Diplomatic Aspects Research Articles

Enhancing South–South Ties: Some Effects of Educational Collaboration between Brazil and PALOP

ABSTRACT This article discusses the dialogue and circulation of scientific knowledge in the South-South context between Brazil and the African Portuguese Speaking Countries (PALOP), focusing on the Political Science and Political Sociology fields. The main questions are: What strategies have been implemented to foster educational cooperation between Brazil and African countries? How much and for whom do these policies provide educational opportunities? Methodologically, the analysis covers historical, political, and diplomatic aspects that have driven collaboration between Brazil and PALOP in education. We based our analysis on a qualitative literature review, triangulated with quantitative data from Brazilian educational policies. The main conclusion is that Brazil has played a relevant role in training PALOP professionals in recent decades through its foreign policy in the educational field, enabling an epistemic dialogue between Africa and Latin America. Therefore, educational cooperation establishes bridges connecting the Brazilian way of thinking and building Social Sciences and the scientific approaches developed in the PALOP, which can serve as an example for other countries that want to strengthen South-South knowledge production.

Wewenang Presiden dalam Pemberian Grasi Kepada Terpidana Warga Negara Asing

The granting of clemency is a constitutional authority vested in the president, allowing the reduction of sentences or the release of convicts. This study aims to examine the authority of the Indonesian president in granting clemency to foreign convicts, with a case study on President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's clemency granted to Schapelle Corby, an Australian citizen involved in a marijuana smuggling case. This study uses a normative juridical approach with an analysis of the laws and regulations governing clemency, as well as a review of the political, legal, and diplomatic aspects influencing the president's decision. The research also utilizes secondary data such as legal documents, journal articles, and relevant media reports. The findings indicate that the president's authority to grant clemency, including to foreign nationals, is regulated by the constitution and clemency laws. The clemency granted to Schapelle Corby was influenced by various considerations, including diplomatic pressure from the Australian government, the convict's health condition, and humanitarian factors. This decision elicited various public reactions, both supportive and opposing, with arguments encompassing legal, ethical, and national interest aspects. The study concludes that although the president has full authority to grant clemency, the exercise of this power should take into account broader factors, including its impact on international relations and public perception of the judicial system. This case study provides important insights into the dynamics between law and politics in the practice of granting clemency in Indonesia.

Studying War in a Time of War: Russian Imperialism in the Seventeenth and Twenty-First Centuries

Abstract In the first two weeks of August, 535 Russian soldiers were seriously wounded in Eastern Ukraine. The year was 1678. 1678 saw some of the heaviest fighting in the Russo-Turkish of 1676–81, as the Ottoman and Russian Empires, alongside their local allies, struggled to gain control of the strategic location of Chyhyryn. In summer 2023, that town on the Dnipro was only around 300km from the front in the Russo-Ukraine war. To read about soldiers being injured and killed in service of imperial expansion three centuries ago as we watch the same empire engage in the same activities in the same location today brings home how history and the present are inescapably connected. Indeed, historians of violence have faced this problem before, as with a group at the University of Pittsburgh working on Gun Violence and Its Histories, who explicitly seek to use histories of violence to think about gun violence in the modern USA. Military histories have long been an established part of the study of Russian history, highlighting the technological, imperial, bureaucratic, and diplomatic aspects of organized state violence. The present moment demands a re-evaluation of histories of Russia at war, one that considers such issues as histories of disability and pain, and also engages with recent calls to decolonize Russian studies. Putting into dialogue these different perspectives on war and violence we can consider if, why, and how we can study the history of war during a time of war.

On making peace with nature: Visions and challenges towards an ecological diplomacy

AbstractThis article interrogates United Nations (UN) calls that ‘making peace with nature’ should become the crucial mission of the 21st century. It ponders the kind of diplomacy envisioned for such a reconciliation ecology to be credible. Drawing on one of the most promising and less known programmes of the UN system – namely, Harmony with Nature (HwN), which pioneers Earth-based jurisprudence and rights of nature – it conceptualises this diplomatic shift and assesses the conditions under which ecological diplomacy can be productively operationalised in the 21st century vis-à-vis a mere rhetorical appropriation and co-optation by intergovernmental agendas. Building on Indigenous thought and animist epistemologies, programmes such as HwN espouse a new relationship with Planet Earth and make it possible to explore ‘nature’ as diplomatic interlocutor. We argue that existing paradigms of peacebuilding fail to sufficiently capture the diplomatic aspects and complex local dynamics of the human–nature relationship and suggest a reconceptualisation based on an ecological diplomacy that is both expansive and transformative and views this relationship as one of troubled coexistence.

Discuss: Several Problems in the Chinese Ancient History Textbook of Zhu Shaohou Version

The textbook Ancient History of China edited by Zhu Shaohou and others is the most widely used textbook for the course "Chinese ancient history" of history majors in Chinese universities. This textbook has been revised multiple times in the past 40 years, but there are still many problems, such as contradictory expressions of the same problem, lack of pronunciation and meaning labeling of rare characters in ancient literature, omission of legal and diplomatic aspects in the history of Song and Yuan , inaccurate use of historical materials, and obvious untrue statements; Part of the content is outdated, neglecting the important role of maps, schematics, datasheets, and physical photos in students' construction of specific historical time and space and understanding of relevant content. These issues reveal that there is room for improvement at all stages of the compilation process of undergraduate history textbooks in Chinese universities, and it is urgent to attract the attention of the historical community and management departments.

The British Program for the "Reconstruction in Europe" in 1922: Political and Diplomatic Aspects

The article examines the process of formation of the British program for the "reconstruction of Europe" and the diplomatic efforts of Prime Minister D. Lloyd George to promote it on the eve and during the Genoa Conference of 1922. The Conference was one of the key events of European diplomacy between the two world wars. In 1922, thirty four nations met to restore peace between victors and vanquished, reestablish ties between Soviet Russia and the West, and promote the economic reconstruction in Europe. The relevance of the problem under study is due to the controversial assessments of the Genoa Conference in modern foreign and domestic historiography. Considering the content of these discussions, the authors of the articles proceed from the fact that Lloyd George proposed to hold a major economic and political conference to re-energise the European economy and revive the flagging fortunes of his coalition government. He believed that if Russia was opened to world trade, this would enable Germany to prosper and pay reparations to Britain and France, who could then repay their American war debts. Germany's agreement with the new principles of relations with the winners would abate France’s security fears, thus contributing to the stabilization of the Versailles world order. However, the British program was not implemented, because Soviet Russia and Germany concluded the Treaty of Rapallo. Analyzing the reasons for the failure of D. Lloyd George, the authors come to the conclusion that they stem from the basic contradiction between the large-scale plan and the diplomatic miscalculations made by the British delegation on the eve and during the conference.

Biden Administration’s Nuclear Posture Review: Analysis and Assessment

ABSTRACT The Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) by the Biden Administration was published in October 2022. What is its focus and how should we evaluate it? How is it different from previous administrations? Does the NPR reflect Biden’s proactive statements before its publication? This article introduces and examines pressing issues of the international security environment and threat perceptions, nuclear deterrence, declaratory policy, arms control, and nuclear capability as reflected in the NPR. Analysis is presented from two aspects, military and diplomacy, as the NPR emphasizes to “put diplomacy first”. The military aspects of the NPR, to strengthen and modernize nuclear deterrence as the main role of nuclear weapons, is strongly emphasized. On the other hand, diplomatic aspects of the NPR are narrowly and superficially treated, and it does not include proactive proposals. Future NPRs should include military and diplomatic positions more equally.

Financial Innovation Leads the Construction of “One Belt, One Road”

Whether the investment and trade in the “One Belt, One Road” construction can be carried out smoothly, whether the infrastructure projects can be completed on time, and whether the investment of “One Belt, One Road” by various foundations and banks can ensure the social benefits and economic benefits are both harvested. Depends on whether there are advanced financial concepts and sustainable financial policies. In the era of knowledge economy, finance is not only a means of social resource allocation and management, but also a link between the development of a country's social, economic, cultural, and diplomatic aspects. In order to further promote the construction of the “One Belt, One Road” in a stable, orderly and efficient manner, a new financial system must be guaranteed to lead the “One Belt, One Road” construction through financial innovation.

Determining the future status of Transcarpathia after the First World War: diplomatic, legal, historical aspects

An attempt is made to consider the peculiarities of diplomatic, legal and historical aspects of determining the future status of Transcarpathia after the First World War. It is pointed out that for many peoples of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the First World War, in which they were involved against their will, gave the opportunity for radical changes in their further development, including the opportunity to gain freedom. It was established that the low level of culture, the small number of its own intelligentsia, interfaith misunderstandings and conflicts, the lack of its own literary language allowed the Hungarian authorities to manipulate the local Ruthenian population for their own purposes.
 It is noted that in the early twentieth century, before and during the First World War, Ruthenian politicians did not develop a specific concept of state and legal status of Transcarpathia. Inherent in the political and legal thought of the time was the attempt to improve their cultural and material position by granting cultural and ecclesiastical autonomy, which was to be established within Hungary. Even during the war, the Ruthenian political elite did not clearly articulate demands to the Hungarian government to change the position of its own people.
 The analysis of the works of scientists made in the study made it possible to conclude that although the movement for reunification with Ukraine at this time was massive, it could not be unanimous. Evidence in favor of this conclusion is not only the mentioned reasons and features of sociopolitical life of the region, but also the fact that soon, supporting the position of Uzhgorod and Presov Soviets on joining Czechoslovakia, reoriented all other councils operating in Transcarpathia. In addition, with the occupation of Ukraine by Bolshevik Russia in 1919, the opportunity to unite with the conciliar Ukrainian state was lost. In this situation, the only possible way to ensure the further progressive development of Transcarpathia was to include it in the democratic Czechoslovak Republic.

Soft power in therapeutic comedy: outlining Nigeria’s creative industry through digital comic skits

Literature on the substance and ideational value of soft power is not in short supply. In Africa, although these studies are only beginning to emerge, many aspects of possible soft power sources are yet to be exhaustively explored. In this study, we examine the communicative function of humour beyond its therapeutic and entertainment value but as a soft power variable for nation branding. The aim of this article is therefore to provide an analysis of the soft power in Nigeria’s creative industry with emphasis on its growing digital comedy. To achieve this, the authors rely on primary data collected through online semi-structured interviews and comments from transnational interviewees who are viewers and admirers of the Mark Angel Comedy skits selected for the study. From our analysis of their responses, we submit that Nigeria’s digital comedy skits offer some soft power possibilities in several aspects of diplomacy and the positive affirmation of ‘Nigerianness’ as subtle ways of repositioning Nigeria’s receding image in the international sphere.

A War for Life

The author outlines several periods and peculiarities of the russian-Ukrainian war of 2014–22. Within each of the seven periods, the author reaches beyond the significant military operations and names the political and diplomatic aspects that have influenced both the state of military and political events in general and the russian-Ukrainian confrontation and war in particular. For example, russia’s occupation of Crimea in 2014 is highlighted as an act of military aggression against Ukraine, a historical and legal falsification, and an international crime committed by the russian federation. The article offers an insight into the evolution of russian aggression and Ukrainian resistance. The author emphasises that the full-scale attack launched on 24 February 2022 as part of the broader russian-Ukrainian war is simultaneously characterised by its encompassing destructive extent, as well as civilisational and existential nature. The goal of the russian federation is the extermination of Ukraine and the entire Ukrainian nation; therefore, this is a total war. Starting from the early moments of the war, its five main fronts were clearly defined: Northern, Eastern, and Southern military frontlines, diplomacy, and people’s resistance. The people of Ukraine revolted against russia’s unjust war, and they defend statehood and the right to life. The article emphasises that the russian-Ukrainian war actually goes beyond the framework of a bilateral conflict and has signs of a general crisis in the world security system, which will lead to changes of global significance. Keywords: russian-Ukrainian war, periodisation, Minsk agreements, Anti-Terrorist Operation, Joint Forces Operation.

Contributors

Previous article FreeContributorsPDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmailQR Code SectionsMoreSungmin Cho is a professor at the Daniel K. Inouye Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies in Hawaii. His research focuses on democratization, authoritarian resilience, and Chinese and North Korean politics. Cho’s most recent scholarly articles appear in World Politics (2021) and Security Nexus (2021).Kecheng Fang (方可成) is an assistant professor at the School of Journalism and Communication, The Chinese University of Hong Kong. His research interests include journalism, political communication, and digital media. Before joining academia, he worked as a political journalist at the Chinese newspaper Southern Weekly.Jennie Jin is a special projects and disinterment manager at the scientific analysis directorate at America’s Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency. As an anthropologist, her interests include the scientific and diplomatic aspects of the recovery and identification of missing US service members from past conflicts.Adam Y. Liu (刘遥) is assistant professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore. His main research interests include Chinese politics and political economy. He is currently working on a book project that explores how central-local politics drove the formation, expansion, and operation of what he calls an “authoritarian market” in China’s banking sector. The project is based on his dissertation, which won the 2020 BRICS Economic Research Award. He received his Ph.D. in political science from Stanford University and was a postdoctoral associate with the Leitner Program in International and Comparative Political Economy at Yale University.Jean C. Oi is the William Haas Professor of Chinese Politics in the Department of Political Science at Stanford University and a Senior Fellow there at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI). Oi has published extensively on political economy and the process of reform in China. Recent books include Fateful Decisions: Choices That Will Shape China’s Future, co-edited with Thomas Fingar (2020); and Zouping Revisited: Adaptive Governance in a Chinese County, co-edited with Steven Goldstein (2018). Her current research continues to explore central-local relations, including local government debt. She is also in the early stages of a project on China’s Belt and Road Initiative.Fengshi Wu (吴逢时) is associate professor in politics and international relations at University of New South Wales, Sydney. Her current research focuses on environmental movements and governance in authoritarian and hybrid polities.Kai Yang (杨凯) is a PhD candidate at the Department of Government and Public Administration, The Chinese University of Hong Kong. He is currently a visiting researcher at the Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley. His research interests cover contentious politics and authoritarian learning. His research article has appeared in The China Quarterly.Shen Yang (楊燊) is an assistant professor in the School of Graduate Studies and the Department of Political Science at Lingnan University in Hong Kong. His main research interests cover political contentions and Internet politics, with a focus on mainland China and Hong Kong. He has published articles in peer-reviewed journals including Law & Social Inquiry, Social Movement Studies, and Voluntas.Yi Zhang (张一) is chief economist of Zhonghai Shengrong Asset Management Group. He was a visiting scholar at the Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (APARC), Stanford University. His main research interests are China’s fiscal system and policy studies of Chinese local government. He received his PhD from the Institute of World Economics and Politics (IWEP), the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Previous article DetailsFiguresReferencesCited by The China Journal Volume 87January 2022 Published on behalf of the Australian Centre on China in the World at the Australian National University Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/719039 Views: 430 © 2021 The Australian National University. All rights reserved.PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

The diplomatic tandem of the USA and NATO in world politics

The article discusses various aspects of the activities of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in the preparation of a new strategic concept (SC-2021). Advocating a decisive expansion of the range of NATO's capabilities to respond promptly to modern challenges, politicians and the military refer to the presence of new key threats that were not discussed in the previous strategic concepts of the bloc. The complex of such challenges and threats carries one of the fundamental functions in the development of the document. However, the leading place is given to the scrupulous consideration of doctrinal documents being developed in the United States: the national security strategy, military doctrine, nuclear policy review, the stake dictated from overseas on the military deterrence of Russia and some others. The internal and institutional factors of the bloc's development, the diplomatic and military aspects of the alliance's policy play an important role. NATO's focus on the role of a global player in tandem with the United States determines the development of the military technosphere of the bloc, which focuses on cognitive warfare and artificial intelligence. The preservation of the function of NATO as the main tool of the United States in the confrontation with Russia determines the buildup of the military presence of the bloc at the borders of our country, the conduct of military exercises according to provocative scenarios, the military development of Ukraine. An analysis of NATO's transformation, including a change in military strategy and a bet on the development of new technologies, each of which has a threatening subversive and destabilizing potential, makes it necessary to develop a comprehensive counteraction program in Russia. Particular attention should be paid to the development of strategies to counter cognitive warfare, the work on which, along with artificial intelligence, is the focus of the alliance's innovative efforts. NATO has been and remains one of the important actors in the global struggle and relies on the combined use of force and non-force methods and means of influencing the enemy, the use of innovative technologies, which requires Russia, its allies and partners to respond immediately and carefully coordinated across the entire spectrum of threats and challenges.

Католические миссионеры на южных российских окраинах в первой половине XVIII в. (по документам Архива внешней политики Российской империи)

Introduction. The article concentrates on the religious policy of the Russian Empire in the Early Modern Time. For the first time in historiography, a study was carried out concerning the place of Catholic missionaries who settled on the southern outskirts of Russia, in the religious policy of Russian secular and spiritual authorities. Materials and methods. The base of the study was the correspondence of the Collegium of Foreign Affairs with the Holy Synod, as well as other institutions and officials, characterizing the scale of the presence and direction of activity of Catholic orders on the territory of Russia. The methodology of the study has been determined by the structural and functional approach to the system of state bodies of Russia. In combination with this approach, a historical-genetic method was used, which is optimal for understanding the evolution of the structure of power in the Russian Empire from the time of Peter the Greatto the middle of the reign of Empress Elizaveta Petrovna. The results of the research are presented in the section “Catholic missionaries in the south of Russia by the middle of the 18th century: political and diplomatic aspects”. In it, the Capuchin Order is designated as the most active force of Catholic missionary work in the Russian south, which managed to prevail over others Catholic orders in dispute for influencing on the ethno-confessional groups of the studied region. It has been determined that the Capuchins in Russia gained constant diplomatic support from the Austrian monarchy. The activity of missionaries in Astrakhan and Nizhyn was traced, the place of the Armenian communities in the missionary plans of the Capuchins on the territory of Russia is shown. The influence on the position of the Capuchins of Russian-Austrian relations is emphasized, in particular of the “Austrian system” — the orientation of Russian diplomacy towards the Austrian court. The idea is carried out that the attitude of the Russian authorities in the capital and in the localities towards the Capuchins in such conditions was indifferent or patronizing, while in fact the Russian secular authorities did not take into account the violation of the prerogatives of the ruling Orthodox (Greek-Russian) church. In order of discussion (part “Missionaries in the Russian Borderlands: source study andhistoriographical observations” of the abovementioned section of the article), the main interpretations of Catholic missionaryism, found in the literature on Catholicism in Russia, have been identified. Conclusion. The author states that the reasons for the interest of Catholic missionaries to the southern Russian outskirts and their population were objective. The reaction of the Russian secular authorities to such an interest was little, and their awareness of the legal necessity of appropriate regulatory measures developed slowly.

Ecole des Annals and Iraqi Perception: Its Impact on Early Iraqi Historians

The article is a study of the Ecole des annals' impact on the first generation of Iraqi historians and historiography during the 20th century. The Ecole des annals had emerged as a reaction of the 1st world war disasters and its destructive results which implicated on the political, economic and intellectual situations in Europe during the interwar period. The school had founded in 1929 by two French historians: Marc Bloch (1886-1944) and Lucien Febvre (1878-1956), and published its first journal " Annales d'histoire économique et sociale", in addition to publications of the school which concentrated on social and economic history, and kept away from the political history which was the main interest of "École méthodique" (Methodological school) since late 19th century and its journal " Revue historique" at 1876. The annals school had important influences on the European and American, and then world historiography since its rise up to present. The school had moved the historiography from political and diplomatic aspects to social, intellectual and economic issues.

Hyperinflation, depression, and the rise of Adolf Hitler

Hyperinflation, depression, and the rise of Adolf Hitler

History as diplomacy in early modern Europe. Emanuel van Meteren’s Historia Belgica and international relations, 1596–1640

AbstractThe history of historiography has tended to disregard translations of early modern European vernacular histories. Whereas sixteenth‐ and seventeenth‐century histories frequently circulated in various languages, scholarship has predominantly analysed them in national historiographical silos. This article argues that this practice has led us to underestimate the role vernacular histories could play in international relations. By analysing the case of Emanuel van Meteren’s history of the Dutch Revolt, which was translated, adapted, and reprinted in various European vernaculars, it aims to show how we might understand early modern history‐writing as an aspect of diplomacy: a mode of writing and reporting that was deeply embedded in diplomatic culture and that aimed to shape, and was shaped by, international relations. To achieve this, the article 1) shows how Van Meteren’s historical work was an outcome of his trade in diplomatic intelligence and his position in diplomatic networks; 2) outlines the complicated international afterlife of his Dutch text; 3) analyses the book’s impact on international relations. All three aspects, it is suggested, are typical for the kind of annalistic history‐writing Van Meteren practiced. His case might therefore serve as a model for further research into the role of history‐writing in early modern (public) diplomacy.

Why did President Obama Not Recognize the Armenian Genocide? Hints from the Obama Administration Memoirs – and Other Sources

Why did President Obama Not Recognize the Armenian Genocide? Hints from the Obama Administration Memoirs – and Other Sources
 This paper discusses the reasons and processes that led the Obama administration to notrecognize the Armenian Genocide. Although Barack Obama had promised he would doso during his presidential campaign of 2008, he never did once in office, despite many of his administration members, including Vice-President Joe Biden and Secretaries of State Hillary Clinton and John Kerry, having strong records in support of such a recognition. To investigate this hitherto poorly explored question, this paper uses primarily — although not exclusively — memoirs written by Barack Obama and members his administration, some of them addressing the issue directly, others dealing with it indirectly. This study focuses on President Obama’s personal choice, and therefore responsibility, to not recognize the genocide, but also expands on the geopolitical determinants of this non-recognition (related mostly to the geostrategic importance of Turkey) as well as on its diplomatic aspects (involving particularly the argument that US recognition would hamper a hypothetical Turkey-Armenia rapprochement). Two episodes of possible presidential recognition of the genocide will be particularly discussed; one in April 2009 (three months after Obama became president of the United States and coinciding with April 24, the anniversary of the genocide), and the other in 2015 (corresponding to its centenary). Finally, stress will be placed on the positions and role of the president’s entourage at the White House, and on his State and Defense Secretaries.

Politics, Patronage, and Diplomacy

When a hymnbook is placed outside its more expected hymnological environment and put in a wider contextual framework, particularly a political one with significant diplomatic aspects, a better appreciation is gained of the hymnbook and the circumstances of its compilation. Critically, the complexity and progressive transparency of hymn transmission from one country to another is also revealed. This article focuses on Prussian diplomat Christian Karl Josias von Bunsen and his Gesang-und Gebetbuchs (1833). A primary source for several translators, notably Catherine Winkworth (1827–1878), the hymnbook directly affected the movement of many hymns from Germany to England, Scotland, and Australia.

Global perspectives on science diplomacy: Exploring the diplomacy‐knowledge nexus in contemporary histories of science

Contemporary scholarship concerning science diplomacy is increasingly taking a historical approach. In our introduction to this special issue, we argue that this approach promises insight into science diplomacy because of the tools historians of science bring to their work. In particular, we observe that not only are historians of science currently poised to chart the diplomatic aspects involved in the transnational circulation of technoscientific knowledge, materials, and expertise. They are ready to bring critical global analysis to an important phenomenon that has too often been treated as a benign diplomacy device deployed by the Global North without equal reference to the Global South. Through cases discussed in the articles of the special issue, however, we see that historically, in the Global South as well as the Global North, science diplomacy has often functioned to mediate the circulation of technoscientific knowledge and materials, and its historical study helps to better illuminate the resulting knowledge-power nexus.