Foreign Policy Issues Research Articles

RAPID DISTRIBUTION OF THE CHINESE LANGUAGE AND CULTURE IN KAZAKHSTAN WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF "ONE BELT - ONE ROAD"

One of the features of international relations in the 21st century is the use by developed countries of the concept of "soft power" in the implementation of a long-term international strategy.  A striking example is the rapidly developing state of China in recent years.  The concept of "soft power" implies the desire of the Chinese government to spread its national language and culture around the world.  The main reason why countries easily and quickly accept this policy is the growth of China's economic influence in the world, as well as the development and mutual interest of trade and economic ties with countries around the world.  Therefore, the interest of the countries of the world to China has increased, the desire to study its language and historical culture has increased.  China began to pursue a policy of generalizing the Chinese language and culture to the world by creating institutions named after Confucius, the great humanist thinker.  Thus, the teaching of Chinese has become an important content of China's foreign policy.  Language policy and language planning have always been an effective tool in solving a number of issues of domestic and foreign policy, and in the context of today's globalization, its importance has increased.  In recent years, the urgency of the problem of foreign language policy is growing day by day, and the place of individual actions taken by states in this direction is occupied by a purposefully planned foreign language policy.  Consideration of the purpose, subjects and means, mechanisms of language policy, as well as its relationship with the concept of "soft power", which has become increasingly widely used, is becoming an interesting and important object of study today.  In modern geopolitical conditions, China's policy in this area attracts the attention of the whole world.  The article emphasizes that the PRC's "One Belt One Road" project is a new model for globalization, it intends to make efforts both in the economy and in the humanitarian sphere.  Since the introduction of this project, China has been actively promoting the Chinese language and Chinese culture in our country.

Обустроить Россию по-евразийски. Рецензия на монографию Ю.И. Скуратова «Евразийская парадигма России и современные проблемы ее конституционно-правового развития».

The review considers the main thoughts of the author of the monograph, who comprehends the constitutional development of post-Soviet Russia through the prism of the Eurasian doctrine. The book raises a number of important issues of the political and legal development of our country, and Yu.I. Skuratov gives his own answers. The list of covered topics is wide, and affects both domestic political problems and foreign policy issues of the Russian state.

СПЕЦИФИКА ОТНОШЕНИЯ К СПЕЦИАЛЬНОЙ ВОЕННОЙ ОПЕРАЦИИ РФ НА УКРАИНЕ КАК ПРОЯВЛЕНИЕ БАЗОВЫХ МОДЕЛЕЙ СОЦИАЛЬНОГО ПОВЕДЕНИЯ В РОССИЙСКОМ ОБЩЕСТВЕ

Objective of the study is to examine the manifestations of basic models of social behavior as factors determining the specifics of the attitude of Russians to the special military operation of the Russian Federation in Ukraine.   Methodological basis of the research is pilot sociological survey in the form of an Internet questionnaire; factor analysis of empirical data. Research results. Five factors determining the degree of respondents' attention to the issues of foreign and domestic policy of the Russian Federation, their attitude to a special military operation and the level of trust in socio-political institutions were identified. The thesis is substantiated that the identified factors are manifestations of the basic models of personality and social behavior in Russian society.   Prospects of the study. Based on the results obtained, a hypothesis is formulated that a sense of pride in the country can become the basis for the consolidation of Russian society and contribute to overcoming the crisis of institutional and interpersonal trust and the favorable completion of social transformation. The prospects of the study are related to the verification of this hypothesis.  

Strains in the US–Mexico relationship

Mexico and the United States are at an impasse over an attempt by Mexico’s president to re-nationalise some parts of the country’s energy sector. Mexico’s government has also taken more combative stances on foreign-policy issues in the last year, joining Latin America’s populist left. While these conflicts will probably not have a major effect on US-Mexico cooperation on critical issues such as bilateral goods trade and immigration, they suggest that a degree of mutual suspicion remains at the heart of the relationship despite the arrival of a new administration in Washington in 2021.

Distract and Divert: How World Leaders Use Social Media During Contentious Politics

How do leaders communicate during domestic crises? We provide the first global analysis of world leader communication on social media during social unrest. We develop a theory of leaders’ digital communication strategies, building on the diversionary theory of foreign policy, as well as research on the role of democratic institutions in explaining elite responsiveness. To test our theory, we construct a new dataset that characterizes leader communication through social media posts published by any head of state or government on Twitter or Facebook, employing a combination of automated translation and supervised machine learning methods. Our findings show that leaders increase their social media activity and shift the topic from domestic to foreign policy issues during moments of social unrest, which is consistent with a conscious strategy to divert public attention when their position could be at risk. These effects are larger in democracies and in particular in the run-up to elections, which we attribute to incentives created by democratic institutions. Our results demonstrate how social media provide meaningful comparative insight into leaders’ political behavior in the digital age.

Fuelling Politicisation: The AfD and the Politics of Military Interventions in the German Parliament

ABSTRACT In 2017, for the first time in more than 60 years, a populist radical right party, the AfD, gained seats in a Bundestag election. While the AfD’s stance against immigration and European integration is well documented, its preferences towards other foreign and security policy issues are less clear. To overcome this lacuna, I investigate voting records and introduce an original dataset of the legitimising rhetoric in parliament, to grasp the AfD’s position on military interventions vis-à-vis other parties in the Bundestag. The analysis of voting patterns and rhetoric reveals the AfD as a distinct outlier within the German party system. Studying the AfD’s positioning on security issues also contributes to the emerging literature on partisan ideologies, populism and foreign policy. Together with the Left Party, military intervention policies are now contested at both ends of the political spectrum. At the same time, the AfD introduced novel discursive frames for the German context based on the party’s distinct populist radical right ideology. While the AfD has voted in favour of some smaller interventions, it regularly opposes deployments in the Middle East. Furthermore, its nationalist rhetoric breaks with Germany’s traditional ‘civilian power’ role and fuels the politicisation of foreign policy decisions in parliament.

Raj Panjabi: bringing a global outlook to the US pandemic response

In February, 2022, US President Joe Biden appointed global health physician and epidemiologist Raj Panjabi as a Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Global Health Security and Biodefense at the White House National Security Council in Washington, DC, which advises Biden on foreign policy and security issues. In this position, Panjabi's presence ensures that global health threats “are considered in discussions of national security and foreign policy, and are not an afterthought”, said Jennifer Kates, Senior Vice President and Director of Global Health and HIV Policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation, Washington, DC.

Corporate political power and US foreign policy, 1981–2002: the role of the policy-planning network

Recent empirical work has offered strong support for ‘biased pluralism’ and ‘economic elite’ accounts of political power in the United States, according a central role to ‘business interest groups’ as a mechanism through which corporate influence is exerted. Here, we propose an additional channel of influence for corporate interests: the ‘policy-planning network,’ consisting of corporate-dominated foundations, think tanks, and elite policy-discussion groups. To evaluate this assertion, we consider one key policy-discussion group, the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). We first briefly review the origins of this organization and then review earlier findings on its influence. We then code CFR policy preferences on 295 foreign policy issues during the 1981–2002 period. In logistic regression analyses, we find that the preferences of more affluent citizens and the CFR were positive, statistically significant predictors of foreign policy outcomes while business interest group preferences were not. These findings are discussed with a consideration of the patterns of CFR ‘successes’ and ‘failures’ for the issues in our dataset. Although a full demonstration of a causal connection between corporate interests, the policy-planning network and policy outcomes requires further research, we conclude that this has been shown to be a plausible mechanism through which corporate interests are represented and that ‘biased pluralism’ researchers should include it in their future investigations.

Internationalizing Afghan security? Strategic narratives and transnational public sphere (dis)formation in Chinese, Russian, Afghani, and US media

For most of the past two decades, the United States pursued a policy leveraging its traditional NATO partners to secure Afghanistan’s future against the Taliban with little lasting success. However, in a dramatic reversal of U.S. policy in July 2018, President Trump ordered the start of direct talks between the United States and Taliban with the goal of internationalizing Afghan security. We argue that this move in 2018 by the United States can be understood as an attempt toward forming a transnational community around Afghan security by allowing non-allied nations greater voice and agency in Afghanistan’s political future. However, current theories of transnational public sphere are unable to account for such processes. Thus, the primary aim of this study is development of a theory of transnational foreign policy sphere formation. Drawing upon Wessler et al.’s (2008) four-step process of transnational public sphere development, we conceptualize this process as one of strategic narrative (dis)alignment across and within foreign nations’ media reporting on a common issue of concern. We then use media narratives reporting on Afghanistan’s political future as an empirical case study to demonstrate our theory, by examining over 2000 news articles from 17 different Chinese, Russian, U.S., and Afghani media outlets from February 2017 to January 2020. Theoretically, our study advances research into the transnational public sphere by examining their (dis)formation over time as well as the limits and opportunities of transnational public sphere emergence outside of European contexts and on foreign policy issues among publics with very different sociopolitical interests and cultures.

Media Use and National Image: How Americans and Chinese Perceive the U.S.–China Trade War

Grounded in the international image theory ( Herrmann and Fischerkeller, 1995 ), this study argues that individuals maintain general images of foreign nations that shape perceptions of foreign policy issues. Based on two identical national online surveys conducted in the United States ( N = 1250) and China ( N = 1311) in early 2019, the study explores the structure and composition of these national images among American and Chinese citizens and tests whether they influence perceptions of the U.S.–China trade war. The findings suggest that cognitive and affective components of national image are associated with the perceived favorability of the other nation and support for the U.S.–China trade war among the American and Chinese public. While media exposure played a more prominent role among U.S. respondents, personal traits such as cosmopolitanism, patriotism, cultural affinity, and personal contact with people from the other nation were significantly associated with people's overall favorability of the other nation and their support of the U.S.–China trade war.

Let's talk about the Israel–Palestine conflict: Does exposure to political comedy about the Middle East influence policy attitudes?

AbstractObjectiveThe research considers the impact of exposure to political comedy focused on the crisis in the Middle East on viewers' attitudes toward the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.MethodsData from a four‐group experiment were analyzed (N = 240; August 2021). Video stimuli were drawn from Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, Late Night with Seth Meyers, and Full Frontal with Samantha Bee.ResultsThe results suggest that exposure to this critical content has a limited but significant effect on issue attitudes. Specifically, subjects exposed to satire about the conflict in the Middle East were significantly less likely to suggest that the United States is too supportive of the Palestinians and were marginally less likely to suggest that the Hamas response to the crisis goes too far, that the Israeli government is making a sincere effort to bring about peace, and that there is a way for Israel and an independent Palestinian state to coexist peacefully.ConclusionThe implications of the findings and the potential influence of satire on foreign policy issue attitudes are discussed.

The Role of Germany, Italy and Portugal in the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) in the Representation of the British Media

The purpose of the article is to reveal the nature of the reflection of the events of the Spanish Civil War of 1936-1939 in the British press. The most important factor shaping public opinion was the periodical press. The authors emphasize that events on the European continent, including local conflicts, significantly influenced the mindset of British society, combined with an acute party struggle on foreign policy issues. The practical component of the article is based on the analysis of about 20 titles of British Newspapers political orientation. The results of the study showed that the publications were divided on the issue of criticism or support for the Italian-German intervention in Spain as follows: sharp rejection - the Communist, labour and liberal press (violation of international norms, understanding of intervention as aggression); neutral or slightly negative attitude: part of the conservative press (mutual internationalization of the conflict).

The Educational Aspect of Ensuring the Safety of Children from the Liberated Territories

Social security is one of the guarantees of development of the contemporary society. The term “social security” has recently become broadly used in psychological, pedagogical and social contexts, when the issues of human and society protection joined the priority tasks of science and practice. The relevance of providing the social security of childhood is actualized at the level of national state policy and is recognized as an important tool in solving the foreign policy issues. The article actualizes the attention on the problem of social security of children from liberated territories of Ukraine (Lugansk People’s Republic and Donetsk People’s Republic) in the aspect of implementing educational projects for schoolchildren with a view of learning the Russian traditions and customs, which makes it possible to review the life values and attitude to our country. In July and August 2022, Yaroslavl State Pedagogical University named after K. D. Ushinskiy took part organization and implementation of “University Sessions”, initiated by the Ministry of Enlightenment of the Russian Federation within the frameworks of a federal project. The program implied a number of events of educational, cultural-historical, sportive, leisure and career guidance character. The University accepted three sessions with total of 109 children of both genders aged 12 to 17 y.o.

The UE turn of a populist movement: at the roots of the Five-star Movement’s foreign-policy agenda

ABSTRACT Until its success at the election of 2013, the Five-star Movement had not paid a great deal of attention to foreign policy. In 2017, in preparation for the election the following year, the Movement’s MPs began collating what they considered the most relevant policy proposals in order to draft a new electoral programme. Using the Movement’s web platform, Rousseau, the M5s asked registered members to choose the three most important issues of foreign policy from a list of ten. The aim of this article is to see how the Movement defined its foreign policy. This analysis helps us to understand the EU turn that has characterized the foreign-policy agenda of the Movement in recent years. Having embraced the possibility of Italy’s exit from the Eurozone in 2013, the Movement today appears to be in favour of strengthening the European institutions.

Press as Negotiator or Instigator between India and Pakistan: A Case Study of Ceasefire Violation Incident Occurred in January 2013

This cross-border ten newspapers interdisciplinary study examined the extent to which the editorial and opinion column coverage in India and Pakistan played the role as negotiator or instigator between two countries during the ceasefire violation incident occurred in January 2013. Many studies have been undertaken to understand bilateral rivalry between both the countries, but how Indian and Pakistan press view these contemporary South Asian bilateral dynamics remains underexplored. Using qualitative content analysis as methodological tool, central objective of the article stands analyzed with the help of five politico-historical core foreign policy issues through the lens of a cross section of the Indian and Pakistan media—the newspaper press to be more precise. The findings are based on the analysis of editorial and opinion articles published in ten English language newspapers in both countries. The study revealed that newspapers’ role as negotiator on both sides varied from newspaper to newspaper, however, on the whole, Indian newspapers remained much committed to their negotiator role vis-à-vis Pakistani counterpart.

Russian-Ottoman Border in the East Transcaucasia in the 20s-30s of the 18th century: Problems of Demarcation, Reaction of Frontier Communities

The paper analyses one of the issues of the eastern policy of Russia of the Peter’s era, related to the creation of the Russian-Ottoman frontier on the territory west to the Caspian Sea. The difficulties in the process of carrying out demarcation in the border zone caused by the negative reaction of various actors in the border life are discussed. The author introduces a new source – a historical map of the Caspian territories, on which the border between the Russian and Ottoman Empire is drawn; demarcation work, conducted by the committee, is shown. The study reveals that the Russian-Ottoman border line divided the communities of the East Transcaucasia without consideration of historical traditions of conducting economic activity and ethnocultural contacts, thus certain difficulties and unsteadiness occurred in the border zone. The reaction of the frontier participants make it possible, in general, to determine the attitude of the Caucasian and Persian political elites to the emergence of the Russian and Ottoman Empires in the Caucasus-Caspian region. The obtained scientific results are unique from the point of view of humanitarian knowledge, and they can be used for further development of various issues of the Caucasian foreign policy of the Russian and Ottoman Empires of the 18th century by Russian and foreign researchers.

Editor's Note

Editor's Note

The State and Prospects of the Study of Urbanization as an International Political Phenomenon

The present study is aimed at studying urbanization as an international political phenomenon in modern world politics.Aim. To define the concept of urbanization and the city in modern political science and to identify the role of urbanization processes in international relations.Tasks. To define the essence of the city as a political concept, to define modern political concepts of cities, to comprehend the prospects of urbanization processes for modern international relations.Methods. In this paper, using the methods of analysis, synthesis and forecasting, the factors contributing to the influence of urbanization on modern international relations are identified.Results. The study showed that urbanization is an integral part of the international political process of the XXI century, the importance of which is increasing every year. Currently, the political, economic, and cultural life of society is concentrated in cities. At the same time, the number of urban residents is steadily increasing, which makes the XXI century the century of large urban settlements. Political practice shows that with increasing trends towards glocalization and regionalization, cities are becoming more and more autonomous players in solving local domestic and foreign policy issues, entering the world arena through special cross-border urban associations.Conclusion. The international legal non-regulation of the autonomy of cities as actors in international relations complicates the modern world political process. Nevertheless, global, and smart cities are becoming the flagships of urbanization and the centers of attraction for international cooperation, including in the field of politics, which makes it necessary to study them as a new international political phenomenon.

“The Sun is also a star”: The foreign policy issue in the Republic North Macedonia EU-integration

The article is devoted to the foreign policy aspect of the EU-integration of the Republic of North Macedonia. The main attention of the article is paid not only to the interaction of official Skopje and Brussels, but also to the problems of the regional dimension of integration processes. Three main regional challenges for Macedonia are considered: the Macedonian name dispute, the Political views on the Macedonian language and the Albanian issue. The last one is not only about the rights and claims of the Albanian community of the country, but also It is the issue which seriously affecting Macedonia bilateral relations with neighboring Albania, the so-called “Republic of Kosovo”, Serbia and Montenegro. In the course of the study, the main contradictions of the parties were analyzed, the stages of the integration process of Macedonia in relation to NATO and the EU were highlighted, and a forecast was made regarding the prospects of the Skopje state to leave the top ten applicants and become a full member of the EU. Based on the results of the study, we came to the conclusion that in the future it is equally likely that both the successful resolution of existing conflicts in the case of a new focus of Brussels on the problems of the Western Balkans, and the freezing of existing contradictions and, even, under certain circumstances, the resumption of seemingly subsided memory wars, as this happened with the Political views on the Macedonian language in Macedonian- Bulgarian relations.

Влияние XIX съезда КПК на риторику китайских СМИ. Исследование на примере вечерних новостей CCTV

The article examines the empirical changes in the rhetoric of the Chinese media under the threat of the 19th CCP Congress. Using software, I generated largescale data obtained while watching evening news on CCTV for 3 months for the period 2016–2019. To validity the data, I chose: March, June, and October, when the maximum number of events occurs in China. The total amount of data includes almost three million hieroglyphic characters, which can be conditionally reduced to 7,000 standard pages of text in Russian. To identify changes in the rhetoric of the media, I assessed the frequency of using certain phrases, depending on the specific topic, using computer steganography methods and methods of mathematical statistics. The variables analyzed were as follows: the growth of Xi Jinping’s authority, coverage of the ideology promoted by the Chinese population, the fight against corruption, the defense of democracy, foreign policy issues in the modern ideological doctrine of the PRC. The results of the study are presented in the form of tables reflecting changes in the sensitivity of consumption. In the end, the conclusion drawn about the dependency between the decisions of the 19th Congress and the shift in semantic units in the encrypted data of television news.