Provocation as one of the political levers of influence

Provocations have always been one of the most powerful levers of influence in politics. In the article its authors give generalized definition of political provocation as a technique of political confrontation, used by political actors, whose aim is to provoke response measures from the opponent and use their consequences to benefit its initiator. Usually, provocations are applied for destabilizing the situation, causing political crisis, escalating violence, discrediting the policies of states, parties, leaders and disinforming public by using organized actions of a subversive nature. That is why nowadays due to development of international law and popularization of sanctions their exploration draws even more attention of various scientists, politicians, etc. For this reason, the most detailed and comprehensive works on this subject are mentioned in the text. The work is based on a historical-comparative approach and theoretical methods such as analysis, synthesis and generalisation. As a result of exploration, modern classification of provocations could be done by various criteria. However, authors highlight that the most popular one is the division by functional purposes, containing five groups. In the article each group is illustrated by specific historical example of provocation application and description of its consequences. The authors note that although public attitude towards provocation is ambiguous, the potential power of such actions to influence political outcomes is considerable. For this reason, provocative techniques remain a topic of significant interest and investigation for researchers. It seems inevitable that certain groups within the global community will continue to employ provocations in a multitude of ways in their pursuit of power. In this regard, the authors emphasise that actors, seeking to influence the political situation, should understand how provocation can be used for this purpose and realise that there is always a risk of unexpected and uncontrollable consequences in provocative practices.