Introduction. The biosphere has been the basis of the diversity of the ascent of historical forms of biospheric life on the globe for 3.5 billion years. But with the appearance and development of homo sapiens, the formation of a productive economy and then a technogenic society takes place, leading already to the destruction of the biosphere by them with the transition of life to the urban technosphere with a change in the evolution of life on land, which gives 98.8% of the mass of living matter on the planet. The purpose of the article is to reveal the patterns of the global death of biosphere life on land under the domination of technogenic-bourgeois civilization and to determine the main ways of its preservation.

Materials and methods. Multidisciplinary studies with the central role of the theory of philosophy of the socio-technogenic development of the world as an integrating link in the knowledge of life, as well as a socio-natural approach, emphasizing the leading role of the technogenic society in relations with the biosphere nature, are selected.

Results of the study. In science, the conceptual apparatus does not reflect the global phenomena of technospherization of socio-natural life. Therefore, the authors and their colleagues create a new direction in philosophy and science — the socio-technogenic development of life and the earthly world, discovering the laws of changing the evolution of life in the processes of integration of social, natural and artificial nature.

Discussion. The analysis of the situation that has developed on Earth shows the rapid ascent of a global bourgeois-technogenic society that ignores biospheric development, its foundation is the soil. This society creates a technosphere in the world, which becomes an artificial shell of life processes, leading to the death of the lithospheric biosphere.

Conclusions. The proposed vision of the deep-historical evolution of life can open to humanity a more reasoned view on the search for ways to strengthen biosphere life.

Key words: socio-technogenic development of the world, the global death of the biosphere, the change in the evolution of life, the strengthening of biosphere life.
10.56429/2414-4894-2021-36-2-3-19

Introduction. The phenomenon of leadership, being inherent in all human communities in various forms, is one of the main types of people organization. Based on the characteristics of the image, it is possible to single out a number of qualities of the image in society, which allows us to draw conclusions about the importance of such a set of ideas for the normal functioning of the social system, on the one hand, and the strength of the position of a political leader, on the other.

Materials and methods. The theory of cultural dimensions by G.Hofstede is used as a theoretical basis for the study, which allows us to trace various options for building the image of a political leader.

Results of the study. Building the basis of the leader’s image on the analysis of the cultural values of a particular society, we get the opportunity, starting from cultural symbols, to give an adequate answer to social demand and satisfy the needs regarding the qualities of a leader, including those that are not recognized by the target audience.

Discussion. A political leader, being a public person, a public person in modern society, cannot and should not do without the qualified formation of the image by a team of professionals, since the image today is an important element of social communication, which is entrusted with a number of communicative functions.

Conclusion. Striving for a balance that contributes to the effective perception of the image on the world stage and, at the same time, while maintaining the individuality and identity of the image itself, it is necessary to build the basis of the leader’s image on global values, taking into account the analysis of the cultural values of a particular society.

Key words: power distance, leadership, image, G. Hofstede’s theory of cultural dimensions, culture, values, norms.
10.56429/2414-4894-2021-36-2-20-28

Introduction. In view of significant advances in the field of IT technologies, fundamental changes are taking place in the world economy. The financial sector was no exception. Thanks to the advent of blockchain technology, a completely new form of money has been created — cryptocurrencies, in which significant interest has been observed since their inception in 2009. The governments of a number of countries today are not only actively discussing, but also testing their own cryptocurrencies, the issuer of which is the country’s central bank. In terms of a set of characteristics, such cryptocurrencies are between fiat money and today’s cryptocurrencies. China is at the forefront of this process.

Materials and methods. Methodological basis of the research is composed of general cognition methods: evaluation, synthesis, comparison, inductance and deduction, rising from the abstract to the concrete as well as systemic-structural approach. Special methods of investigation such as acquisition of scientific treatises, information gain and economics and statistics analysis were applied during the research.

Results of the study. The Chinese government has changed its position on cryptocurrencies drastically due to its awareness of a coming crypto revolution. This allowed China to maintain the leading position in the global economy, and also led to a new economic war with the United States for the dominance in the crypto market.

Discussion. In one decade, China has gone from banning the operation of cryptocurrency exchanges and closing cryptoexchanges on its territory to making the cryptocurrency legislation more liberal and starting testing its own cryptocurrency, the cryptoyuan, which is scheduled to launch in 2021.

Conclusion. A change in China’s position on cryptocurrencies and the launch of a national cryptocurrency will not only help the country maintain its status as a global economic power, but also pose a threat to the dominance of modern world currencies and, as a result, may lead to a radical change in the entire global financial system.

Key words: cryptocurrency, cryptomarket, financial sphere, regulation of the market of cryptocurrencies, a new form of money, cryptocurrency capitalization, blockchain, China.
10.56429/2414-4894-2021-36-2-29-37

Introduction. This article examines the impact of the U.S. military presence in Northeast Asia on world security through a geopolitical approach. In the introducetion the author substantiates the relevance of the work, which is due to the growing strategic importance of Northeast Asia for the modern world political system and the escalation of military and political tensions between the U.S. and China and U.S. and Russia.

Materials and methods. According to the author, the essence of the geopolitical approach is the convergence of A. Mahan’s concept of sea power and G. Douhet’s concept of air power.

Results of the study. The limitations of the geopolitical approach are shown, as it does not fully take into account the factor of subjective perception and global problems.

Discussion. In the main part the author examines the current state of the American military presence in Northeast Asia and its possible impact on global security within the framework of the geopolitical approach. The results of the main part suggest that the U.S. retains military superiority in Northeast Asia. However, the geopolitical approach does not provide an objective analysis of the balance of power and threats in the region in sea and air space.

Conclusions. The author concludes that the geopolitical approach is a necessary, but not the only important element in the theoretical framework for studying the impact of the military presence in Northeast Asia. Its convergence with other concepts seems important. At the same time, within the framework of the geopolitical approach one can argue about the ambiguous influence of the U.S. military presence in Northeast Asia on global security.

Key words: military presence, the USA, China, Russian Federation, Northeast Asia, geopolitics, concept of sea power, concept of air power, balance of forces and threats, cultural factors.
10.56429/2414-4894-2021-36-2-38-48

Introduction. In this article, the author examines notes, letters, and other materials which were used by the Soviet side to restore diplomatic relations with China in the 1920s. The importance of the study is determined by the high level of relations between our countries at the present stage, and 2020, being a landmark in many aspects, once again, allows us to turn to the formation history of the restored political order in East Asia after the revolutions of 1911 and 1917. The scientific hypothesis was based on the fact that 1920 was a turning point both in Soviet-Chinese relations and in the construction of the regional political order.

Materials and methods. The research methodology included data collection, analysis of document flows, comparative method, comparative and situational analysis, and systematic approach.

Results of the study. As a result, the author defines the premise that the Soviet leaders carried out the “export” of socialist ideas, their strategic presence in East Asia, as well as the formation of the restored regional political order, taking into consideration the specifics of their relations with their key counterparties in the studied space, therefore.

Discussion. Soviet leadership in 1918—1919 did not take advantage of the existing experience of imperial foreign policy in the region, mistakenly hoping to induce a revolutionary upsurge in China and thereby obtain the desired result.

Conclusion. By 1920, the Soviet side had failed to achieve either a broad revolutionary movement in China or diplomatic recognition, which required a change in foreign policy and the abandonment of revolutionary ideas in favor of pragmatic goals.

Key words: regional political order, East Asia, Soviet-Chinese relations, “export of revolution”, socialist ideology.
10.56429/2414-4894-2021-36-2-49-61

Introduction. China has conducted a gap analysis of the causes of the break-up of the Soviet Union. The findings influence Chinese future policy-making, which should serve China’s modernization. But Chinese political scientists’ findings have limits of applicability beyond which they lose relevance and credibility.
Materials and methods. The research is based on publications of political scientists, speeches of Russian and Chinese officials, scientific articles of Russian and Chinese authors.

Results of the study. In the article different viewpoints are compared. The motives and circumstances that led Chinese researchers to exaggerate some factors of the failures of the USSR and to silence others were identified. A complete picture hasbeen built by explaining the reasons for changes of China’s foreign policy in the modern world.

Discussion. The main trend of changes in the world is the growing contradictions between the United States and China. That is why the main question of the article is whether the USSR was wrong in implementing its foreign policy in the hostile environment. Probably, these so-called mistakes allowed the USSR to withstand the pressure of the West Countries for a long time. China, which may to be under such pressure due to the containment policy, is forced not only to change its foreign policy, but also to reconsider the Soviet Union’s foreign policy, which was seen to be full of mistakes earlier.

Conclusion. Earlier conclusions of Chinese political scientists about the failures of the USSR’s foreign policy have limits of applicability. The change of China’s regional status to a global one, the possible rebuilding of the existing world order from a unipolar world to a bipolar one with centers in Beijing and Washington and the pоssible repetition of the Cold War scenario, make us to rethink the positive and negative experience of the Soviet Union’s foreign policy.

Key words: China, the USSR, Russia, national interest, Cold War.
10.56429/2414-4894-2021-36-2-62-74

In memory of Surin Alexey Victorovych
10.56429/2414-4894-2021-36-2-62-74