Geopolitical Interests Research Articles

THE ROOTS OF CONFLICT IN THE GREAT LAKES REGION - DYNAMICS AND IMPACTS

The importance of the study comes in that the conflicts in the Great Lakes region are essentially of a dynamic and complex nature, and this involving multiple and intertwined regional and international actors. The study aimed to research and focus on the root causes of the conflict in the Great Lakes region and impacts of those dimensions on societal dynamics and the role of ethnic and racial ties in the growth of conflict. The study discussed a number of questions, including: Do the region's economic wealth and resources have a role in the growth, and continuation of the conflict? Why do foreign powers and international ambitions seek to prolong the conflict in the region? As for the main problem of the study, Is the colonial factor one of the causes of conflict in the region? There are several assumptions on which the study relied, that the more national and regional initiatives fail, as deeper the international interventions and ambitions in managing the conflict, and there is a discrepancy between the ruling political system and the unity of the conflict in each region of the region. The study concluded with several results and recommendations, including: Inappropriate political systems, divisions of political forces and social components are one of the causes of conflict. The domestic imperatives of peace must prevail over the geopolitical interests of foreign powers, and the conflicts that occur within national borders in the region have different interests and root causes. It also recommended the need to intensify initiatives of peace and reconciliation between serious societal contexts and actors.

The Importance of Human Capital and Competitiveness in the Geopolitical Interests of the State: Based on Kazakhstan-China Relations

The article highlights the important role of the national economy in the issue of the nation, state and independence. The importance of human capital is shown among the three most important factors (land and resources, technical and production potential and human capital) that contribute to the development of the national economy. He explains the countries with the most abundant national wealth and high competitiveness as an example. The article analyses the Republic of Kazakhstan and the people's Republic of China in economic and geographical terms. Comprehensive studies will be conducted in the context of the geographical location, natural resource potential and features of the transition to the market of the two countries. The reasons for the remoteness of the two states' economic development levels will be sought. The main reason for the unequal development between Kazakhstan and China is apparent and demonstrated by human capital or competitiveness factors. The article also notes that China has long lagged behind the world's countries in economic, social and political terms due to the lack of attention to education and science. Still, after switching to a market economy, it paid maximum attention to science and education and achieved results. The financial potential of Kazakhstan in education and science will be compared with China. It is concluded that the state's high level of financial support and attitude to science and teaching is reflected in its contribution to foreign trade and investment. Key words: political independence, national economy, competitiveness, human capital, the share of GDP in science, investment, foreign trade.

From “Angry Mobs” to “Citizens in Anguish”: The Malleability of the Protest Paradigm in the International News Coverage of the 2021 US Capitol Attack

This study tests the robustness of the “protest paradigm”—a routinized, predominantly negative pattern in covering social protest—by examining the news coverage of the 2021 US Capitol attack in eight countries that vary in the nature of their political regime and geopolitical standing, with democratic US allies United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, France, Australia on one side, and authoritarian adversaries Russia, China, and Iran on the other. Based on a computer-assisted analysis of 3,579 news articles, the study shows that rather than operating as a rigid template, the protest paradigm offers national media a malleable set of journalistic devices that can be appropriated to construct the meaning of disruptive global events in a way that reproduces dominant domestic ideologies and advances the ruling elites’ geopolitical interests. In addition to theoretical contribution, the study offers a novel empirical finding to the literature on protest coverage by providing evidence of national media not simply deviating from, but explicitly violating the protest paradigm. As demonstrated by the analysis of the Russian press, rather than delegitimizing the January 6 attackers by making light of their agenda and emphasizing their unruly behavior—which could be expected from coverage consistent with the protest paradigm—the Russian state-owned media trivialized the brutality of the attack by opting for cues with less violent connotations and elevated the legitimacy of the protesters’ actions by framing them as valid demands by politically minded citizens unjustly prosecuted for concerns about the integrity of electoral process.

Infrastructure diplomacy and strategic signalling within the Three Seas Initiative

ABSTRACT Different manifestations of infrastructure diplomacy have been used as a prime example of how major powers dissatisfied with their position in the international system have been using economic tools to pursue their national objectives. On the other hand, the status quo powers have attempted to counter these moves by implementing their own versions of infrastructure diplomacy. This article explores the said dynamics within the context of the Three Seas Initiative (TSI). Merging insights from international relations, international economics and strategic project management, this article interrogates how the heightened geopolitical competition spills over to regional economies through infrastructure diplomacy and major infrastructure projects and whether and how policymakers deploy economic tools in major infrastructure projects to promote geopolitical interests within the TSI. Our findings imply that while informal state-to-state signalling is a predecessor to corporate-to-corporate signalling, formal state-to-state signals also support corporate-to-corporate actions.

Региональные аспекты продвижения вузов на международном рынке

The article addresses the issue of increasing the international competitiveness of regional universities and identifies the main impact factors from the perspective of the current internationalization and digitalization of the global academic space. The new approach relies on both social and digital marketing tools to streamline the relationship between universities and target audiences, including foreign ones. The international competitiveness of regional universities depends on the following aspects: internationalization strategy, international academic ratings, innovative research centers and their role in the local academic process, joint curriculum programs, high-quality teaching material, technical, social and cultural infrastructure, etc. The paper contains some recommendations for university management and regional authorities on how to develop the promotion system of regional universities. The proposed measures include cooperation with foreign partners from the countries of greatest economic and geopolitical interest. Another tool is an advanced promotion system for regional education services in the context of regional brand promotion strategy, including digital marketing. The new model of university management can increase the efficiency of international activities of the regional socio-economic system.

Selective humanitarians: how region and conflict perception drive military interventions in intrastate crises

Why are some violent intrastate crises more likely to prompt humanitarian military interventions than others? States appear to intervene robustly in reaction to some internal conflicts, such as Kosovo, but withhold similar options in more intense conflict, as in Darfur. Much of the research on this ‘selectivity gap’ focuses on universal norms or geopolitical interests. I, however, argue that the selectivity of these interventions is a product of regional variations interacting with conflict perceptions. This paper introduces a dataset of almost 1000 observations of intrastate armed conflict between 1989 and 2014, paired with international military responses and non-responses, as well as an Intervention Index that accounts for the intensity of military interventions. I find that once a threshold of human suffering is met via the existence of an internal armed conflict, powerful states will intervene depending on whether the conflict occurs in the Western sphere of influence and whether it is denoted as an identity war. A Western region coupled with no perceptions of identity-based civil war prompts the greatest odds of humanitarian military intervention. Such conclusions carry implications on the role of norms and interests in international politics, as biased by region, and for military intervention as a policy choice.

Conceptual and Methodological Foundations for the Articulation of Geospatial Data on Water Resources in South America’s Cross-Border Hydrographic Basins

When observing transboundary waters through the lens of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), it is essential to emphasize the principle of watershed unicity, which must overcome geopolitical interests while being supported by technical criteria. This paper used a multilevel and multiscale approach for integrated management of transboundary water resources in two South American transboundary river basins: the Javari River Basin (between Brazil and Peru) and the Quaraí River Basin (between Brazil and Uruguay). The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) provided spatialized data for South American watersheds. Our research focused on several broad issues concerning regional transboundary water management: (a) Because only Peru and Brazil use the Otto–Pfafstetter method, a uniform method within a regional agreement about methodological differences for delimiting hydrographic basins in each country is required; (b) It is necessary to organize accurate databases to avoid problems of mismatched borders by overlapping national databases or mismatches due to scale problems; (c) It is also necessary to establish a coordinating body capable of working with each country’s representatives. In this case, building integrated and collaborative cartographic database becomes critical; (d) Because river meanders can change, historical data of a river’s morphology is required. In this sense, this research provides guidelines to make water management in transboundary rivers feasible in South America.

The very concept of language contact in light of contemporary interest in translanguaging

This paper makes a case for viewing the concept of translanguaging as one that puts a heavy strain on a good deal of the time-honoured concepts of language contact, language code, code-switching, discrete languages as self-contained entities, hermetically sealed off from one another, and so forth — that is to say, the entire conceptual paraphernalia with the help of which we are used to working when dealing with the phenomenon of multilingualism. Far from being an exception to a rule, multilingualism is recognised as the norm in today’s world, the much-touted monolingualism having been exposed as the product of repressive policies enacted in the past in the name of geopolitical expediencies. Among these repressive policies is the formation of nation-states, historically brandished as the bulwark of a collective identity and also of differentiation vis-à-vis those with whom one no longer feels any common bond — an exception foisted upon the natural order of things. In other words, monolingualism is a point totally out of the curve, a fact that is historically attested, though overshadowed by its ‘contamination’ with factors that have to do with deep-seated geo-political interests.

LEGAL STATUS OF RUSSIAN CITIZENS ABROAD

Legal status of the Russian citizen is a debatable issue in legal science to this date. Legal science covers such aspects as elements of the legal status, its types, the correlation between the concepts of “legal status” and “legal standing” of the individual. The legal status of citizens abroad, which is one of the least studied issues, should be emphasized. The Constitution of the Russian Federation guarantees protection and defence. In the era of globalization, citizens keep travelling vigorously despite epidemic risks. That’s why studying the nature of the characteristics of their legal status has both theoretical and practical implications. Such factors as conflict of geopolitical interests, instability of international relations, efforts by the West to subdue Russia make protection of the citizens abroad relevant more than ever. The purpose of the study is to identify the characteristics of the status of the citizen abroad, taking into account a broad approach towards the term “legal status”. The subject of the study is a legal status of the Russian citizens abroad with the use of formal juridical and systematic analysis. Sources of the study are normative legal acts of various branches of the Russian law, which regulate legal standing of the citizens, as well as international agreements, which guarantee protection and defence of the Russian citizens abroad. As result of the study, conclusions about elements and characteristics of the legal status of the Russian citizens abroad are made.

Russia and the Caucasus Regions

According to Russian leaders, the traditional sphere of influence of the Soviet Union, mainly Central Asia and the Caucasus, is the first defensive bulwark to protect Russia’s national security; Moscow’s behavior in the context of Tsarist Russia and the former Soviet Union should seek to dominate the region.However, Russia has taken different approaches to Central Asia and the Caucasus over the past two decades. A closer look at the reason for such techniques reveals that these approaches were purely tactical and aimed at realizing Russia’s grand strategy in Central Asia and the Caucasus. Current trends indicate that the Russian governing body has always sought to portray Russia as an oil emperor in formulating its long-term strategy.An actor who, by promoting his position, can play a geopolitical and critical role in the field of energy and exploit Russia’s energy resources and the monopoly of energy transmission pipelines as a political and economic tool to secure its geopolitical interests in the Eurasian region, particularly in relations with the European Union. This study will examine Russia’s obstacles in achieving its goals in the Central Asian region and the Caucasus after the Cold War.
 Keywords: Russian politics, Central Asia and the Caucasus, Iran, Ukraine, Cold War, Geopolitics

China’s AI Strategy

The present study is devoted to the consideration of the peculiarities of Chinese policy in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) in the context of global technological confrontation.Aim. To identify the key areas of China’s AI strategy, as well as to identify priority areas of state policy in this area.Tasks. To analyze the results of the development of the AI industry in China, to consider the main economic indicators, achievements in the creation of computing infrastructure, the development of its own research and development in the field of AI, to identify the main provisions of the key official documents of the Chinese strategy in the field of AI. To summarize the main directions of China’s policy in the field and in the broader context of global geopolitical and technological confrontation.Methods. Research of official documents and on the basis of information and analytical technologies, comparative analysis, content analysis, inductive method using approaches of critical geopolitics.Results. The study showed that China is one of the world leaders in the field of AI technologies. Its leading positions are supported by substantial investments comparable to the USA and the EU, significant achievements in the creation of computing infrastructure, high patent and publication activity of Chinese researchers, developers and organizations, existing scientific and technological groundwork in the field of quantum computing and neuroscience. China has formed a holistic AI strategy aimed at technological leadership, strengthening sovereignty in the field of high technologies, developing human resources, improving economic efficiency, gaining competitive advantages at the international level, as well as projecting its own geopolitical interests on this basis. A systematic approach to the adoption of the main strategic documents aimed at supporting the development of AI, the balance of roadmaps for achieving the main goals, contributes to the formation of a balanced and effective public policy in this area.Conclusions. The analysis of China’s AI policy allows us to state the formation of a large space for the development of AI technologies, which acts as an alternative to the Western space, the leaders of which are the United States and the EU. At the international level, in the context of the tightening of the sanctions policy, China is able to provide countries for which the range of opportunities for cooperation with the West has seriously narrowed recently, with access to modern high technologies and substantial investment resources, thereby strengthening its own integration potential and influence in the world.

China in South China Sea: Evolving geopolitical interests and opportunism

ABSTRACT China has been consistently staking claim to the entire South China Sea (SCS) citing historical linkages. The consistent nature of these claims point towards the long-term nature of China’s interests, from nationalism and reclaiming lost territories to commercial and geostrategic interests. The onset of COVID-19 in Wuhan in November 2019 and its transformation into a global pandemic witnessed a shift in China’s foreign policy. The article analyses China’s evolving geopolitical interests and recent geopolitical opportunism during COVID-19, by way of unilateral state-level administrative actions, completion of military infrastructure development, conduct of military exercises, aggressive military actions, and wolf warrior diplomacy, to gain operational advantage by changing the status quo in its favour in the SCS in order to subordinate other claimants and dominate the region.

The Ukraine Crisis: Causes, Conundrum and Consequences

Located at the geopolitical centre of Eurasia, Ukraine has been an important arena for great power game for nearly three decades since the collapse of the Soviet Union. The West, principally the United States and Europe, and the Russian Federation have therefore been heavily involved in Ukraine's internal and external development. Their ideological, economic, and geopolitical interests clashed in a fierce battle that led to multiple political regime changes in Ukraine, and ultimately plunged Europe into an intractable security situation. This paper takes the rivalry between the US, Europe and Russia in Ukraine as a starting point to examine the dilemma facing European security in the context of the great power game, the root causes behind the Ukraine crisis, its far-reaching consequences for geopolitics and global patterns and the implications for regional peace in other parts of the world.

Identifying Key Relationships between Nation-State Cyberattacks and Geopolitical and Economic Factors: A Model

Nation-state cyberattacks, and particularly Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs), have rocketed in the last years. Their use may be aligned with nation-state geopolitical and economic (GPE) interests, which are key for the underlying international relations (IRs). However, the interdependency between APTs and GPE (and thus IRs) has not been characterized yet and it could be a steppingstone for an enhanced cyberthreat intelligence (CTI). To address this limitation, a set of analytic models are proposed in this work. They are built considering 234M geopolitical events and 306 malicious software tools linked to 13 groups of 7 countries between 2000 and 2019. Models show a substantial support for launched and received cyberattacks considering GPE factors in most countries. Moreover, strategic issues are the key motivator when launching APTs. Therefore, from the CTI perspective, our results show that there is a likely cause-effect relationship between IRs (particularly GPE relevant indicators) and APTs.

Revolution and Counter-Revolution in the Tripoli Protests in Lebanon

Abstract As the “October Revolution” of 2019 spread throughout Lebanon, the northern city of Tripoli soon became a veritable hotbed of protests. Over several weeks, the city saw a string of the largest anti-government protests in the country, thus earning the moniker “Bride of Revolution” (‘Arus al-Thawrah). However, it did not take long for things to begin to fall apart. Tripoli would soon give a picture of a not-so-glorious protest movement, penetrated by a potpourri of scheming elements of the Lebanese kleptocracy and business elites and geopolitical interests. The revolutionary slogans and bonds that connected the city’s sectarian mosaic proved ephemeral. The ontological vibrancy, multiplicity, and heterogeneity of the protest movement gave way to political monotony, sameness, and ideological harmony. This paper provides an explanation of how the revolution coexisted, and often perilously so, with its nemesis – counterrevolution – in the protest movement in Tripoli.

Jeopolitik Bir Faktör Olarak İngiltere’nin Azerbaycan Çıkarlarında Ermenistan (1917-1919)

The geopolitical interests of Great Britain in Azerbaijan, as well as the policy of the Caucasus in general, are considered an integral part of the historical Eastern question. It is an undeniable fact that historically every great power has used various pretexts and factors to maintain its own imperialist policy. These factors can be observed in the geopolitical interests of the great powers in current events in the world. XX. at the beginning of the XIX century, Armenians were one of the main factors in the pursuit of Britain's geopolitical interests both in the Ottoman geography and in the South Caucasus. The priority of the UK was to decipher which nation among the various ethnic and religious groups in the Caucasus could seriously resist the Turks. They did not trust the Azerbaijani Turks, who sympathized with the Ottomans because they were Turks. In turn, the Azerbaijani Turks were very worried about the British assistance to the Armenians. This aid was even used by the Armenians to annoy the Azerbaijanis. These actions of the Armenians have created public opinion that the British government is pursuing an openly anti-Islamic policy. In this study, information is discussed that the UK plays a key role in the emergence of the Armenian problem and its transnational problems, including its expansionism, and uses Armenians as the main tool in its geopolitical interests in the South Caucasus.

Роль транспортных коридоров в международном сотрудничестве (на примере Каспийского региона

Despite its obvious relevance and practical significance, the problem of Eurasian transport corridors has not yet taken a proper place in the scientific discourse. This article is a small but important step towards the development of the stated topic. International transport corridors (ITCs) in general and Eurasian ones in particular are a fundamentally new mechanism of international cooperation and a factor aimed at overcoming the increased turbulence in the relations between the states. The International North–South Transport Corridor project is of global significance, Russian-Azerbaijani cooperation playing an especially important role in its successful implementation. Current instability of the global political landscape and increasing foreign policy risks have given rise to a tendency to actualize national agendas to the detriment of international integration processes. This tendency is, however, being constructively overcome through new organizational forms, one of which is the ITCs. The latter, due to the vector of progress from the national to the common domain, are becoming a sought-after and developing institution of international cooperation. Owing to the natural conditions, the geopolitical space of Russia and Azerbaijan plays an important role in promoting national interests. Due to the friendly relations between the two countries, the creation of this important Eurasian route has been progressing steadily, which is facilitated by mutual interest in the integration of the transport systems in order to increase the transit potential of the territories, by a significant coincidence of Russia’s and Azerbaijan’s geopolitical interests, as well as by a high collaboration potential in the region. The joint work of the Caspian states in the organization of Eurasian transport corridors has been experiencing a destructive influence of external forces, which significantly complicates consolidation of the countries in the region. At the same time, integration in the field of transport communications is the most important mechanism for overcoming instability and achieving a stable international security regime.

India at the Geopolitical Crossroads

The article refutes the widely circulated claim that India has made its geopolitical choice in favor of the USA through joining it in confront-ing China by participating in the QUAD dialogue format. While considering the factors of substantial advance in US-Indian relationship, the author points out that it was rather the geopolitical choice of the USA itself, that the Obama Administration’s “pivot” went to consolidate after quite a prolonged period of ultimately futile attempts by Washington to incorporate Beijing into its “uni-polar moment.” With China-India rivalry having definitely increased, their mechanism of regular meetings on the border problem has enabled them to put the issue outside the general context of their relationship. It facilitated the creation of possibilities for a substantial advance of relations between the two countries in trade and investment spheres, setting up the political dialogue, including at the summit level, and interaction within a number of multilateral formats. Analysis of the geopolitical concept of India’s present Foreign Minister shows, that it is based on a design to take advantage from the interest taken in obtaining India’s support by the opponents of the establishment in the Indo-Pacific region of “China’s hegemony” while avoiding “excessively antagonizing” the latter. This is confirmed by India’s care to avoid giving the QUAD the shape of a military bloc, which has been taken into account by its partners within “the four” at the current stage. Highlighted is the importance attached by India to promoting its continental geopolitical interests by enhancing its relations with Russia and participating in the SCO and the RIC, especially taking into account the disorderly withdrawal of the US forces from Afghanistan. The Indians attaching lately a place of importance in their Indo-Pacific doctrine to Russia has been taken note of. The article comes to a conclusion that India continues its geopolitical maneuvering, which remains an important part of the real picture of world politics with a potential to be used for the benefit of its positive evolution.

The Kokand Khanate as an Object of Russia's Geopolitical Interests in the Representation of Travelogues of Imperial Experts in the first half of the 19th century

The Kokand Khanate as an Object of Russia's Geopolitical Interests in the Representation of Travelogues of Imperial Experts in the first half of the 19th century

Brief Synopses of New Arabic-Language Publications

Brief Synopses of New Arabic-Language Publications