Influential Global Actor Research Articles

The Taliban movement as a challenge to security and political order in Central Asia

This study aimed to systematise the primary changes brought about by Brexit for the United Kingdom govern- ment, highlighting the main threats that Eurosceptics may face. The research was based on content analysis of media outlets and news agencies, including The Mirror, Reuters, and others. Additionally, a documentary analysis of official reports from the Office for Budget Responsibility and the Office for National Statistics under the United Kingdom govern- ment was conducted. The study’s results revealed that in 2018, the United Kingdom’s foreign trade turnover amounted to approximately 800 billion dollars, rising to nearly one trillion dollars by 2023. However, projections for the United Kingdom’s Gross Domestic Product growth are lower than those for 24 of the 27 European Union member states. It was found that relations between the United Kingdom and the EU are governed by the Withdrawal Agreement, the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, and the Northern Ireland Protocol. The latter remains a contentious issue, as evidenced by the widespread workers’ strike in early 2024. Since the onset of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation in 2022, the United Kingdom government has aligned its sanctions packages with its European counterparts. Additionally, British military personnel have joined the European Union’s Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) military mobility project. Although the rhetoric of British diplomacy has shifted post-Brexit, this is unlikely to be directly related to the United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union, as British diplomatic views have long aligned with the commonly accepted approach within democratic societies to addressing international challenges. The findings of this study indicate that the United Kingdom government still faces several unresolved issues following its withdrawal from the European Union, further complicated by the unstable geopolitical situation. Nevertheless, the United Kingdom’s status as one of the most influential global actors in international relations, coupled with the relative resilience of its economy, suggests, according to government forecasts, the potential for a swift adaptation to changes within the international community

Foreign policy identity of the United Kingdom after Brexit

This study aimed to systematise the primary changes brought about by Brexit for the United Kingdom govern- ment, highlighting the main threats that Eurosceptics may face. The research was based on content analysis of media outlets and news agencies, including The Mirror, Reuters, and others. Additionally, a documentary analysis of official reports from the Office for Budget Responsibility and the Office for National Statistics under the United Kingdom govern- ment was conducted. The study’s results revealed that in 2018, the United Kingdom’s foreign trade turnover amounted to approximately 800 billion dollars, rising to nearly one trillion dollars by 2023. However, projections for the United Kingdom’s Gross Domestic Product growth are lower than those for 24 of the 27 European Union member states. It was found that relations between the United Kingdom and the EU are governed by the Withdrawal Agreement, the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, and the Northern Ireland Protocol. The latter remains a contentious issue, as evidenced by the widespread workers’ strike in early 2024. Since the onset of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation in 2022, the United Kingdom government has aligned its sanctions packages with its European counterparts. Additionally, British military personnel have joined the European Union’s Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) military mobility project. Although the rhetoric of British diplomacy has shifted post-Brexit, this is unlikely to be directly related to the United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union, as British diplomatic views have long aligned with the commonly accepted approach within democratic societies to addressing international challenges. The findings of this study indicate that the United Kingdom government still faces several unresolved issues following its withdrawal from the European Union, further complicated by the unstable geopolitical situation. Nevertheless, the United Kingdom’s status as one of the most influential global actors in international relations, coupled with the relative resilience of its economy, suggests, according to government forecasts, the potential for a swift adaptation to changes within the international community

Qualitative Analysis: Effective Practices in Inclusive and Special Needs Education in China

The sphere of inclusive and special needs education has garnered significant attention in contemporary educational discourse. China, as an influential global actor, provides a pertinent case study due to its socio-cultural dynamics and rapid educational reforms. This qualitative analysis seeks to elucidate effective practices prevalent in China's special needs education system and examine their implications for further academic and policy-oriented discussions. A qualitative study method was chosen and in-depth interviews were used to obtain in-depth information. The study sample consisted of 4 teachers,3 students,1 parent and 1 school manager in China using purposive sampling technique. Data analysis was analyzed inductively and successively coded to generate emerging themes. The results of the study shows that special needs children enjoy equal educational access in China, however, there is a lack of systematic and comprehensive support at school level resulting in limited compensatory equity and differential equity. Also, the results of the study show that teachers’ professional ethics and professional level are the keys for implementing relevant policies and ideas and promoting the educational equity of children in regular classes.

Establishment of the Arab monarchies as a new global actor: conclusions for Ukrainian diplomacy

Abstract. The article addresses the phenomenon of the rise of a group of Arab monarchies to the status of an influential global actor in world politics. The study explores the implications of the phenomenon on the foreign policy of Ukraine, particularly within the context of countering russian aggression. The related achievements of the Arab monarchies are shown to stem primarily from their consistent implementation of extensive and comprehensive reforms and adept leveraging of ongoing changes in the geopolitical balance in the international arena. The study covers the role of the strategic reform initiatives undertaken by each of the countries in question, together referred to as the Vision. The author finds that their main feature lies in setting the course for the Arab monarchies’ transition from a post-carbon economic framework to a new developmental model based chiefly on the advancement of high-tech production and the knowledge industry. The successful implementation of these reforms enabled this group of countries to establish a strong economic foundation for their foreign policy advancement, shaping a new regional security system in the Gulf subregion and the Middle East region. The 32nd Arab League Summit held in Jeddah on 19 May 2023 showed the growing role of Saudi Arabia in modern world politics and international diplomacy. The author recognizes that Ukrainian diplomacy timely and adequately analysed the potential of Arab monarchies as a new global actor in international politics, enabling Ukraine to improve the branch of the MFA of Ukraine responsible for the Arab world, and to develop the main outlines of the conceptual approach to cooperation with Arab monarchies. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy played a crucial role in these developments by participating in the Summit and negotiating with prominent Arab leaders. Keywords: Arab monarchies, Saudi Arabia, New World Order, russian aggression against Ukraine, Ukrainian diplomacy.

He Shanghai Cooperation Organization and its role in the contemporary system of international relations (On the 20th anniversary of the SCO)

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). This is a good opportunity to assess its performance over the past two decades, to draw some conclusions, and to discuss possible future developments of the SCO. The author examines milestones in the formation of the SCO, its institutional structure, as well as its key activities which encompass four focal areas: politics, security, economy, and humanitarian cooperation. The paper focuses on the decisions of the 21st SCO Summit in Dushanbe, especially those aimed at strengthening cooperation in combating the eff ects of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and addressing security challenges, arising from the latest developments in Afghanistan. The latter particularly imply an increasing threat of terrorism, extremism, and drug traffi cking from Afghanistan to neighboring countries in Central Asia. The author emphasizes the crucial role of the SCO Regional Antiterrorist Structure (RATS) in countering these threats. Finally, the paper addresses both the circumstances and possible implications of Iran’s ascension to a full SCO member, which was approved during the summit in Dushanbe. The author concludes that over the past two decades the SCO has successfully transitioned from an important, yet regional in scope and framework, organization to an infl uential global actor, which plays a major role in the maintenance of peace and security in Central Asia and could serve as a model for the establishment of a new non-confrontational approach to the interstate relations.

China’s rise and the Arctic region up to 2049 – three scenarios for regional futures in an era of climate change and power transition

ABSTRACT Although China has emerged as an increasingly influential global actor over recent decades, it is unclear whether a more fundamental transformation is shaking processes of regionalisation in this context. Our scenario-based case study considers the spatial reconfiguration of the rapidly globalising Arctic with varying degrees of Chinese engagement. More specifically, we examine alternative and transformational configurations of the Arctic in 2049, and ponder upon the plausibility of the hypothesised changes in light of three schools of thought on International Relations – realism, liberal institutionalism and relationalism. Hence, we explore how the rise of China could potentially alter the regional dynamics and whether, consequently, regions should be rethought both empirically and theoretically. We conclude that pluralistic discussion on the multiple regional outcomes is a necessary precondition for achieving a balanced and democratic future in the Arctic and beyond.

There is life beyond the European Union: revisiting the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States

The African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group, established in June 1975 by the Georgetown Agreement, was generally seen as an emanation of the European Union (EU). This article presents a non-EU-centric perspective by discussing various initiatives aimed at fostering intra-ACP cooperation and promoting common ACP positions in international settings. Furthermore, it analyses various threats to the survival of the ACP Group, some linked to its allegedly ineffective performance as an organisation, others related to the rise of competitors, most notably the African Union. Importantly, it delves into the reform process that culminated in the adoption of the revised Georgetown Agreement in December 2019, which transformed the ACP Group into the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS), with the aim of establishing it as a relevant and influential global actor and reducing its dependence on the EU. In revisiting the evolution of the OACPS, this article identifies an intentions–capability gap, specifically between the often grandiose statements of official discourse and the institutional and financial resources devoted to implementing stated objectives.

Understanding the Impact of Historical Policy Legacies on Nutrition Policy Space: Economic Policy Agendas and Current Food Policy Paradigms in Ghana.

Background: The global food system is not delivering affordable, healthy, diverse diets, which are needed to address malnutrition in all its forms for sustainable development. This will require policy change across the economic sectors that govern food systems, including agriculture, trade, finance, commerce and industry – a goal that has been beset by political challenges. These sectors have been strongly influenced by entrenched policy agendas and paradigms supported by influential global actors such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF). Methods: This study draws on the concept of path dependency to examine how historical economic policy agendas and paradigms have influenced current food and nutrition policy and politics in Ghana. Qualitative data were collected through interviews with 29 relevant policy actors, and documentary data were collected from current policies, academic and grey literature, historical budget statements and World Bank Group Archives (1950-present). Results: Despite increased political priority for nutrition in Ghana, its integration into food policy remains limited. Food policy agendas are strongly focused on production, employment and economic returns, and existing market-based incentives do not support a nutrition-sensitive food supply. This policy focus appears to be rooted in a liberal economic approach to food policy arising from structural adjustment in the 1980s and trade liberalization in the 1990s, combined with historical experience of ‘failure’ of food policy intervention and an entrenched narrowly economic conception of food security. Conclusion: This study suggests that attention to policy paradigms, in addition to specific points of policy change, will be essential for improving the outcomes of food systems for nutrition. An historical perspective can provide food and health policy-makers with insights to foster the revisioning of food policy to address multiple national policy objectives, including nutrition.

Впливи Маршалла Маклюена на глобальні та канадські медійні практики

У статті автор висвітлює сучасну рецепцію впливів відомого канадського ученого Маршалла Маклюена на сучасні глобальні та канадські медійні практики. Зокрема проаналізовані підходи до оцінки ролі медіа у соціумі Канади, дається оцінка освітнього досвіду у царині медіакритики, його значення для Китаю, котрий постає в якості впливового глобального актора сучасності, а також України, яка удосконалює власну інформаційно-комунікаційну сферу. У цьому контексті наведені приклади критики відомої ідеї «глобального села» Маклюена. Здійснено аналіз окремих канадських сайтів, присвячених медіа-освіті та формуванню «візуальної грамотності», яка мала б забезпечити адекватне сприйняття й розуміння інформації і медіа на початку ХХІ ст. У висновках автор підкреслює, що поряд із медіаграмотністю слід формувати значно більш глибоку медіа-культуру. Наш користувач має набути навички, щоби не потрапляти, скажімо, у пастку «Закону По». Варто продумати психологічно обґрунтовану протидію медіа-залежності, особливо молоді. Констатовано також, що у КНР домінує розважальний Інтернет, а для формування «критичного мислення» поки не існує актуального соціального запиту. Необхідно сформувати такі освітні національні медіа-практики, щоби молода людина не стала рабом віртуальності, а жила і активно діяла у реальному світі.

The EU concept of the 'Strategic Partnership': Identifying the 'unifying' criteria for the differentiation of Strategic Partners

Strategic partnerships are an essential tool of the common foreign policy of the European Union (EU), which should help fulfil its strategic interest – to be an influential global actor, to share responsibility for global security, and together with partners to respond to the current global challenges. Considering that the EU has not yet defined the nature of the strategic partnership, the first objective of this paper is to identify the instrument from a general perspective and to distinguish it from the default category of cooperation. Linking strategic partnership with legal standards, however, allows for the setting of certain criteria of the concept of strategic partnerships for the EU with other key countries and to determine the variability of possible approaches to the specific concept. To define these criteria and the variety of strategic partnerships set by these criteria, is the second goal of the article. If an adequate alternative approach to the concept of the EU is assigned to each individual strategic partner, which is the third objective of this paper, the results indicate the significant diversity of strategic partners of the EU. Based on obtained results, it can be concluded that in order to clarify the concept of the EU’s strategic partnership, it is necessary to take steps that will lead to a gradual convergence of existing forms of strategic partnerships and their focus on strategic issues.

Ключевые особенности внешней экспансии южнокорейских протестантских организаций и её основные причины

This article analyzes the process of active international expansion of South Korean Protestant organizations, continuing since the end of the 20th century. Today, based on various numerical and qualitative indicators, they could be called one of the most influential global actors in the religious sphere and partly even in international relations. On the one hand, the language and methods, which such organizations use in order to disseminate their teachings continue the centuries-old tradition of Christian missionary work, in particular the American view of it. On the other hand, they are its rethinking, that could be possible only in the conditions of modern, constantly changing, but on the whole capitalistic, deeply globalized and a democratized world, throwing new challenges to religious organizations and forcing them looking for novel ways to survive in an increasingly aggressive environment. Special attention is paid to the major reasons for the appearance of such phenomenon and its characteristic features connected with them. Based on the results of the study, the author concludes that characteristic features of South Korean Protestant organizations’ activities abroad such as interchurch competition, factionalism along with high involvement in the commercial sector and politics are directly related to the historical process of the development of this denomination on the Korean Peninsula. Therefore, despite the transnational nature of these organizations, their activities are still predominately targeted the society that gave rise to them. However, this does not prevent them from being also an instrument for expanding foreign policy influence and even an element of soft power.

Foreign policy in a changing multi-faceted global milieu: Revisiting the political-economic interface

The emergence of new influential global actors and the seeming omnipotence of global markets have produced a highly diversified international environment challenging the concept of foreign policy and the theoretical contribution of FPA. In view of this challenge, it is argued that instead of considering the above changes through a fragmentary approach, it would be more efficient to conceive them as part of an ongoing transformation process governing practice and theory in foreign policy. On this background, the political-economic interface is revisited, in order to highlight the significance of the concepts of security and prosperity in the contemporary international framework and to reconsider the question of an interdisciplinary approach to foreign policy.

ACTIVITIES OF THE MIDDLE EAST QUARTET AND ITS PARTICIPANTS TO ACHIEVE ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN SETTLEMEN WITHIN THE ROAD MAP PROJECT (2003 – 2008)

The most active phase in the work of the Quartet of international intermediaries was connected with the attempts to implement the Road Map plan for the Israeli-Palestinian peace settlement. The significance of the Road Map lies in the fact that it is the plan on the Israeli-Palestinian peace settlement which was, for the first time ever, collectively drafted by the global actors and accepted by both conflicting parties To facilitate the implementation of the Road Map, a peculiar "division of labour" based on historical roles which each member of the Quartet had played in the Middle East settlement, emerged inside the Quartet. The work of the Quartet as a collective intermediary was complemented by individual actions of its members which influenced or were supposed to influence the Road Map implementation. The complex analysis of the examined problem conducted by the author in accordance with his own criteria revealed that all other activities of the international intermediaries were, in one way or another, connected to the Road Map. They were either implemented mainly within the framework of the aforementioned peace plan, or were connected with the efforts to create conditions to get the parties back to implementation of that plan, or were aimed at including alternative programmes into the framework of the Road Map. Quartet's activities to implement the settlement plan couldn't avoid the influence by the United States and a special character of the US-Israeli relations. The US leading role in the work of the Quartet led to a series of events which aggravated the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and became decisive for further development of the conflict which in the end led to the current stalemate. Nevertheless, the very fact of the Quartet creation, which evidenced that even the most influential global actor has no power to solve all aspects of the regional conflict on its own, became a sign of gradual transformation of a unipolar world towards a multipolar one.

The European Union and China's rise in Africa: Competing visions, external coherence and trilateral cooperation

This study analyses the impact of China's rise in Africa on the European Union (EU). Contrary to conventional wisdom, it argues that the EU's renewed interest in Africa is not the result of China's new assertiveness in the continent, but is a consequence of the EU's ambitions to become an influential global actor and the consequent search for a more coherent external policy. Africa, thus, represented an ideal venue in which different EU actors could simultaneously pursue traditional development goals together with new political objectives. Moreover, the existence of three competing visions within the EU negatively affected its ability to constructively engage with China: the European Commission sought to affirm the EU's aspiration to become an influential global actor; the European Parliament projected its preference for a value-based development policy, blended with paternalistic overtones; the Council of the European Union was driven more by the emotional reactions of some member states, who did not want to lose their position as Africa's main reference point. Unsurprisingly, the result has been a confused message, which China has found hard to follow, never mind Africa, since they were not effectively involved in the process and were sceptical about the whole idea of ‘trilateral cooperation’.

China's Strategic Interests in Cambodia: Influence and Resources

Cambodia is pivotal to China's strategies to project greater influence in Southeast Asia, buffer longstanding rivals, and potentially tame America's hegemony. China's transformation from regional backwater into influential global actor raises concerns for many countries. As expected, the rise of a powerful regional player makes traditional hegemonic countries anxious.

Japan–UK: perspectives of partnership

One of the most remarkable developments that took place in the postwar international order is the relationship between the United Kingdom and Japan, two major world powers. Formerly bitter enemies in war, their relationship is today perhaps at the best ever. They are connected by a network of shared interests in the politico-strategic, scientific-technological and socio-cultural spheres, beyond the economic realm. Nonetheless, as cooperation between Japan and Europe has been the fragile side of the triangle of “Japan–US–Europe” relations, the promotion of Japan–UK ties at bilateral, regional and international levels might have a significant effect. The trilateral structure of “Japan–Britain–EU” relations also creates diverse dynamics that involve all three forces in a broader regional cooperation including the security arena, than would be possible on just a bilateral Britain–Japan level. These impulses might help to facilitate Europe to become a more influential global actor and to serve as a key enabler of the British foreign policy toward the Asia-Pacific region. Under this context, this article strives to explore how Japan–UK bilateral relationship, one of the strongest ties binding Asia to Europe, stands today, by shedding light on the new horizons of their partnerships for global responsibilities.

THE NECESSITY OF GLOBAL MANAGERS

New world business realities have emerged since the abatement of the Cold War. Business activities have become internationalized. International and regional organizations (e.g., UN agencies, World Bank, OPEC) have relied heavily on expatriate employees to conduct their business in the headquarters or abroad. The work‐place has become more diversified than ever. Business, rather than ideological motives, directs nations' behavior. And the quest for regional free trade blocks has been seen as necessary for a nation to counter national economic decline and to create a position as an influential global actor. Thus business organizations realize that to grow and prosper, they have to be global in their orientations and activities. A recent survey of the Conference Board confirms this. Corporations with global operations grew faster in every industry and in all size categories than those without such operations.