Modern Foundations Research Articles

Угорське та словацьке бачення власної національної безпеки в контексті російсько-української війни

Under the conditions of active Russian aggression against Ukraine, the countries of Central Europe, in particular Slovakia and Hungary, are defining strategies to strengthen their national security. As members of the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, they must consider the Russian threat and seek joint responses. The security strategies of Slovakia and Hungary during the Russian invasion of Ukraine are examined. The modern foundations of the national security policies of both countries and their reactions to Russia's invasion of Ukraine are analyzed. Since the start of the war, these countries have been slow to implement the 2014 NATO Wales summit recommendations on defense spending. Slovakia and Hungary understand that their own security interests are connected with the defense of Ukraine, which is the front line in the struggle for freedom and democracy, against "Russian peace". These countries strive jointly to build a safe future for the region and Europe, taking into account the complex relations of the past. It is noted that the realization of common goals requires strengthening relations in the spheres of security, military cooperation and defense. It is maintained that success requires trust and flexibility in interaction, as well as strategic partnership, for the effective implementation of these tasks.

Comparative Study of the Islamic Education Concepts of Imam Al-Ghazali and Al-Farabi

Islamic education today is deeply rooted in historical intellectual developments, particularly influenced by prominent philosophers like Imam Al-Ghazali and Al-Farabi. The classical period saw significant contributions from these figures, forming the foundation for both modern and contemporary interpretations of Islamic educational thought. This research utilizes a literature review to explore and compare the educational philosophies of Al-Ghazali and Al-Farabi, examining their core principles and objectives. Al-Ghazali’s educational philosophy emphasizes the pursuit of virtue and obedience to Allah, prioritizing spiritual development over worldly success. He advocates for a curriculum that fosters moral discipline and religious devotion, ensuring that education serves as a means to cultivate a close relationship with God. In contrast, Al-Farabi views education as a means to acquire values, knowledge, and practical skills, ultimately guiding individuals toward perfection by integrating intellectual and ethical development. His curriculum focuses on a broad range of sciences, including metaphysics, mathematics, and natural sciences, aiming to equip individuals with the tools necessary for both personal and societal advancement. The comparative analysis reveals both differences and similarities: Al-Ghazali focuses on spiritual and moral education, while Al-Farabi highlights intellectual and practical skills as key to human perfection. Despite their differing approaches, both philosophers contribute valuable perspectives to the broader discourse on Islamic education and its evolving paradigms. In conclusion, Al-Ghazali and Al-Farabi offer distinct yet complementary approaches to Islamic education. Al-Ghazali’s emphasis on morality and spiritual obedience contrasts with Al-Farabi’s focus on intellectual growth and practical application, together providing a comprehensive understanding of Islamic educational goals. This study enriches the ongoing discourse on integrating spiritual, moral, and intellectual development within Islamic education, highlighting the enduring relevance of their philosophies in shaping contemporary educational practices.

WARS FOR THE CAPITAL IN THE KYIVAN CHRONICLE

For centuries, Russian scholarship has been trying to appropriate the history of the medieval Rus’ state and its literature. At the same time, most Russian historians, from the 19th century to the present, have had to acknowledge that the definitions of Rus’ and Rus’ land in the chronicles of that time refer to the territory of the Kyiv, Pereiaslav and Chernihiv principalities or in some cases, only to the Kyiv land. That is why today’s Russia stubbornly repeats that there is no Ukraine and no Ukrainians, only ‘Malorossia’ and ‘Malorossians.’ Ukrainian scholars must actively work to dispel these myths. A renewed reading of history, especially of the medieval period, should lay the foundation for the full-scale cultural modernization of the Ukrainian nation and state. As a document of its time, the Kyivan Chronicle deserves special attention from Ukrainian scholars. It preserved dozens of testimonies about conflict situations related to the attempts of the Rurik dynasty princes to take over Kyiv. After the death of Volodymyr Monomakh’s son Yaropolk in 1139, the rule of Kyiv changed hands 40 times by the end of the 12th century. In the single year of 1173, the change of power took place 4 times. The chroniclers portrayed Iziaslav Mstyslavych, Yurii Volodymyrovych, and Andriy Yuriiovych as the most active participants in the Kyivan Wars. However, the last of them fought not ‘for’ Kyiv, but openly ‘against’ it. He was brought up on the border of two traditions — the one of Kyivan Rus and the Eastern — but clearly preferred the latter. He spent a long time in the Rus’ land, where he had certain rights and prospects, but then returned to Zalissia and became an autocrat there. He tried to fill his capital with symbols of greatness, directly imitating the sacred landmarks of Kyiv. He managed to capture and destroy Kyiv in 1169, but his next attempt in 1173 was unsuccessful. Galician and Volyn regiments came to support the people of Kyiv against the ruler of Zalissia.

Western Modernity versus Alternative Modernity

Rather than simply reflecting on the origins of modernity, it is necessary to critically examine its main story by disseminating its underlying ideas throughout the world. Reevaluating the world through a different lens facilitates the deconstruction of the binary between the Global North and the Global South. This paper’s analysis scrutinizes the ideas introduced by the Moroccan philosopher Taha Abdurrahman in his work entitled "The Spirit of Modernity: A Prolegomenon to Laying the Foundations of Islamic Modernity." This paper illustrates the ability of Global South to offer a novel viewpoint. Taha Abdurrahman's critiques of what he terms "Islamic Alternative Modernity" through a methodology that integrates translation and discourse analysis. His authorship constructs a conceptual framework that interrogates the prevailing perceptions of Muslims within Western societies. The works of Abdurrahman offer profound insights into the modern Islamic landscape and the myriad perspectives that coexist within it. It encourages us to reflect on the forms in which one might achieve a deeper understanding of Islamic thought. According to the narrative, Taha Abdurrahman has remarkable contributions to be able to discern the complexities and contradictions within modern Western civilization, shaped by his post-colonial perspective. In exploring the nuances of contemporary thought, one must consider the alternative perspectives that challenge the prevailing notions of modernity. The spirit of this inquiry invites us to examine the significance of location in shaping and reshaping our experiences, particularly in relation to the Global North Grand narratives about the South. A critical analysis reveals the complexities of universality, urging us to question established paradigms and engage in thoughtful discourse about pluriversality.

The Second Wave of Attention Economics. Attention as a Universal Symbolic Currency on Social Media and beyond

Abstract Since the advent of social media, capturing and holding the attention of people has become paramount for the success of products, political messages and even research. The economics of attention is often seen as part of the market economy. We argue that a larger societal transformation is underway, which will see attention become the defining currency that moves individuals, exchanges, and many other elements of society. This paper connects the attention economy to the institutional foundations of modernity. It then discusses how attention can be accumulated and exchanged like a currency and proposes a dual-stream model distinguishing between calcified and flow attention. Based on this model, we investigate recent developments facilitating the use of attention as a currency, and their potential impact on our daily lives more generally. We conclude by providing an outlook and concrete questions for future research to understand where the economics of attention economy is heading.

Seventy-five years of global health lawmaking under the World Health Organization: evolving foundations of global health law through global health governance

The World Health Organization (WHO) has been shaped by global health law throughout its history. Drawing from the post-war establishment of global governance under the United Nations (UN), the modern foundations of global health law were laid by the WHO Constitution, which provided WHO with a range of normative authorities to realize its mandate as the UN’s directing and coordinating authority in global health. Yet WHO has faced political challenges in exercising these normative authorities to advance global health law, revealing the limitations of law as a foundation of global health governance. This article chronicles the 75-year evolution of global health law through WHO governance – beginning in the expansive authorities under the WHO Constitution, examining the political obstacles that long hobbled legal advancements, recognizing the revitalized space for law and policy in the twenty-first century, and analyzing the new limitations exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic response. Global health law reforms will be essential to strengthen global health governance. By analyzing how past challenges to global health law offer lessons for ongoing legal developments, this timely historical analysis offers lessons for WHO reforms to facilitate global solidarity.

THE LEGAL FOUNDATIONS OF THE FIRST JUDICIAL REFORM IN THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE: THE COMMERCIAL COURT AS A MODEL

The judiciary is one of the most important institutions upon which civilized countries and societies rely to achieve justice and apply laws. It is the effective tool that people turn to when they disagree and document covenants to become official, that is, to preserve rights. It is the institution through which justice, security and stability prevail in societies. Especially if the characteristics of justice and integrity are associated with this institution. From this standpoint, the research was named ((The legal foundations of the first judicial reform of the commercial court as a model)) and was divided into two sections. The first dealt with the formation of commercial arbitration councils: which represented the first signs of the emergence of legal foundations concerned with regulating trade affairs and commercial transactions, while the second section was devoted to To study commercial courts: which included the legal foundations for the formation of the first court specialized in commercial cases and on modern foundations in the Ottoman Empire and the relevant laws that accompanied it.

Barriers and Enablers in Integrating AI into Human Resource Management Strategies: Maximizing Human Capital

Artificial intelligence (AI) has shaken the foundation of modern workplaces like never before and has induced digitized workstyles within the organisation. These furtherance in technology are generating significant interest among stakeholders to embrace AI in human resource management (HRM). Research and Development teams, analysts and practitioners are keen to investigate the sequel of AI in HR and their collaboration with gadget applications involving machine language, Data-science, Blockchain and Big Data. This study investigates HRM specific factors that are imbibed towards adoption of AI in extended HR based digital platform adopting a qualitative research design with an abductive approach. This research also investigates key enablers like optimistic, enthusiastic, and collaborative employees, strong digital enabled leadership, reliable HR meta-data, specialized HR partners, and well-rounded accountable AI ethics. The study also examines barriers towards awareness in AI adoption: the inability to have a timely internal audit pulse check of employees, their ability of emotional decision making, ineffective agile digital experts as well as external HR partners. On summarising, this study also contributes theory by providing a model that influences AI adoption and proposes ascending in welcoming unified theory of acceptance and use of innovative technology in the context of AI adoption in HR upskilling and reskilling ecosystems eventually. The study also contributes the anecdotes of best-in-class industrial HR practices with secured digital policy formulation to reimagine cybermated workplaces cubical. Maximising the human capital in the digital era be obliged in harmonious conglomerative human–AI enterprise making workplaces an eminent future-ready in the wake of productive and massive successful digital disruptions with efficacy.

Relational Programming with Foundational Models

Foundation models have vast potential to enable diverse AI applications. The powerful yet incomplete nature of these models has spurred a wide range of mechanisms to augment them with capabilities such as in-context learning, information retrieval, and code interpreting. We propose Vieira, a declarative framework that unifies these mechanisms in a general solution for programming with foundation models. Vieira follows a probabilistic relational paradigm and treats foundation models as stateless functions with relational inputs and outputs. It supports neuro-symbolic applications by enabling the seamless combination of such models with logic programs, as well as complex, multi-modal applications by streamlining the composition of diverse sub-models. We implement Vieira by extending the Scallop compiler with a foreign interface that supports foundation models as plugins. We implement plugins for 12 foundation models including GPT, CLIP, and SAM. We evaluate Vieira on 9 challenging tasks that span language, vision, and structured and vector databases. Our evaluation shows that programs in Vieira are concise, can incorporate modern foundation models, and have comparable or better accuracy than competitive baselines.

The theological foundations of Muslim modernism and traditionalism in South Asia

AbstractThis article examines the theological and hermeneutical foundations and fault lines of Muslim modernism and traditionalism in South Asia. It does so through a close reading of a massively consequential but thus far unstudied debate on the normative sources and interpretive parameters of religion in colonial modernity between the scholars Sayyid Ahmad Khan (d. 1898) and Muhammad Qasim Nanautvi (d. 1877), founders of arguably the most prominent bastions of modernism and traditionalism in Muslim South Asia: the Aligarh Muslim University and the Deoband Madrasa, both established in the late nineteenth century.

新时代背景下大学生党建与思政教育协同育人模式的构建

In the context of the New Era, colleges and universities should always adhere to the leadership of the CPC, deeply integrate ideological political education into the entire process of talent cultivation, cultivate highquality talents with both moral cultivation and professional technical abilities through the “three comprehensive” (comprehensive, whole process, the full range) education model, and lay a talent foundation for socialist modernization. In response to the fact that the integration of Party building, ideological and political education in colleges and universities is not deep, in order to build a good campus political ecological environment, colleges and universities should take collaborative theory as the basis, party building, ideological and political education as the focus of the work, explore the collaborative education mode of deep integration of the two, and then break through the difficulties brought about by the development of the New Era. Based on the background of the New Era, this article elaborates on the current implementation status of collaborative education between Party building and ideological, political education for college and university students, and further proposes optimization strategies for collaborative education models which is aiming to promote the reform of ideological and political courses and promote innovative development of Party building.

Race, Caste and Christian Ethics: A Decolonial Proposal

Christian ethical imagination was always tempered by various social prejudices prevalent in local contexts. Particularly during modernity and subsequently through colonial expansion, the role of race and caste became central to the expansion of Christianity through missionary activity. A closer scrutiny of colonial missionary Christianity clearly suggests the significance of racialised worldview shaping theological and ethical paradigms. In particular contexts, such racialised imagination underpinned and gave credence to other forms of social prejudices, such as caste in South Asia. Through a post-colonial lens, I examine the role of race and caste in shaping Christian ethical frameworks and articulate the rationale for ‘decolonising’ the modern foundations of Christian ethics in pursuit of racial justice in our contemporary society.

Emerging optoelectronic artificial synapses and memristors based on low-dimensional nanomaterials

The Von Neumann architecture has been the foundation of modern computing systems. Still, its limitations in processing large amounts of data and parallel processing have become more apparent as computing requirements increase. Neuromorphic computing, inspired by the architecture of the human brain, has emerged as a promising solution for developing next-generation computing and memory devices with unprecedented computational power and significantly lower energy consumption. In particular, the development of optoelectronic artificial synaptic devices has made significant progress toward emulating the functionality of biological synapses in the brain. Among them, the potential to mimic the function of the biological eye also paves the way for advancements in robot vision and artificial intelligence. This review focuses on the emerging field of optoelectronic artificial synapses and memristors based on low-dimensional nanomaterials. The unique photoelectric properties of these materials make them ideal for use in neuromorphic and optoelectronic storage devices, with advantages including high carrier mobility, size-tunable optical properties, and low resistor–capacitor circuit delay. The working mechanisms, device structure designs, and applications of these devices are also summarized to achieve truly sense-storage-computer integrated optoelectronic artificial synapses.

Da li se kreiranje javnih politika razvilo u ravnopravnu funkciju javne uprave u Republici Srbiji?

This paper examines the role of public policy-making by public administration in Serbia as one of the fundamental functions of public administration. By analyzing the normative framework and its application, the paper explores its historical development and advancement in recent decades. A set of regulations from 2018, including the Planning System Act and accompanying bylaws on the policy-making methodology, have laid the foundation for modern, evidence-based public policy in Serbia. Using qualitative methods, including normative-dogmatic and document analysis, the authors review the developments thus far and provide recommendations for further strengthening of this function of public administration in Serbia.

Модернизация китайского типа: эволюция концепции

The concept of “Chinese-style modernization” formulated in the end of the 1970s has been at the center of attention of the Chinese leadership and researchers since the beginning of this decade. The notion of primacy of national characteristics was transformed from a former reference to China’s weakness and backwardness to current focus on development success. Explanations of plans for China’s “basic socialist modernization” by 2035 formed the channel of influence of official policy on the academic discussions. The article analyzes contemporary Chinese comparisons of Chinese and Western paths of modernization along with theoretical reflections on the patterns of “Chinese-style modernization”. The determination to make China’s experience a reference point for policy decisions in developing countries is connected with studies in modernization theory. The question of the correlation between the general patterns of modernization and the specifics of the Chinese path of development has come to the fore. The emphasis on the differences between Chinese-style modernization and Western and Soviet models substantiates the theoretical possibility of a new development perspective for other countries, and encourages them to develop independent modernization strategies based on their own national specifics. Chinese researchers consider attempts by backward countries to copy the advanced institutions of developed nations as useless and even dangerous. China’s modernization is not complete, in the field of economic development there are mounting difficulties related to lagging behind in science and technology, deteriorating external environment, slowing growth, ageing population. While examining Chinese studies of Chinese-style modernization, it is appropriate to focus on the development of academic concepts, quantitative evaluation system and discursive system. Explorations in theory will be determined by practical achievements, first of all, by China’s ability to maintain sustainable balanced growth of the economy. The preliminary outcome can be assessed in the middle of the next decade, when China plans to build the foundations of modernization. The final judgement on the effectiveness of Chinese-style modernization will be made only after the results of China’s plans to become a world leader are known in the middle of this century.

CURRENT STATE OF THE BASIS OF THE THEORY OF RESTORATION PROCESSES

In the article, on the basis of a brief retrospective analysis and generalizations, it is established that the modern foundations of the theory of restoration processes have a fairly developed initial empirical basis in the form of many recorded facts, but they do not fully reveal the essence of the processes and phenomena occurring in the ar-chitectural monument during its restoration. The foundations of the theory do not have the required number of their own rules and evidence, since the theoretical foun-dations and logic of the theory are characterized as incomplete. The main body of theoretical and applied knowledge, in the form of a set of statements, is predominant-ly borrowed from other areas of construction production (reconstruction, repair or new construction) with weak adaptation regarding the special properties of its own object and the subject of research - architectural monuments and the processes of their restoration. The foundations of the modern foundations of the theory of restora-tion of architectural monuments are the aesthetic, emotional, cognitive and histori-cal-documentary aspects, which in turn underlie the theoretical concepts of restora-tion, and which are brought together for the first time into a system, and such aspects of restoration as emotional, cognitive and historical-documentary, the author of the article first proposed the following formulations, characterized by laconicism and semantic capacity, namely: “delight and awe from touching the genuine creation of human fantasy”; “evidence of the past development of the spiritual and practical ac-tivities of human society”; “a historical document accepted as an irrefutable scien-tific fact of the existence and development of society, its spiritual and material cul-ture.”

Urban Intonation: Listening to the Rats of New York City

Abstract From urbanization to biomedical science, rats can be found in the foundations of modernity. Communicating ultrasonically above the ~20 kHz frequency limit of human hearing, rats are also well adapted for the human-built environment and its anthropogenic noise. For the sound installation Urban Intonation, the author recorded rats on the streets of New York City with an ultrasonic microphone and resampled and remixed the audio for playback over a human public address system. Repositioning rat sounds as something recognizable, if not intelligible, as speech prompts humans to reconsider their relationship to their oftreviled nonhuman cohabitants.

Efficiency of agricultural modernization in China: Systematic analysis in the new framework of multidimensional security

Agricultural modernization is the foundation and pillar of national modernization, and its security should not be ignored. However, the traditional efficiency assessment does not take security factors into account. To improve this work, we tried to embed multidimensional security issues into the assessment framework of agricultural modernization efficiency (AME) and analyzed its efficiency levels, regional differences, and dynamic evolution using the Super-EBM model, Dagum Gini coefficient, and spatial Markov chain model. We found that: (1) At the national level, the agricultural operation efficiency (AOE) and agricultural service efficiency (ASE) were generally lower than the agricultural production efficiency (APE), with significant potential for improvement. The spatial characteristics exhibited evident spatial clustering, and the spatial differences in AME, AOE, and ASE were similar. (2) The overall Gini coefficient of AME fluctuates in the range of 0.1168–0.1334 from 2006 to 2020, and the differences in AME were dominated by inter-area differences, with an average contribution rate of 68.72%. (3) The spatial pattern of AME was relatively stable, with prominent “club convergence” characteristics, and spatial factors had adverse spillover effects on the evolution toward convergence. Policymakers should strive to fill the shortcomings of agricultural operations and agricultural services, formulate differentiated agricultural strategies for development and promote knowledge exchange and technological diffusion. These are important for building a modern agricultural system and promoting the spatially balanced development of modernized agriculture.

Evaluation System for Agricultural and Rural Modernization in China

High-quality development of agricultural and rural areas is the foundation of national modernization and sustainable development in China. Therefore, the evaluation of the degree of development of modernization of China’s agricultural and rural areas and the summarization of its main characteristics are crucial. However, studies on rural modernization and coordinated development are limited. Here, we developed a statistical evaluation system to effectively identify and assess the levels of agricultural and rural modernization, urban–rural integration, and agricultural rural coordination. We found that agricultural and rural modernization in China has continued to improve, but low scores were attributed to the factors of coordinated development of urban–rural areas, livable ecological environment, farmer prosperity, industrial structure upgrade, and resource allocation efficiency, limiting high-quality agricultural and rural development. Agricultural and rural modernization is lower in the central and western regions, compared to that in the eastern regions, but it is picking up the pace, indicating convergence. Rural modernization is lower than agricultural modernization and the two subsystems are not sufficiently coordinated, especially in undeveloped areas. Furthermore, the regional differences in rural modernization are greater than those in agricultural modernization. The system developed here can provide valuable experience for developing countries to open new paths toward modernization.

Gender: A Postmodern Idea Developed in Association with the Modern Concept of Sex in Considering the Implications for Evolving Sexuality

The presently ubiquitous idea of how gender is defined remains deeply indebted to modern thought, depending on the concept of sex as its reference point. Originating with practices arising from capitalism, modern thought’s concept of sex was enhanced with the search for the norm regarding standardization, then further refined through the research program of eugenics. Gender, in contrast to sex, has its roots in sexual practice changes from the second half of the twentieth century onward, developed in association with 1980s postmodern thought. The presuppositions of the two concepts differ radically. Understanding the difference between sex and gender matters because gender is now more than a critique of sex—it is an idea that is accepted and understood in popular culture and affects how people interpret their sexuality. This review examines the foundations of modern and postmodern thought, then focuses on sex and gender with respect to their history within these modes of thought. The conclusion, pointing to future research, is that a further reformulation of sexuality will be required for gender, as a postmodern idea, to truly separate itself from the presumptions of sex as a modern concept, permitting individuals to express their sexuality as they choose without negative social and psychological repercussions.