International Power Research Articles

Making peace to sustain war: the Astana Process and Syria’s illiberal peace

ABSTRACT In the aftermath of large-scale Russian military intervention in Syria in 2015, Iran, Russia, and Turkey established the Astana Process to manage the conflict and negotiate a post-conflict transition. The tripartite-led Astana Process has supplanted United Nations efforts through the Geneva Process to negotiate a peace agreement and political transition in Syria, highlighting important shifts in geopolitical power. As such, the Astana Process provides an opportunity to examine how peace emerges when liberal actors and norms are peripheralized and when power shifts to alternative, illiberal constellations of power that are able to craft peace. I situate my inquiry into the emergence of the Astana Process at the intersection of literature on authoritarian conflict management (ACM), civil war settlement, and peacebuilding to ask how we can understand the exercise of power in contexts in which constellations of illiberal actors are able to shape conflict and post-conflict outcomes. The Astana Process eschews liberal principles of peace-making and post-conflict transition while advancing illiberal norms and practices that reject power sharing and inclusion in favor of a post-conflict order in which society remains bifurcated and which continued violence is sanctioned. The specific constellation of domestic and international power that is reflected through Astana is contributing to the emergence of new norms of conflict management and peacemaking that directly challenge liberal norms and actors’ power to shape post-conflict outcomes. Astana thus advances a new vision for conflict management that is materializing in the emergence of an illiberal peace in Syria.

Research on the Production System of Multimedia Propaganda Films for Energy Saving and Emission Reduction

Strengthening brand building is an inevitable choice for the company to create an international advanced power grid enterprise and actively adapt to the new changes in public opinion ecology. At present, energy-saving and emission reduction is a new trend in the development of power companies and the entire energy industry. Based on this research background, this article mainly combines the research and development experience of energy-saving and emission reduction science popularization works innovation creation projects, combined with electric power companies to explore the methods and characteristics of multimedia popularization in the digital age and explore new forms of using computer multimedia and network technology for famous science creation.

Comparisons, numbers and nations: exploring national policy responses to international data via a postfoundational imagining of the policymaker

ABSTRACT The article seeks to refine two central concepts in scholarly accounts of national policy responses to international data: ‘selectivity’ and ‘instrumentalisation’. It does so by broadening, firstly, the empirical focus of research to include forms of international data other than the performance data of global learning metrics and international large-scale assessments, and secondly, its case-studies focus to embrace the Republic of Cyprus as an understudied and uniquely situated case within international power structures, but mostly, by reimagining the national policymaker as a postmodern subjectivity rather than a sovereign, fully cogitative and conscious individual. From this theoretical point of view, selectivity is conceptualised as an unintended consequence of the ambivalent attitudes of policymakers towards comparison and numbers, while instrumentalisation as a frequently problematic and ambiguous praxis. To test these two arguments, the article analyses why and how and to what extent statistical averages of teaching time allocations to curriculum subjects from EU and OECD countries are valued and integrated into the 2015 school timetables reform initiative of the Ministry of Education and Culture in Cyprus.

Voluntary Disruptions: International Soft Law, Finance, and Power. By Abraham L. Newman and Elliot Posner. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018. 204p. $35.95 cloth.

Voluntary Disruptions: International Soft Law, Finance, and Power. By Abraham L. Newman and Elliot Posner. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018. 204p. $35.95 cloth.

Response to Adam Harmes’s Review of Voluntary Disruptions: International Soft Law, Finance, and Power

Response to Adam Harmes’s Review of <i>Voluntary Disruptions: International Soft Law, Finance, and Power</i>

A grid-tied photovoltaic transformer-less inverter with reduced leakage current

The importance of transformer-less inverters has been increased since these are highly efficient, less costly, reduced in weight compared to conventional inverters for PV systems connected to grid. This fact led researchers to propose various topologies of transformer-less inverters, which have been validated for only injection of real power towards grid. However, recently new regulation has been imposed by all international power regulatory agency is that these PV inverters integrated with grid should have the capability of handling flow of a certain quantity of reactive power. By considering this point, a noble topology of transformer-less inverter has been developed for grid integrated PV system. Unlike previous topologies during reactive power injection, the new topology does not face reverse recovery issues, which helps to enhance the efficiency of the proposed inverter by exploiting MOSFET switches. Moreover, leakage current becomes low by keeping the common mode (CM) voltage at input DC voltage’s midpoint.

Research on power Trade Arrangement and Risk Management in South and Southeast Asia

In recent years, with the continuous growth of economy in South and Southeast Asia, the demand for energy and electricity is also increasing. In terms of power supply and demand, there are complementarities, among which international power trade can realize the optimal allocation of resources among countries and achieve the goal of mutual benefit and win-win results. Now parts of South Asia, southeast Asia within the scope of power trade between overall is still sporadic, and belongs to the power flow on the basis of bilateral one-way trade, electricity trade amount and scale are small, the current trade arrangements to see also is not very perfect, also can't fully meet the needs of the development of South Asia power trade further in southeast Asia. Therefore, it is necessary to study the power trade arrangement in South Asia and Southeast Asia. At the same time, closely related to trade arrangements is the issue of risk, because many risks are often caused by unreasonable trade arrangements. Due to the differences of power construction status and national level among countries in South Asia and Southeast Asia, there are many risks in carrying out power trade, such as political system, environment and economy. Therefore, this paper studies the risk management of power trade in South Asia and Southeast Asia, in order to clearly understand the risks, and take corresponding countermeasures to solve them timely and properly, so as to realize the ultimate goal of power trade in the sub-region smoothly.

Innovation and Information Aspects of the Structural Organization of the World Political and Economic Space

The article analyzes the innovation and information aspects of the structural organization of the world political and economic space in terms of increasing the importance of knowledge-intensive production in meeting social needs. It develops theoretical aspects of establishing international economic relations in the conditions of deepening global confrontation between hierarchical and network structures of the global political and economic space. The institutional structure of the world political and economic space in terms of functional, normative, relational and stratification aspects is studied. It is determined that the global economy and world politics interact in accordance with the strategic direction of the global society development, the dominant position in which is occupied by information and communication technologies that provide opportunities to optimize the operation of actors in international relations and knowledge, the volume of which determines the integrated the position of the individual in the space of social inequalities, associated with a specific set of life opportunities. From the standpoint of the existential approach, it is argued that the globalization of the world economy generates a wide range of internal interests and human motivations, stimulates its purposeful influence on shaping the global information infrastructure, global productive forces and transformation of international economic relations on the natural basis of cognitive capital and social capital. The communicative and informational properties, the specifics of accumulation and the latest trends in the reproduction of social capital within the world political and economic space are considered. The paper reveals the criterion assessment of the effectiveness of rent-oriented social networks as a structural basis of the world political and economic space and the social legitimacy of international power structures for regulating the global social processes. The research results were scientifically substantiated on the basis of combining the concepts of existential approach and general scientific, special methods of scientific cognition (logical-dialectical method, method of systemic analysis, comparative method, economic-statistical method, method of theoretical generalization).

The power paradigm in practice: A critical review of developments in the Zambian electricity sector

• Infrastructure deficiencies in sub-Saharan Africa are typically framed in terms of a “financing gap” in need of private capital. • This paper explores how the associated policy paradigm has unfolded in the specific context of Zambia using the Systems of Provision approach. • Private investment has in part led to high-cost, dollar-denominated liabilities that risk compromising development objectives in the long term. • Conventional narratives of cost-recovery and efficiency are not neutral and their full distributional implications need to be unpicked. • Greater attention is needed to social equity and to the specific challenges faced. Sub-Saharan Africa lags behind the rest of the world in electricity access and consumption. Infrastructure deficiencies are framed in terms of a “financing gap”, with policy oriented around attracting global private capital. Recent calls for increased private infrastructure investment follow three decades of market-oriented sector reforms. This paper explores the way that this standard policy paradigm has unfolded in Zambia. Drawing on the Systems of Provision approach we focus on three core interconnected segments of the electricity system: the performance of the state utility, Zesco; private sector participation and cost-recovery pricing. The paper shows that Zesco has run into major difficulties since 2015 due to a crisis in hydro resources and adverse currency movements. In line with the policy paradigm, the utility has signed up to a number of agreements with international independent power producers (IPPs) to diversify power sources, and tariffs have been raised to improve Zesco’s financial situation. However, closer inspection reveals contradictions, biases and inconsistencies in this standard policy package when applied in practice. Zesco’s acutely debilitating financial position is a relatively recent occurrence. Short-term fluctuations in hydro power, for which intermittent back-up is needed, have instead been addressed with new decades-long contracts for fossil fuel generation. IPPs have provided generous returns for foreign investors but have created long-term, dollar-denominated liabilities for Zesco, contributing to a weakening financial position. Tariffs have been raised but households cannot afford to pay a price that covers Zesco’s increased costs. The proliferation of IPPs appears to have worsened the situation.The paper shows that energy sector policies organised around the entry of private capital are problematic and likely to contribute to a dynamic of unequal global capital accumulation. Greater attention is needed to social equity, with policies oriented around domestic circumstances and the specific challenges faced.

China’s Efforts to Shape and Improve Its International Discursive Power: Diplomatic Practice

Summary Discursive power is the reflection of a country’s national strength and international influence. The increase of economic power does not necessarily mean the increase of discursive power. The improvement of discursive power has to be strategically designed and multidimensionally improved. Due to China’s historical experiences regarding discursive power, China is weak in many fields. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, China began to pay more attention to improve its international discursive power such as expanding its discursive presence and strengthening effectiveness of its voice, changing language style, enhancing institutional power and innovating diplomatic practice. In the future, more substantive efforts will be needed such as strengthening the overall strategic layout, enhancing institutional discursive power in various fields, improving the discursive system and promoting integration of China’s major diplomatic ideas and discourse with global ones.

Геополитический аспект миграции в постюгославском хронотопе с позиции социологии истории

Migration processes are complex phenomena. They are consequences of international political movements and power redistribution, which makes it possible to study them in their geopolitical aspect. The article contains a detailed review of historical sociology, substantiated by geopolitical examples from Ancient Rome, Byzantium, Ottoman Empire, World Wars I and II, etc., against the post-Yugoslavian chronotope. The research was based on the methods of historical sociology, as well on the principle of unity of logic and history. The author drew analogies between the abovementioned historical events and the contemporary migration crisis in post-Yugoslavian countries in order to forecast its possible outcome and prevent a social collision. The paper focuses mostly on the case of the Republic of Serbia. Migration management should take into account that history repeats itself: if certain conditions always produce the same result, it is only logical to expect this result next time the same conditions occur. In sociology, this approach remains poorly represented, even though it can produce reliable and long-term solutions in migration management, unlike short-term and superficial ad hoc measures. Previous decisions have led to the ghettoization of migrants, which threatens to escalate into a social conflict. Therefore, achievements of historical sociology can offer a new approach to this problem.

A comparative analysis on the international discourse power evaluation of global climate governance

The international discourse power (IDP) is necessary to attain the strategic interests and international influence in the global climate governance process. In order to analyze the IDP state of each country, this study proposes a hybrid evaluation approach to assess IDP of global climate governance by integrating analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and cloud model. Firstly, the evaluation index system of IDP of global climate governance was constructed from three aspects namely, discourse subject, discourse production, and discourse dissemination. Secondly, the cloud model is introduced to express the uncertainty and to transform the qualitative evaluation information. Additionally, the AHP is incorporated into the cloud model to calculate the weights of index. Finally, six typical countries of global climate governance are selected to illustrate the application of the proposed evaluation approach. The results indicated that the priority of IDP is EU, the USA, China, Russia, India, and Haiti. Moreover, it is found that China’s IDP has the highest priority in developing countries. However, compared to developed countries, China’s IDP has a relatively low priority. The study suggests to enhance the political influence, expand the international impact of public media, and form a community of interests.

The changing? Face of power in international relations, 1979-2019

ABSTRACT This article traces how the major paradigms in international relations have viewed power over the past 40 years. It argues that theorizing in the 1970s began a bifurcation that served to split the vison of power between two extremes: a hard-power pole on one side (Realism) and a soft-power pole on the other (Neoliberalism and Constructivism). It further argues that scholars who have studied international power have merely been engaged in hovering around the mean, and have always embraced the belief that power was not a binary concept. Rather than looking to the theoretical poles for the true face of international power, scholars are best off embracing a smarter middle or Cosmopolitan view of power.

Japan-China Strategic Communications Dynamics under the Belt and Road Initiative: The Case of "Third Country Business Cooperation"

Since the 2000s, the of narratives has attracted much attention in China. Under the Xi Jinping administration, the enhancement of international discourse power became an explicit policy and a diplomatic goal, closely linked to its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). BRI, further, overlaps with China's efforts to develop a new concept of institutional discourse power as a mechanism to convert the economic gravity of China into political by enhancing their agenda-setting capability, particularly in emerging rule-making process of the new economy. Such ambition has also shaped the new economic integrative framework between China and developed including Japan. Japan, on the other hand, relied on an increasingly inclusive notion of free and open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) to define and promote its relations with both likeminded countries and China for the purpose of making the BRI relative. Although Japan and China have agreed on economic cooperation in third as a new collaborative scheme in 2018, there remains a gap in their political objectives and strategic communications. This poses a major challenge for China, which hitherto has relied on China-centric narratives, as it can only enhance its identity as a global leading by accommodating and accepting partially narratives of other major countries, including Indo-Pacific countries.

China’s discourse power: instruments and strategy

Today China actively participates in shaping the international political agenda, norms, and rules for interaction between states. This activity is a part of the PRC&amp;apos;s policy to strengthen its international discourse power. Despite the fact that there are many studies of China&amp;apos;s propaganda politics, discourse power remains outside the focus of researchers both in Russian and English-speaking communities. The term has varying interpretations and translations in non-Chinese academic literature. In this regard, the article examines the meaning of this term and answers questions – how, why, and for what purpose does the PRC implement its discourse power. The article analyzes research literature and documents in Russian, English, and Chinese languages regarding the discourse power, the origin, and the development of the term in Chinese discourse, and using it as a political task. The article studies the main departments and organizations responsible for the formation of the discourse power, as well as tools and mechanisms for its implementation. The author identifies “soft” and “hard” variants of China&amp;apos;s discourse power, explains the difference in their goals and methods via giving examples from the PRC&amp;apos;s foreign policy. The author concludes that the need for discourse power, which combines various methods of China&amp;apos;s policy, is due to the acute internal political struggle, and the country&amp;apos;s new ambitions in the international arena. The development of discourse power as a political phenomenon is fueled by the ideas of opposition to the “West”. In this regard, discourse power is becoming one of the most important counterweapons in competition between China and the United States.

HPLSE editorial tribute to Professor David Neely

Abstract David Neely was an internationally recognised scientist who formed collaborations and friendships across the world. His passion for his work always shone through. He always made time for early-career scientists and became a mentor and supervisor to many. He was an active Editorial Board Member of the international journal High Power Laser Science and Engineering. Sadly, David was taken from us much too early. In this Editorial we pay tribute to his work through his publications in the journal.

China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and Public International Law

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) most important foreign policy agenda item. Even eight years after its launch, the framework of the BRI remains highly volatile and complex. The initiative, as a process, mirrors China’s domestic approach to policymaking. It reflects Beijing’s Sino-Marxist understanding of international law, as a political tool of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The BRI relies primarily on pilot projects and legally non-binding MOUs. It fosters the emergence of China-centred networks across a wide range of policy areas. Within those networks, the PRC aims to gain international discourse power, to reinterpret established definitions within the current international legal order, which Beijing perceives to reflect power advantages of Western States after World War II. With the so-called Community of Common Destiny – the PRC’s alternative vision of international order – Beijing aims to overcome perceived biases against the PRC and fellow authoritarian and developing States. In this endeavour, the BRI provides a strategic umbrella and serves as both, a catalyst, and an accelerator.

Inter-Regional State Boundary Friction Resolution Mechanism Under Federal Constitution of Ethiopia: Principles and Institutions

Federalism presupposes the existence a stable territorial boundary of units/ states that exercise their constitutional power and territorial autonomy. Inter-state boundary friction is a kind of contests over territory between two or more states assert sovereign power over one or the same territory; that is an apparent problem in Ethiopia. Boundary contest and misunderstanding is a serious political and human rights issue in federations where territory is potential identity-builders for ethnicities and is viewed as having high inherent values. Similarly, the boundary issue in Ethiopia is characterized by clashes between regional police and security forces and ethnically identified attack and violence between ethnic groups that has also resulted mass killings and person’s displacement in contested boundary areas. Federal Constitution is an important legal framework to regulate the behaviors and actions of the disputed parties and determine the policies and procedures of inter-state border claim and friction resolution. In other words, federal constitution supplants international law and military power and serve as mechanism for interstate coordination and dispute settlement. The purpose of this study was to identify the effective inter-regional boundary friction resolution mechanisms under Federal Constitution of Ethiopia. The study has employed doctrinal legal research using secondary data and revealed the following. First, the study has found eight (8) constitutional principles support peaceful boundary friction resolution in Ethiopia Viz. primacy of federal union, cooperation and dispute settlement, codependence and disablement, federal oversight, sanctity of human rights, inclusive human rights invocation, peaceful coexistence, and rule of law. Ironically, in Ethiopia these constitutionally stipulated principles are not given due emphasis or are ignored and border conflicts are not adequately handled. Second, the study has revealed the need of a comprehensive legislation that proactively determine the nature inter-state border claim and friction resolution procedures and regulate the behaviors and actions of the parties that involve in the process. In this regard, the Federal Government has Legislative power under FDRE constitution. Third, the House of Federation and Administrative Boundaries and identity question Commission are the two inter-state boundary disputes resolution institutions in Ethiopia. However, both of these institutions have limitations in handling boundary disputes effectively- impartially. Finally, the study recommends that the Federal Government to enact comprehensive legislation based on the aforementioned eight principles. Besides, the federal legislator has to reconsider the composition, accountability, transparency of the Administrative Boundaries and Identity Question Commission.

A AMBICIOSA POLÍTICA EXTERNA CHINESA PARA O SUDESTE ASIÁTICO: EM BUSCA DA HEGEMONIA OU COOPERAÇÃO PARA O DESENVOLVIMENTO REGIONAL?

This article analyzes the Chinese foreign policy regarding the South China Sea between the years 2016 to 2020. Through document analysis and literature review, it is possible to say that China has an ambitious long-term project and that the South China Sea would raise it to hegemonic condition. It is emphasized that the country sees the need for cooperation as a international power to reach development.

The Brussels Effect by Anu Bradford

Reviewed by: The Brussels Effect by Anu Bradford Quentin Levin (bio) A Review of The Brussels Effect by Anu Bradford The United States and China are hurriedly competing for traditional military and economic superiority just as multipolarity and the rise of developing economies make both forms of power less effective for realizing unilateral ambitions.1 Enter the inconspicuous world power: the European Union (EU). In her insightful book, the Brussels Effect, Columbia Law School professor Anu Bradford exposes how the EU operates as the subtle giant lurking beneath the steely surface of the international system, exercising a novel form of international power. The Brussels Effect, named after the EU's capital, is as indirect as it is powerful. Market forces, the implicit risk of losing access to the lucrative EU economy, and the overt emulation of EU rules in foreign laws, enable the EU's robust institutions to de facto set rules for noncapital markets that many companies subscribe to worldwide. Overall, Bradford's book provides an excellent description of a rarely covered form of EU power and influence. Her addition of a theoretical model for understanding how and why the EU exercises this unilateral global regulatory power is academically and practically useful because it helps readers better understand how power is exercised in the international system. Yet, her work has two weaknesses. First, her qualified defense of the normative merits of the Brussels Effect is undermined by her deference toward the legitimacy of EU institutions compared to other democracies. She apparently assumes that more robust regulations of noncapital markets, on net, increase people's welfare even when they oppose those policies. Second, Bradford's theoretical model overlooks how the dominance of key economic sectors, like emerging technology, compensates for market power disparities and enables China to increasingly set global standards. The book proceeds in three sections. Bradford describes the theoretical model for understanding why and how the EU exercises this global power. Next, the book offers examples of this power–from agriculture to data privacy. Finally, Bradford defends, on balance, the normative merit of this power, and she argues that the Brussels Effect can survive challenges associated with the EU's shrinking relative global market share, the retreat of globalization, and the rise of technology that enables companies to customize their products for individual markets, as opposed to conforming all their products worldwide to a single standard. She contends that the Brussels Effect hinges on five key factors. First, market size and a wealthy consumer base generate power for the EU single market (the customs, economic, and regulatory union that is at the heart of the EU).2 Ultimately, this factor means that companies may value access to the EU economy so highly that they are willing to obey its rules even if they are costly, rather than withdraw from the European market. Second, institutions with the expertise and capacity to execute these policies are also needed.3 Third, Bradford believes that market regulators must have the "political will" to "promulgate stringent regulatory standards" in order to set global trends.4 Fourth, the Effect only takes hold when regulations are applied based on the consumer being located in the EU, rather than where the product is made.5 This prevents companies from simply shifting production to evade this process. They must either comply, face penalties, or withdraw from business with European consumers. [End Page 307] These four factors are necessary but not sufficient conditions for the Brussels Effect. The fifth factor is the key: Bradford believes that the Effect only occurs when companies "voluntarily opt to extend the regulatory requirements of the most stringent regulator to their global operations."6 Companies tend to make this choice only in a specific circumstance: when the benefits of standardizing their operations around a single regulatory standard, rather than dividing their operations between Europe and the rest of the world, outweigh the costs. Bradford's book is strongest in its description of how the Brussels Effect operates. Although she claims that her work leaves it "for the reader to decide" whether the Brussels Effect is good or not, she proposes a "normative stand" on the Effect at the end of the book.7...