Internal Political Tensions Research Articles

Fragile States, Co-Optation, and the Logic of Political Survival

This article analyzes the issues of managing crises in the context of fragile states, co-optations and, consequently, focuses on the logic of political survival. Excluding particular social groups from exercising power increases the risk of serious internal political tensions and even civil war. Yet, the question remains: why do fragile state governments exclude social groups in the first place if this threatens the survival of the regime? In the political regimes of fragile states, an important response to patterns of social exclusion can be found in the formation of political coalitions. Ruling social groups have sufficient incentive to exclude groups even more powerful than themselves because they cannot credibly pledge loyalty to the ruling group. Hence, potential allies avoid joining coalitions with stronger ruling parties. The above problem of mutual support and joint commitment leads to potentially power-equivalent political alliances. Yet, political regimes of fragile states facilitate the creation of coalitions of less balanced power (co-option) with institutions that alleviate the problems of political tensions and differences. The above arguments regarding forming alliances and political parties are tested based on data on the political groups “grasping” power and their status. Moreover, in political regimes of fragile states, the elites “holding power” are more willing to conclude agreements that balance the political power of all possible coalition partners. In this context, however, the diverse specificity of political groupings determines the degree of balance of the particular political scene.

The attractiveness of the BRICS and G7 countries in the global hydrocarbon market

The increasing international political tensions and the growing use of economic sanctions in world markets have made it more important to compare the prospects for the development of major players in the global economy. The aim of this study is to evaluate the potential of the BRICS and G7 countries based on the attractiveness of their industries for other countries, including those from the Global South and East, which are still undecided about joining either group. To achieve this goal, the following objectives were set and achieved: to obtain statistically significant data on the capabilities of associations, taking into account the political and economic orientation of supranational organizations; to form and compare the financial and economic profiles of industry participants from BRICS, G7, and non-aligned countries; to assess the attractiveness and development potential of players in the BRICS and G7 markets. The methodology used has been based on regression analysis, comparative analysis, multidimensional analysis, and nonparametric testing of corporate financial statements from public companies in 2019 and 2020. The analysis of the images of the industry residents of BRICS, G7, and “neutral” countries has allowed to identify a trend toward increased polarization and growing differences between the BRICS and G7 members. The criteria for this trend are indicators of business margins, sales volumes, capital, and the volume of non-current assets. According to three out of four criteria, the overall image of an industry resident from BRICS is more attractive than that of from G7 due to multiple exceedances of the values of these criteria indicators. This serves as a clear example of the potential for undecided countries from the Global South and East to join this association and strengthens BRICS’ authority and development.

Перспективы технологического развития нефтесервиса для освоения нефтегазовых месторождений арктического Севера

The article discusses the key challenges associated with the economic development of the oilfield service industry within the climatic, geological, and infrastructural conditions of the Arctic. The evaluation of the Arctic's contribution to the total hydrocarbon production in Russia is an important research problem, which is particularly relevant amidst the current international political tensions. The study aims to unveil aspects of research and development (R&D) prospects of oilfield services in Russia's Arctic regions and adjacent territories. The research identifies characteristic features of economic development associated with economic activity risks. These include infrastructure and technological constraints linked to the distance from federal R&D and industrial centers; insufficient financial resources and experience for large project implementation by local authorities; the intricacy and labor intensity of work, coupled with a shortage of specialists possessing the necessary skills. The study establishes that the complexity of developing Arctic oil and gas fields is mitigated by the application of innovations and highlights the vulnerability of domestic companies to import supplies, which are currently inaccessible due to Western sanctions. The results presented offer a comprehensive view of the promising facets of the innovation-driven and technological development of the oilfield services industry in the Arctic. They propose specific measures geared towards enhancing production efficiency in the oil and gas and oilfield services sectors for implementation by the government. The study's conclusions constitute its scientific novelty and affirm that the sector under consideration is characterized by the following aspects: 1) the demanding nature of work necessitating substantial financial assets and professional competencies of often scarce labor market participants, alongside the utilization of innovative technologies to curtail production costs; and 2) a constrained pool of oil and gas market participants diminishing competition in the oilfield services market and enabling vertically integrated oil companies to dictate prices to service organizations, thus limiting opportunities for the industry's innovation-driven and technological development. The study's conclusions hold significant practical potential and are recommended for incorporation into territorial, regional, and federal programs for the social and economic development of Arctic regions. These findings contribute to the innovation-driven and technological revitalization of the oilfield services industry, an integral element in developing the resource base of Northern territories. Additionally, they provide avenues for further scientific exploration, delving into logistic, financial, technological, corporate, and other economic aspects specific to participants in forthcoming development processes.

Current Account Imbalances, Income Inequality, and Financial Instability: Asian Experiences

ABSTRACT From Asian experiences in financial crises of 1997–08 and 2007–09, this study finds that higher income inequality can worsen current account imbalances and exacerbate external vulnerability. Capital flows, volatile though they are, are the effect, not the cause, of variations in economic fundamentals. We show that credit-based growth with the aid of foreign financing is prone to financial fragility while export-oriented growth on the basis of domestic saving is good for financial stability. Given the rising international political tensions, our result suggests that Asian emerging markets should reduce inequality and boost demand to achieve sustainable credit and balanced growth. By doing so, Asia can effectively help alleviate global imbalances and lower financial risk.

From tsunami through terror attacks to Covid-19: crisis communication strategies and recovery campaigns to combat Thailand’s tourism crises

ABSTRACT Countries dealing with tourism crises use a variety of crisis communication strategies, as found in various studies. Thailand is one of the strongest global tourism brands and tourism remains its dominant industry. In recent decades, it has suffered several crises: natural disasters, terrorist attacks, a pandemic, and internal political tensions. This study analyzes which crisis communication strategies Thai officials adopted to restore Thailand’s positive image during tourism crises; in addition, we analyzed how these strategies stem from the country’s ideations and cultural values, a subject that was scarcely addressed in previous crisis communication theory.

«ТУРЦИЯ НАЧИНАЕТ И ВЫИГРЫВАЕТ?»: МЕЖДУНАРОДНАЯ ГЕОПОЛИТИКА И ОТНОШЕНИЕ К НЕЙ НАСЕЛЕНИЯ ТУРКЕСТАНА НА ПРИМЕРЕ ИТАЛО-ТУРЕЦКОЙ И ПЕРВОЙ БАЛКАНСКОЙ ВОЙН

National and religious issues have always been uneasy and topical for the Russian state. In the first decades of the twentieth century, the religious affiliation question became one of the key factors in the contradictory attitude of the Russia peoples to the choice of the Empire’s foreign policy. That is proved by the materials stored in the National Archives of the Republic of Uzbekistan. Most Russian Muslims felt like second-class citizens, only because they professed Islam, not Orthodox Christianity. Such a situation was a natural consequence of the ill-conceived and uncoordinated ethno-confessional policy in the Empire. On the eve of the First World War, Ottoman Turkey, as a long-time geopolitical rival of Russia, was interested in escalating the internal political tensions in the Russian Empire by all means. The most effective way was to speculate on existing religious and national intolerance. However, masses of ordinary Muslims, for a variety of reasons, were not always able to fully accept the Ottoman ideological and modernist attitudes that representatives of the national elites of Russian Muslims, acting as intermediaries, tried to introduce into their minds. On the other hand, the Russian Empire itself could not offer its Muslims an attractive modernisation project.

Unsettled Belongings: Chinese Immigrants’ Mental Health Vulnerability as a Symptom of International Politics in the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to unique mental health challenges for Chinese immigrants due to their cultural, social, and political ties with China, which responded to COVID-19 with controversial measures amid tensions with the Western world. These challenges manifest in three conditions at a time of crisis: racism that associates overseas Chinese with the coronavirus, Chinese immigrants’ “double unbelonging” with regard to both host societies and China, and social disapproval of political criticism among overseas Chinese. This article examines these three conditions by drawing on ethnography conducted in Canada as well as international online media. It uses theories in humanistic psychology, existential psychology, and hermeneutics to explain how, for Chinese immigrants, international political tensions are implicated in a range of mental health–related phenomena including identity, belonging, self-consciousness, shame, depression, and agency. Meanwhile, it offers theoretical discussions of how to make humanistic psychology more capable of addressing social and political issues.

Poland, the International Monetary System and the Bank of England, 1921 – 1939

The paper uses archive material, mainly from the Bank of England, to give an account of the relationship between Poland and the international monetary system between 1921 and 1939, as seen from the United Kingdom. It describes the 1923-1924 Hilton Young mission of ‘money doctors’ and its role in the establishment of the Bank Polski and the introduction of the zloty in 1924; the abandonment of the zloty’s gold parity in 1925; the tortuous negotiations leading to the stabilisation programme and stabilisation loan of 1927, including the Bank of England’s unsuccessful efforts to induce Poland to accept the oversight of the League of Nations; Poland’s gold purchases after the stabilisation loan; the process of deflation during the Great Depression; the abortive discussions in 1934-1936 of the possibility of Danzig, Germany and Poland pegging their exchange rates to sterling; the imposition of exchange restrictions in 1936; debt default in 1937; and the approach of war. It also provides information about the management of Poland’s gold and foreign exchange reserves. The narrative makes clear that it is impossible to understand Poland’s international financial affairs without reference to the international political tensions of the period.

Canine Rescue as a Social Movement: The Politics of Love

AbstractCanine rescue is a growing movement that affects the lives of tens of thousands of nonhuman animals and people every year. Rescue is noteworthy not only for its numbers, but also because it challenges common understandings of animal advocacy. Popular accounts often portray work on behalf of animals as sentimental, individualistic, and apolitical. In fact, work on behalf of animals has always been political, in multiple ways. It is characterized both by internal political tensions, especially between animal rights and welfare positions, and by complex relations to the broader public sphere. I analyze canine rescue, with a focus on pit bull rescue, to show that an important segment of canine rescue movements adopts an explicitly political approach which blurs the divide between rights and welfare, addresses the social context of the human-animal bond, and links animal advocacy to social justice.

Fabricating consent for an ‘adjustment programme’: Crisis narratives of economic journalists in Portugal

Abstract Following Greece and Ireland, and preceding Spain and Cyprus, Portugal has been subject to a troika ‘adjustment programme’ that lasted from mid-2011 to mid-2014. The implementation of the programme was disturbed by unexpected events stemming from internal political tensions, ‘exogenous’ shocks, resistance from the judicial system (the Constitutional Court) and opposition from large sections of the public. As in Greece, the programme was experienced by most as a dramatic and traumatic event. Major actors in this drama have been the troika institutions, the Portuguese government and its supporting parties, the Portuguese opposition parties, trade unions and other social movements. Other actors, namely journalists, arguably also played an important role. This article examines the role played by economic journalists during the so-called adjustment process. It analyses the content of the publications (op-eds) of main Portuguese economic journalists prior to and during the period of implementation of the troika’s programme. It is based on a survey of all the publications (op-eds) of six authors between 1 January 2010 and 30 July 2014. The analysis of the journalists’ texts led to the following conclusions: (1) the texts are rooted in a particular set of core (neo-liberal) beliefs about the economy and its functioning, what we call the ‘consensus view’; (2) the crisis is perceived as an opportunity not to be missed to implement long due reforms aimed at a neo-liberal reshaping of the economy and society and (3) the texts were mainly concerned with deflecting opposition to, or fabricating consent in favour of, the troika’s ‘adjustment’.

Le Dossier M, livre 2: Après et bien avant

The prologue’s short dialogue between father and son, which sets the novel’s tone, identifies the key geopolitical issues with the acuity of a ten-year-old’s perception of the times’ changing winds. To Gabriel’s question : Why are the Tutsis and Hutus fighting?, his father responds, Because they don’t have the same nose. Then, ironizing on the persistence of children, the narrator recalls a classmate categorizing Cyrano de Bergerac as Tutsi, before concluding: “Le fond de l’air avait changé. Peu importe le nez qu’on avait, on pouvait le sentir” (Something in the air had changed. And you could smell it, no matter what kind of nose you had). Petit pays thus moves from the personal to national and international political tensions, with Gabriel’s parents’ breakup presaging the civil war that would tear Burundi apart and that continues to this day, with its summary trials of human-rights activists, hate propaganda, and ideological signposts that characterize genocides. Written in 2015, the year of the terrorist attacks on Charlie Hebdo and of the concomitant question of hospitality for migrants and refugees, the novel opens with Gabriel remembering his eleventh birthday, as he turns thirty-three in Paris, alone in a bar, where a TV flashes images of refugees fleeing war just as he had twenty years before, and deciding to return to Bujumbura . With its luminous ode to a childhood bathing in Burundi’s beauty; the realism of snatched conversations and radio broadcasts about unfolding political events; and the acumen of the contemporary orality of its raplike punch lines, Petit pays circumscribes the fragility of everyone’s cul-de-sac, in a personal hymn to reading and writing as humanity’s safe haven and safeguard. (Editorial note: An English translation by Sarah Ardizzone, Small Country, was published by Hogarth in 2018.) Sarah Davies Cordova University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee Grégoire Bouillier Le Dossier M, livre 2: Après et bien avant Paris. Flammarion. 2018. 868 pages. A scant two months after winning the prestigious, quirky Prix Décembre for the first volume, Grégoire Bouillier brought out the second half of his Le Dossier M. Like its predecessor, this massive tome is an unwieldy, unconstrained cornucopia of thoughts and memories around the author’s relationship with the inscrutable M. The book’s contents even spilled out onto a website dedicated to presenting various mementos and realia at ledossierm .fr. For all the heterogeneity Bouillier provides, though, the two volumes betray wholly dissimilar emotional modes. The first volume was more or less in medias res, describing and expressing the wild love Bouillier experienced, while this second Julián Herbert Tomb Song Trans. Christina MacSweeney Graywolf Press Mexican author Julián Herbert finds himself at his mother’s side as she is dying of leukemia, and he can’t help but relive his childhood as the son of a prostitute, surrounded by half-siblings and constantly in motion. Tomb Song modulates between different kinds of prose in a story that is chaotic, absurd, and painfully poignant. Ming Holden Refuge Kore Press Refuge is the remarkable memoir of a young woman who has put herself in harm’s way time and again to lend much-needed aid to refugees in Africa, Syria, and Asia. Holden exhibits a laudable self-awareness of how her privilege as a white westerner gives her access to resources that might otherwise be unavailable to those she serves and delivers her message of universal humanism with style and grace. Nota Bene WORLDLIT.ORG 79 volume takes on a bleaker, more retrospective stance befitting its subtitle, “After and Long Before.” For most novelists, the plot and characters must precede the writing; their work consists of arranging words in a way that appropriately depicts these constructs. Bouillier, however, lets the words he sets down take the lead; everything else follows, with little regard for linearity or logical progression. Emotion, rather, is the governing concern. And so Bouillier decides to reveal, at the end of volume 2, just how several episodes described in volume 1 turned out to be false: “Mistakes, retakes: these were, from the very start, the two pillars supporting my story of M.” Perhaps...

Destination marketing and image repair during tourism crises: The case of Egypt

Abstract Egypt – a “must see” destination for generations of visitors - is considered to be one of the strongest tourism brands in the Middle East and tourism remains its dominant industry, accounting for 20% of its annual GDP. Over the past decades the country has suffered many crises such as wars, terrorist attacks, internal political tensions and violent changes in government. As can be expected, all of these were reported in the international media and had a negative effect on the flow of tourism into the country. By adopting the “multi-step model for altering place image,” this study includes qualitative content analysis of news reports, press interviews and relevant elements of advertising campaigns in order to uncover media policy, strategies, events and marketing initiatives used by Egyptian marketers and officials in order to restore a positive image of their country and bring back tourists after crises. The analysis shows that three types of strategies were used by Egyptian marketers to repair the country's image: source, message and audience; and a variety of other steps were also adopted.

Primary Care in Cuba

The Cuban health system surprises the international health community with strong health indicators despite economic hardship and international political tensions. This paper provides an analysis of the Cuban health system with a special focus on the role of primary care and primary care practitioners in Cuban culture. The paper also includes a discussion of Cuban health indicators, current epidemiological issues, national health initiatives, and the effects of Cuba’s political situation on its health care system.

In the Eyes of the Collapsing Empire: Yugoslavia’s Disintegration and Slovenian Independence as seen through Russian Diplomatic Sources (1990–1992)

AbstractIt is of critical importance for every newly established state to receive international recognition. The Soviet Union strongly supported the unity and territorial integrity of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and considered the latter’s break-up within the context of its own disintegration. The article sets out Slovenia’s efforts to gain Russian recognition of Slovenian independence and sovereignty, as described in Soviet and Russian diplomatic sources, official statements and comments from academic circles. It aims to demonstrate that Moscow’s decision on this subject was the result of the momentary overlapping of various international developments along with a new Russian foreign policy strategy (which changed frequently and was, thus, exceptional in the Russian foreign policy tradition). Especially important in this context were the internal political tensions in the Russian Federation after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Local forms of relief during the July war in 2006 and international humanitarian interventions: Implications on community preparedness for war and conflict

This case study addresses the forms of relief emerging from grassroots initiatives organised during war by focusing on the case of Samidoun in the July war as experienced and narrated by some activists, organizers and experts. This study argues that a total reliance on professionalization and NGO-ization in aid provision during war can prevent the emergence of civil resistance forms of relief. It suggests that in a site that suffers from internal political tensions like Lebanon, “traditional” state and non-state structures were not able to provide immediate and sustainable aid for displaced families during the war. An organizational structure functioning outside traditional relief channels thereby helped prevent a humanitarian crisis outbreak. Local relief in the aftermath of the July war however turned the group from a collective to a local implementer of global relief programs, whereby providing relief and collecting in-praxis data were undermined, as it had to abide by the new and professionalized humanitarian terrain.

Monarchy, Socialism and Modern Capitalism: Hungary's Participation in Three London Olympic Games

Olympic sport is a double-edged sword. It has the potential to bring nations together and to transmit values, but it can also demonstrate international political tensions and conflicting national structural characteristics. As part of the International Olympic Movement from the very beginning, Hungary is one of the few nations to have taken part in the (Summer) Olympic Games in London for the third time. The Olympic presence of Hungary has been almost continuous in spite of the significant transformations of its state ideology, sport structures and political background. In 1908, within the framework of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, the Hungarian Kingdom endeavoured to demonstrate its autonomy and courage with its memorable Olympic successes in London. A People's Republic was being formed in Hungary at the time of the second London Olympic Games in 1948. The socialist ideology and the self-display of socialist–communist ambitions characterised the preparation and the participation of the Hungarian athletes. Hungary is celebrating the year of its third London Games with a democratic system in the background, built up from 1989, and a new Constitution adopted in 2011. Furthermore, the Hungarian Sport Act was renewed in 2012, due to which the Hungarian Olympic Committee has gained increased power, which might provide new ways of solving the financial problems within Hungarian elite sport.

The Myth of the Pro-Colonialist SPD: German Social Democracy and Imperialism before World War I

In his seminalThe German Empire, published in German in 1973, historian Hans-Ulrich Wehler posited that in respect to the German Empire's colonial policies only the SPD, unlike all other political parties, “retained its capacity to take a critical view on matters of principle.” Moreover, in Wehler's view, the SPD's critical stance on this and many other political questions along with the party's massive electoral gains in the 1912 parliamentary elections precipitated a situation in the years immediately preceding the Great War that prompted the German Empire's “old elites” to bet increasingly on a major military conflict to solve the Empire's internal political tensions (“leap into darkness”). Thus in Wehler's view the Social Democrats contributed in no small part to Imperial Germany's perceived domestic crisis, which prompted the infamous “old elites” to choose war over domestic reform in 1914.

Social reform, military accounting and the pursuit of economy during the liberal apotheosis, 1906–1912

The Liberal Governments that took office in the years immediately before World War I pursued a policy which sought the radical transformation of British society by establishing the foundations of the modern welfare state. Liberal beliefs required that the funding for this would have to be obtained by achieving economies in other government spending, most especially spending on the army. However, with mounting international political tensions, the new Secretary of State for War, Richard Haldane, knew that Britain's security demanded a significant military capability. Thus, to allow the spending on social reform and to provide an army ready for war, Haldane introduced administrative reforms to ensure that Britain's army was both economic and efficient. These reforms included the beginnings of an ‘object-based’ system of military accounting which promoted a dominant role for the military in financial decisions.

Analysis and characterization of mouse monoclonal antibodies reactive to Chikungunya virus (CHIKV)

occurring in 1984). However, plague has made an astonishing comeback in the last decade. Methods: n/a. Results: After a silence of 50 years, an outbreak of bubonic plague suddenly occurred close to Oran in Algeria, in June 2003. Eighteen bubonic cases were identified, and Yersinia pestis was isolated from 6 patients. In July 2008, a new cluster was reported among nomads 300 km south of the first one. Four members of one family were affected and one died. The bacillus was isolated from one patient. No epidemiological association was identified between the two events. On June 2009, 25 years after the last occurrence in the country, Libya reported five confirmed cases of bubonic plague in the Tobruk area. Y. pestis was isolated from three patients. In all these cases, further local ecological investigations confirmed the existence of a natural focus The re-emergence of human plague in the region is not without international consequences. Two of the last concerned natural foci are close to an international port which raises the question of the potential exportation of infected rodents. Cross-border tensions, between ‘‘plague countries’’ and ‘‘plague-free countries’’ have been observed although the foci’s limits are unknown as any systematic ecological investigation and surveillance is lacking. Additionally, the potential weaponization of Y.pestis together with international political tensions feed a recurrent interest in plague in North Africa. False rumors of alleged military laboratory accidents or terrorist acts are routinely mentioned, although events could be first explained by the natural history of the disease. Conclusion: In this context, and although the number of human cases has been very limited so far, the first priorities are to establish appropriate ecological surveillance and agree on a common plague control strategy for the region.

Shape shifting lizard people, Israelite slaves, and other theories of pyramid building

At the turn of the millennium, Egypt prepared for a vast New Year celebration on the Giza Plateau, amidst rumors about the Masonic symbolism of the planned party. At the same time, Egyptologists were excavating the tombs of the pyramid builders of Giza and billing these as proof that the pyramids were built by Egyptian nationals, not Israelite slaves. Both were topics of fierce local political debate about the external appropriation of Egypt's national monuments. Based on ethnographic research in Giza and Cairo and analysis of popular publications by and about Egyptologists, this article explores the links between Egyptology, Egyptian nationalism, and theories about the labor force that built the pyramids. It shows how debates over pyramid building and conspiracy theories about the millennium celebrations resonate in both the historical context of European imperialism in Egypt and current international political tensions. It examines archaeological accounts of the relationship between the pyramid builders and ancient state building, and the parallels between such accounts and the discipline's contemporary relationship with archaeological labor. It concludes by asking whether Egyptologists, both Egyptian and foreign, have not only a nationalist but also a disciplinary interest in particular narratives of the labor that built the pyramids.