The article is dedicated to the study of the features of media polemics in English-speaking media in the Old and New Worlds amid global political transformations from 2025 to early 2026. The subject of the research is the discourse presented by leading Western publications regarding U.S. policy. Indeed, the activities of Donald Trump and the American establishment have recently been viewed by the media through the lens of a gradual "destruction" of transatlantic relations. In this context, there is a growing criticism of U.S. policies, which, according to commentators, are increasingly characterized by imperialistic features. The rhetoric of leading political figures in the European region reinforces the perception of a crisis in the union between the Old World and the United States. The author analyzes the main news triggers that characterize the current tactics of American foreign relations, highlighting the most frequent interpretations of ongoing processes. The methodological foundation of the work is a qualitative content analysis of publications from leading English-language media, including the identification of thematic accents, lexical markers, and narrative strategies. The corpus of analyzed sources includes publications such as The Economist, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, The Times, The Atlantic, and The Nation. As a result of the study, it was established that there is a significant increase in critical rhetoric concerning U.S. policy in the media space, which is increasingly viewed through the prism of neo-imperialism. A key actor in the media discourse is Donald Trump, whose international activities are presented as a primary factor in the destruction of allied relations, the rise of protectionism, and a shift towards unilateral transactionalism. The main conclusions of the work are that modern Western media not only reflect but actively construct discourse about the crisis of transatlantic partnership. Media narratives reinforce the notion of a shift towards a "post-American world" and a reassessment of the global balance of power. Prospects for the further development of the situation are related to a possible deepening of the rift between allies, a rise in nationalist and protectionist trends, a weakening of the role of international institutions, and further polarization of public opinion. In the media space, this could lead to an escalation of confrontational rhetoric and the entrenchment of the image of the United States as a source of systemic risks to international stability.

The role of renewable energy and green hydrogen in the global energy transformations

This research examines how varying degrees of globalization and digital transformation affect skill demand, socioeconomic inequality and convergence in the EU by 2030. The study employs a comprehensive scenario-mapping approach using state-of-the-art literature, existing econometric analyses conducted within the GI-NI project used as contextual inputs and expert insights. Four scenarios are developed based on potential trends in digital transformation (stagnation or acceleration) and globalization (further globalization or deglobalization). These scenarios highlight essential changes needed to improve skills and alleviate inequality. In all scenarios, the future labour market demands a rapidly evolving skill set, with persistent risks of skills mismatch across educational groups and a strong focus on digital, technical, analytical and communication skills. Three scenarios suggest worsening inequality, particularly affecting low-skilled workers, women and older individuals, while high-skilled workers adapt more quickly. The study shows that communication technology can drive between-region economic convergence, depending on the interaction with globalization and the pace of digital transformation. However, accelerated digital transformation with deglobalization poses divergence risks, as some EU regions may struggle to adapt quickly. The scenarios underscore the complex interplay between digital transformation and globalization, necessitating multifaceted policy responses to foster inclusive growth and mitigate the adverse effects on vulnerable populations.

The article examines state industrial policy, focusing on its goals, challenges, and key directions. It analyzes management measures aimed at strengthening industrial potential, boosting competitiveness, stimulating innovation, and modernizing industries amid geopolitical and technological challenges in the early 21st century. The study also covers global challenges and related structural transformations of the Russian economy. The purpose of this study is to analyze and evaluate the effectiveness of implementing management software in the civilian industry of the Russian Federation, as well as to identify the key factors influencing its development and improvement. Results . As part of the study of the public administration mechanism, the need to distinguish between the concepts of “defense industry” and “civilian industry” was identified due to the organizational and structural differences between these sectors of the economy. The study also revealed the exceptional role of public programs in the transition from a resource management paradigm to a results-oriented management paradigm. However, there are still unresolved issues in public programming, such as difficulties in accessing funding and insufficient coordination between program participants. Conclusions . The Russian Government faces significant challenges in ensuring technological sovereignty and competitiveness of domestic goods. The key instrument is a set of government programs that guide budget formation and implement policy goals through various (not only financial) measures. In the civilian industrial sector, government programming includes the development and implementation of the following programs: “Development of Industry and Increasing Its Competitiveness,” “Development of the Aviation Industry,” “Development of Shipbuilding and Technologies for the Development of Offshore Fields,” and “Development of the Electronic and Radio-Electronic Industry.” Despite the high level of development of the methodology and monitoring mechanism, there are difficulties with access to funding and insufficient coordination between the participants in the program process.

This study analyses tourism as a multidimensional phenomenon using a mixed-methods approach that integrates structured thematic coding with the development of ad hoc quantitative indicators (TEII, TICI, ESI). Drawing on five case studies (Rwanda, Bhutan, Bali, Venice, and Machu Picchu), it evaluates the economic impact, international cooperation, and environmental sustainability associated with tourism development. The findings confirm a positive correlation between economic growth and international cooperation, and identify environmental trade-offs in mass tourism destinations, which can be mitigated through strong regulatory frameworks and adaptive governance strategies. The study highlights the need for holistic, resilient, and evidence-based approaches to manage tourism's potential and risks. It also advocates incorporating longitudinal methodologies and emerging paradigms, such as regenerative tourism, to advance towards more sustainable and inclusive models of tourism development in an era of accelerated global transformation.

In recent years, research collaboration has increasingly emerged as a key mechanism shaping knowledge production within higher education systems, particularly under conditions influenced by globalization and digital transformation. Despite this growing attention, the existing literature remains somewhat fragmented, often providing only partial insights into how collaboration networks evolve and how knowledge structures are formed. From this perspective, a more integrated and systematic examination appears necessary. Building on this premise, the present study adopts a bibliometric approach to explore the development of research collaboration in higher education. The analysis is based on 1,883 publications indexed in Scopus over the period 2015–2025. A combination of techniques is employed, including descriptive statistics, co-authorship and co-citation analyses, keyword co-occurrence, and thematic mapping, allowing for a multi-dimensional understanding of collaboration patterns and intellectual structures. The findings indicate a noticeable acceleration in research output, particularly after 2020, alongside a highly interconnected yet uneven global collaboration network dominated by countries such as the United States and China. At the author level, collaboration tends to concentrate within a limited number of core groups, while many scholars remain at the periphery. In addition, the field draws on diverse intellectual streams, and thematic analyses reveal emerging research directions, although several areas remain underexplored. Taken together, these findings provide a more comprehensive mapping of research collaboration in higher education. Beyond offering a structured overview, the study also generates policy-relevant insights for higher education governance, particularly in fostering more inclusive and sustainable collaboration networks.

The relevance of the study stems from significant changes in traditional trade routes at present, which are associated with both global warming and significant transformations in the global economy. In this regard, the increasing importance of the Volga-Caspian transport corridor, not only as a regional but also as an internationally significant trade route connecting the countries of South Asia with Europe by the shortest route, seems to be likely to become a major feature of global logistics in the medium term. The transformation of this historically established trade route into a sustainable transport corridor, which became a significant factor in Russia’s industrialization, began in the mid-19th century with the formation of a large shipping company in the form of the joint-stock company “Caucasus and Mercury”, which combined in its activities the busy Volga route with the Caspian Sea. The reason for the success of this large-scale project lay in its complex structure as a public-private partnership, combining entrepreneurial initiative with the organizational and economic capabilities of the state. In addition to the logistical component of the Volga-Caspian transport corridor, these joint-stock companies appear to be an essential element of the economic mechanism for the development of vast outlying territories in the south of the Russian Empire, which made it possible to include the natural resources of these regions, in particular oil and oil products from Baku and the Ural-Emba fields, etc., in the single economic space of the country.

As global digital transformation accelerates, artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain technologies have evolved from theoretical concepts into practical tools within the field of accounting, particularly in financial reporting. This study conducts a systematic review of 62 sources drawn from major academic databases to develop a comprehensive framework for classifying application scenarios. The findings indicate that the application of artificial intelligence and blockchain technology can help improve the efficiency of financial report generation, enhance the reliability of data, and promote innovation in the auditing process. Nevertheless, persistent challenges remain, including concerns related to data security, technological limitations, and regulatory gaps. The study proposes a structured roadmap for the implementation of these technologies, underscoring their transformative potential in advancing the digital evolution of accounting, while also identifying key directions for future research.

Pedestrian trajectory prediction is crucial for autonomous vehicles, which face challenges in integrating complex spatiotemporal dynamics, managing multi-modal future behaviors, and ensuring real-time performance. This paper introduces the Local-Global Collaborative Transformer Network (LGCMT) to address these issues. LGCMT features an innovative local-global collaborative encoder comprising two key modules: a Sparse Causal Temporal Attention (SCT-MSA) module, designed to extract fine-grained local causal dynamics, and a Global Context Encoder that utilizes Cosine Similarity Attention to capture macro-level spatiotemporal patterns. For multi-modal prediction, LGCMT employs a parallel Non-Autoregressive (NAR) decoder guided by a motion pattern library, which efficiently generates diverse trajectory candidates covering key future likelihoods. Extensive evaluations on the standard ETH/UCY benchmarks and the large-scale Stanford Drone Dataset (SDD) demonstrate LGCMT's robust performance. On ETH/UCY, the model improves ADE and FDE by approximately 4.8% and 5.6% compared to the competitive TUTR baseline. Moreover, the proposed framework achieves exceptional inference efficiency, establishing LGCMT as a potent solution that effectively balances accuracy, multi-modality, and operational speed for real-time applications.

Relevance. Based on the United Nations statistics on the decline in the global total fertility rate, the worldwide increase in poverty, the activation of private and public structures in the field of digitalization in all areas of life, as well as public spending on academic education, it was concluded that the goal of the global digitalization process is to fully control human behavior, knowledge, and skills. The study used a synergistic-institutional approach. The purpose of this study is to identify the economic and political reasons for the substitution of classical education by the widespread implementation of the concept of "lifelong learning" and the transition to distance education in the context of global digital transformation. Objectives. The objectives of the study are to identify the differences between the concepts of "education" and "learning"; to analyze the tasks and prospects of continuous learning; to compare the quality, accessibility, and prospects of classical and distance education in the context of digital transformations; to assess the impact of digital transformations on the labor market and education; and to provide a forecast of the role of digitalization in increasing the level of exploitation of the global population. Methodology. The study is based on a synergistic-institutional approach, as well as methods of political economy (formal-logical and dialectical). The results of the study showed that the concept of "lifelong learning" is implemented in modern conditions not so much as a humanistic idea of self-development, but rather as a tool for adapting individuals to the ever-changing requirements of the labor market and the digital economy. Conclusions. The study concludes that the processes of digitalization of education and the promotion of the concept of lifelong learning should be viewed as part of a global economic and political transformation.

ABSTRACT In the years following the 2011 uprisings, the Middle East has experienced deepening social inequality, violent reassertion of authoritarian rule, and unprecedented mass displacement. Central to these trajectories are the Gulf monarchies, whose oil-derived surpluses have made them both regional powerbrokers and pivotal nodes in the global political economy. This article situates the Gulf’s post-2011 ascendancy within debates over multipolarity and a shifting global order, particularly the rise of China and intensifying US – China rivalries. While Gulf – China trade and investment have expanded rapidly, these ties have not displaced the Gulf’s structural integration into American power. By linking global transformations to the Gulf’s role in reshaping regional political and economic orders, the article challenges state-centric and methodologically-nationalist framings of multipolarity. Great-power rivalry has reconfigured but not transformed the structural patterns of domination in the Middle East post-2011.

The article addresses the issue of international academic mobility for medical students at Osh State University in the context of global socio-educational transformations. Under conditions of increasing internationalization in higher education, the development of sustainable mechanisms that facilitate students’ integration into international academic and professional environments has become particularly significant for the higher education system of the Kyrgyz Republic. The study aims to identify the role of language training in shaping the international academic mobility of medical students in the Kyrgyz Republic and to substantiate the author’s conceptual model of a step-by-step transition from primary forms of international labor mobility to full-fledged academic and professional mobility, taking into account the socio-economic, legal, psychological, and educational characteristics of the national context. The research is based on a comprehensive approach to the study of primary labor and academic mobility processes among students in the Kyrgyz Republic. The empirical basis includes regulatory and strategic documents in the field of higher education and international cooperation, statistical data from universities on students’ participation in temporary employment programs and academic exchange initiatives, as well as the results of questionnaires and interviews with students who have experience in working abroad and participating in international educational programs. The theoretical framework relies on the works of national and foreign scholars addressing educational migration, the internationalization of higher education, language training, and academic mobility. A total of 381 medical students participated in the study. Sociological survey findings revealed that the majority of students demonstrate elementary levels of language proficiency and are primarily oriented toward participation in short-term labor mobility programs, such as Ferienjobs. The problem of academic mobility among students lies not so much in the absence of institutional mechanisms as in the insufficient alignment between the educational infrastructure and students’ actual starting capabilities.

In the context of global economic transformation and the intensification of European integration processes, the innovative development of enterprises becomes a key factor in ensuring their competitiveness and long-term sustainability. For Ukrainian enterprises, the issue of adapting innovation strategies to the institutional requirements of the European Union is becoming increasingly important. The European economic environment is characterized by rapid technological changes, digital transformation of business processes, and growing attention to environmental responsibility and sustainable development. Under such conditions, enterprises need to develop strategic approaches that allow them to respond effectively to these challenges and integrate into the European innovation space. Modern EU innovation policy focuses on stimulating technological development, supporting research and innovation activities, and creating favorable conditions for the commercialization of innovative solutions. At the same time, enterprises are expected to implement modern management approaches, increase the level of technological modernization, and introduce digital and environmentally oriented innovations. In this context, the formation of an innovation strategy becomes an important management task that allows enterprises to coordinate internal development priorities with the strategic directions of economic transformation taking place in the European Union.The issue of developing effective mechanisms for the formation of enterprise innovation strategies requires a comprehensive consideration of institutional, technological, and organizational factors that influence innovation activity. Special attention is given to the role of strategic planning, the assessment of enterprise innovation potential, and the identification of priority areas for technological development. In addition, the implementation of innovation strategies requires the creation of an appropriate system for monitoring innovation activity and ensuring consistency between strategic objectives and the resources available to the enterprise. The study focuses on the conceptual foundations of forming an enterprise innovation strategy under the conditions of European integration. Particular attention is paid to the institutional environment that shapes the priorities of innovation development, the role of digital transformation in modern economic systems, and the increasing importance of sustainable and environmentally responsible production practices. The discussion also addresses the need for systematic approaches to strategic innovation management and the development of methodological tools that can support enterprises in adapting to the evolving European economic landscape.

This study examines the role of human resource management based on knowledge management in improving the quality of Islamic education. The research is motivated by the need for adaptive and knowledge-based management in educational institutions amid globalization and digital transformation. This study aims to analyze how the integration of knowledge management in human resource management contributes to sustainable educational quality improvement. The research employs a qualitative approach using a library research method by reviewing relevant literature, including books, journals, and previous studies. The findings indicate that knowledge management plays a strategic role in enhancing teachers' competencies through processes of knowledge creation, storage, sharing, and application. The implementation of knowledge management encourages collaboration, innovation, and continuous learning within educational institutions. However, several challenges remain, such as the lack of knowledge-sharing culture, limited technological infrastructure, and insufficient leadership support. Therefore, strengthening organizational culture, improving digital literacy, and optimizing leadership roles are essential to ensure effective implementation. In conclusion, human resource management based on knowledge management significantly contributes to improving the quality of Islamic education in a holistic and sustainable manner.

This article explores the evolving landscape of remote auditing (RA) within Quality Management Systems (QMS), emphasizing its growing relevance in the context of global digital transformation, pandemic-related disruptions, and geopolitical instability. The author presents a comprehensive literature review supported by strategic analytical frameworks (PESTLE, NOISE), as well as author developed STAIN approach, to assess the feasibility, benefits, and challenges of imple­menting RA in various organizational settings. The research is based on the hypothesis that the implementation of RA within QMS can provide a level of effectiveness, reliability, and audit quality comparable to or exceeding traditional on-site audits, provided that appropriate technological infrastructure, auditor competence, and principles of security, transparency, and trust are ensured. The research highlights how RA, once considered a contingency measure, is now emerging as a viable and often preferable alternative to traditional on-site audits. It offers significant advantages such as cost reduction, increased flexibility, enhanced safety, and environmental sustainability. However, the transition to RA also introduces complex challenges, including legal ambiguities, data protection concerns, techno­logical barriers, and the need for auditor competence in digital environments. By integrating insights from international standards and recent academic research, the article proposes a set of practical recommendations to improve RA quality. These include the adoption of advanced technologies (AI, IoT, VR), the development of standardized procedures, and the enhancement of auditor training and ethics. The STAIN framework serves as a conceptual model for ensuring trustworthiness and effectiveness in RA practices. This work is particularly relevant for auditors, certification bodies, policymakers, and organi­zations seeking to modernize their compliance and quality assurance processes in line with digital transformation trends.

The quality and effectiveness of national education systems are fundamentally determined by the competence, preparedness, and professional capacity of teachers. In this context, the present study provides a comprehensive and systematic analysis of the implementation of minimum requirements for the content and level of pedagogical education in the Republic of Azerbaijan, with a particular focus on policy coherence, competency-based education, and alignment with internationally recognized frameworks of 21st-century skills. Drawing upon the strategic priorities outlined in the State Strategy for the Development of Education, the study investigates the extent to which national educational policies—especially those related to higher pedagogical education—are translated into coherent, continuous, and outcome-oriented implementation practices. The research is based on a multi-method approach, combining the analysis of legal and normative documents, statistical data related to teacher recruitment outcomes, curriculum and syllabus evaluation, and comparative assessment of institutional practices in teacher training programs. The findings reveal significant inconsistencies and fragmentation in the alignment of policy documents across different levels and stages of education. While national legislation and strategic frameworks articulate comprehensive and ambitious objectives regarding competency development, their operationalization within curricula and institutional practices remains uneven and, in some cases, insufficiently structured. In particular, the study identifies gaps in the continuity and progression of competencies, limited integration of theory and practice in teacher education, and inadequate emphasis on outcomebased curriculum design. Furthermore, the study situates these findings within the broader context of global educational transformations, highlighting the increasing importance of 21st-century competencies such as critical thinking, problemsolving, collaboration, digital literacy, and adaptability. By drawing on international frameworks developed by UNESCO, OECD, and the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, the research emphasizes the necessity of aligning national pedagogical education systems with global standards to enhance educational quality and sustainability. The study concludes that achieving high-quality pedagogical education requires a systemic and integrated approach, ensuring vertical and horizontal coherence among policy documents, strengthening competency-based curriculum frameworks, and fostering stronger connections between theoretical preparation and practical teaching experience. The findings offer evidence-based recommendations for policymakers, curriculum developers, and higher education institutions aimed at improving teacher training systems and supporting the development of future-ready educators capable of addressing complex societal and educational challenges.

Urbanization drives global socio-spatial transformation. Informality is central to this transformation, but is treated as a peripheral process on the margins of cities and economies. Informality is often associated with specific locations, overlooking the fact that it constitutes a dynamic, global process operating across spatial and temporal scales. We develop the concept of informal infrastructuring to interrogate how, through informality, people , places , processes , and politics reconfigure and build urban life. We draw together planetary and postcolonial strands of urban theory to conceptualize informal infrastructuring as a global phenomenon. To imagine informality as peripheral is to mistake marginalization with marginality.

Abstract The integration of artificial intelligence with electromagnetic metasurfaces has inaugurated a new era of intelligent metasurfaces, enabling self-adaptive ability for various user demands and in complex environments. However, inverse design, as the core of intelligent metasurfaces, is typically trained based on an assumption of ideal input, thus failing to maintain robustness against complex real-world signal distortions. Here, we present a zero-shot inverse design approach based on the global cross-attention Transformer (GCAT), which is immune to complex environmental interferences despite being trained exclusively on pristine, interference-free data. Distinct from convolutional or recurrent architectures, GCAT treats inverse design as a query-based feature retrieval process, employing a set of learnable physical queries to interact with global far-field features. Through a cascaded cross-attention mechanism, the model learns to actively attend to dominant structural invariants while suppressing irrelevant interference components via soft-thresholding. Consequently, GCAT demonstrates exceptional zero-shot robustness, maintaining high reconstruction fidelity with Pearson correlation coefficient (PCC) larger than 0.97 across diverse unseen interference scenarios whereas baseline models collapse. Our work establishes a resilient algorithmic foundation for the development of intelligent metasurfaces, paving the way for reliable inverse design in dynamic real-world environments.

MRCE-Net: A multi-role collaborative experts deep learning network for multi-modal medical image fusion.

The article considers financial literacy as an important factor of sustainable socio-economic development in the context of global digital transformation. The rapid development of financial technologies, platform economy, artificial intelligence, blockchain technologies, and decentralized finance (DeFi) has significantly changed the architecture of financial markets and consumer financial behavior models. In these circumstances, the ability of the population to effectively and safely use digital financial instruments is becoming a key condition for the financial stability of households and the stability of the financial system. According to the OECD/INFE (2023), only about 29% of the adult population achieve a minimum level of digital financial literacy, which indicates that there is a significant gap between the technological development of the financial sector and the level of financial competence of users. The study systematizes modern theoretical approaches to understanding financial literacy and analyzes its evolution under the influence of fintech innovations, artificial intelligence technologies and digital assets. Special attention is paid to new competencies necessary for secure interaction with cryptocurrencies, robo-consultants, embedded finance systems and open banking tools. It is proved that the development of digital financial literacy helps to reduce the financial vulnerability of the population, expand access to financial services and form an inclusive digital economy. The results of the study show that investments in the development of digital financial competencies of the population form a multiplier effect for economic growth and improving the financial well-being of society.