Geopolitical Project Research Articles

India-China Political and Military Cooperation in the Shadow of Distrust

New Delhi and Beijing demonstrate incredible achievements in the economic and military-political spheres, shift the center of global politics to Asia, and have every opportunity to change the balance of power and world order in the medium or long term. Meanwhile, researchers pay little attention to the bilateral interaction of the two Asian giants, focusing more on the confrontation between the China and the US, or consider regional rivalry between India and China, in view of the rapidly developing geopolitical projects of both countries. The military-political relations of the two states, as a rule, are not reflected in the studies, as they are limited due to mutual distrust arising from the Sino-Indian War of 1962. This article is designed to evaluate the current balance of forces, analyze the qualitative components of their military capabilities on land and at sea as well as to identify interaction mechanisms that contribute to leveling the negative perception of each other. The author concludes that in the medium-term China will remain a stronger player in the international arena than India, which seeks to bridge the gap, but does not have the same economic opportunities, and therefore, its position is strengthened mainly at the expense of large allies, such as the USA, Russia, and Japan. At the same time, military doctrines, confidence-building measures as well as awareness of the severe consequences a potential conflict could result in contribute to the strengthening of military-political cooperation between India and China, despite the constant factor of distrust between the two.

Promene međunarodnog poretka i Bosna i Hercegovina - 25 godina od Dejtonskog sporazuma

The paper deals with the impact of changes to the international order on the position of Bosnia and Herzegovina over the period of 25 years, from the signing of the Dayton Agreement in 1995 to 2020. For a start, there is an analysis of all models of international order in that period. Furthermore, the paper analyses the unipolar international order as it existed until 2008 and its impact on the internal relations and political system in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as on the position of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Europe and the region of former Yugoslavia. In this respect, it particularly focuses on NATO's activities in Bosnia and Herzegovina in that period and the position of the Republic of Srpska. The second period begins after the year of 2008, and it represents the growth of a multipolar international order. It is the impact of that order on Bosnia and Herzegovina and its internal situation that is discussed in the paper, with Russia's return to the Balkans and its consequences analysed in detail. In addition, an analysis of the Chinese economic and geopolitical project entitled 'Belt and Road Initiative' and its impact on the region of former Yugoslavia, Bosnia and Herzegovina included, is given. In the presentation, as well as in the paper, one of the focal points is the respective position of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Srpska within the context of NATO enlargement. The influence of the structure of the international project (nejasno, potrebno je definisati koji projekat, iz prethodnog teksta to nije vidljivo) on the states can be seen on the example of Bosnia and Herzegovina - according to the scheme given by the theorist Kenneth Voltz. The unipolar order, influenced by the then US administration, is the creator of the Dayton Agreement in 1995, as well as of the political and legal order in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The political processes that took place after 1995 were also affected by the unipolarity and power of the United States. This power was focused on efforts to turn Bosnia and Herzegovina into a unitary socio-political structure, that is. to change its Dayton design. The culmination of the power of unipolarity and the United States in Bosnia and Herzegovina is the acceptance by political elites of Bosnia and Herzegovina of the NATO integration process in the period of 2005-2009. The emergence of a multipolar order is blocking the process of Bosnia and Herzegovina joining NATO, with the Republic of Srpska stopping the transfer of competences to the state level.

From the Adriatic to the Black Sea: The Italian economic and military expansion endeavour in the Balkan-Danube area

During the years that followed the end of the Great War, the Adriatic area found itself in a period of deep economic crisis due to the emptiness caused by the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The ancient Habsburg harbours, which had recently turned Italian, had lost their natural positions of Mitteleuropean economic outlets toward the Mediterranean due to the new political order of Central-Eastern Europe. Rome, then, attempted a series of economic manoeuvres aimed at improving Italian trade in the Julian harbours, first of all the port of Trieste, and at encouraging Italian entrepreneurial penetration in the Balkans. Resolved in a failure, the desire for commercial boost toward the oriental Adriatic shore coincided with the Dalmatian Irredentism and became a topic for claiming the 1941 military intervention across the Balkan peninsula. Italian geopoliticians, who had just developed the geopolitical discipline in Italy, made the Adriatic-Balkan area one of their most discussed topics. The fascist geopolitical project aimed at creating an economic aisle between the Adriatic and the Black Sea, in order to bypass the Turkish straits and become completion and outlet toward the Mediterranean of the Nazi Baltic-Mitteleuropean space in the north. Rome attempted the agreement with the other Danubian States, which subscribed the Tripartite Pact, in order to create a kind of economic cooperation area under the Italian lead. Therefore, the eastern Italian geopolitical border would have been traced farther from national limes. Rome would have projected his own interests as far as the Danubian right riverside, sharing with Berlin the southern part of that area consisting of territories historically comprehended (and contented) between German and Russian spheres of interest, which the Reich intended to reorganise after the alleged Soviet Union defeat. These Countries, framed by the Baltic, Mediterranean and Black See shores, found themselves entangled once more by geopolitical ties enforced by the interests of foreign Countries. However, these projects remained restricted to paper: the invasion of Yugoslavia turned into a failure and exposed Italy's military weakness; Rome proved to have no authority about the New Order organisation. Italy could dream up about its power only among magazines pages.

Decoding Dress: Countersurveillance Poetics and Practices Under Permanent War

In the wake of renewed attacks on both Muslim and Sikh communities, the hijab and turban continue to be enveloped as important material objects in the racialization of Muslim and Sikh bodies. Analyzing contemporary visual culture as both testament and counter-archive to a geopolitical project of Islamophobia, this article moves to both assemble and update how these unsettling figures are read and apprehended by statist forces and how they inventively resist such forms of scrutiny. Comparative in scope, I look at the racial, gendered, and queer configurations that the religious symbols and objects of hijab and turban provide. Specifically, this article examines the twinned contradictions in arguments around religious freedom, as well as the imperialist discourses of security and insurgency in the ongoing Global Wars on Terror. Through readings of recent events, ephemera, and visual culture, this article argues that the aligned politics of recognition of these two bodies has important effects for the racial, gendered, and sexual politics of American empire.

Ostrovets Nuclear Power Plant in Lithuanian Foreign Policy: Objectives, Measures and Future Prospects

The article analyses Lithuanian foreign policy in respect of the Ostrovets NPP from December 2008 till 2019. The aim of the article is to examine the goals of the Lithuanian foreign policy, its measures and outcomes. The analysis of official documents and high-level meetings was used to achieve this aim. The documents helped to reveal the strategic and economic features of the Ostrovets NPP, the official Lithuania’s position and its change. Meanwhile, the study of high-level meetings helped to determine the direction of Lithuanian foreign policy, its objectives, ways to justify them and means of their implementation. The study revealed that Lithuania opposed the construction of the Ostrovets NPP throughout the entire period under analysis, but initially it did that indirectly, emphasizing the issue of nuclear safety, and since mid-2016, the indirect resistance has gradually turned into a direct one - this nuclear power plant was considered a Russian geopolitical project. Although Lithuania’s interests with regard to the Ostrovets NPP have not been consistently represented at the highest political level during the period being analyzed, the country’s foreign policy can still be considered sufficiently effective. Lithuania successfully raised the issue of nuclear safety internationally, which eventually made Belarus to partially comply with Lithuania’s requirements for the admission of international experts. When it comes to constraining the supply of Belarusian electricity, Lithuania was able to agree on a favorable scenario for the synchronization of electricity systems of the Baltic States through Poland, securing Warsaw’s support. Nevertheless, attempts to constrain the supply of Belarusian electricity till the synchronization can only be effective if Lithuania succeeds in reaching agreements with Latvia and Estonia.

The 3 Seas Initiative: geopolitics and infrastructure

The Three Seas Initiative (I3M) is an ambitious geopolitical project comprising twelve EU Member States located between the Baltic Sea, the Black Sea and the Adriatic Sea: from North to South, a wide range encompassing Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Austria, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovenia and Croatia. It is a region with more than 25% of the EU's territory and about 22% of its population, but with a much lower economic representation. I3M aims to promote the development of central European infrastructures with a view to bringing this region closer to the economic development levels of other European countries. The I3M aimed for development of large projects of regional infrastructure in three major fields: energy, transport (road and rail) and the digital field (communications). The geopolitical importance of this project is immediately evident from the fact that many of these countries are landlocked states with no access to the sea. These infrastructures will now give them access to three seas and thus contribute to greater independence and room for maneuver in their policies. This region, situated in the center of the European continent, one of the main energy markets of the future, is also the scene of a very strong trade struggle between Russia, with its natural gas supplies, and the US, with its growing production of shale gas. The projects launched by I3M are therefore of greater economic and geopolitical importance, although they still have to ensure appropriate funding. Although the Three Seas Fund (TSF) was created), with a duration of 30 years and which aims to secure a financing of 100 billion euros (from an initial investment of the Member States in the amount of 5 billion euros), The truth is that much will depend on the support given by the EU and the countries interested in these projects, such as the US and China (link to the silk route). Some European countries have seen the birth of this Initiative with some suspicion, such as Germany, which has increasingly been focusing on Nordstream II, and Russia, which accuse their promoters of representing US interests on the European continent. Regardless of the controversies raised, I3M seems to be a form of regional cooperation that makes perfect sense and fully integrates into the spirit of European integration, seeking for its peoples the same development as the other Member States.

Editor’s Introduction: Southeast Asia Plus

Southeast Asia – its politics, governance and foreign relations – is the strong suit of this 44th issue of Asian Politics & Policy. From May 2018 until May 2019, we witnessed several elections taking place in this region which is known for its very diverse political systems and lively internal power dynamics. For this edition of Praxis, editor Jacob Ricks has assembled brief essays providing analyses of elections in Malaysia, Timor Leste, Cambodia, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines. All are written by young scholars working on these six countries. As Ricks notes, we have been bemoaning the decline of democracy at the global level in recent years. Both the government’s backtracking on the practice and promotion of multi-party democracy, and authoritarian China and Russia’s touting of their own model, represent threats to democracy. Whether or not influenced by these trends, how the Southeast Asian elites and publics try to grapple with their own challenges of governance and development through elections is as important to the future of democracy in the world. Governance in Southeast Asia is also given the spotlight in Hai Hong Nguyen's article which looks at state-society relations in Vietnam, mediated by the communist leadership that has to maintain strong central control for the regime to survive, and yet be responsive to demands from below. Gabriel Lele examines the effects of asymmetric decentralization, a situation where several subnational governments of the same level (e.g. provincial level) are allowed varying political, fiscal, and administrative arrangements by the central government. The experiences of four Indonesian provinces – Papua, Papua Barat, Aceh, and Yogyakarta – are offered as case studies of how asymmetric decentralization can succeed or fail. On another note, how domestic political factors affect the foreign policy choices of three countries (Malaysia, Indonesia, and China) in relation to the South China Sea territorial disputes, are the subject of three articles by Chow-Bing Ngeow, Yohanes Sulaiman and Mingjiang Li, respectively. These papers draw from a research project curated by Mingjiang Li and run from the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore. An accompanying contribution on the Philippines by Mark Bryan Manantan looks, not at the domestic factors, but at the geopolitical calculations of a weak country navigating relations with and between two competing great powers in this same maritime arena. Finally, to give us a breather from Southeast Asia Glenn Diesen takes us to the far opposite end of the continent as he writes about the economic interests and strategies undergirding Russia’s Greater Eurasia Initiative – a geopolitical project, too, no doubt, as Russia inches closer to the rest of Asia at this time of turbulent great power relations.

Tourism studies is a geopolitical instrument: Conferences, Confucius Institutes, and ‘the Chinese Dream’

Tourism scholarship can advance the multifarious geopolitical projects of state actors and aligned commercial entities. Such effects are achieved not only through tourism itself, but through the production and circulation of politically-inflected forms of knowledge. Such work is conducted by tourism scholars and allied industry and state actors. A first-person account of a 2017 tourism studies conference held at an Australian university demonstrates the argument by examining the ways in which scholars, industry, and state actors navigated and facilitated the geopolitical and geoeconomic agendas of not only domestic but potentially contentious international regimes. The conference received financial and administrative support from state, industry, and academic agencies from both Australia and China. Hosted by the Griffith Institute for Tourism (GIFT) and the Griffith University’s Tourism Confucius Institute (TCI), the conference was the third in a series of ‘East-West Dialogues on Tourism and the Chinese Dream’. By actively positioning the international collaboration within the rhetorical bounds of the ‘Chinese Dream’, and by conducting the conference in collaboration with the Tourism Confucius Institute, a quasi-educational operation directly managed by the Chinese party-state, the Australian and international tourism academy implicitly supported the geopolitical designs of the Chinese Communist Party. Renewed attention to academic ethics and increased areal expertise are a necessary response, especially in a time of global geopolitical instability and structural economic transformation in the academy.

China–Pakistan Economic Corridor: prospects and challenges

ABSTRACTChina–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a key artery of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), has attracted the attention of researchers and policymakers within and outside Pakistan. A blend of investment-loan-grant model of over US$ 46 billion, CPEC contains projects aimed at building energy and communication infrastructure and industrial zones. Based on the analysis of primary and secondary data, this study aims to answer two questions: first, what are the main socio-economic or geostrategic prospects of CPEC for Pakistan and China? Second, are there any constraints and challenges in the implementation of CPEC projects and how are these going to be addressed? The paper examines CPEC’s potential in bringing about socio-economic development in Pakistan and its financial and geostrategic significance for China. It also explores key constraints related to the fragile security situation and the potential of CPEC to further exacerbate the geopolitical situation in the region, particularly in South Asia, where it could intensify tension between Pakistan and India as the latter perceives CPEC as a Chinese geopolitical and security project. In addition, the long-term financial implications of CPEC are assessed, with particular focus on its potential to become a debt trap for Pakistan in the long run.

Connected in Print: Selecciones del Reader’s Digest, U.S. Cultural Relations, and the Construction of a Global Middle Class, 1940-1960

espanolEste articulo hace un recorrido por los origenes de las ediciones globales de Reader’s Digest y, de manera particular, de su popular version latinoamericana, Selecciones del Reader’s Digest, que se considera como una ventana hacia el gobierno transnacional y las iniciativas de los medios para forjar una “clase media global”. Se sostiene que la revista, en vez de simplemente idealizar la vida en Estados Unidos, afirma que los lectores podrian usar los medios para unirse a una comunidad imaginada de “profesionales” y “personas libres” con ideas similares en todo el mundo. Por medio de documentos de los Archivos Nacionales de Estados Unidos, la revista y una variedad de otras fuentes de prensa, se desenmaranan las conexiones existentes entre la primera revista estadounidense de consumo verdaderamente global y el proyecto geopolitico de Estados Unidos. En primer lugar, se describe la relacion entre el lanzamiento de la edicion latinoamericana de Reader’s Digest y las iniciativas de la campana cultural de Estados Unidos durante la segunda guerra mundial; en segundo lugar, se examina el contenido de la revista, ilustrando la manera en que se representaba la nocion de una conexion global en sus paginas. En conjunto, estas secciones muestran como los medios de comunicacion transnacionales no solo normalizaron la nocion de una clase media justa, sino que tambien narraron la globalidad de ese grupo, buscando involucrar al lector en el alcance del mismo. EnglishThis article traces the early history of the Reader’s Digest’s global editions, and in particular its Latin American magazine, Selecciones del Reader’s Digest, viewing this popularly consumed text as a window into transnational government and media initiatives to forge a “global middle class.” It contends that the magazine, rather than merely idealizing life in the United States, asserted that readers could use media to join an imagined community of likeminded “professionals” and “free peoples” around the world. Using documents from the U.S. National Archives, the magazine, as well as a variety of other press sources, the paper untangles the connections between the first truly-global U.S. consumer magazine and the U.S. geopolitical project. First, it describes the relationship between the launch of Reader’s Digest’s Latin American edition and the U.S. cultural campaign’s wartime initiatives; second, it examines the magazine’s content, illustrating how the notion of a global connection was depicted in its pages. Taken together, these sections illustrate how the transnational mass media not only normalized the notion of a righteous middle class but also narrated that group’s globality, seeking to implicate the reader in its scope. portuguesEste artigo traca as origens das edicoes globais de Reader’s Digest e, em particular, sua popular versao latino-americana, Selecoes do Reader’s Digest, considerada uma janela para o governo transnacional e as iniciativas da midia para criar uma “classe media global”. Argumenta-se que a revista, em vez de simplesmente idealizar a vida nos Estados Unidos, afirma que os leitores poderiam usar a midia para ingressar em uma comunidade imaginada de “profissionais” e “pessoas livres” com ideias semelhantes a nivel mundial. Por meio de documentos dos Arquivos Nacionais dos Estados Unidos, da revista e de varias outras fontes de imprensa, sao reveladas as conexoes entre a primeira revista americana de consumo verdadeiramente global e o projeto geopolitico dos Estados Unidos. Em primeiro lugar, descrevem-se a relacao entre o lancamento da edicao latino-americana do Reader’s Digest e as iniciativas da campanha cultural dos EUA durante a segunda guerra mundial; em segundo lugar, examina-se o conteudo da revista, ilustrando como a nocao de conexao global foi representada em suas paginas. Juntas, essas secoes mostram como a midia transnacional nao apenas normalizou a nocao de uma classe media justa, mas tambem narraram a globalidade desse grupo, buscando envolver o leitor em seu escopo.

State-rescaling and re-designing the material city-region: Tensions of disruption and continuity in articulating the future of Greater Manchester

In a context of globalisation, the emergence of city-regions and the politics and dynamics of their constitution has been debated for almost two decades. Recent writings have extended this focus to seeing city-regions as a geopolitical project of late capitalism where the state takes a critical role in the re-design of city-regions to make them amenable to international competition and to secure strategic inward investments in the built environment and infrastructure. We explore this issue in the context of state redesign of sub-national space in England and focus on Greater Manchester, as the de facto exemplar of ‘devolution’ to English city-regions. We argue that though re-scaling in Greater Manchester is a long-term historical process this has been punctuated by the UK state’s process of ‘devolution’ since 2014, this has involved a re-design and formalisation of Greater Manchester’s governing arrangements. It has also involved invoking a long dormant role for city-regional planning in articulating the future design of the material city-region over the next two decades as an attempt to formalise and continue a pre-existing, spatially selective growth trajectory by new means. Yet, the disruption of new hard governing arrangements also provides challenges to that trajectory. This produces tensions between, on the one hand, the pursuit of a continuity politics of growth through agglomeration, material transformation of the city-region and narrow forms of urban governance and, on the other hand, a more disruptive politics of the future of the city-region, its material transformation and how it is governed. These tensions are producing new political possibilities and spaces in the transformation of Greater Manchester. The implications of this are discussed.

БУДАПЕШТ И БУХАРЕСТ ПЕРЕД ВЫЗОВАМИ УКРАИНСКИХ ВНУТРИПОЛИТИЧЕСКИХ ПРОЦЕССОВ

The political crisis that Ukraine has been experiencing since 2014 has become a test not only for Russia, but also for a number of Eastern European states. The reason for this is both territorial proximity to the focus of tension, and a special historically conditioned attitude to Ukrainian affairs. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the greatest similarity was observed in relations between independent Ukraine and Hungary and Romania. The similarity consisted of a close set of problems, the main of which was the presence of Hungarian and Romanian ethnic minorities living in the border areas. The article examines how the Ukrainian internal political processes of recent years have influenced these relations and what are the differences in the Budapest and Bucharest approaches to the mentioned problems. The obvious discrepancies existing in the Hungarian and Romanian politics in the “Ukrainian direction” are caused by a whole set of factors, each of them reflecting the development priorities of these states, the ideological attitudes of their ruling elites, institutional features and relevant interpretations of national interests. Among the most obvious differences, one should note the tight linkage of the Hungarian policy of supporting compatriots, consistently carried out in Ukrainian Transcarpathia, to the right-conservative course of the country's leadership, which is not observed in the case of Romania. In turn, the Romanian ethno-political ambitions are more complex, due to the priority geopolitical project implemented by official Bucharest in relation to Moldova. In general, the geopolitical component is very clearly expressed in Romanian foreign policy, which is largely due to the strengthening of the Russian presence in the Black Sea basin, especially noticeable after the accession of Crimea to the Russian Federation. Accordingly, the attitude to the actions of Russia, perceived through the prism of the Ukrainian crisis, can serve as another indicator of the dissimilarity of the Romanian and Hungarian positions.

Осібні аспекти імперської політики пам’яті щодо Наддніпрянської України і Криму у XIX — на початку XX ст.

The research is devoted to the implementation of the imperial memory policy towards the Dnieper Ukraine and the Crimea in the 19th — early 20th century. Ukraine had been ruled by foreign states for centuries. Therefore, Ukrainian history has often been interpreted as dependent territory, ruled by the bigger neighbouring states. Russian and Polish historians of the 19th century included in their national historical narratives all lands, which were part of Russia or Poland respectively. The dynastic approach was proper for the historiography of the 19th century. “History of the Russian State” by Nikolay Karamzin is considered as an example of the dynastic approach in the 19th century Russian history where the idea of autocracy was proclaimed as a common good of the Russian Empire. Similar theses, in general, were typical for the 19th century and ended with the glorification of the monarchy and the proper ancestry. The purpose of the study is to identify and characterize the main tools and methods of conducting the Russian imperial memory policy on the creation of the geopolitical project of the Russian Orthodox World. The methodology of the study is based on the principles of historicism, systematic, scientific and interdisciplinary approach. The following general historical methods are used: historiographic analysis, historical-genetic, terminological analysis, comparative and typological methods. The author is adhered to the civilizational approach. The creation of a geopolitical project of the Russian Orthodox World is defined as strategic purpose of the policy which is implemented by means of forming a common identity on the imperial frontiers. The imperial memory policy has caused deep deformations in the collective consciousness of the Ukrainians.

Ethnic Aspect of the “Soft Power” Policy in the Implemetation of Geopolitical Projects in the Greater Mediterranean

Ethnic Aspect of the “Soft Power” Policy in the Implemetation of Geopolitical Projects in the Greater Mediterranean

Infrastructures of displacement: the transpacific travel of urban renewal during the Cold War

ABSTRACTBy examining South Korea’s urban renewal regime in the 1960s, this paper sheds light on hitherto underexplored transpacific connections in the history of urban renewal. The period in question is crucial in that both Washington and Seoul came to regard urban space as a means to maintain an anti-communist regional order, which prefigured major urban transformations in South Korea for the decades that followed. With a focus on the circulation of technologies of governing urban space through particular forms of urban renewal, this paper shows that urban renewal in the mid-twentieth century illuminates the function of three interrelated phenomena during the period: (1) the formation of the transpacific network of power and knowledge; (2) the establishment of legal, financial, and symbolic grounds on which the ideal of homeownership could operate; and (3) the transport of what I call infrastructures of displacement. In doing so, this paper suggests a way of looking at urban renewal in the mid-century as the geopolitical project of disseminating ideas, norms, and technologies of governing cities during the Cold War.

Приднестровская Молдавская Республика в региональной палитре формирования зон действия геополитических проектов в Причерноморье

The article is devoted to determining the nature of the activities of geopolitical projects in the region of the Moldavan-Transnistrian settlement of relations. The author focuses on the existing conditions within the framework of the system of international relations as the main parameter that shapes the nature of the projects' operation, as well as on the conditions and prerequisites for the formation of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic as an actor of international and regional processes.

Национал-консервативный "поворот" Польши в геополитическом контексте

In historical retrospect, Poland has repeatedly become a participant in geopolitical perturbations, which is largely due to its limitrophic position between the two civilizational spaces (Europe and Russia), as well as the desire to overcome it by either building into one of them or forming an alternative space under its protectorate. Another example of Poland’s “escape” from “limitrophic captivity” was the accession to NATO and the EU. However, the national conservative course taken by Warsaw after the coming to power of the party “Law and Justice” (PiS) is not aimed at deepening Poland’s integration into the EU, but rather has a confrontational character regarding Brussels. This can clearly be seen in the conflict between Warsaw and Brussels, formally caused by the negative reaction of European structures on the judicial reform initiated in Poland. The authors analyze the conflict between Poland and the EU, relying on the ideological views of PiS and highlighting the main features and peculiarities of Euroscepticism of this party. The article points out that the escalation of the conflict encourages Warsaw to dynamize the activities of the Visegrad Group and actualize the geopolitical project “Intermarium”. The authors show that this creates the conditions for Poland’s participation in the launch of the next transformations of the geopolitical layout in the European space, which can have an impact on the architecture of the bipolar system “Europe – Russia”. The article contains four hypothetical scenarios for the development of the situation (considering the factor of U.S. influence).

PACIFIC RUSSIA IN THE “GREATER EURASIA” AT THE BEGINNING OF XXI CENTURY: CHALLENGES AND RESPONDS

The article examines main factors that determine the pace, nature and direction of everyday life and economic development of Pacific Russia in the early 21st century. The author identifies and analyzes fundamental nature and impact of three, in his opinion, basic challenges, the answers to which determine Russian government policy towards this region: the threat of its loss under the influence of internal and external factors; peripheral status and lagging development based on its specialization in the raw materials extraction; modern Eurasian integration projects of Moscow, Beijing and Seoul. The first challenge was purely speculative but it allowed Kremlin to mobilize the country's political and business elites to strengthen Pacific vector of Russian policy and support Russia Far East development. In this case, the goal of this development was not to overcome the peripheral status and raw specialization of the region, but to utilize its potential more effectively in the interests of central government. The results were contradictory from the point of view of both domestic and foreign policies. Such outcome has prompted central government to create new instruments and institutions for implementation of his geopolitical and economic projects on the Pacific. The closure of an active phase of "Russia's integration into the APR", Kremlin promotion of the "Big Eurasia" concept as well as the Chinese "Belt and Road" initiative being launched alongside the Russian project, in the aggregate reserve for Pacific Russia a place "in the back" of the Eurasian integration, tightly fixing for her the status of a double - European and Asian - periphery.

Dal dibattito accademico al progetto geopolitico Le Nuove Vie della Seta fra potere marittimo e potere continentale

The Belt and Road Initiative is closely related to an academic debate that took place in China during the past decade. Its topic was the relative importance of land and sea for the future of international politics, as well as its implications for China’s rise: should Beijing focus on the Asia-Pacific maritime domain or on the Eurasian landmass? In response to the academic debate, the Belt and Road Initiative was conceived as a geopolitical project that places China at the centre of the international space by leveraging on its dual nature as both a continental and a maritime power. Still, the fate of the Belt and Road Initiative hinges on finding a solution to some theoretical issues that the academic debate left unresolved.

Cross-Country Comparisons as an Instrument of Economic Forecasting

Based on the comparison of Canada and Russia from the point of view of resource-geographical similarity, the differences in the structure of the economies and foreign trade of the two countries have been shown. One of the most important reasons for the unsatisfactory structure of the Russian economy and its technological backwardness is the country’s natural rent, which is spent not on innovative development in the economy, but on the implementation of insufficiently economically motivated geopolitical projects.