Domestic Political Developments Research Articles

All About China?

Combining international relations and critical geopolitics literature with a public opinion survey in Thailand that delves into some rarely explored and sensitive questions to understand respondents’ political views and attitudes, we examine the extent to which domestic political developments can be understood through a US–China great power lens. Are politically progressive Thais more likely to be pro-US, and more politically conservative Thais likely to favor China? While we find some relationship between liberal domestic political leanings and sympathy for the United States, we also show that conservative domestic political leanings do not automatically translate into support for China. To view election outcomes in a country such as Thailand as “wins” for one or other great power would be highly misleading.

Navigating the Indo-Pacific: Vietnam's Hedging Strategies Amid the Geopolitical Rivalry Between China and the United States

Abstract: Vietnam has implemented hedging strategies in response to the geopolitical rivalry between China and the United States in the Indo-Pacific region. While the uncertainty from the dynamics of the Sino–US rivalry has been widely acknowledged, we examine how Vietnam's hedging strategy is also calibrated toward ongoing domestic political developments. We argue that while the international environment determines the overall structure of Vietnam's geopolitical hedging strategy, domestic factors, such as the success of Doi Moi, the interaction of party factions, and disagreements among public elites, influence the breadth of this strategy. Current global exigencies and internal domestic concerns require Hanoi to intelligently and delicately calibrate its interactions with great powers with little margin for error.

Accession Twenty Years On – Experiences, Expectations and Effects on the European Union: Introductory Remarks

Abstract This introduction summarizes the pathways up to and the experience of membership of the European Union of five recent member countries: Hungary, Romania, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia, all of which acceded in 2004 or, in the case of, Romania, in 2007. Key economic and domestic political developments as well as changes in public attitude to European integration are addressed using a comparative pattern; in addition, future research priorities are outlined in the hope of encouraging further academic and policy-oriented study both in the respective member countries and on the European scale.

Agribusiness and Supply Chain Development Policies in Nepal: A Review from Temporal Dynamics

A critical review of agriculture policies during different plan periods, aligned with political changes, has been conducted out to understand the shift in priorities, technology transfer ,support products, and private sector engagement. Firstly, in the 1950s, the policies were influenced by the first five-year plan and focused on the import and dissemination of technology. During the three decades of the Panchayat era, there was an emphasis on state mechanisms for technology transfer, agribusiness, and research, with limited incentives for the private sector. After 1990, agricultural policy products followed a path of liberalization and focused on defining the state’s role and promoting pluralism. This period witnessed the establishment of a wide range of private and cooperative-led agribusinesses, although their growth was hindered by political conflict. Subsequently, policies began to incorporate priorities such as nutrition security, comparative advantage, competitiveness, climate change adaptation, agrobiodiversity conservation, and sustainability. However, with the federalization of the state and establishment of a three-tier governance system in 2015, agriculture policies, priorities and strategies a became fragmented, diversified, and localized, and lack harmonization. This review demonstrates that agriculture policies were largely influenced by domestic political developments and structural changes at the international level. Nonetheless, a consistent focus on increasing production and productivity, as well as achieving food security and self-sufficiency, can be observed.. Throughout all policy periods, supply chain development, a crucial component of agribusiness, received limited prioritization, which remains a major impediment to agricultural transformation. Despite seven decades of policy evolution, Nepal has been unable to create an enabling policy environment to attract significant private and cooperative sector investments that could drive substantial growth in agribusiness. This situation calls for further research in the field of policy formulation capacity among the three tiers of government to foster agribusiness and promote supply chain development for agricultural transformation.

Aspects of Populism and Nostalgia in the akp’s Turkey

Abstract As a consequence of a long series of domestic and international political, economic and social developments that resulted in the rise of political Islam in Turkey, the Justice and Development Party (akp) came to power in 2002. Since then, it has been the dominant party in the country, developing a political narrative and a public discourse that have many attributes of modern populism. In line with its strategy to consolidate its power, the akp espouses a populist public discourse that is distinctive and multifaceted. One of its most important manifestations is the mobilization of the population through neo-Ottoman nostalgia, in a context of politicization of emotion to connect with the broader masses.

Battered by Geopolitical Winds, Bulgaria Struggles to Restart Much Needed Reforms

Battered by Geopolitical Winds, Bulgaria Struggles to Restart Much Needed Reforms

Russian-Japanese relations after Abe: A new stress test?

The article addresses qualitative changes in Russian-Japanese relations that occurred after the resignation of Shinzō Abe from the position of Prime Minister in 2020 due to the transformation of the international environment and domestic political developments in both countries. Among the international factors contributing to the deterioration of bilateral relations, the author particularly mentions confrontation between the Kremlin and the U.S after the change of administration in Washington in 2021, as well as a new aggravation of the situation around Ukraine in 2022. Continuing formation of a new system of geopolitical coordinates in Asia, in which only China can be considered by Russia an actual ally, while Japan, along with many of Russia’s Asian partners linked to the U.S., found themselves in the opposing camp, also played a role.The author focuses on the change in the Russian position on the issue of the peace treaty with Japan. The course was taken to demonstrate to Japan the futility of its stance on the issue of border demarcation with Russia. There has also been a transformation of the place and role of Japan in the internal ideological and propaganda discourse of Russia, where the focus on the «crimes of Japanese militarism» in East Asian countries is becoming increasingly evident. At the same time, the author considers Moscow’s critical attitude towards Japan not the result of a conscious ideological campaign directed specifically against Japan, but rather a reflection of the general atmosphere in the socio-political life of Russia.The author believes that the acquisition of a new «unfriendly» state in the face of Japan on the Far Eastern borders will become a military and political risk factor for Russia and will inevitably damage its security. Meanwhile, Russia should rethink its position given that, geostrategically, it is important for it to have strong partnership relations with Japan.

Political Song in Thomas Jefferson’s Scrapbooks: A Multifaceted Commemoration of His Presidency

The political songs in a scrapbook volume attributed to Thomas Jefferson record a multi-faceted commemoration of a presidency that spans both personal and public commemoration practices at the local and national levels. To analyze the significance of political song at this nexus of personal and public commemoration, this article considers the scrapbook as both a physical artifact and as a commemorative work in progress. Creating the scrapbook during a transitional period in American collecting that was bound up with practices of reading, writing, and commemoration, Jefferson organized the political songs to bracket off a major period in his life while emphasizing public commemorative practices. Jefferson used the collection to track domestic political developments among a larger republican constituency and record Americans’ responses to international struggles, including those that developed into the greatest challenges of his second term. Reading the political songs in conjunction with Jefferson’s correspondence deepens our understanding of how music and politics relate in practices of commemoration, while considering the collection’s temporality nuances our understanding of its intersections with Jefferson’s concern with self-assessment, public assessment, and reputation.

Measuring Turkey’s contemporary influence in Bosnia And Herzegovina: myth and reality

ABSTRACT Turkey and Bosnia and Herzegovina share deep historical, political, and cultural ties. Bilateral relations between the two have undergone several transformations in parallel with domestic and international political developments and in light of shifts in Turkey’s role in the international arena. After decades of negligent and isolationist policies, Ankara finally offered Bosnia a place in Turkish foreign policy following the end of the Cold War, as it came to occupy a position of significant importance for Turkey under the rule of political Islamist Justice and Development Party (AKP). However, Turkey’s influence has been debated in positive and negative ways at the same time often creating a contradiction between reality and discourse. This article aims to evaluate Turkey’s influence in Bosnia through interviews with experts on political, economic, cultural, media and religious ties between the two in order to portray the potentials and limits of Turkish foreign policy towards Bosnia.

Mahathir on COVID-19’s Impacts and Crisis Responses in Malaysia

At the age of 92, Mahathir Mohamad served his country as the Prime Minister for the second time. But unlike his first stint as the head of the government, which lasted 22 years, this time, his tenure was less than two years. His resignation, which was linked to some internal issues within the Pakatan Harapan (PH) allied parties, came at a time when many countries in the world were in the early stages of the coronavirus outbreak. Mahathir was aware of the power struggle that was adversely affecting the government's response to combat the virus transmission and reduce the rising number of COVID-19 infection cases. With his long experience in governance and as a former medical officer, Mahathir offered some advice and recommendations to the existing government on ways to address the public health crisis. Since the coronavirus outbreak, the domestic political and economic developments also drew his direct criticism and critical commentaries.

Prisoners of their own device: Brexit as a failed negotiating strategy

Brexit has occasioned a rightward shift in British politics as successive leaders have grappled with the difficulties of negotiating with the European Union and the vicissitudes of politics in the governing Conservative party. Explanations for the hardening of Eurosceptic preferences focus on the demands of ‘taking back control’ and the polarisation of post-referendum politics as key drivers. But they have not explored the ways in which negotiation strategies shaped – rather than reflected – domestic political developments. Drawing on two-level games accounts of ‘synergistic’ bargaining, this article argues both David Cameron and Theresa May sought to leverage Eurosceptic sentiment in their respective negotiations to make it more credible the United Kingdom would walk away if its demands were rejected. While both leaders failed to convey their resolve, they inadvertently strengthened Eurosceptic constituencies back home, contributing to the paucity – and the rejection – of their negotiated agreements.

Social wellbeing in Scotland – the ‘career network’ of a policy concept

Scotland presents a case where ‘social wellbeing’ as a policy concept and a societal aspiration has had considerable traction over the past decade. Wellbeing is now, according to Scotland’s outcomes-based National Performance Framework, at the centre of local and national policy-making. This article, by employing the analytical lens of governance networks, discusses how wellbeing has become such a prominent policy concept in Scotland. The article first maps the development of the concept through an analysis of the actors which make up the ‘wellbeing coalition’ and then discusses the role that these different actors played. Interviews and published documents form the basis for the analysis and also feed into software-supported social network analysis.The analysis shows that the Scottish Government is taking a central position in a fairly extensive wellbeing network composed almost exclusively of public and third sector organisations, with a very limited number of organisations being particularly prominent over the past decade. Contrary to expectations, the Scottish media took relatively little interest in the ‘wellbeing debate’, and academics played only a very minor role. It also highlights how a number of concurrent domestic and international political developments contributed to putting wellbeing on the agenda in Scotland, in particular the Global Financial Crisis and the subsequent recession.

РЕФОРМЫ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННОГО УПРАВЛЕНИЯ В ТУРЦИИ

This article focuses on public management reforms in Turkey and how the reform trajectory has changed over the past two decades. Reforms in Turkey represent a mixture of ideas and reform elements that are constantly evolving under the influence of foreign actors, especially the European Union, efforts to respond to global reform trends, and domestic political developments. The article is divided into three parts. The first part gives a brief picture of the political-administrative structure of the country. The second part provides a landscape of the reform initiatives in the last two decades. The third part examines the main challenges Turkey might face in the coming years in terms of implementing reforms and provides a discussion on how they can be addressed.

Politicization of everyday ethnicity and religion in North Macedonia

The aim of this article is to analyse the dynamics of religion-ethnicity relation in the Republic of North Macedonia. Special emphasis is placed on the current ethno-political tensions between Albanians and Macedonians and the use of religion and religious symbols in this collision, which is reflected both in the political discourse and in the everyday life and relationships, influencing perceptions and collective notions of people about religion and ethnicity. The findings show that the process of maintenance and shift of the ethno-religious boundaries is dynamic, multidirectional and multi-layered. It is influenced by domestic political, social, economic and cultural developments, international factors such as the EU and NATO accession of the country, as well as the spread of radical Islamic ideologies.

Patterns of Emotional Displays in Campaign Messages during the 2019 European Parliamentary Election in Lithuania

The 2019 European Parliament (EP) election in Lithuania was a second-order event significantly affected by domestic political developments and agendas. As with all previous EP elections, it attracted a minimal level of public attention in Lithuania, creating challenges and opportunities for Lithuanian political groups to effectively reach their electorates. This article focuses on the emotional display patterns of the campaign messages of political parties during the 2019 European Parliamentary campaign in Lithuania. To this end, it applies Lasswell’s model of commu-nication to assess printed media- and social-network-based campaign materials. Findings confirm that emotional messages dominated the communication of the political groups to their voters, and show the extremely broad spectrum of political messages that were used to arouse emotions. The study indicates that the concept of Europe remains distant and abstract to voters in Lithuania. Politicians’ messages to voters overwhelmingly appealed to the European context when addressing domestic agendas, thereby exploiting the emotional aspects of domestic political discourses in Lithuania and the perception of the EU in the country. Finally, the study demonstrates that the personification of political strategies involving politicians’ charisma, public image, and expressivity were key elements in terms of the election outcome.

Ethiopia’s new foreign policy challenges: scope for India’s engagement

ABSTRACT Ethiopia is witnessing new twists and turns both in its domestic and foreign policy domain of late with the incumbent government in power adopting political and economic reforms aimed at fostering changes to bring about development. This has invariably provided an opportunity for India to consolidate its relationship with Ethiopia further. The new domestic political and economic reforms and the friendly gestures that the present government under Abiy Ahmed has made with its neighbors has drawn the attention of the international community to the extent of awarding him with Nobel Peace Prize. Such reform measures of Ethiopia have given India with wide scope to engage itself constructively and extend political and economic support in areas where both countries stand to gain. India's active engagement with Africa in general and Ethiopia in particular is all the more important given the China factor that has been competing with other countries of the region. This paper describes the domestic political developments in Ethiopia during the post Cold War era and its struggle to maintain the intricate ethnic balance that has characterized its nation-building process by tracing it from the days of King Haile Selassie I. It further analyzes the steps taken by the government to remove obstacles to peace and development through adopting economic liberalization measures and foreign policy changes. These are discussed in a chronological manner starting with a conceptual framework and using predominantly secondary sources and relying on personal observations.

Between James Bond and Iosif Stalin: Seventeen Moments of Spring, a Soviet Cultural Event of the Cold War and the Post-Thaw

Between James Bond and Iosif StalinSeventeen Moments of Spring, a Soviet Cultural Event of the Cold War and the Post-Thaw Tarik Cyril Amar (bio) In the Soviet Union and post-Soviet Russia, no intelligence officer, real or imagined, has been more famous than Max Otto von Stierlitz (aka Maksim Maksimovich Isaiev aka Vsevolod Vladimirovich Vladimirov), usually known simply as “Shtirlits.”1 As the fictional British superspy James Bond became a global sensation through the Bond films of the 1960s, it was a stunningly successful 1973 Soviet television miniseries under the title Seventeen Moments of Spring (hereafter, Seventeen Moments), directed and shaped by Tat́iana Lioznova at the Goŕkii Studio in Moscow, that turned the fictional Shtirlits into a Soviet and Russian popular-culture icon in the strict sense of the term, a cultural reference point that has taken on a life of its own, even outlasting the Soviet Union.2 Indeed, to some post-Soviet observers, Shtirlits seems to be [End Page 627] emblematic of the “whole epoch” of the Soviet Union’s last, post-Khrushchev decades.3 Part of my broader research project on intelligence-themed television entertainment produced by the eastern side of the Cold War, this article contributes to a growing literature on this major phenomenon of Soviet popular culture by offering fresh observations and interpretations as well as alternatives to some current ones. In particular, it will show that we have not yet sufficiently considered the international, specifically Cold War dimension of Seventeen Moments; that we should also revise its place in Soviet domestic political-cultural history by according Seventeen Moments’ post-Thaw transformation of the image of Stalin its full weight, and, finally, that these two aspects of the miniseries were linked through the détente/peaceful-coexistence moment of its making, which brings us back to what is missing from our current understanding of the relationship between this miniseries and the Cold War. Seventeen Moments was an immediate, spectacular success, going far beyond the young viewers who were an especially important audience for the Goŕkii Studio. A story about victories, real and imagined, its first screening was a triumph of popularity: as a review noted without much exaggeration, it had received “total attention,” dominating the “rhythm of our leisure time” for two weeks.4 According to surveys of viewer responses as well, the series received the “highest assessment” across age brackets and social categories.5 Almost all reactions were positive. By June 1974, after its third screening, an estimated over 200 million Soviet viewers had watched it.6 [End Page 628] Seventeen Moments, moreover, was a success foretold, a well-publicized priority project from its inception: long before its release, numerous newspaper articles signaled its importance. Thus in August 1972, a year before its first screening, Moskovskii Komsomolets pointed out that this was the first time Soviet television had tackled a film of such scale.7 Here was a Soviet plan that worked, and brilliantly. Given this great success and obvious importance, it is unsurprising that Seventeen Moments has already attracted much academic interest, resulting in sophisticated research, commentary, and interpretation by, to mention only a few (and in alphabetical order), Christine Evans, Mark Lipovetsky, Stephen Lovell, Catherine Nepomnyashchy, and Elena Prokhorova.8 In the sections that follow, I first lay out my three-part argument, in some detail for the sake of clarity. I then address several aspects of Seventeen Moments and Shtirlits that constitute important contexts before undertaking a detailed discussion of the argument outlined below. The Argument First, I argue that, even though the Cold War dimension of Seventeen Moments has received some attention, its importance has not been fully appreciated. It is well known, of course, that the miniseries was not only [End Page 629] embedded in the general domestic political and cultural developments of the Soviet post-Thaw but also reflected a special historical moment at the beginning of détente, as Stephen Lovell has pointed out.9 What has not been addressed with regard to Seventeen Moments is the peculiar nature of this moment: early détente was a part of the Cold War during which Soviet geopolitical overconfidence was mistaken enough to produce...

DYNAMICS OF UKRAINIAN-GERMAN RELATIONS IN THE CONTEXT OF CHANGES IN GERMAN POLITICS

The article analyzes the current foreign policy of Germany and how it is influenced by domestic political developments as well as changes in the international arena. Germany, as a key player in Europe, remains declaratively consistent in its support for Ukraine and condemnation of Russian revisionism. However, a deeper analysis of the geopolitical and domestic position of Germany demonstrates certain risks to the stability of Ukraine-Germany relations.Attention is given to the dependence of Ukraine-Germany relations of Russia-Germany relations. Traditionally active economic ties between Berlin and Moscow have been increasing despite European and American sanctions against Russia. This leads to the strengthening of the pro-Russian lobby in German political circles. It is highlighted that the planned completion of the construction of Nord Stream-2, the dependence of Germany on the supplies of Russian hydrocarbons and the augmentation of net direct investments of German companies in Russian economy illustrates German endeavor, primarily in its geopolitical interests, to normalize relations with Russian Federation. Moreover, the article emphasizes the crisis of German political leadership which is connected with the end of the 4th mandate of the chancellor Angela Merkel in 2021 and the rise of anti-system and populist movements in Germany that may shatter political support of Ukraine. The changes in the Euro-Atlantic region are mentioned separately, namely the issue of defence spending of Germany in the framework of NATO and the consequences of Brexit.In the context of the mentioned elements of German politics, several challenges for Ukraine, that may significantly weaken its position in the international arena, are determined. A complex foreign and domestic situation can remove Ukrainian issue from the agenda and encourage Berlin to take quick «comfortable» measures in the context of the war in the East of Ukraine. On this basis, the article suggests recommendations on ways of reacting to the current developments in Germany from the side of Ukraine as well as on adjusting foreign policy towards this state with due regard to the mentioned tendencies.

THE PARADOX OF NATIONAL SECURITY CRISES

Debate on size, dangers, and exit from the crisis has engaged not only domestic and international politicians, but also public opinion and especially analysts everywhere in television studios. The debate arena has recently also affected crisis reports with national security. Currently in these debates dominates the thesis that the crisis is not related to national security and it is simply in the contours of domestic political developments. Indeed, although rich in domestic crises, again there is a vacuum in the analysis of crises and their impact over the last 25 years. And the lack of political and academic analysis always leads us to the starting point. The idea of his article is that the crises have a direct impact on national security, in all aspects of the concept itself. Below we try to bring a discussion about the link between crisis and national security.

A More Active Policy Domestic Incentives of Turkey’s Middle East Policy during second tenure of the Justice and Development Party

Turkey pursued a more active foreign policy during the second tenure of the Justice and Development Party between 2007 and 2011. In this period, Turkey increasingly involved itself in issues concerning the Middle East. The Justice and Development Party government tried to increase Turkey’s influence on Middle East politics. The reason for why the government pursued a more active and assertive policy could be found in Turkish domestic political developments. In the second tenure of the government, Turkey’s national capacity increased, and so, the government sought to convert it into influence in the region. Also, the government strengthened its position within the state, thereby be easier to implement foreign policy actions. The paper will elaborate on these developments along with the domestic factors of Turkey’s Middle East policy referring to the auxiliary hypotheses of neoclassical realism.