Territorial Issues Research Articles

Pooling territorial issues in the context of field crops: INSPA, a GIS tool combining hydrology and ecology

Pooling territorial issues in the context of field crops: INSPA, a GIS tool combining hydrology and ecology

Формирование автономных образований в РСФСР в 1920-х годах: проблемы населения и территории (на материалах Калмыцкой автономной области)

Introduction. Soviet Kalmykia’s historiography comprises quite a cluster of publications to have dealt with the shaping and development of the ethnic statehood. Such works primarily focus on preparatory and constitutive activities, economic beginnings. However, the formation of Kalmyk Autonomous Oblast’s territory and population have been covered by separate papers only fragmentarily. Goals. The study aims at investigating Kalmykia’s border-related problems and migrations of dispersed Kalmyk groups towards the region. In order to facilitate this, the article shall explore why territorial and border-related issues turned essentially difficult tasks and how the problems were being solved, describe the roadmap of the Kalmyk Oblast Executive Committee to comprehensively tackle the emerged territorial and migration challenges. Materials and Methods. The paper centers around archival sources, quite a share of the latter being thus newly introduced into scientific discourse. The key methods employed are those of comparativism and source analysis. Results. According to the nationalities policy set forth by the Bolsheviks in 1920, the Soviet Government granted the Kalmyk people an ethnic statehood in the form of an administrative autonomy within the latter’s historical territory — Kalmyk Steppe. Once the autonomy was established, its territory and borders were determined in accordance with the then state policies and without any essential dissents from neighboring provinces. Migrations of minor Kalmyk groups to the autonomous oblast were supported by the Government and encountered no resistance, except for disputes between the Salsk Okrug Executive Committee and that of Kalmyk Autonomous Oblast over the territorial issue when it came to the resettlement of Salsk Kalmyks. The prolonged mutual tension resulted in the establishment of Kalmytsky (‘Kalmyk’) District within Salsk Okrug of North Caucasus Krai.

The formation of macroregions as an instrument for reducing intraterritorial disparities: experience of the Ural Federal District

Economic zoning is an important instrument of regional policy; however, its impact upon solution of the territorial issues of macroregions that are built on other (noneconomic) grounds remains quite ambiguous. This research is dedicated to verification of the hypothesis on possibility of reducing the discrepancy between the parameters of territorial development as a result of their unification into a macroregion, which is formed primarily on the administrative principles. Research methodology leans on assessment of the parameter variations of interterritorial disparities in retrospect; methodological toolset includes the calculation of coefficients that characterize the degree of heterogeneity of cumulative data (coefficients of variation, asymmetry, and excess). The article uses the example of the Ural Federal District. The conducted analysis reveals that the scale of intraterritorial disparities typical for the district at the stage of its formation has not decreased over time; moreover, the difference between the parameters of the development of individual regions has increased. It is proven that the unification of territorial systems solely through administrative transformations does not mitigate the problems of excessive asymmetry of their development; and connectedness of the regions that proceeds from such transformations is often nominal. The acquired conclusions offer a critical insight into the instruments for managing socioeconomic processes in the territories of different levels, and can be taken into account in implementation of the regional policy.

My Love from the Mountain: Contingent bordering processes at Mount Changbai/Baekdu

Critical examinations of the enduring geographical myth of natural borders challenge the technical approach toward borders that tempts us to think about and act in the world in exclusively territorial and geometric terms. Drawing insights from and seeking to contribute to existing literature on the reification, naturalisation, and fetishisation of borders, this two‐part paper presents a unique case study of contingent bordering processes at Mount Changbai/Baekdu in the China–Korea Borderland. The first part investigates the making and remaking of the China–Korea border from the late 17th century to the 20th century, to reveal how the narratives of Mount Changbai/Baekdu as a “holy mountain” and a “natural border” were conceived and imposed to legitimise the Manchu‐Qing Chinese and Chosŏn‐Korean regimes respectively, and how these narratives were challenged and superseded in subsequent social and political circumstances. The second part investigates the complex ways these narratives have been appropriated by examining contemporary bordering processes as revealed in the commodification of mineral water, with a particular focus on the development of two brands of bottled water, one South Korean and one Chinese, both extracted from the Chinese side of Mount Changbai/Baekdu. This paper highlights the distinctiveness of non‐Western border concepts and practices, and the importance of making reference to them when discussing border and territorial issues in specifically Asian contexts with diverse traditions of territorial governance. It also points out the pressing need to investigate the contemporary socio‐economic implications of the complex intertwining of history, memory, and identity in borderlands. This is particularly the case given the surge of domestic and foreign corporate investment flowing into Asia’s borderland regions, transforming 20th‐century economic backwaters into 21st‐century hotbeds of resource exploitation and commodity production, even while the “ghosts of borderland’s past” continue to bedevil relations between cultures that have no contemporary physical borders.

Contesting territory via editorials in different varieties of English

AbstractThis article broadens Schneider's (2018) proposal relating to finding culture in corpora by examining keyness, conceptual frames, and metaphorical signals in newspaper editorials in two varieties of world Englishes: Chinese and American English. These editorials focus on opinion articles and commentaries about territorial issues in the South China Sea during 2013–2015. The results demonstrate that keywords and metaphorical signals are used differently in the newspaper editorials published in these two countries, while the conceptual frames vary by degree but not by type. I discuss these findings in terms of how lexical‐conceptual patterns allow for a greater understanding of the culture of argumentation. I argue that these types of focused, small corpora analyses are also useful for examining culture in corpora and suggest that Schneider's (2018) second layer of cultural dimensions should be expanded from indicator terms to include lexical‐conceptual patterns found in keyword analysis, conceptual framing, and metaphorical signaling.

Monumentality, Social Memory, and Territoriality in Neolithic–Chalcolithic Northwestern Arabia

ABSTRACT Recent excavations undertaken by the Aerial Archaeology in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (AAKSA) project have recovered significant skeletal material, evidence for funerary offerings, including jewelry, and the earliest chronometrically dated domestic dog in the Arabian Peninsula. Despite being heavily disturbed by recent looting, these monumental funerary structures were found to be collective burials dating to the 5th and 4th millennia b.c. The evidence recovered from these graves provides new insight into the social and funerary landscapes of northwestern Arabia during the Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods, shedding light upon issues of social memory, territoriality, and monumentality in the Middle Holocene of the Arabian Peninsula.

DEFINING TERRITORIES IN AQUATIC PUBLIC SPACES: A CASE STUDY OF IJO MIGRANT FISHERMEN IN NIGERIA

This paper examines the issue of territoriality in aquatic public spaces and how it affects fishing rights amongst artisanal fishermen of Ijo ethnic origin, in the Niger Delta area of Nigeria. It focuses on how these fishermen view the concept of space and define territories with or without the play of architectural materiality and elements. The study adopts a qualitative approach using interviews, focus groups and oral history as methodologies. The findings show that although architecturally defined boundaries in form of markings or spatial demarcations are not common in the estuarine and riverine zones of the Niger Delta, they however exist. Often implied or expressed by actions indicative of territoriality, or even revealed through other anthropological symptoms.

Propaganda analysis in social media: a bibliometric review

Purpose This paper aims to examine the trends in research studies in the past decade which address the use and analysis of propaganda in social media using natural language processing. The purpose of this study is to conduct a comprehensive bibliometric review of studies focusing on the use, identification and analysis of propaganda in social media. Design/methodology/approach This work investigates and examines the research papers acquired from the Scopus database which has huge number of peer reviewed literature and also provides interfaces to access required for bibliometric study. This paper has covered subject papers from 2010 to early 2020 and using tools such as VOSviewer and Biblioshiny. Findings This bibliometric survey shows that propaganda in social media is more studied in the area of social sciences, and the field of computer science is catching up. The evolution of research for propaganda in social media shows positive trends. This subject is primarily rooted in the social sciences. Also this subject has shown a recent shift in the area of computer science. The keyword analysis shows that the propaganda in social media is being studied in conjunction with issues such as fake news, political astroturfing, terrorism and radicalization. Research limitations/implications The lack of highly cited papers and co-citation analysis implies intermittent contributions by the researchers. Propaganda in social media is becoming a global phenomenon, and ill effects of this are evident in developing countries as well. This denotes a great deal of scope of work for researchers in other countries focusing on their territorial issues. This study was conducted in the confines of data captured from the Scopus database. Hence, it should be noted that some vital publications in recent times could not be included in this study. Originality/value The uniqueness of this work is that a thorough bibliometric analysis of the topic is demonstrated using several forms such as mind map, co-occurrence, co-citations, Sankey plot and topic dendrograms by using bibliometric tools such as VOSviewer and Biblioshiny.

Spatial and territorial developments for life cycle assessment applied to urban mobility—case study on Lyon area in France

Purpose The environmental assessment of urban mobility, defined as the movement of people in an urban area, exceeds the scope of transportation life cycle assessment (LCA) with spatial, territorial and even social considerations. The objective of this study is to develop an original interdisciplinary method based on LCA coupled with a land use and transport interaction (LUTI) model to better consider spatial and territorial dimensions in an environmental assessment of urban mobility. Methods Spatial and territorial issues emerge in all LCA stages for urban mobility, and this study illustrates them with an application on the Lyon urban area. To consider most individual daily trips, the geographical boundary is related to the area of influence of the city and the functional boundary includes all transportation modes, with motorized, public and non-motorized transports. The life cycle inventories (LCIs) combined EcoInvent 3.2 inventories with a specific LUTI model, named SIMBAD, local mobility surveys and an emissions and consumptions model (COPERT5). These refinements allow a spatial environmental impacts assessment of urban mobility, expressed per inhabitant per day, at different residential locations and open opportunities to develop precise assessment methods for local air pollutants with detailed description on both population and pollution concentrations. Results and discussion At territorial scale, this study highlights the major contribution to environmental impacts from private cars (around 90%) and the relevance to consider fuel, vehicle, and infrastructure life cycles in a mobility assessment. Spatial interpretations show important variability in function of residential locations and urban form characteristics related to different mobility behaviours, distance travelled and transport technologies used. Through the proposed assessment method for local air pollution impacts on human health, hotspots are revealed in the urban area, especially in the urban centre or along main road axes. In order to test our methodology and open discussions on mobility solutions, two contrasted scenarios are explored on compact city and vehicle electrification both presenting impact transfers between global indicators or with the air pollution exposure indicator. Conclusions Urban mobility and its related environmental burden are not only related to technological choices but are also related to spatial characteristics and territorial context. The combination of urban and spatial tools and data, such as LUTI model, with the LCA methodology improves the local representativeness of environmental assessment of mobility and enlarges the ranges of analysis and perspective. Nonetheless, improvements remain to be made in relation to ongoing developments on spatialized and territorial LCA.

The division of Ireland and its foes: The centenary of resistance to partition

AbstractCritics of partition argue that it contributes to the perpetuation, rather than the amelioration, of territorial conflict. This paper engages with the theoretical debates on partition, focusing on the particular and illustrative case of Ireland. The island has been partitioned into two polities for a century. Opposition to the partition of Ireland has existed from the outset to the contemporary Brexit context. The argument is that while hostility to partition has experienced different forms, namely, political and violent and different degrees of intensity, there is a historical continuum of contestation against partition in Ireland. While the territorial issue was calmed by the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, Brexit has reanimated the border question, providing political momentum for those who aim to challenge the territorial status quo.

Reliability of the Plot Related to the Conversation with Deng Xiaoping on the Sino-Soviet Territorial Issues in the Memoirs of E. Shevardnadze

In 2009, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the USSR and President of Georgia E.A. Shevardnadze published his memoirs in Russian, which contain an “explosive” plot: while visiting China in February 1989, during his meeting with Deng Xiaoping, a lengthy dispute over border and territorial issues occurred. At that time, Deng allegedly expressed his point of view that vast lands of the Soviet Union, from three to four million square kilometers, belonged to China. Chinese can wait patiently until someday the lands return to China. This content is cited in scientific works by many historians from different countries as an argument. However, there is no other evidence which can prove this recollection. Many details in it contradict the well known historical facts or are completely illogical. There is a good reason to believe that the plot in the memoirs of Shevardnadze is an incorrect recollection. It could even be considered as a made-up story. Moreover, it is possible that it was fabricated for some reasons. Hence, the plot is not worthy of being quoted as a reliable source. At the Sino-Soviet summit Deng Xiaoping did have expressed the point of view that in the past Russia and then the Soviet Union cut off millions of square kilometers of land from China, but at the same time he promised the leader of the Soviet Union that China would not make territorial claims. Since the mid-1980s Deng Xiaoping actively promoted the settlement of the Sino-Soviet border issues through negotiations, which led to the result that 99% of the border between Russia and China was delimited on a legal basis in the last years of his life. At present, the problems of the Sino-Russian border have been finally resolved long ago. There is no doubt that the scientific research and discussions on issues related to territory and borders in the history of Sino-Soviet relations can be made. However, such research and discussions should be based on reliable sources.

ПРОБЛЕМА ДЕЛИМИТАЦИИ ИНДОНЕЗИЙСКО-МАЛАЙЗИЙСКОЙ ГРАНИЦЫ В МОРЕ СУЛАВЕСИ

A special place in the history of interstate relations between Indonesia and Malaysia is occupied by the territorial issue, which to a certain extent is complicating the strengthening of bilateral ties between friendly countries. The article is devoted to the problem of delimitation of the Indonesian-Malaysian border in Ambalat block, which is located in the Sulawesi Sea. Special attention is given to the process of formation and transformation of this issue in the historical perspective, its legal and technical aspects. On the basis of the studied materials, an attempt is made to identify the prospects for development and possible solutions to the problem under consideration.

Low risk emergencies: integration analysis between primary care and Emergency Care Unit

ABSTRACT The study aims to analyze the attention given to low risk emergencies in an area of high socioenvironmental vulnerability in Rio de Janeiro, within the scope of the Family Health Strategy and the local Emergency Care Unit. The methodology used relied on a triangulation of data and sources obtained from medical records, direct observation, interviews, and focal groups with managers, workers and users. The service was analyzed according to diagnosis, type of occurrence, and sociodemographic data; the qualitative data was analyzed through thematic analysis, generating the categories: which urgency for which service; territorial issues; access; positive and negative aspects of services. As a result, the Family Health Strategy takes on the function of answering to urgencies. Previous experiences influence the pattern of users’ access. Socio-environmental fragility increases demand, stresses the Strategy’s programmatic service, and can generate risks by the fast treatment at the Emergency Care Unit, which has been a place of hospitalization, due to the scarcity of hospital beds. The two services work with partial integration. The conclusion shows that the levels of satisfaction with the Family Health Strategy indicated by the population and its centrality to the care networks are enhanced by the accommodation of urgencies.

Политическая субъектность забайкальского края в рамках муниципальных изменений

The article is devoted to the identification and analysis of the reform of municipal territories in the Transbaikal Territory, which actualizes the problem of political subjectivity. The article is of a controversial nature, since the tendencies of territorial development issues in the modern period have controversial points related to the unification of municipalities. The urgency of the problem is due to the formation of municipal districts and the need to generalize their practical experience of functioning. The problem is actualized by the fact that the base of the Priargunsky municipal district. In 2020 the Priargunsky municipal district was created, which requires the development of a unified municipal system and taking into account the municipal changes in Transbaikalia, primarily within the framework of the “Electronic Municipality” program. The purpose of the article: analyzing the political subjectivity of the Transbaikal Territory, to characterize the changes in local self-government bodies, taking into account the information openness of municipalities. Practice confirms that the low efficiency of the enlargement of municipal territories and the creation of municipal districts in the underdeveloped, depressed constituent entity of the Russian Federation, the Transbaikal Territory, is obvious. The article describes the relationship between administrative and public administration with the implementation of federal target programs and with the implementation of state and municipal decisions. Political subjectivity is inextricably linked with administrative and public administration, which is focused on a centralized system of leadership and is identical with the concept of “executive power”, and also has many similarities with state policy. Administrative and public administration is an imperative and administrative activity, which is implemented in normative (soft) and hard (prohibitions, orders) forms. The system of administrative and public administration includes the entire structure of government bodies and is focused on executive bodies of both federal and regional levels and on local government institutions. The novelty of the study is due to the fact that the complexity of the municipal territories of Transbaikalia is revealed; the incompleteness of the municipal reform is characterized from the point of view of managerial development and the need to take into account the strategic approach to territorial administration. The scientific significance of the article is emphasized by the identified interrelationships of administrative-state management and local self-government in the reform of municipal territories in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, one of which is the Transbaikal Territory

ПРОТИДІЯ ТИМЧАСОВІЙ ОКУПАЦІЇ: НАЦІОНАЛЬНІ РЕАЛІЇ ТА ПИТАННЯ ЗАПОЗИЧЕННЯ МІЖНАРОДНОГО ДОСВІДУ

This article provides a comprehensive study in areas of counteraction to the temporarily occupied territories of a sovereign state. Regulations, doctrinal approaches, international experience serve as a subject to this study in the context of a set of functional national activities of states that have faced the issue of territories’ separation. Particular attention is paid to foreign experience in counteracting the temporary occupation through the prism of the Republic of Cyprus which held an activity to counter the so-called Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, as one of the most successful examples of confrontation with the temporarily occupied territories for a long time and comparing Ukraine's activities in this field. To this end, the author conducts a comprehensive analysis of measures aimed at combating the spread and recognition of the temporarily occupied territories of the Republic of Cyprus, as well as the scientific achievements of international scientists who have studied this issue. Analyzing these objects, the author carries out the qualification based on the criteria of differentiation of measures accepted by foreign scientists and determines which measures were implemented to solve the same problem in Ukraine. Given the personal experience of operational and service activities of the author and a deep awareness of this topic, it is proposed to expand the generally accepted areas of counteraction. The author provides the grounding of additional direction on how to counter the expansion and recognition of the Ukrainian temporarily occupied territories, disclosing a complex of measures which were, and can be introduced for its realization. The result of this study is the formation of the author's approach to defining the complex concept of «counteraction to temporary occupation», the formation of a list of national measures to combat the temporarily occupied territories, and their classification, as well as proposals for the most effective countermeasures and their further use in law enforcement.

M. Gorbachev’s Contribution to the Normalization of Sino-Soviet Relations and Further Development of Sino-Russian Relations

When Gorbachev came to power in March 1985, there still remained high-degree hostility as in the past two decades between the Soviet Union and China. In order to get rid of the abnormal state of Sino-Soviet relations as soon as possible, Gorbachev completely abandoned the old China policy of the Brezhnev era, made concessions and gradually fulfilled all of China’s demands in political consultations. Based on this, the Sino-Soviet summit held in May 1989 in Beijing officially marked the normalization of Sino-Soviet relations. The joint Sino-Soviet communiqué, released after the summit, indicated that after the normalization, the development of Sino-Soviet relations would be based on the “five principles of peaceful coexistence” and would not be directed against any third country. Meanwhile, during his visit to China, Gorbachev reached agreements with Chinese leaders to thoroughly resolve the territorial issue and create a mechanism for high-level political dialogue. The end of the enmity between the USSR and the PRC and the elimination of territorial disputes laid the foundation for a smooth transition of Sino-Soviet relationship to Sino-Russian one. In the spirit of the Sino-Soviet summit and the joint Sino-Soviet communiqué of 1989, the Russian Federation and the PRC began to establish a new type relationship, which is non-allied, non-confrontational and not directed against any third country on the legal basis of the Treaty of Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation Between the People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation in 2001. This is a significant diplomatic legacy and lasting vitality left by Gorbachev for Russia.

The problem of «the northern territories» in the works of Russian orientalists

The problem of the «northern territories» in the relations between the USSR / Russia and Japan is a kind of echo of the Second World War, which makes itself felt up to the present time. The territorial issue between Moscow and Tokyo has turned into an anachronism, which Russia and Japan have been unable to overcome despite their efforts. In the article the works of Russian scientists have been analyzed and an attempt has been made to consider the key aspects of the historiography of the issue, including the discrepancy between points of view on its specific components. The author of the article studies the scientific works of domestic researchers on the topic and highlights the time of the emergence of the territorial dispute between the USSR and Japan; title documentation regulating the territorial delimitation between the USSR and Japan after the Second World War; points of view on the attachment of the legal rights of the Soviet Union to the Kuril Islands. Moreover, the assessments of Moscow’s refusal to sign the San Francisco Treaty of 1951; alternative points of view of researchers on the historical and legal foundations of the USSR and Japan to possess the Kuriles; pluralism of opinions regarding the belonging of Shikotan and Habomai to the Kuril Islands; whether the rights of the USSR / Russia to possess the Kuril Islands are vulnerable; views on the degree of importance of solving the territorial problem for Japan, etc. have been considered.

INFORMATION THREATS TO THE STABILITY OF POLITICAL SYSTEM IN THE NORTHERN CAUCASUS

In the Northern Caucasus, political elites traditionally play a key role in managing political processes, prevent and resolve conflicts, counter sociocultural threats, terrorism, and political extremism. The stability of the political system depends on the degree of political elites’ responsibility and their ability to negotiate with the federal political and administrative elite and to relay the interests of society. New threats to the normal functioning of state authorities are currently emerging, indicating the inefficiency of Russia’s policy aimed at preventing information security threats. In recent years, active social strata (mainly young people) have been mobilized with the aim of overthrowing legitimate authorities and objectionable politicians, changing regimes, etc., using modern network technologies, disinformation and fake news. Due to its historical and socio-cultural characteristics, as well as poly-confessional structure, the population of the Northern Caucasus is highly sensitive to territorial issues, as well as issues of religion, culture, ethnic relations, etc. In many respects, information technologies determine the position and power of high-status actors, primarily political elites, within the political system.

Case for Geospatial Border Surveillance on the Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia Border in Response to the Migrant Crisis and Hybrid Warfare

Bosnia-Herzegovina and Republic of Croatia share 931km of border (494km land and 425km riverine), which has been contentious for the greater part of the modern European history and represented one of the hardest and most-militarized border demarcating the frontiers of the major empires. Nowadays, it is in the process of becoming another hard-border between the Schengen-Zone EU and non-EU Western Balkans. In this study we are considering several strategic elements required for planning of effective and constructive border security, while countering variety of pseudo-hybrid warfare operations as well as tactical considerations when responding to crisis, communications and overall control of the fluid frontier. Strategic elements taken into consideration are: a) overall contiguity of the border, b) communications network / trafficability at border-crossing and c) geospatial support in the intelligence preparation of the area. Tactical elements considered are a) real-time geospatial support during operations b) alternative communications and vetting of alternative communications c) defensive operations (e.g. drone defense, jamming defense, incursion prevention). We are considering lessons-learned from the hostilities and frozen-conflicts in Yugoslavia, Ukraine, Afghanistan, Yemen and potential future conflagrations in Trans-Dnistria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo* and the Baltics. We are using several criteria in understanding the required geospatial preparations required to undertake or defend against mass-migrations and potential hybrid threats such as unresolved territorial issues, population density information, infrastructure condition, land-use and overall completeness and availability of geospatial data.
 * Designation without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of Independence

Municipal splits and hidden amalgamations in Hungary

Abstract In 1990, a decentralized local government system was introduced in Hungary. One of the main issues of the system was fragmentation at local level. This paper examines the attempts made by the central government to deal with this issue in the last thirty years. First, the study analyses the municipal splits and maps the dynamics, the reasons, and the environmental and political factors affecting these secessions. Second, it examines the government’s attempts at reform to reduce the effects of fragmentation. The paper argues that the Fidesz-KDNP electoral victory in 2010 was a milestone in the handling of territorial issues: municipal splits became virtually impossible with the new regulation of the secession process, and de facto territorial consolidation reform was carried out through alteration of the local electoral system and functional rescaling and merging of the mayors’ offices.