POLITICAL IMAGE OF MODERN RUSSIA IN THE ARAB WORLD COUNTRIES

This article analyzes the image of modern Russia in the Arab world, identifies the main factors in the formation of the international image of the country, explores the question of the peculiarities of perception of the image of Russia by representatives of the Arab states. The article focuses on the difficulties of building a favorable image of Russia in the Arab world and ways to overcome them. The authors investigate the question of whether Russia, as the successor of the USSR, was able to maintain its image in the Arab states in connection with the events of the XXI century, including the Arab spring protests, the crisis in Ukraine and the conflict in Syria. There are also examples of the use of the “soft power” in connection with the formation of a positive image of Russia in the Arab world. Special emphasis is placed on the influence of the mass media as the main political and psychological mechanism of influence on the formation of the country's image.