Chaos and Order in the Mamlūk Politics: Intra-Factional Conflicts during the First Reign of al-Nāṣir Faraj

The article presents the study of leading political and economic challenges to the national security and the realisation of national interests of the Russian Federation. In the article, the author defines the term “challenge” in the framework of fulfilment of national interests of Russia. Firstly, the author demonstrated the main differences between the terms “challenge” and “threat”, because domestic researchers consider these concepts as of similar meaning. The author defines the challenges as prerequisites for threats, based on the lack of subjective intentions and objective capabilities of the subject to harm the national interests of the object. Further, the author identifies the causes and characteristics of economic and political challenges in conditions of ensuring national security. The author identified primary objective factors determining internal and external threats: Russia’s position in the international arena, geographical features, and a new model of economic development. The author considers the lack of a competent social policy, the lack of a timely reaction of regional authorities to social needs, and mineral export dependence as subjective factors determining internal and external challenges. Finally, the author determined the influence of challenges and threats on the social sphere of the state, where political and economic factors equally influence the implementation of social projects.

Human rights are the essential rights to all for their proper living and proper amplification of the qualities of human personality. These common rights are recognized by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and also incorporated in the constitution of Bangladesh. But in some cases, these rights are violated in many ways. This study is an attempt to depict the causes and challenges for which the senior citizens cannot enjoy these rights properly. Its finding presents the political, administrative and economic challenges of human rights of the elderly people. Study sample of this research consisted of 60 respondents divided into three categories such as old home, general and key respondents. They were both male and female. This study has been conducted on the basis of primary and secondary sources of data collected through face to face interview and content analysis techniques. The finding revealed that a number of challenges and hostilities cumber the senior citizens in the way of their enjoying human rights with satisfaction. 48% of the senior citizens who belong to lower economic class earn their livelihood by begging. Political challenges like insufficient laws, inadequate national economy, corruption and nepotism; administrative challenges like lack of old home, lack of distinct institutions; and the poverty are responsible for this situation. This study recommends that raising moralities and consciousness, creating proper laws and their proper enforcement, establishing old homes, resistant social movement against all sorts of corruption can play an important role to prevent human rights violation of the senior citizens.

Many scholars consider the military dictatorship a distinct authoritarian regime type, pointing to the singular patterns of domestic and international behaviors displayed by military regimes. Existing studies show that compared with civilian dictatorships, military dictatorships commit more human rights abuses, are more prone to civil war, and engage in more belligerent behaviors against other countries. Despite their coercive capacity, rulers of military dictatorships tend to have shorter tenures than rulers of non-military dictatorships. Additionally, military dictatorships more quickly and peacefully transition to democracy than their non-military counterparts and frequently negotiate their withdrawal from power. Given the distinct natures of military dictatorships, research on military dictatorships and coups has resurged since 2000. A great body of new research utilizing new theories, data, and methods has added to the existing scholarship on military rule and coups, which saw considerable growth in the 1970s. Most studies tend to focus on domestic issues and pay relatively little attention to the relationship between international factors and military rule. However, a growing body of studies investigates how international factors, such as economic globalization, international military assistance, reactions from the international community, and external threat environments, affect military rule. One particularly interesting research topics in this regard is the relationship between external territorial threats and military rule. Territorial issues are more salient to domestic societies than other issues, producing significant ramifications for domestic politics through militarization and state centralization. Militaries play a pivotal role in militarization and state centralization, both of which are by-products of external territorial threats. Thus, external territorial threats produce permissive structural conditions that not only prohibit democratization but also encourage military dictatorships to emerge and persist. Moreover, if territorial threats affect the presence of military dictatorships, they are more likely to affect collegial military rule, characterized by the rule of a military institution, rather than military strongman rule, characterized by the rule by a military personalist dictator. This is because territorial threats make the military more internally unified and cohesive, which helps the military rule as an institution. Existing studies provide a fair amount of empirical evidence consistent with this claim. External territorial threats are found to increase the likelihood of military regimes, particularly collegial military regimes, as well as the likelihood of military coups. The same is not true of non-territorial threats. This indicates that the type of external threat, rather than the mere presence of an external threat, matters.

The presented study examines methods for analyzing and managing sustainable economic development of Russian regions and possible criteria for assessing and improving sustainability.Aim. The study aims to provide a theoretical and empirical justification for the use of regional competitive attractiveness assessment to manage economic development and improve its sustainability.Tasks. Based on the measurement and analysis of economic competitive attractiveness indicators and their mathematical treatment, the authors assess the sustainability of development of Russian regions in 2013–2017 and the causes of deviations from progressive growth.Methods. This study proposes a mathematical tool for measuring the sustainability of Russian regions by assessing their competitive attractiveness and develops a typology of sustainability in the mathematical space of two variables.Results. Methods for analyzing and managing the sustainability of economic development of Russian regions under the influence of political and economic challenges and risks are proposed. The level and dynamics of regional competitive attractiveness are taken as a criterion of sustainability of economic development. The authors provide methods and indicators for assessing economic competitive attractiveness and criteria for measuring the sustainability of development, which allow them to draw conclusions about the reaction of different regions to the challenges and risks of development in 2013–2017. The study proposes a management scheme for sustainable regional development with a focus on the comprehensive improvement of regional economic competitive attractiveness and potential ways to improve it, including training of municipal and regional managers in crisis management associated with economic and political challenges and risks.Conclusions. Based on the proposed criterion of economic development sustainability and assessment of the competitive attractiveness of regions and their rankings, it is shown that in 2013–2017 45 out of 83 regions were developing sustainably; by 2017, 19 regions out of the 32 that suffered losses in the competitive attractiveness level and rankings in 2015–2016 have managed to restore the sustainability of economic development and their rankings. This study proves that regions with a high level of economic competitive attractiveness show increased sustainability of development.

This essay examines the complexities of civilizational collapse, proposing that it is not a singular event but a prolonged process driven by internal conflicts and external threats. It begins by defining the concept of collapse and uses historian Jared Diamond’s perspective to analyze how internal strife, such as loss of cultural identity, conflicting ideologies, and political division, can initiate the decline of a civilization due to a fragmentation of social solidarity. The essay then uses historical examples of the Islamic and Roman Empires to illustrate the importance of social solidarity for the survival of civilizations. It also discusses the internal challenges faced by modern civilization, including issues brought about by globalization, political polarization, East-West conflicts, global supply chain shortages, and how these factors can erode solidarity, posing a risk of collapse to the contemporary “world civilization.” The essay concludes by highlighting that internal conflicts and the absence of social solidarity are the primary causes of civilizational collapse, a theory that remains relevant for understanding the challenges faced by the global civilization today.

In the ancient world, ruling a large-scale, multi-lingual and pluri-ethnic political entity—an ‘empire’—caused multiple challenges for government, even in periods without external threat or internal strife. The following article tries to give an overview of the central tasks of bureaucracy in the ancient world: organization of the vast territories, communication and jurisdiction, mobilization of resources, internal control of public officials. Moreover, the interaction between empires and bureaucracies is examined: The importance of bureaucracy in the formation of states, in the establishment of literality as well as public memory and legal security through the creation of extensive archives. Wherever sufficient written evidence has been preserved (in the cuneiform archives of Mesopotamia, in the papyri of Egypt and in the epigraphic cultures of the Greeks and Romans), we encounter highly differentiated hierarchies, increasingly complex workflows and comprehensive documentation. The chronological range of this survey spans the empires of the third millennium BCE in the Middle East and Egypt to the Later Roman Empire.

From 1966 to 1989, the South African Defence Force (SADF) was involved in a low-intensity war in Namibia, the so-called ‘Border War’. To secure sufficient manpower to defend themselves against internal and external threats from liberation movements, often supported by the Soviet Union, the National Party introduced increasingly comprehensive systems of conscription for white males. In the main, though there was opposition from English-speaking churches, the war and conscription was supported by the mainstream Afrikaans churches in South Africa. As such, they supported a comprehensive Chaplain’s Service that reached all corners of the SADF. However, the SADF also made use of units that were not primarily made up of white South Africans. Once such unit was 32 Battalion, constituted from soldiers that used to belong to the National Front for the Liberation of Angola. When they joined the SADF, the soldiers brought their families with them, necessitating the SADF to care, physically and spiritually, for both soldiers and civilians. This article examines the role that chaplains played in a unit that fell on the periphery of the SADF’s commitment; though they were almost continuously involved in fighting for the SADF, to a large extent they fell outside of the normal military structures. Drawing extensively on primary sources, often recently declassified, the study provides an ecclesiological perspective on the influence of chaplains and religion on the men and women associated with 32 Battalion and contributes to the larger discourse about the relationship between religion and the military. Extant primary and secondary sources have been consulted including interviews with relevant anonymised respondents.

The article examines and draws attention to the issues and problems related to ensuring the financial security of the State, and pays attention to various threats to the stability of the financial security of the State in the current conditions of economic and political challenges. It is noted that financial security is a component of national security, one of the most important components of economic security, and that such security is a guarantee of economic development and sustainability of the country, ensures the sovereignty and integrity of the entire country, as well as a decent standard of living for its citizens. The author characterizes the internal and external threats that affect the sustainability of the financial security of the State. Attention is drawn to the need for timely detection and prevention of threats affecting the sustainability of the financial security of the State. Threats to the financial security of the state have been identified, including: non-compliance with the principle of the rule of law; imperfection of public administration in ensuring financial security; inefficiency of the system of control over the expenditure of budget funds; ill-considered monetary and credit policy of the state; inefficiency of the tax system; corruption of state bodies and pressure on business; excessive deficit of the State Budget; «shadow» economy; growth of external debt; outflow of human capital and demographic crisis; irrational use of foreign loans and financial assistance. Reference is made to the interpretations of well-known Ukrainian scientists regarding the definition of the financial security of the state and threats to such security. Attention is paid to the relevance of the issue of threats to the stability of the financial security of the state in modern conditions, namely in global challenges, economic uncertainty and military conflicts. Phenomena and factors that can lead to the creation of external threats to national security in the financial sphere are listed. Special attention is paid to such threats to the sustainability of the state’s financial security as the rule of law and human capital. Statistical data on the departure of citizens abroad are provided. The main recommendations and ways to ensure financial security in the current conditions are proposed, taking into account the current threats to the sustainability of financial security.

A country's geostrategic position is critical to its economic growth and development, particularly in terms of its international border interactions. Pakistan is located on the gulf's doorstep. The countries of the Persian Gulf are usually recognized as the global economic epicenter due to oil and natural gas resources. The study's overarching purpose was to better comprehend Pakistan's diplomatic ties with Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Oman. The study focused on their political, religious, cultural, and economic collaboration. The paper sought to focus on and deepen understanding of how mutual collaboration and a security alliance might generate mutual benefits. How successful has the political coalition of these states in the face of religious divisions, economic challenges, and external threats from India, Afghanistan, and Iran? This study used qualitative research methods such as analysis, description, and argumentation. This study relied on primary and secondary sources and a qualitative approach was used. Books, magazines, earlier studies and findings, articles, and case studies were the most often employed tools by researchers. The research shows that the Gulf States and Pakistan have been allies for decades, working together to secure their territory from global threats and assisting each other in economic and political advancement.

System approach to natural versus manufactured hydrogen: An interdisciplinary perspective on a new primary energy source

ABSTRACTThis article is an examination of the history of Strachey’s work as the editor of the International Journal of Psycho-Analysis, work that was shaped by the internal strife within British psychoanalysis and the great international conflict of the Second World War. From the primary sources it has been possible to give an account of how he came to be in charge of the Journal, why he was suited to the role, and also to provide an example of what he was like as an editor dealing with colleague-contributors. It is argued that due to his long-held belief in free speech and candour, and because he was committed to resisting to the utmost a split within the British Psycho-Analytical Society, James Strachey wanted to make both the papers and the ensuing discussions of the Controversies public through the International Journal of Psycho-Analysis. As described here, that did not happen in a simple way but he succeeded in publishing papers directly related to the debate by fostering investigation into the subject of internal objects. He also gave space in the Journal to new writers and a plurality of theories, including the nascent object relations theories of D.W. Winnicott and John Bowlby.

This paper attempts to show how nationalism has served to transcend political, social, economic and cultural challenges in Ethiopia. Nationalists in Ethiopia have attempted to harness national cohesion against threats from both within and outside of Ethiopia. External threats have always provided an opportunity to mobilize the citizens and suppress internal dissent in the name of national identity. This paper discusses different forms of nationalism in Ethiopia and attempts to demonstrate that in the conflict between Eritrea and Ethiopia, though territory and economic issues indeed played a role, to reduce the causes of conflict merely to these two factors is a mistake. This conflict has to be approached from a political-psychological aspect as well. Unless there is a change in the expression of nationalism and in the perception of national identity, it will be difficult to address the dynamic of the Eritrean-Ethiopian border conflict and find lasting solutions.

This chapter examines issues of female access to higher education in Nigeria and the equity and empowerment interventions available to female staff and students in higher educational institutions (HEIs) in the light of Items 4 and 5 of the Sustainable Development Goals. It focuses on the major challenges, responses, their drivers, and their effectiveness. Statistical and existing qualitative data are used to highlight the persistent sociocultural, economic, political, security, and policy challenges that continue to negatively impact female participation and experiences in higher education. It advocates enactment and implementation of legislation and institutional policies to promote gender equity, gendering of the curriculum, females' equitable and quality participation in leadership positions, and better security from internal and external threats. Advocacy to foster widespread attitudinal change and collaboration on global and regional development initiatives marked by national priorities should facilitate the attainment of these goals. .

The article considers the peculiarities of formation of threats to budget security in Ukraine in modern conditions. The theoretical and methodological foundations of budget security are studied, and the classification features of these threats are revealed. Threats to budget security are systematized by sources of origin into economic, fiscal, political, external and technological threats. The main causes and consequences of the formation of threats to budget security are considered and the impact on the socio-economic development of the country is determined. It is found that one of the most significant threats to the budget security of Ukraine is the high level of shadow economy, which leads to offshoring of the economy. The main changes in the formation of threats to budget security in the context of martial law in Ukraine are analyzed. The main emphases of budget planning and distribution of budgetary resources among the most strategically important sectors of the economy in the context of large-scale military operations in Ukraine are identified. The relevance of this topic lies in the fact that budget security is an important aspect of the stable functioning of the state, especially in the context of current economic and political challenges. Ukraine, like many other countries, faces various threats that may negatively affect its budget security. In addition, in the current environment, Ukraine is experiencing a difficult economic and financial situation due to internal and external factors, primarily due to a full-scale military invasion of the country, which creates additional challenges for ensuring the country's budget security. It is worth noting that the formation of threats to budget security in Ukraine in the current environment requires a thorough analysis and understanding of their origin, mechanisms of influence and consequences. This will help to develop effective strategies and measures to ensure the budget security of Ukraine. Thus, budgetary security plays an important role in ensuring the financial security of the country and is one of its top priorities, allowing to ensure the financial capacity of the state through the mechanism of balancing the revenue and expenditure side of budgets of different levels.

ABSTRACT: China's expansion into Latin America might well outflank US rebalance in Asia. The United States needs a broader strategic option, one capable of ensuring access to markets and of reducing future strategic risk to US interests in Latin America. ********** The rise of Chinese power in Asia-Pacific region and in Latin America is a growing concern for US strategy. Recent US focus on Middle East has facilitated Beijing's political, economic, and military expansion from Pacific into South America. A new global economy has opened opportunities for growth and development with China and others in Asia-Pacific. Some countries have responded with commitment to China in terms of economic trade and investment. In addition, governments such as Peru, Chile, Colombia, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica have pledged international political support for Chinese interests, arms sales, and military training and education cooperation. These developments challenge US strategy, as Chinese presence in both regions is arguably part of an intensifying competition between Beijing and United States. This developing trans-Pacific interdependency between two regions creates one integrated problem rather than two separate regional ones. The growing cooperation between governments in both regions and China presents political, economic, and military challenges that call for incorporation of Western Hemisphere into a Asia-Pacific strategy. Evan Ellis notes, the principal strategic imperative for United States historically has been, and continues to be, region's geographic and economic connectedness to this country. (1) First, different political interests of United States and China can create tension and instability, or deny US access in both regions. Second, extensive trade and investment agreements across both regions are creating economic interdependencies and undermining US influence, and generating further political, social, and economic tensions. Third, People's Republic of China's (PRC) military posture and forward presence in South China Sea aims to improve its anti-access and area-denial (A2AD) capacity. The PRC's military expansion through arms sales and other means provide security alternatives for Latin American governments and support Chinese military power in Asia-Pacific region. For these reasons, rebalancing to Asia does not adequately address growing interdependencies between two regions and Beijing's pursuit of its interests. Accordingly, United States must adapt its regional approach to Asia. Cross-regional cooperation in policy areas outside trade and investment is emerging independently, such as military training and arms sales, which demands a more holistic and synchronized approach. Without a broader Pacific strategy, non-economic cooperation can hinder United States and security and prosperity of its allies and partners. The United States should expand rebalance to Asia into a trans-Pacific strategy that incorporates Latin America. Without a transpacific strategy, a US regional approach will only create strategic risk, and enable China to draw on its influence in Western Hemisphere to support its interests elsewhere. This article examines political, economic, and military challenges posed by China's increasing influence in both regions, and discusses why a new trans-Pacific strategy can best address them. Political Challenges Beijing's political actions in Latin America and Asia-Pacific region are creating an integrated cross-regional problem for US interests rather than two separate regional ones. In response to Chinese actions in latter, United States has strengthened its regional relations and defense cooperation with Australia, Japan, and South Korea. Meanwhile, China's actions have resulted in more political influence (in Western Hemisphere) with traditional and non-traditional US partners, potentially undermining US values and relationships. …