The conceipts of a complex conflict landscape as an enlargement of the terminological toolkit of the journalistic covering of international issues

Abstract

The article is concentrated on the study of the possibilities of enlargement the terminological aspect of the international issues of mass media due to the use of current conceipts and terms of scientific literature upon international relations. The author’s attention is focused on the approaches conceiving the complicated conflict landscape of today. The problem of defining the term the Gray Zone (or Grey Zone) and the possibility of using relevant terms in the journalistic text while analyzing modern international conflicts is considered in detail. It is proposed to deepen the level of analysis of hybrid war phenomena due to the use of the terms “complicated conflict landscape/“gray zone”/“gray strategy” by journalists writing on international topics. With regard to the Russian-Ukrainian war, the correct use of the terms of international issues of mass media is of great importance. In terms of the application of concepts and terms, it is necessary to distinguish in which journalistic genres the author is expected to address this problem, namely, which material is being written: is it informational or analytical one. According to the informational genres, if the mass media reports on a separate event that is clearly in the context of the “gray zone” phenomenon, a brief description of the level of the complicated conflict landscape can act as a background. Analytical genres look quite promising because of a more complex terminological level is assumed. In its further perspectives, the research is focused on the optimization of the practical side, the available results of the study can be used to improve the training of international journalists, in particular, it seems quite logical to take a future scientific task to clarify the terms of a secondary level.