The article analyzes the political, economic and cultural development of Ethiopia throughout the existence of this unique state and its role in regional and world politics. It is argued that the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia is one of the oldest civilizations and the only sub-Saharan African country with a long tradition of sovereign existence. The author explores the history of various state entities, including Napata, Damaat, Aksum and others that existed on the territory of modern Ethiopia. The analysis of the main stages of the colonial expansion of the European powers in the second half of the XIX – first half of the XX centuries in the region and the participation of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union in the consistent support of Ethiopian people’s struggle against foreign invaders is carried out. It provides an overview of the key events of the long-term reign of Emperor Haile Selassie, the Ethiopian Revolution and the subsequent civil war, the armed conflict in Ogaden and Soviet-Ethiopian relations in the 1970s and 1980s. The article examines the period of formation of modern Ethiopia, including the democratic reforms of the 1990s, the separation of Eritrea, the armed conflict between the central government and the Tigray rebels, and internal political processes in the country. Special attention is paid to the relations between Addis Ababa and Moscow, which are actively developing today. As a result, it is concluded that Ethiopia, which joined the BRICS in 2024, fits seamlessly into this alliance, which is a genuine “concert of civilizations”.

The article is dedicated to the crucial issue of identifying synchronization points between the labour market and the vocational education system in international practice. The aim of the research was to identify the optimal conditions capable of ensuring synchronization of labour market demands with the responses of the vocational education system at the national level. To achieve this goal, a number of tasks was solved: the development trends of the global labour market at its current stage were analyzed; an analysis was conducted on the leading international experience in creating and operating national competency systems — ecosystems in which participants collectively ensure the synchronization of knowledge, skills, and abilities of the workforce with the demands of the labor market. Special attention was paid to the analysis of leading international practices in forming system operators, as well as the structures and tasks that national competency systems perform in the national labour and vocational education markets. The authors used general theoretical methods such as analysis, synthesis, abstraction, as well as empirical methods (benchmark analysis): studying the experience of leading international practices in ensuring the synchronization of national labour market demands with vocational education systems. In conclusion, the authors suggest the need to supplement the tools used today by the Russian operator for synchronizing labour market and vocational education system agendas — the National Qualifications Development Agency with a high-precision and constantly updated labour market demand forecast, both at the federal level and in regional and sectoral sections. In the future, the authors see the necessity to develop a methodology for constructing this forecast, taking into account the already identified limitations of the proposed methodology within the framework of the national project “Personnel”.

The coronavirus pandemic, which actively spread around the world in 2020, challenged public administration systems worldwide, highlighting the need to analyze the effectiveness of response measures taken at various government levels. The relevance of the study is defined by the continuing threat of new pandemics and the need to learn lessons from the experience of fighting COVID-19 to improve preparedness for future challenges. The article is devoted to the analysis of public administration systems influence on the effectiveness of measures taken in different countries to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Particular attention is paid to differences in approaches to crisis management at the national and regional levels. The study focuses on the experiences of countries with marked regional differences in socio-economic development, health care and political systems. As а part of the study, a comparative analysis of the experience of crisis management in the USA, Italy, China, Germany, France, Spain and Russia was carried out. Legislative acts, regulations, strategies and crisis management programs at the national and regional levels, as well as publications in the media and scientific articles were studied. The analysis revealed key factors influencing the choice and success of regional crisis management strategies. In conclusion, the importance of considering the entire range of factors is emphasized — from the specifics of the public administration system to regional characteristics when developing effective strategies for responding to pandemics at the regional level. Further research is needed to further understand the long-term impacts of the pandemic on public administration systems and develop recommendations to improve their resilience to future crises.

One of the major industries significantly affected by the new sanctions is the Russian automotive industry. The withdrawal of Western brands, restrictions on the import and maintenance of foreign cars and their components already imported into the country, as well as the curtailment of car production in Russia have significantly changed industry and market structures, accelerated price growth and led to a change in the characteristics of products on the market towards their technical simplification. The research methodology is based on statistical analysis and comparison of discrete institutional alternatives. Using the methods of the new institutional economics, the main directions for adapting business models in the Russian passenger car industry to sanctions restrictions were identified. In particular, special attention is paid to the specifics of international transactions in the context of sanctions. Based on the analysis of the process of changing business models in the market, it can be concluded that current changes only partially compensate for the impact of sanctions, but at the same time create restrictions for the long-term development of the domestic car market, undermining incentives for technological improvement of cars on the market. Moreover, current measures can have a significant negative impact on consumer welfare, provoking an increase in the volume of unsatisfied demand. To solve this problem, it is advisable to adjust the state regulation of the domestic automotive market. In particular, it is advisable to ease foreign trade restrictions (including reducing the size of the recycling fee for cars) and review the import substitution policy in terms of providing the automotive industry with technologically sophisticated components.

The article examines the key aspects and advantages of the cluster model in the context of enterprises focused on manufacturing and design in the field of consumer electronics in China. The main focus is on the economic efficiency and innovative potential provided by the cluster model to enterprises engaged in contract manufacturing. It is highlighted how the geographical concentration of production capacities and close cooperation between companies within clusters contributes to process optimization, cost reduction and strengthening of innovation processes. Key results: 1) the literature review suggests that the problems of outsourcing practice have attracted a lot of attention from the academic community, but consumer electronics research is rare; 2) a review of the best practices of manufacturing and design-oriented enterprises in China shows that for enterprises focused on the production of original equipment the key practices are large-scale production, flexibility in production, quality control and supply chains, and for enterprises focused on the production of design — innovative developments, full production cycle, partnership with customers and quick response to market trends; at the same time, these practices can be used simultaneously by both types of enterprises; 3) the cluster model in China is a powerful tool for stimulating economic growth, developing innovations and strengthening the competitive advantages of companies, as it provides an integrated approach to the development of industries and regions, contributing to the creation of a favorable business environment and accelerating economic development; 4) a review of key Chinese clusters focused on manufacturing and design in the field of consumer electronics (Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, Zhejiang clusters) showed that these structures play a critical role in accelerating innovation and industrial development in this sector. Their further research and adaptation can play an important role in developing cluster model in Russia as well as in strengthening technological independence.

The activities of a wide range of business entities are related to the development and implementation of innovative products at enterprises that require staff to acquire new knowledge, skills, as well as methodological approaches that can be used to solve organizational issues in the field of innovation creation. The implementation of such tasks involves encouraging non-standard, creative approaches to solving complex functional situations that arise in the process of enterprise management; implementation of professional and qualification reorientation of personnel in accordance with innovative transformations; the use of creativity as one of the key factors of self-development, self-realization, self-improvement of employees and ensuring the innovative development of the enterprise. At the same time, despite numerous experimental and theoretical studies by domestic and foreign scientists, the problematic nature of the study of creativity requires additional research aimed at improving and developing new theoretical and methodological provisions. The implementation of innovative programs by the personnel of enterprises for decision-making requires a non-standard approach, which assumes sufficient freedom of action for participants in the innovation process and the creation of positive motives for their activities. The aim of the research is to expand and deepen the theoretical foundations and methodological support for the innovative development of creative economy enterprises based on management improvement. The methodological and theoretical basis of the study included the fundamental provisions of economic theory, scientific works of leading domestic and foreign scientists in the field of ensuring the innovative development of creative economy enterprises based on management. In the course of the research, general scientific methods of cognition were used: theoretical generalization (to study the theoretical foundations and features of the application of creativity management by enterprise personnel in the process of creating innovative products, producing creative ideas, making managerial decisions); grouping and classification (to determine the structure of the components of an employee’s intellectual and creative resources); comparison (to identify systemic obstacles in the process of improving management). The research results in the philosophical reflection of creativity as a factor of managerial changes in the creative management system, the object of which is the personal and collective creative development of employees who are the main participants in creative ideas aimed at improving the formation of the organization as a whole.

At present, quite a lot of research has been conducted in the field of trust economy by both well-known economists and sociologists and political scientists. And everyone emphasizes the importance of this socio-economic phenomenon for improving people’s lives, forming a sustainable society and the economy of countries. The work is devoted to the study of the trust economy as an environment that promotes the growth of economic benefits and the role of the client-centric approach within the framework of the “State for People” concept. The methodological basis of the study were the theoretical provisions of institutional economics, applied research in the field of game theory (using the example of the “prisoner’s dilemma” game) and behavioral economics, as well as practical examples and business solutions. The study considers aspects of the trust economy from the point of view of the importance of forming social capital. Models of various aspects of the trust economy are presented as fragments of the system of socio-economic relations. The model of the internal dynamics of the client-centric approach shows that the implementation of the approach itself and its formal consolidation in corporate activities is important, but not sufficient for forming a trust environment. No less important is the restructuring of mental models of all participants in economic relations. The importance of the information environment and the corresponding feedback between all actors is shown. It is described that information is also an economic good that is subject to formation, exchange and accumulation. Based on the results of the study, it is concluded that in the center of economic relations for the formation of economic goods, and in particular, in the relationships “person — state”, “citizen — state” is the person himself as an individual with certain mental models. The definition of the economy of trust as a synthetic added value (environment) to the relationship of economic agents, a citizen and the state, business and the state is proposed. The role and importance of social capital as a system of relationships in the creation and exchange of economic goods is noted. Client-centricity is defined as an information vector that has a specific direction and certain objective and subjective limitations.

The article explores the history of the emergence and development of the Belarusian opposition organization Belarusian Popular Front (BPF) and examines the history of Belarusian opposition organizations origin, the reasons for their appearance since the 1970s. Special attention is paid to the historical context, the all–Union processes of the specified period, in particular Perestroika, the policy of glasnost and the key event that influenced the formation of the Belarusian opposition — the XIX party conference in 1988. The article describes in detail the process and reasons for the transition of opposition political forces in the BSSR to a single national movement, as well as the emergence of the organization preceding the BPF — the Martyrology of Belarus. Special attention is paid to the personalities who stood at the origins of the BPF — Z. Pazniak, V. Bykov and others. A separate analysis is devoted to the development of the movement in the run-up to the 1989 elections and the electoral struggle. This stage is divided into two parts — the second half of 1988 and the first half of 1989. The political actions of the BPF, such as the rally on the Dzyady holiday and the rally at the Dynamo stadium, are analyzed in detail. The election program of the Belarusian Popular Front “Fifteen points” concerning both the Belarusian SSR and the Soviet state is analyzed in detail. It is argued that the period of political struggle of 1988–1989 was only the start. It will be followed by a new round of struggle in 1990. As a result of the research, it can be concluded that the Belarusian Popular Front managed to get deputies to the First Congress of People’s Deputies thanks both to the organization representatives activities and to the policy of Mikhail Gorbachev.

The Federal Law “On Strategic Planning in the Russian Federation” has been in force in Russia for a period of 10 years, since 2014. The legislation establishes the basic provisions of the strategic planning system. As the preceding decade has demonstrated, the formation of a formally prescribed system in practice has only been achieved partially due to the general nature of the law, which allows for discretion at the stage of law enforcement. The subject of this study, conducted using analytical, systemic, and comparative legal methods, is the development of normative regulation of state strategic planning in Russia. This paper presents a review of legislative initiatives to amend the Federal Law “On Strategic Planning in the Russian Federation”. It also analyses a more modern regulatory act, the Fundamentals of State Policy in the Field of Strategic Planning in the Russian Federation, approved by the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation in 2021. Furthermore, it reveals the inconsistency of the current regulation of legal relations arising in connection with the use of strategic planning in public administration. Finally, the role of the so-called decree lawmaking in the context of the evolving system of strategic planning is considered. It is concluded that the by-law does not fully compensate for the imperfections of the legislative act due to, among other things, the analogous general nature of the legal norms. Moreover, the identified contradictions between the norms of the law and the by-law will hinder the formation of strategic planning, creating conditions for arbitrary application of legal norms. Therefore, it is necessary to eliminate these contradictions as soon as possible. A promising avenue for further investigation is the pursuit of ways to address the inconsistency of regulation in the domain of strategic planning and the establishment of clearly defined enforcement mechanisms.

The attention of researchers to the problems of recruiting new types of elites remains consistently high in the context of the modern political process transformation. But at the same time, the interest of researchers in women’s political leadership remains insignificant because the authors’ work continues to highlight gender inequality in politics, as demonstrated by the results of the study (113 publications versus 11,374). The paradigm of gender studies remains outdated: special attention is paid to the numerical indicators of women in top political positions, to the problems of unequal access and stereotypes of the electorate. Using the methodology of scientometric research approach, the author demonstrates the slow development of research problems of female political leadership in modern domestic science, as well as specifics and directions of development of research on possible institutionalization of women’s political leadership by means of bibliometric analysis of gender studies development on the basis of the e-library and RSCI. Citation analysis allows presenting statistics on the researched topic in popular search engines. The article notes that the problem field of female political leadership lies at the interdisciplinary interface of various scientific disciplines: political sciences, economic sciences, sociological sciences, psychological sciences and historical sciences. At the same time, the number of citations of publications on women’s political leadership more often prevails in economics, sociology and psychology. Researchers of leading Russian universities are mainly interested in the problems of women’s political leadership, including Lomonosov Moscow State University, structures of the Russian Academy of Sciences, The Presidential Academy RANEPA, Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, etc. The findings of the study lead to conclusions about the well-established convictions in the scientific community among the gender researchers regarding inequality in politics. However, the transformation of the political process in recent years does not cause corresponding changes in the scientific paradigm among studies on women’s political leadership.

The article deals with hidden (latent) phenomena of politics, which may influence process of actors’ involvement into political interaction and taken by them decisions, as those remain to be not enough studied in modern science. Once consider a wide variety of academic papers from previous decades and different spheres of social science, it gets quite clear that there was rather permanent research interest for discovering the real role and various forms, through which the mechanisms for latent influencing state and its institutions can evolve. The factor of publicity, which turns to be on the one hand a key attribute for modern political reality, and on the other hand an element of social legitimizing relevant political actors’ intentions and efforts, causes some kind of watershed between a widely studied public sphere and a usually left aside from the positivistic-bound social knowledge latent sphere. The article analyses widely used notions of informality, unpublicity, shadow character of the taken within political dimension actions, which may be involved for describing corresponding facts appearing out of the immediate social control. Specific attention is paid to arguing the terminology of latency, which author finds more appropriate to characterize as a whole all the relations resulted from the close interests and their fulfilment among political actors as well as predetermined regeneration for the specific sphere of their (actors) secret interacting — the latent sphere of politics. On the basis of comparing different approaches appearing in actual theoretical discourse to rendering not proclaimed goals and mechanisms for political self-presentation by participants of modern power relations it develops some basic parameters to distinct latency, latent phenomena and latent sphere in modern political reality.

The study is devoted to assessing the efficiency of governance centralization in the sphere of urban planning in Russia, expressed in the redistribution of municipal powers in favor of the authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation. The theoretical basis of the work is formed by key publications on the topic of urban planning, considered in the context of theories of public administration. It is shown that the redistribution of municipal powers in favor of the authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation can lead to an increase in the relative efficiency of state policy on the creation of new housing; at the same time, the limitations of using the presented methodology of data envelopment analysis when measuring the effectiveness of the exercise of powers are identified. At the same time, the duality of motivations of regional authorities to initiate the redistribution process is revealed: in a number of constituent entities of the Russian Federation, it was aimed at increasing the efficiency of the exercise of powers, while in other regions the redistribution itself was a consequence of achieving high efficiency. As a result, a thesis is formulated on the need to use quantitative metrics at the stage of formulating the composition of qualitative indicators in the framework of the introduction of full-fledged monitoring of law enforcement in the field of urban planning. In particular, the proposed methodology for assessing effectiveness can be used to select in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation that will participate in the pilot stage of monitoring. The presented work can thus serve as a basis for improving the system for assessing the efficiency and effectiveness of the government bodies and officials of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation activities in the field of urban planning, as well as contribute to the adjustment of inefficient practices of redistribution of powers in regions, associated primarily with the partial withdrawal of thematic powers from local authorities’ self-government.