The article studies the problems of the socioeconomic development of the border territory of the countries of Northeast Asia (NEA) and its influence on the international integration of peripherals in Asia. The study starts from the assumption that the international integration of border areas depends on the presence of certain factors in the development of these territories. At a methodological level, various tools of geopolitical and geostrategic analysis were used in the coordinates of interdisciplinary dialogue, also using theoretical and methodological devices from various disciplines such as: the humanities, international relations, economics, and socioeconomic geography. The discrepancy between the national average development indicators is typical of the border periphery of all Northeast Asian countries. The findings obtained allow us to conclude that the territorial disparities revealed in the course of the study are manifested in all areas of social relations (demography, economy, management, infrastructure). Despite the peripheral / border areas function in different natural, economic, and political conditions and have different traditions of economic development. However, the structure of development problems, in general, has similar mechanisms of influence in the processes of economic integration in this region of the world.

«МЯГКАЯ СИЛА» В МИРОВОЙ ПОЛИТИКЕ: ПРОБЛЕМА ОПЕРАЦИОНАЛИЗАЦИИ ТЕОРЕТИЧЕСКОГО КОНЦЕПТАИдея «мягкой силы», предложенная в 1990 г. Дж. Наем, сегодня превратилась в одну из наиболее популярных концепций в теории международных отношений. Вместе с тем, несмотря на очевидный рост интереса, в содержательном плане концепт «мягкой силы» все еще остается во многом не вполне ясным. Важным шагом в деле превращения этого концепта в реальный инструмент международной политики стали предпринятые в последние годы усилия по операционализации, измерению и оценке национальной «мягкой силы». Вместе с тем многие такого рода исследования не свободны от методологических недо-статков, вызывающих сомнения в обоснованности полученных результатов. Часто это является следствием чрезмерно редуци-рованной содержательной трактовки концепта «мягкая сила», что и создает основу для многочисленных критических замеча-ний и оценок измерений «мягкой силы». В данной статье предлагается вариант детализированного структурного шаблона концепта «мягкая сила», позволяющий уточнить и упорядочить основные составляющие его компоненты. Ключевые слова: внешняя политика; политические измерения; мягкая сила; влияние; привлекательность; имидж государства; национальный бренд; общественная дипломатия.

The main subject matter in this article is the development policy of the Russian Far East as one of the aspects (constituent elements) of the regional development of the Russian Federation declared and implemented by the country's leadership since the mid-1990s. The Russian experience of regional policy related to the development of the Far East is of scientific and practical interest. The analysis of modern regional policy allows us talking about a new content interpretation, formation of basic approaches, principles in the development of the Russian Far East. The main features and peculiarities of this policy are considered by the authors in the context of a discussion about the so-called new paradigm of regional policy that is unfolding in recent years. The article analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of the new regional policy based on the provision of tax and other benefits to business entities, and evaluates its effectiveness.

Throughout most of the history of the Russian state, the task of “exploration and and development” of the remote eastern territories, which remain on the country’s underdeveloped border periphery, continues to be relevant. One of the possible and quite effective tools for solving this problem in modern conditions is cross-border cooperation. Having conceptually taken shape within the framework of the developing European integration process, the idea and practice of cross-border cooperation was adopted by many states with common borders, even those not connected with each other by integration obligations. At the same time, it is recognized that neither the presence of a common border nor the willingness of the national governments of neighbour states to cooperate are a guarantee of the success of cross-border cooperation and, moreover, progress in the development of border areas. This article examines the evolution of cross-border cooperation in the Russian Far East, which is almost exclusively represented by Russian-Chinese cross-border cooperation. The recent history of cross-border cooperation on the Russian-Chinese border is in this sense a remarkably interesting case, the study of which makes it possible to better understand both the general laws of this kind of interaction and their specific features in the context of contemporary relations between Russia and China. The dominant trend of this cooperation can be characterized as a movement from chaotic prosperity to ordered degradation. Its determining factor was and remains the persistent desire of the Russian leadership to maintain tight control over remote territories, including through the centralization and concentration of all types of their interactions with neighbouring countries at the interstate level.