Foreign Policy Relations Research Articles

International Relations in the Conditions of Historical, Political and Religious Transformations in the Qajar State

The presented article examines the religious factor in the domestic policy of Catherine II and the Babid uprising in the socio-political life of the Qajar State. The influence of Russian foreign policy on the South Caucasus is explored; relations between Russia and the Azerbaijani khanates; foreign policy and diplomacy of Agha Mohammed Qajar and the Qajar princes. The historical, political and religious processes in the Qajar State from the late 18th to the mid-19th centuries are analyzed, echoing the modern situation in Iran, both in domestic and foreign policy. An objective study of these problems by an Azerbaijani scientist is a kind of contribution to the scientific thought of the Middle East. The history of the Qajar State in the context of the political interests of the state, interpreted with a religious factor, lifts the veil from the former theological experience of suppression of secular power by religious, which the Qajars had to reckon with in the late Middle Ages. The paradox is that this factor is present in modern Iran, which is why internal unrest occurs, which affects foreign policy relations with secular Azerbaijan, professing Shiism and other cultural countries. More recently, a series of events in the issue of the Azerbaijani-Armenian conflict and Iran’s support for Armenia sowed the seeds of hostility between Azerbaijan and Iran. But conceptual logic dictated an orientation towards peace and cooperation, the key factors of which were the strengthening of vector logical and economic ties under the North-South project along the western coast of the Caspian Sea and the launch of the Rasht-Astara railway line.

The Reception of Holocaust (1978) in Spain: Commending and Condemning Holocaust Memory

ABSTRACT When Holocaust reached Spaniards’ TV sets in 1979, the extermination of the Jews of Europe was an event marginally known and scarcely discussed by the Spanish people. The miniseries was a form of Holocaust representation that for the first time was fully embraced by political and TV authorities in Spain. Consequently, the Holocaust emerged from behind the censorship and silencing typical of Francoist dictatorship and became a topic of discussion in the public sphere. The public TV station Televisión Española (TVE) hosted two debates featuring historians and intellectuals that focused on the miniseries and also on various aspects of Nazism, the Holocaust, and the uses of Holocaust memory in the contemporary world. Similarly, the national newspapers El País and ABC offered broad coverage of the release of Holocaust and the polemics surrounding it. This intellectual discussion and journalistic attention to Holocaust took place against a backdrop of political transition from a dictatorial regime to a parliamentary democracy, conflicting interests in foreign policy in relation to the Middle East and the West, and meager acknowledgment of Spain’s role during WWII and long history of antisemitism. Grounded on cultural memory as a suitable approach to understand the potential of popular culture in affecting historical interpretation, the article argues that the public presentation of Holocaust simultaneously commended and condemned Holocaust memory or, more precisely, condemned a perceived hegemonic Jewish reading of the Holocaust and commended an interpretation of that event particularly useful to the Spanish political elites of the time.

Belarus as an object of Poland's foreign policy

The article analyzes the evolution of foreign policy approaches of Poland towards Belarus and Belarusian nationalism. The main purpose of the article is to identify the evolution of approaches to Belarus in Polish political thought and practices of the Polish state. The ambiguous attitude of Polish political figures to Belarusian nationalism and the very idea of Belarusian statehood is demonstrated. This attitude has changed significantly over time from active rejection of Belarusian nationalism to readiness to use and support it in the foreign policy interests of Poland. The article shows that Poland’s contemporary approaches towards Belarus are based on the Giedroyc-Mieroszewski doctrine and involve the establishment of “soft” ideological, political, cultural and economic dominance of Poland in the former lands of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth without formally changing existing borders. It is noted that the success of these methods of Polish foreign policy in relation to Belarus is significantly lower than in relation to Ukraine. This is primarily due to the peculiarities of the political development of Belarus in the post-Soviet period, as well as the limited ability of Poland to influence the target audience within Belarusian society. The author draws attention to the fact that Polish policy towards Belarus should be the object of close attention of Russia, since the strengthening of Polish influence in the countries of the common neighborhood may pose a threat to Russian national interests.

The Role of Artwork in a Diplomatic Environment: A Case Study of the Art Collection of the Dutch Delegation at nato Headquarters

Abstract This article examines the role of artwork in the diplomatic practice of international organizations and how this relates to the foreign policy of the member states. Although the relationship between artwork and diplomacy has received some scholarly attention, the specific relationship between artwork and international organizations has rarely been covered in academic literature. To that end, the article will analyze the art collection located in the Dutch delegation at nato headquarters. It attempts to establish how the individual artworks in this collection collectively form a narrative, and how this narrative reflects Dutch foreign policy in relation to nato. The article will conclude that the collection reflects, and – through the discursive power of the artworks – comments on, Dutch foreign policy in relation to nato by (over-) emphasizing notions of “neutrality” and anti-militarism, as well as Dutch contributions to the nato-led isaf in Afghanistan.

The EU and the Common Central Asian Higher Education Area: The Kazakh Dimension

This study topic is highly relevant as it explores the geopolitical dynamics of Kazakhstan, which serves as a hub where the interests of major world powers intersect with regional significance. The purpose of this article is to examine and analyse the state of Kazakhstan within the Central Asian region, considering its characteristics, such as high levels of socio-political and economic development, political stability, and its ability to conduct independent policies. The study utilized a range of research methods including deductive and inductive approaches, historical research, content analysis and event analysis. These methods were employed to analyse the current higher education system in Kazakhstan and explore the potential for its transformation, while also examining the impact of the Declaration on the creation of the Central Asian Higher Educational Area (Turkestan Declaration). The study reveals that Kazakhstan plays a significant role as a geopolitical actor in Central Asia, with stable socio-political and economic development. Kazakhstan aims to elevate the ‘Turkic world’ on the international stage and build strong foreign-policy relations. The findings have implications for specialists, policymakers, and readers interested in the region. The study emphasizes the importance of a ‘Knowledge Society’ and research capacity in forming a Common Central Asian Higher Education Area.

Russia’s Foreign Policy Priorities in Eurasia and Northern Africa after America’s Withdrawal from the Middle East: The Purport of Statements

The article focuses on the priorities of Russian foreign policy in relation to the Middle East, North Africa, and, above all, Russia’s Eastern European neighbors, after a significant reduction in the activity of the United States in the Middle East. The main research material is the official statements of the top-level Russian decision-makers. It is assumed that the priorities can be examined after analyzing the determination of states to sacrifice a certain group of benefits for more significant gains in the long-term and axiological perspective. The official Russian narrative since President Putin’s Munich speech in 2007 has been characterized by increasing criticism of the US and its allies, especially in view of the destabilization of the situation in the Maghreb, Syria and Afghanistan.What Russia proposes instead is to stop promoting political patterns that are alien to the region and to start pragmatic cooperation. Its obsessive goal is to build a multipolar world that respects zones of influence. The annexation of Crimea and further steps towards assertiveness towards Belarus and Ukraine, whichcould be observed verbally, became the motivation for sanctions by NATOcountries. However, according to its narrative, Russia does not trade with its sovereignty, and the economic activity of the state and the oligarchs rather focused on moderating the effects of the sanctions that the Kremlin was and still is ready to take into account in the long-term perspective with the hope to reunite the socalled Russian World and keep an eye on the ‘near abroad’. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Russian narrative only became sharper, without departing from its fundamental assumptions. In addition to the obsession with multipolarism, the imperative of defending the Russian population in eternally Russian territories sounded even clearer. Despite the obvious aggression in real behavior, the Kremlin’s verbal propaganda portrays Western policy as the source of international problems and makes it responsible for the outbreak of war. This may indicate the validity of Mearsheimer’s thesis that the presence of Russia’s closest neighbors in the European Union, and even more so in NATO, is perceived in Moscow as an existential threat.

LANGUAGE AND WAR: PROSPECTS OF INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION IN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE CLASSROOM

The article presents the essential requirements for effective communication in a foreign language classroom, specifically pertaining to the topic of Russian-Ukrainian war. During the classes of Ukrainian as a foreign language (hereinafter referred to as UFL), communication takes place between participants belonging to different national linguistic and cultural communities, so the need for international understanding remains relevant both in terms of internal politics and, in particular, the foreign policy relations of Ukraine. The article’s author seeks to address whether the repertoire of thematic catalogues required for proficiency levels in Ukrainian as a foreign language encompass the topic of war. Additionally, the article explores the timeline and differing interpretations regarding the nature of the Russian-Ukrainian war. The study utilized specific research materials, employing general linguistic methods such as descriptive analysis and comparison. The conducted analysis confirmed that the sub-topic war is in the repertoire of thematic catalogues in the Standardized requirements for the levels of proficiency in the Ukrainian language as a foreign language (level B1-C2). The timeline of the Russian-Ukrainian war is uncertain – from the period of occupation and annexation of the Republic of Crimea (in 2014) to today. During UFL classes, the falsity of the versions of the civil war in Ukraine or the illegal annexation of Crimea and the civil armed conflict in Donbas should be exposed (as popularized interpretations of events until February 24, 2022, in particular). The Russian-Ukrainian war (from 2014 to the present day) is an interstate armed conflict caused by the aggression of the Russian Federation not only against Ukraine, goes beyond the scope of a bilateral confrontation, the nature of which most fully reveals the meaning of the concept of “hybrid war”. Key words: Russian-Ukrainian war (from 2014 to today), hybrid war, lexical-semantic means of naming war events in Ukraine, UFL.

Catherine of Braganza during the Popish Plot and Exclusion Crisis: Anti‐Catholicism in the Houses of Commons and Lords, 1678–81*

AbstractThis article evaluates how Catherine of Braganza was scrutinised in parliament during the Popish Plot and Exclusion Crisis, 1678–81. During this period, politicians used Catherine as a political pawn to try and pressurise Charles II to secure the line of succession, which included proposals that he should divorce her and remarry, in order to secure the line of succession away from his Catholic convert brother, James, duke of York. The article focuses on how Catherine's 1661 articles of marriage became central in parliamentary debates following the Popish Plot scandal, and the extent to which politicians considered how far they could control Catherine's Catholic household without breaching the articles, or aggravating Portugal. The colonial assets of Tangier and Bombay (acquired by Britain upon Catherine's marriage to Charles), are given serious attention in understanding decisions made by parliament during this period, as removing Catherine as queen threatened to jeopardise Britain's foreign policy relationship with Portugal, as well as its trade networks and aspirations for colonial enterprises. This article, therefore, revisits Catherine of Braganza's reputation and character through the lens of the Popish Plot and Exclusion Crisis, and how Catherine's place in the Popish Plot narrative influenced England's international relationship with Portugal.

Creation and development of the Hawaiian consular network in Chile: The case of the Beyerbach administration, 1851–57

The focus of this article is the process of the creation and installation of the consular network of the Kingdom of Hawai‘i in Chile (1851–57), which was headed by Eduard Beyerbach, its first consul in the South American country. With competition between the powers of the northern hemisphere for dominating territories in the Pacific, the sovereignty and independence of the island Kingdom of Hawai‘i was seriously threatened. This explains Honolulu’s interest in creating, maintaining and increasing its consular presence in the main ports of the world in general and, in this particular case, in those of the Chilean South Pacific. This study, based on an analysis of Chilean, American and Hawaiian primary sources of the time, stored in different historical and diplomatic archives, presents new information about Hawaiian foreign policy in relation to South America. It is argued that economic-commercial, national security and eventually humanitarian reasons explain the creation and enlargement of the Hawaiian Kingdom consular network in Chile in the 1850s. The research explores the precedents for the bilateral relationship and the identities and actions of those individuals – Beyerbach, in particular – who made possible its development.

Social and political foundations of the formation of urban planning and architecture of the cities of Ancient Russia

The subject of the study is the political and social aspect of the formation of town-planning scheme of ancient Russian cities. The object of the study is architecture, urban planning, street layout, urbanonims, social topography of cities such as Kiev, Novgorod, Vladimir, Ryazan. The author examines in detail the following aspects of the topic: the influence of the political situation on the architectural appearance of the city, the social and ethnic composition of the population of cities, the origin of ancient Russian urban toponyms. Particular attention is paid to architecture and urban planning as a source on social and political history, the process of evolution of urban development in the context of foreign policy relations, the influence of domestic political and social factors on it. The main conclusions of the study are that the following trends can be identified in the town-planning scheme of ancient Russian cities: chaotic development at the first stage of development and withdrawal to planning with the strengthening of political power, secondariness of streets in some cities of Ancient Russia, by means of urbanonims of ancient Novgorod, Vladimir and Kiev, it is possible to develop ideas about the social and ethnic composition of the city's population Ancient Russia, to trace the changes in its structure, in its political situation. A special contribution of the author to the study of the topic is the identification of a common architectural element between two religious buildings of different regions and different periods in the context of foreign policy contacts. This element is a promising portal in the Church of St. Paraskevi and in the church of Allenau in the village of Porechye, Kaliningrad region. The novelty of the research lies in the fact that urban planning and architecture of Ancient Russia can serve not only in the format of an art history discipline, but also as a visual illustration for political and social history. At the moment, the architecture and urban planning grid of ancient Russian cities is not considered as a serious source in research related to political power, international relations, and the history of social structures.

Orthodoxy in Western China and Central Asia: Historical Background

The author discusses the prehistory of the spread of Orthodoxy among the residents of Western China that was inextricably linked to the policy of Russia in Central Asia in the second half of the 19th century and traces the first missionary projects carried out in Ghulja (1851) among the descendants of captive Albazinians exiled from Beijing to the Chinese Ghulja in 1712. While reconstructing the history of Orthodoxy in the Ile region, it was revealed that the initiative of Orthodox missionary work in Western China originally belonged to eminent churchman Parfeny (Aggeev); it was supported by Metropolitan Philaret (Drozdov) of Moscow and brought to the attention of Emperor Nicholas I. The study of the official diplomatic correspondence in the period of the 1850-60s showed that the attitude of Russian diplomats to the missionary work of the Russian Orthodox Church in China was negative as this activity might exacerbate foreign policy relations between Russia and China. At the same time, the establishment of Orthodox churches at the Russian consulates in Ghulja and Chuguchak played a crucial role in the spread of Orthodoxy in Central Asia and Western China.

Black Garden Aflame: The Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict in the Soviet and Russian Press by Artyom Tonoyan (review)

Reviewed by: Black Garden Aflame: The Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict in the Soviet and Russian Press by Artyom Tonoyan Konstantin Yumatov (bio) and Timur Logunov (bio) Artyom Tonoyan (Ed.), Black Garden Aflame: The Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict in the Soviet and Russian Press (Minneapolis: East View Press, 2021). 483 pp., ill. Index. ISBN: 978-1-879944-55-8. This book – a collection of newspaper articles published in the USSR and Russia in English translation – will be of interest to many readers for several reasons. First, it presents the history of the confrontation over Nagorno-Karabakh through the prism of print media publications in the Russian language from the start of open hostilities in February 1988 to June 2021. Readers can thus observe the development of the conflict simultaneously with contemporaries who covered it in their publications. Second, despite the obvious Russocentrism of the book's perspective, many publications selected by the author concern the activities of regional and international organizations, thus placing the conflict in the broader contexts of international law and foreign policy relations. Third, the book is a study of periodicals as a historical source, and discusses their semantic, syntactic, and pragmatic aspects. In his introduction to the book, Artyom Tonoyan, a research associate at the University of Minnesota, substantiates the need to include Soviet and Russian periodicals in the study sources based on the fact that "the South Caucasus is not the center of the attention of Western media, … the Russian media's footprint in the region has been far larger and far deeper, if not more storied. The point made here does not mean that it was better, but that it was more. Infinitely more" (P. xxiii). This claim seems questionable, since the American press, for example, has covered the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict quite extensively. Just the four major papers – the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post – have each published on average about eight hundred articles on the topic during the period covered in the book. About half of these articles appeared in 1988–1991, which is similar to the distribution of publications in Tonoyan's sampling. The author starts with a truly simple question: "What is so special about Soviet and Russian press coverage of the conflict?" (P. xxiii). In answering it, he defines his goal as introducing "to readers the most comprehensive press coverage of the conflict apart from the press in the conflicting countries" (P. xxiv). It should have been added, however, that the texts he assembled cannot be taken at face value as neutral sources of information. First, it is necessary [End Page 312] to assess the role and political stance of periodicals featuring articles on such a complex topic, which can evolve over time. Unfortunately, both the Introduction and the Publisher's Preface to the book lack this important information. The structure of the book seems quite clear and logical, and as explicated in detail in the Introduction, the volume is divided thematically into four parts consisting of fourteen chapters, each of which is structured chronologically. Part 1 outlines the roots of the conflict during the late Soviet period starting with the rise of the Karabakh movement. Part 2 covers the period following the USSR's disintegration when the conflict acquired international dimensions involving a set of sovereign states with clashing interests. In addition, this part focuses on the international diplomatic efforts led by the OSCE Minsk Group. Part 3 concentrates on the role of four "external regional actors," Turkey, Russia, Iran, and the United States, in shaping the conflict's dynamics, "thus situating the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in the broader context of regional power play. Lastly, Part Four provides extensive coverage of the prelude to the 2020 Karabakh conflict ('Karabakh War 2.0'), concluding with reportage of the war itself and the aftermath" (P. xxiv). The logic of this structure is easy to understand, as it follows the logic of the available sources – Russian newspaper publications. However, the author's original selection of sources, which vary significantly from one part to another, is nowhere explained and substantiated. For example, part 1 is largely based on publications in periodicals such as Bakinskii rabochii (19...

Analysis of the Arab Space Cooperation Group’s Activities

Currently, many countries in the Middle East are actively investing in the development of their space programs. In the long term, it is the presence of an advanced rocket and space potential in the countries of the Middle East that will be of decisive importance in building foreign policy relations in the region, dominating and promoting its position in the surrounding countries. This is due to several factors. Firstly, the use of modern space systems and complexes will ensure global, round-the-clock, all-weather, and operational monitoring of human activities on Earth, continuous monitoring of economic and military activities in the region. This will not only give an advantage over other countries in the region during the conduct of hostilities but will also allow us to fight terrorism and organized crime more successfully. Secondly, the development of the space industry is of great economic interest, since the development of the space industry opens the telecommunications market, allows you to provide services in this area to other countries, and most importantly creates the need to develop your own industrial production, which is what most countries in the region are striving for, given their dependence on economies from oil prices. The article discusses the activities of the Arab Group for Cooperation in Space, created in 2019, describes its members, goals, existing projects, and prospects.

Некоторые аспекты из истории взаимоотношений ханов Абылая и Уали с Цинской империей (на основе архивных источников)

Introduction. In the 1740s–1780s, decentralization processes within the Kazakh Khanate led to that it was involved into somewhat troubled foreign policy relations. The period of struggle for political independence witnessed the emergence of Abylai — among most authoritative leaders of the Kazakh Khanate — as a key political decision-maker of the Great Steppe. His son Uali joined and continued the process of developing diplomatic relations between the Kazakh Khanate and the Qing Empire. In the future, it was a balanced strategy of diplomatic maneuvers under conditions of dual citizenship that constituted the basis of the latter ruler’s administrative agenda across Kazakh lands. Goals. Thus, the study aims to examine Abylai and Uali’s diplomatic relations with the Qing Empire. The paper shall also explore archival materials for data pertaining to diplomatic endeavors of Uali which are scarce enough as compared to those on Abylai’s activities. Materials and methods. The work focuses on documents stored at the Historical Archive of Omsk Oblast, Archive of Foreign Policy of the Russian Empire, and Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts. Quite a number of the documents from the Historical Archive of Omsk Oblast have been declassified only in 2019, and were never introduced into wide scholarly circulation. The newly obtained records reveal certain historical facts, including about certain diplomatic endeavors definitely adding to the little-known personality of Khan Uali. The currently available documentary evidence dealing with the events of the 18th–19th centuries virtually shed no light on Uali’s role in historical processes. Our search for information about activities of this historical figure shows how poorly investigated the latter is. The study employs the principles of scientific and historical knowledge, with due regard the value approach. Results. The Kazakh-Qing land-related negotiations after the collapse of the Dzungar Khanate continued with the establishment of trade and economic relations — to witness an increase in mutual diplomatic missions. So, Abylai faced an opportunity to obtain the Qing citizenship as a basis for further development of ties with the Manchu imperial palace. The Qing citizenship of Kazakh rulers Abylai and Uali did significantly expand room for political maneuver of theirs. Abylai is still considered to be a key figure in establishing Kazakh-Qing diplomatic relations, he who had taken the bulk of the responsibility — in this matter — among the then individuals of power and influence in the Steppe. Whereas, the role and activities of Uali remain little-known when it comes to discuss diplomatic relations between the Kazakhs and neighboring states.

SWEDISH NEUTRALITY POLICY IN THE XXI CENTURY

The article examines the neutrality policy of Sweden in the 21st century. The Kingdom of Sweden is one of the few countries on the international scene in the 21st century that implements its foreign policy through a policy of neutrality. It should be noted that Sweden has not directly participated in any military conflicts since the Napoleonic Wars. Also, the article analyzes Sweden's response to modern security challenges in the world and examines the transformation of the country's defense system between the end of the Cold War and the present day. It was established that the traditional policy of neutrality in the light of modern security problems has become ineffective, which forced the country to review its own security structure, as well as to deepen foreign policy relations with its partners, in particular in the field of security and defense. It is worth noting that the country maintained strong ties with NATO, but despite close cooperation, Sweden was a non-aligned state. However, the difficult situation on the international arena, namely the Russian armed invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, forced some countries, primarily Sweden and Finland, to review their security policy and join the countries of the North Atlantic Alliance.

SANCTIONS AS A TOOL OF FOREIGN POLITICAL INFLUENCE

The article presents an analysis of the understanding of the term "sanctions" in the modern political world. The presence of current threats, which include the expansion and possibility of nuclear and other types of stagnation, uninterrupted conflicts, international terrorism, transnational organized malice – to speak about the relevance and the specificity of the attack to the point of problems It was determined that the development of foreign policy relations poses an important task for political science to research the problem of defining the concept of sanctions, their classification, the legitimacy of the use of coercion in interstate relations, the relationship with responsibility, and the criteria for their effectiveness. Special attention is attached to the analysis of retortion, as one of having contributed to the defense of the power of one’s interests. In this hour, retortion has become one of the most stagnant in modern diplomacy. It is indicated that the policy in the gallery of sanctions is changing and step by step from the tool of the political pressure it is reminded of the economic and cultural meaning. Sanctions are being imposed more and more and more and more tools are being expanded. The main features of the sanctions in today's minds are the strengthening of the political and economic pressure of the countries against the countries, who carry out aggression. If there are prospects for a farther scientific inquiry, then it is important to keep up-to-date and relevant in the aspect of defining the principles of the country's behavior, so as to resist the sanctions policy and try to mitigate the negative effect of the sanctions of the country. So, directly relevant, it is worth investigating new approaches to determine the criteria for the effectiveness of sanctions.

Predictive Methods in the Study of Contemporary International Relations (as Illustrated by the Richardson Dynamic Model)

The issue of studying the possibility of modeling international relations taking into account their dynamic properties is highlighted. Recognizing the mathematical model as a simplified picture of the real world, the limitations of its reproducing effect of the real world are emphasized. The structural and logical scheme of Richardson’s model with its constituent elements is outlined. The application of this model to forecasting foreign policy relations is substantiated. With this in mind, the trends of possible confrontation were analyzed based on the obtained values of the factors: military threat, burden of costs, past grievances. The level of militarization of the economy through the prism of spending on the military industry is revealed. The level of the burden of defense expenditures on the budgets of the subjects of analysis has been established. The work also examines such issues as the essence of the arms race, current trends in defense spending in the world, mathematical modeling of the confrontation between the United States and China, Ukraine and Russia, and the analysis of defense spending by the participants in these conflicts using Richardson’s dynamic model.

RUSSIAN FOREIGN POLICY AND THE LIBYAN CRISIS: A NEOCLASSICAL REALIST ASSESSMENT

The processes taking place in the modern international system are both a catalyst and a consequence of the foreign policy of states. As a result of a number of systemic factors and the domestic political situation in Russia, the Middle East plays an important role on the Russian agenda. Moscow is pursuing an active policy towards the Libyan crisis, which resulted in the actual loss of statehood in Libya, which complicates the stabilization of the situation in the country and in the region. The purpose of this article is to analyze the systemic (independent variable) and domestic (intervening unit-level variables) processes that influence the formation of Russia’s foreign policy in relation to the Libyan crisis, within the framework of the neoclassical realist theory. The significance of this study lies in the application of a relatively new theoretical approach (neoclassical realism) to a case study (the Libyan crisis) in the study of Russian foreign policy.

Russian Foreign Policy Dynamics in the South Caucasus. Continuity and Existing Problems

History helps us to create a wider picture of the reality in which the South Caucasus exists now. That is why we are going to discover the influence of the Russian Imperial and Soviet eras on the states in the region and identify the causality of foreign policy relations between Russia and the South Caucasian states. The main question is why neither Russia nor any of the individual South Caucasian states succeeded in developing an effective strategy towards each other despite their shared borders in the Russia-Azerbaijan and Russia-Georgia cases and being a proclaimed strategic partner in the case of Armenia? How did the Soviet period influence the current state of relations between Russia and the South Caucasian states? Those are the issues analyzed in this paper. International relations in the South Caucasus are convoluted because of their rich and complicated past, among other things. Over the centuries, interstate relations inside the region developed in unpredictable directions. Georgia was a real partner for Russia in the conquest of the Caucasus in the 19th century. Yet, since 1991, relations between Russia and Georgia have been tense at best. The proclaimed secular states of Azerbaijan, though mainly Shia, and Turkey, which is mostly Sunni, are now solid allies, whereas Armenia enjoys a relationship of trust with the Islamic Republic of Iran. Turkey, Iran, and Russia are still the main external players in the region though they have, to some extent, even become “domesticated”. Except for a brief period of turmoil during the Bolshevik Revolution and the ensuing Russian Civil War, the entire Caucasus remained within the Russian sphere of influence until the collapse of the Soviet Union. Even now Russia continues to play a significant role in economy, energy and security policy in the South Caucasus.

Advance U.S. International Diplomacy Efforts by Expanding Eligibility in the Embassy Science Fellows Program

Science has a unique ability to transcend borders in pursuit of common knowledge for the betterment of humanity. To increase technological and innovative progress, international collaboration is necessary and can be leveraged to advance foreign policy relationships. The United States (U.S.) Department of State’s (DoS) Embassy Science Fellows Program (ESFP) has a proven track record of advancing international diplomacy interests of the U.S. through scientific collaboration, yet the program is sorely underutilized despite the high demand for qualified science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) experts by embassies around the world. To address the demand for STEM experts willing to serve DoS interests, we propose broadening ESFP eligibility to non-federal scientists. With this change, the DoS can recruit from a larger pool of experts and increase the probability that embassy needs for science diplomats can be met, augmenting the impact of the ESFP on U.S. diplomacy initiatives.