English political discourse and the situation in which public speeches were delivered. The results of the study may be useful for those who are interested in the analysis of political discourse, as well as serve as a start for further research on the topic. The practical value is determined by the ability to use the material and the results of the study in lectures on linguistics and stylistics.

The urgency of the studied problem is due to the fact that there is no exact determination of the goals and objectives of regional policy in Russia, as well as its instrumental content. The article is aimed at a comprehensive study of the foreign experience in the management of territorial development with a view to its subsequent adaptation to the specifics of Russia, its regions and their relationship with the federal center. The objects of this study were the European Union (EU), Germany, the United States of America (USA), and China. Their experience of regional policy (supranational in the case of the EU) for a number of reasons, in my opinion, will be interesting and useful for Russia. Examination of this problem suggests that the existing differences in approaches to it, consisting in the organizational model of institutional managing the territorial development of the country, as well as the elaboration of its federal, regional and local regulatory support, are in many respects due to the form of government and the level of subnational and municipal bodies economic and political independence. The following common features are characteristic of the regional policy for all the objects of our research: stability of the management vector of territories social and economic development; transparency of criteria and methods used within its framework for the selection of government support recipients both at the level of individual enterprises and industries and at the level of regions, etc. (Polidi A.A., Skhaplok R.B., Kharadzhyan L.V. 2016). There is no doubt that the selected properties, introduced into the national regional policy, will improve its effectiveness significantly.

The relevance of the problem is due to the growing popularity and efficiency of the use of modern teaching methods. The purpose of the article is to theoretically identify and by experimental work to test the effectiveness of the use of heuristic methods. The leading methods to study this problem are modeling of pedagogical conditions, pedagogical observation, testing, ranking. With the help of the experiment it was proved that heuristic methods have a positive effect on the cognitive independence of the student, as well as on his motivation and creative self-realization. The materials of the article can be useful for teachers of English as a foreign language in school.

The article provides an analysis of the views of Russian thinkers on historical progress; the concepts of freedom-opportunity, freedom-necessity, time and space are explored. Comparing the western and domestic approaches to the formation of the so-called "national idea", the author formulates his own hypothesis of progress, based on the creativity of the Person as conciliar unity.

The authors ponder over identity in the context of the return of the Caucasus small nations to the basic values of ethnos. Ethnos is interpreted as a category that minimizes the experience of being oneself, carried out in the process of ethnogenesis at the level of "family", "people", "nation". Identity is understood as such a basic value for people, the loss of which results in the loss of the image of themselves as a viable form of the subject of life. In this sense, the meanings of "identity" and "identification" concepts are different. "Identification" is characteristic of the civilized form of the subject of life - a social actor rooted in autonomous, individualistic, group psychology. The social actor builds a social scenario of life in the “I am Different” system of relations, on the choice and opposition, on the hierarchy of role-playing relationships, the will to power (violence). To illustrate this thought, the concept of “theatrical effect” is used. The article discusses the socio-cultural consequences of such a “substitution” for the nation and its future. It is shown how the nation “intuitively” refers to the values of identity and how a real “turn” of the small nations of the Caucasus to “themselves” is possible. “Turning” to identity is interpreted as the content of “identity problem contemporaneity”. The concept of "contemporaneity" in this context has an independent meaning: it means "desired", which becomes such only when it escapes from the final "appropriating". To substantiate the main provisions, the authors refer to the provisions of existential philosophy of M. Heidegger, phenomenology of E. Husserl, hermeneutics of the subject by M. Foucault, anthropological research of the twentieth century (M. Mid. B. Porshnev), ideas of the philosophy of religion (L. Feuerbach, G. Plekhanov).

This article discusses informational electronic resources on the example of electronic books and electronic educational publications. The authors give a comparative description of promising constructors and software for the creation and construction of electronic textbooks. They study in practice the advantages and disadvantages of electronic textbooks constructors, which are reflected in the synchronistic table. An attempt has been made to classify electronic textbooks and classify constructors for electronic textbooks constructing. The constructors of electronic textbooks are examined to find the most comfortable and functional in constructing electronic textbooks for disciplines in the field of art education (convenience for including musical notation, high-quality display of paintings reproduction). The main difficulties in working with the constructors of electronic textbooks and the main conditions that are necessary to create high-quality textbooks in the field of art education disciplines are listed. The authors study scientific theoretical works concerning issues of electronic educational resources and peculiarities of electronic textbooks use in the educational process.

The article covers the problem of energy security from main theoretical approaches in the field of international relations theory - political realism, geopolitics and geo economics. The purpose of the article is aimed at revealing factors that contribute to the emergence of international conflicts and contradictions where natural recourses play the key role in «resource nationalism» and defines a shift from geopolitics to geo economics. A total ban imposed by USA on the purchase of oil from Iran, shows that in contrast to the military-political power, geo-economic power allows to achieve political goals by more gentle means. However, this does not mean that geo-economics abolishes traditional criteria of power – the possibility to use force to protect national interests.