Urii Filimonov

In recent years, there has been a surge of interest in the study of the image of Russia in various sciences – social psychology, history, political science, political geography. The issue of forming a positive image of Russia takes an important place in the system of the country's priorities. The study of the country's image should consider both of its sides – in the world ("external image") and at home ("internal image"), which can often include contradictory, multidirectional trends. We propose to study the image of the country as an integral one, since it reflects the images of the territory, culture, people, national symbols, ideas about political power (such as images of the state, power, political institutions, leaders). The aim of the study was to develop a program for diagnosing the image of Russia among foreign military personnel, to diagnose the image of Russia among cadets (foreign military personnel) and to identify the most informative criteria and indicators for assessing the image of the Russian state. During the study, criteria, and indicators for assessing the image of Russia in the minds of foreign military personnel were identified. The methodological basis is the strategy of mixing methods: a pedagogical experiment, a survey method (questionnaires, in-depth interviews, case studies), an information analysis method (essay analysis), generalization and systematization of research results, design of educational and methodological recommendations. The theoretical significance of the work lies in the fact that new methodological approaches are proposed to the development of a program for the formation of a positive image of Russia while teaching the disciplines of the social and humanitarian cycle. The practical significance of the work lies in the opportunity of introducing it into the educational process to correct the image of Russia among foreign military personnel: in setting goals and objectives, determining the content, methodology, and results of the learning process; in holding extracurricular and educational events, organizing different forms of cultural, leisure and everyday activities.