Geostrategic Interests Research Articles

Whose security is it? Elitism and the global approach to maritime security in Africa

Africa’s marine environment and resources that lie beneath it are central to the continent’s sustainable development and actualising the ambitions set out by the African Union in its Agenda 2063, where the oceans are described as the frontier of Africa’s development. The continent’s maritime domain and resources are also attractive to foreign partners relying on its oceans to enhance their economic development and geostrategic interests. Serving the interests of all parties, especially the 38 coastal states and the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and land-linked countries on the continent that benefit from the maritime sector, comes with challenges, some of which manifest as threats to the sustainable resource extraction and safety of those that use the maritime domain. We explored the literature, policy documents and maritime security reports database, together with our experiences as African maritime governance and security experts, to critically examine maritime security in Africa and unravel how extra-regional actors have securitised maritime threats. We show how the selective framing of what constitutes threats and associated resourcing of responses to counter them, often dictated by foreign interests, is an elite project that undermines a holistic notion of maritime security that would benefit the African people.

Моря российской Aрктики в атласном картографировании России

The Russian Arctic, as an integral part of Russia, has played an important role in the development of the country throughout its history. Today, the Arctic is a region of special geostrategic interests of the state and economic interests of society, outlined in a number of documents. An important condition for their implementation is the information resources of society, which today are the most important strategic factor in its development. Their integral part is the cartographic component. It is implemented in analog and digital models of operational or long-term knowledge coverage, the most valuable in case of their integration, in particular, into atlases. In atlas mapping, Arctic seas, as special objects of study, have always been given great attention. By the beginning of the XXI century, fundamental atlas works had already been created based on the results of many years of research. In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in the multilateral mapping of the seas, considering their role in the expected climate warming, increased use of energy, mineral, biological and other resources, the emergence of environmental problems. Emerging requests stimulate the creation of atlas works of various purposes, territorial, thematic and temporal coverage, types of media and the ratio of content presentation. The noted trends in the atlas mapping of the seas: the expansion of the thematic spectrum of study, the desire for efficiency and updating of the content of atlases through the use of modern geoinformation technologies (including online); active transition to the preparation of works combining information and knowledge in real time, capable of quickly responding to navigation, ecology, economics, etc.; blurring the line between traditional paper atlases and their Internet-versions, allowing unlimited expansion of the amount of information presented; attention to the issues of used semiotic systems, etc. The purpose of this article is to present the development and current state of atlas mapping of the seas of the Russian Arctic on the basis of the main works created in the last half century.

Environmental Security Policies of the Russian Federation

Since the earliest times of history, humanity has been known to be fighting an existential war against nature. Although man’s struggle against his natural environment has not caused severe damage to nature for centuries, human-induced natural environmental degradation has begun to be seen with modernization, the effect of which was experienced to a great extent in the 20th century. With both population growth and technological developments, humanity has achieved significant gains in its struggle for survival against nature, but these gains have turned against humanity itself with the irreversible deterioration of nature. This degradation, which started with environmental pollution in the past and resulted in climate changes today, has been taken care of by modern states, which have significant power in the governance of people. These modern states, which previously had a security perspective through their relations, have started to take steps as environmental problems harm their legitimacy and citizens. States had to come together to solve this common problem no matter how different they were in government type and ideology. Since the day it left the Soviet Union, the Russian Federation has not refrained from taking national steps toward the global environmental security regime. Although like many states, the fight against environmental problems has made mistakes and shortcomings, it has cooperated internationally for various reasons. The most important reason is that the Russian Federation is at the top of the list of states polluting nature. But apart from this, environmental security has been the area of interest of the Kremlin administration due to its geopolitical and geostrategic interests in the international system. Therefore, it has set targets on environmental security in documents such as foreign policy and security concepts adopted since the early 1990s. This study aims to examine the national and international environmental policies of the Russian Federation on global climate change. For this reason, firstly, a brief introduction to the subject of environmental security will be made, and the documents containing the political and security perspective of the Russian Federation will be discussed in the next section. In the last part, it will try to summarize what kind of international contribution and cooperation the Russian Federation has made in solving environmental problems.

When Do States Repatriate Refugees? Evidence from the Middle East

AbstractWhich conditions affect whether a state will choose to repatriate forcibly displaced populations residing within its borders? One of the most pressing issues related to the protracted Syrian refugee situation concerns the future of over 5 million Syrians who sought shelter in neighboring states. With host countries pursuing disparate strategies on Syrians’ return, the existing literature has yet to provide a framework that is able to account for variation on host states’ policies toward refugee repatriation. In this paper, we expand upon the concept of the refugee rentier state to theorize inductively upon the conditions shaping states’ policymaking on repatriation. We draw upon multi-sited fieldwork across the three major refugee host states in the Eastern Mediterranean (Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey) to establish that a refugee rentier state's strategy is driven by domestic political economy costs related to the hosting of refugee populations as well as its geostrategic interests vis-à-vis these refugees’ country of origin. Using a comparative case study approach, we note how a state is more likely to pursue a blackmailing strategy based on threats if it faces high domestic political economy costs and adopts an interventionist policy vis-à-vis the sending state, as in the case of Turkey. Otherwise, it is more likely to pursue a backscratching strategy based on bargains, as in the case of Lebanon and Jordan. We conclude with a discussion on how this framework sheds light on refugee host states’ repatriation policies on a global scale.

Nepal’s Geo-Stretegic Significance, Challenges And Opportunities

Geo-strategic significance is an important factor for the development and prosperity of the country. Nepal’s geo-strategic location, crammed between India and China, has its challenges and opportunities. Due to its unique location, Nepal is getting heightened attention from great powers. The factor of having a strategic location doesn’t quite guarantee the nation’s sovereignty, prosperity and growth rather it needs conscious and constructive efforts. Being a buffer state, security situation in Nepal is always a major concern for both neighbors. Traditionally India had an important role in Nepal’s economic cooperation, trade, transit and investment. After Nepal’s transition to a republic state China’s support has seemly increased in Nepal with its investment in development projects, increased bilateral visits, bilateral mechanism and cultural cooperation. China’s increased role in Nepal can understood as competing other global power’s geo-strategic interests. Question arises, whether Nepal has geostrategic significance because of its location, which could be capitalized for growth of the nation and at the same time carefully; formulate its foreign policy while balancing its diplomacy to avoid precipitation of a spiral of counterbalancing intrusion? Nepal should carefully analyze these global powers and its emerging foreign policies and should devise its diplomatic exercise prioritizing Nepal’s national interests and keeping perfect balance among them.

Dynamics of Sino Russian Cooperation: History and future Prospects

After the end of the cold war international politics had moved from bi-polar to uni-polar resulting in instability. The United States of America to achieve her geo strategic interests took aggressive action which made other states insecure. We have witnessed a rise in the number of wars happened in the last decade of the 20th century and the first decade of the 21st century. The Middle East is still facing the aftershocks of Arab Spring and the Europe is still divided the way it was during the cold war. To counter the hegemonic designs of the United States of America and its allies Sino Russian cooperation has tried to balance the dynamics of International power power politics. This Sino Russian cooperation is based on an economic, strategic and political level. The very nature of this Sino Russian cooperation revolves around the integration of interests and inclusiveness of other likeminded states. In the second decade of the 21st Century this cooperation has evolved at the international level as an alternative to the Western political block led by the USA

The Aspects of International Communication: Strategic Partnership of Ukraine and Turkey

Abstract The article aims to analyze the geopolitical, conflict-related, and strategic interests of Ukraine realized within the framework of the South vector of the state geopolitics through rational and pragmatic cooperation with the trans-regional leader of the region – Turkey. The study aims to identify priority areas of cooperation between Ukraine and Turkey in the Black Sea region for the effective implementation of geostrategic interests of Ukraine and the regularity of development of political defense systems during crises and modern military-political conflicts. The interdisciplinary approach and methods of analytical and comparative analysis made it possible to study and examine the evolution of the value-ideological loads which dominate the implementation of Eastern or Western geopolitical vectors. The necessity to consider political, social, and conflict-related imbalances and integration constraints revealed the pragmatic direction of equidistant foreign policy implementation in a three-dimensional format. This format involves an alternative vector of bilateral cooperation with Turkey and a joint position, which will ensure accelerated development of Ukraine and help avoid pressure from the European Union and the Russian Federation. The defensive type of geostrategy serves as a common denominator in cooperation between countries, providing more substantial interaction at the level of experience exchange on military operations, military-political conflicts in Syria and the Eastern regions of Ukraine, solving problems with separatist regions, implementing programs for refugees and internally displaced persons, developing a parity promotion of integration of Turkey and Ukraine into the EU.

The influence of European and American non-state actors on the integration of the transatlantic market after the Cold War - A Romanian perspective

ABSTRACT The focus of this article is on categories of non-state actors: private and public-private companies in Europe and the US, NGOs, and the academic community. In the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been a revival of importance of non-state actors. This article assesses the growing influence of European and American non-state actors on the integration of the transatlantic market, against the backdrop of changes in the international context. Particular attention is paid to the case of Romania since, in terms of integration, it is located at a key position in relation to the geostrategic interests of both the European Union and the United States. The article is based on an opinion survey of the Romanian population as well as interviews with professionals belonging to Romanian and American non-governmental organizations, employees of Romanian companies collaborating with American corporations, and Romanian scholars having studied at American universities. The article concludes that, in a system marked by global interdependencies, non-state actors are influencing the policy-making processes at both national and international levels, with the business sector being the most influential non-state actor.

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 Untamed Impact of a Faraway Shock: Africa and the War in Ukraine

The combinations of multiple disruptors in the world economy have now been reinforced by the return — through the front door — of the warmongering behaviour of the great powers. This is arguably to defend geostrategic interests. The consequences for Africa are brutal. After a decade and a half of considerable progress in its macroeconomic management and social indicators, halted first by the 2008–2009 global financial crisis and now by the impact of the pandemic, the continent was at the limit of its capacity when, in February, Russian troops entered Ukraine. A finer analysis allows us to discern that Africa is simultaneously experiencing a moment of great convergence and one of divergence. The convergence is verifiable at the level of opinions and the construction of defensive positions in relation to global actors, while the divergences are related to the end of a certain notion of globalisation that is likely to deeply affect the continent. Africans’ choices in the international arena have become more limited, although that may eventually create the opportunity for a more courageous attitude.

MYANMAR: ETHNIC CLEANSING OF ROHINGYA. FROM ETHNIC NATIONALISM TO ETHNO-RELIGIOUS NATIONALISM

Rohingya, an ethnic minority group in the Rakhine state of Myanmar, has been levelled as one of the most persecuted ethnic groups in contemporary time. For the last five decades, they have been undergoing systematic torture ranging from deprivation of citizenship to mass killing and forceful eviction from their inhabitants. The army of Myanmar spearheads this persecution, which is deemed as genocidal. However, the engagement of radical Buddhist groups and support from the local Burmese population worsened the situation. Along with army inter-vention and ethnic differences, some economic and geostrategic question is highlighted behind this inhuman situation. But Myanmar consists of more than 100 ethnic groups, and there are other similar areas with similar economic and geostrategic importance. Though there are several instances of conflict in some of those areas, they are almost unparalleled comparing that of the Rakhine state. Having acknowledged the multiple genealogies of this conflict, this paper focuses more on the state/nation building process of Myanmar to understand the exceptionalism of Rohingya persecution. We want to argue that rather than ethnic tension or geostrategic interest, the nation/state-building of Myanmar in different phases of its history can put more light on the unique suffering of the Rohingya population in Myanmar. Analyzing the key historical transition of Myanmar, we attempt to trace the gradual exclusivity of the Rohingya people in the evolution of State manufactured discourse on the question of nation and their deliberate enactment of speciϐic identity while alienating the other. Keywords: Rohingya, Myanmar, Nationalism, Identity, State/Nation-Building.

Rivalry in the New Geopolitics of the Mediterranean: Turkey’s Geostrategic Vision and Its Effects on Foreign (Energy) and Security Policies

The Eastern Mediterranean (EM) has endured significant geopolitical alterations in the last decade through the new oil and natural discoveries. The energy issues in the region present geostrategic inferences for the states to assure their economic, politic and geostrategic interests and also accelerate the rivalry among the surrounding states and external powers. In addition, new oil and natural sources discoveries have triggered and increased regional insecurity and instability. Turkey with her geopolitical position is one part of the rivalry in the context of the new geopolitics of the Mediterranean. As a rival, Turkey has struggled for and maintaining its economic and geopolitical interests. Moreover, Turkey aims to be a regional energy hub in the region as a transit route and by its growing gas market. Turkey has distinctly presented a pretentious foreign policy approach with multilateral diplomacy and military deterrence in the regional political debates. The article analyses Turkey’s geostrategic vision and its effects on Turkey’s Turkey’s foreign and energy security policies.

Evolution of Regional Cooperation Frameworks in Eastern Europe (1990–2021). The Role of Poland as a Regional Actor

Poland’s power plays an important role in building the image and international position of the country in the region. It is a good starting point to conduct a proactive policy, which gives Poland the opportunity to act on behalf or in defence of smaller regional neighbours. This, of course, can increase Poland’s own significance and potentially opens new political opportunities to contribute to the realization of its own geostrategic interests and goals; in this sense, broadening its influence. It is therefore worth analysing the roles that Poland plays within its region and find the answer to the question of how its position evolves, and to what extent regional roles have an impact on the international position and strength of the state in the European Union. The paper argues that Poland does not effectively exploit cooperation in regional organizations. Thus, its role remains below its own capabilities and it is inferior to the nation’s ambitions. Nevertheless, there is still potential to strengthen the state’s position and its international role in the European Union and beyond.

Russia’s interest in Pakistan and its implications on India

The main objective of this paper is to examine the five prime reasons under which Russia had shifted its interest towards deepening their strategic relations with Pakistan keeping at stake its historic relations with India. Historically, both Soviet Union and Pakistan looked at each other either through the prism of U.S or India leaving little scope for independent foreign-policy making towards each other or even extending strategic manoeuvring. Currently, the orbit of their relations is undergoing rapid changes in the backdrop of the New Cold War. As such, besides, covering the historical background, the present study is therefore an attempt to analyse the growing geo-strategic interest of Russia in Pakistan and examine whether this reapproachment have any impact on Indo-Russian relations. In the process it also examines how their strategic synergy may alter the existing balance of power in South Asia and international peace.

Great Power Rivalry in Indo Pacific: Implications for Pakistan

The term of Indo Pacific delineates a conceptual evolution in the US strategic community to contain and encircle China by countering it in the area of its influence. The underlined policy priority is to counter Belt and Road Initiative to contain China. While China’s strict adherence to the previous geographical connotation of Asia Pacific establishes that it sticks to its policy of leading world by economic interdependence approach in Asia. This great power competition in the Indo Pacific region has wide ranging strategic and economic implications for Pakistan. This paper aims to discern into the factors which are making the strategic environment tensed thinning out the options for Pakistan. The two basic questions which this study addresses are: a. How does conceptual shift from Asia Pacific to Indo Pacific transform the strategic environment of this region? b. Why is this transformation so significant for Pakistan’s geostrategic interests?

INDIA’S GROWING SECURITY ARCHITECTURE IN INDO PACIFIC: A CASE STUDY OF INDO- MAURITIUS CONVERGENCE

The rise of China across the Indian and the Pacific Ocean along with new threats radiating from the maritime domain further consolidates the necessity of maritime security. All the major powers such as India, Japan, the United States, Australia, etc. are giving attention to the Indo-Pacific to counter China’s assertiveness and to protect their maritime interests. Concerning India, the country has adopted three approaches to protect its maritime and geostrategic interests in the Indo-Pacific region. First to directly engage with the regional powers and forums such as ASEAN. Secondly collaborating with small and middle powers such as the Maldives and Sri Lanka, Mauritius, and Seychelles, etc. Finally, engaging in multilateral and multi-sectoral dialogue with global powers such as Australia, Japan, the United States under the ambit of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, commonly called the Quad. Using littoral powers India is in the process of actively extending its reach, interests, and focus to subvert Chinese assertiveness. So based on the stated problem the focus of this paper is to understand the changing trajectory of India’s Indo-Pacific policy with special reference to Mauritius.

The balkan migrant route: a eu unresolved crisis?

This article aims to underline how the Western Balkans are an area of fundamental geo-strategic interest for the security inside and outside Europe. Its geostrategic importance was even more evident when, since 2015, the Western Balkans havebeen crossed by one of the most impressive migratory routes to Europe, the socalled “Balkan route”, showing the political instability of both the region and the EU. The massive flow of asylum seekers led the EU institutions to recognize in April 2015 the exceptional nature of the situation, calling unsuccessfully for the adoption of solidarity measures to overcome the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the so-called "frontline Member States". In this framework, the article intends to briefly investigate the limits of the existing regulatory framework, which was unable to offer an adequate response to such a situation, as well as of the proposals of the EU Pact on migration of asylum in order to find a solution to a crisis that is not only a migration crisis, but a deeper crisis of identity that is struggling to balance the coexisting interests of the EU legal system.

SPECIFIC PROJECTION OF CHINA’S SOFT POWER IN AFRICA: A NEW SECURITY PARADIGM

According to the International Monetary Fund, the People’s Republic of China is nowadays the largest economic power in the world. Therefore, it is unsurprising that China was represented in nearly every global market. Contrary to the belief that Chinese investments in underdeveloped countries should lead to their development and improvements in standards, Peking was accused of using the countries in development to strengthen its economy and to increase its political influence. The modus operandi was allegedly a striking example of projecting soft power in the expansion of hard power in many regions worldwide. The combination of economy, trade, investments and security questions was clear. This phenomenon was evident in Africa because China had a special and robust economic and geostrategic interest in this region. This research critically analyzed how this strategy can be considered a new security paradigm. In addition, there was a straightforward project from the Chinese government to extend this model to other regions to obtain global leadership.

Ceuta, Melilla Gibraltar y el Sáhara Occidental. Estrategias españolas y europeas para las ciudades de frontera exterior en África, y los peñones de Vélez y Alhucemas

CEUTA, MELILLA, GIBRALTAR AND WESTERN SAHARA. SPANISH AND EUROPEAN STRATEGIES FOR THE EXTERNAL BORDER CITIES IN AFRICA, AND THE ROCKS OF VÉLEZ AND ALHUCEMAS In Spain-Morocco relations, there is an imbalance in favour of Morocco in the territorial issues of the bilateral relationship. Various measures to consolidate and strengthen Ceuta and Melilla in the European Union are analysed, with short, medium- and long-term strategies that take into account the interests of the cities and Spain in the Strait of Gibraltar Area and Region.The objective of consolidating the EU in Spain’s Cities, Islands and Rocks on the African coast must be permanent in Spanish action, especially after the Ceuta crisis of 2021, with Morocco’s use of mass immigration as a diplomatic weapon against Spain; and the subsequent Spanish shift to Western Sahara in 2022. These events confer a certain international-legal precariousness on Ceuta and Melilla, given Spain’s lack of reaction to Morocco’s serious breaches of its international obligations.This paper analyses short- and medium-term strategies, such as the establishment of a European outermost region, and especially proposes the creation of a specific status in the EU adapted to the needs of Ceuta and Melilla, as ‘EU External Border Cities in Africa’, given the absolutely unique nature of their circumstances in the European and Mediterranean context.Long-term strategies that can serve to strengthen the Cities and serve Spain’s interests in the Strait region are also analysed. These include the possible analogy of future solutions for Gibraltar as an internationalised city linked to the EU. Along the same lines of the search for strategies, the possible geostrategic interest for Spain of the option of dividing up the Saharan territory, proposed by the UN Secretary General in 2002, as one of the options for resolving the Western Sahara conflict, is analysed. Finally, it analyses the situation of legal limbo in which the islands and rocks, particularly the rocks of Vélez and Al Hoceima, find themselves in Spanish law. The need for a policy of ‘Lawfare’ is raised, intensifying Spanish and European normative references. It is also proposed to consider new functions and meanings for the Peñones as places of memory and historical interpretation of the Rif wars of the 19th and 20th centuries.

Reconstruction of a productively capable semiconductor industry in the context of overcoming negative development trends of Ukrainian industry

The restoration of industry in post-war Ukraine is possible only if the direction of its development corresponds to the current trend of development of the world economy, namely the militarization of the world economy. Thus, the criterion for the success of the Ukrainian economy can be the level of post-war development of industry that produces military equipment and weapons, and these products must be high-tech, such that it has a closed production cycle within the country. So, the urgent task is to find ways to restore and develop the production of semiconductor materials, discrete devices and integrated circuits directly in Ukraine for the manufacture of high-tech military equipment, both for own needs and for export, including in the United States. The main negative trend of the modern and in the recent past historical and economic trend of Ukraine's development is the deindustrialization of its economy, namely the structural inconsistency with modern technological development. The crisis of neoliberal globalization has led not only to the development of deindustrialization trends in developing countries (to which Ukraine belongs), but also to the reduction of the industrial sector in highly developed countries. In Ukraine, the domestic electronic industry is in a deep structural and technological crisis. But in Ukraine, historically, the electronic industry has provided orders mainly for the defense-industrial complex for the development and manufacture of highly intelligent and high-tech electronic products for military or dual use. In the near future, this trend in the development of the industry will fully recover. The motivation for this is the need for the most effective defence technologies and products, and the driver is global defence spending. It is reasonable to plan the recovery and development of Ukraine's semiconductor industry in the context of changes in the world economy and the global microelectronics market, whose products are a strategic component of the military, economic and industrial base of superpowers and therefore are at the center of conflicting geostrategic interests and at the heart of the global technological race, which will be accompanied by partial deglobalization. Thus, Ukraine has no choice but to resume independent production of electron component base (ECB) for military equipment and weapons. The purpose of this work is a preliminary brief consideration of the fundamental possibility and feasibility of using SiGe as a semiconductor material for the manufacture of microelectronics and dual-use power devices. In Ukraine, an industrial technology for growing single-crystal SiGe has been developed, which allows us to talk about the possibility of its export. In fact, it is necessary to solve a scientific, technical and / or technological problem, which allows us to offer potential customers a product with unique (or at least not widespread) properties and reasonable prices. The possibility of entering the world markets of semiconductor technology, first of all, from a physical and technological point of view, is quite real and should be considered during further research.