Political Blocs Research Articles

Security issues in the Middle East: the present challenges and threats

The article analyzes the issue of the Middle East security. The Arab countries are facing a lot of regional threats and a fundamental shift in the regional security system, which has become one of the basic variables for the Middle East through the transition to a new form of regional and international interactions. The existence of mutual influences between the nature of the international system and the regional order of the Middle East and the Gulf region is already considered as an incubator for all intractable conflicts and crises. We cannot study the concept of regional security in separate from the global effects and repercussions. After the end of the Cold War and after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the structural transformations and global changes led to the emergence of profound changes in the international system, which resulted in the restructuring of the general features of the international environment. The international transformation is marked by the fact that the new world order increased the chances of emergence of new international powers in both Europe and Asia, whether countries or major economic or political blocs trying to establish a multi-polar international order, which prompted the United States to pursue a policy of cooperation with competing powers. And in light of this international environment, it was natural for the regions of strategic importance, particularly the Middle East, to be affected because they were linked to relations of mutual influence with the international system, as international balances affect regional balances.

Foreign Policy Aspects of the National Liberation Struggle and the Geostrategic Place of the Ukrainian State in the Concept of the OUN-B

The article deals with the foreign policy aspects in the ideological concept of Stepan Bandera’s Organisation of Ukrainian Nationatists (OUN-B) during the period from the change of position and balance of forces in the Eastern Front of World War II in 1943 and its transformation during the following postwar decades until the eve of the restoration of Ukraine’s independence. The author examines the OUN’s geopolitical calculations for an armed confrontation between the USSR, on the one hand, and the allied United States and Great Britain, on the other; the beginning of the search for ways of the organisation’s cooperation with Western democracies; its attitude to the threat of a nuclear war, etc. Also analysed is the OUN-B leadership’s vision of the geostrategic place of the future Ukrainian state in the international arena and, in particular, in the post-Soviet space and on the map of Central and Eastern Europe. The article sheds light on the vision of the role and place of independent Ukraine in international politics, particularly with respect to possible military and political blocs, Ukraine’s role in the United Nations, its attitude to the prospect of united Europe, the war in Afghanistan, national liberation movements and the Cold War, the collapse of the Soviet Union, the restoration of Ukraine’s state independence, and its place in the post-Soviet and European space. By way of conclusion, the author argues that the Cold War turned out to be helpful in the dissolution of the Soviet Union and allowed Ukraine to restore its national independence in 1991. Nonetheless, the modern national security agenda of Ukraine and the need for the world’s peace and balance necessitate curbing the imperialist, bellicose, and culpably terrorist actions and intents of Russia, the successor of the USSR. Keywords: OUN-B, Cold War, geopolitics, national liberation movements.

The «submarine crisis» and its possible consequences

The creation of a new military and political bloc AUKUS along with breaching «the contract of the century» for construction of 12 submarines by French Naval Group for Australia provoked a serious diplomatic crisis between France and the United States. The hot phase of the crisis was subdued by a telephone conversation between J. Biden and E. Macron, nevertheless, there are reasons to believe it will not disappear without a trace. The authors analyze possible consequences of the «submarine crisis»: its impact on transatlantic and Franco-American relations, European and Indo-Pacific strategies of Paris.

Внутреннее положение в СССР в отражении русскоязычной прессы в США (1964–1982)

The article is devoted to the formation of the image of the USSR in the Russian diaspora in the United States under the impact of the events of Soviet domestic policy 1964–1982. Based on the theory of historical imagology, the author analyzes the publications of emigre press of different political affiliations. During this period, the important components of anti-communist press that construct the image of the USSR were the concepts of «Russian people» and «Soviet State», which viewed through the lens of the «friend–other/alien» dichotomy. Publicists broadcast a number of stereotypes of the totalitarian direction of American Russian studies at the analyzing the concept of «Soviet state». Significant components of image of the USSR were ideas about the Russian people and Soviet youth, which were perceived as progressive forces capable of creating Russia of Future. The author therefore concludes that important transformations of process create of ideas about the USSR took place among the authors of the central and right-wing political blocs of emigration in the 1970’s. On the contrary, the communist’s «Russian Voice» always presented the Soviet country as a state of social and economic prosperity

Dyplomacja czechosłowacka wobec sytuacji w Polsce w 1989 roku

Czechoslovak Diplomacy in the Face of the Situation in Poland in 1989 In 1989, the diplomacy of communist Czechoslovakia watched the political changes in communist Poland moving towards democratization with care and concern. However, due to the passive attitude of the Gorbachev ruler in Moscow, Prague did not intend to take any practical steps towards creating a political bloc proposed by Romania that could stop systemic changes in Poland. Despite the announcement of support for Polish communists, Prague chose to isolate Czechs and Slovaks from Poland and Poles and limit her own reforms to the economic sphere. It also did not open the border with Poland closed in 1981 for individual movement.

Articulating corruption of infrastructural upgrading projects in Rio de Janeiro

Residents of Brazilian low-income communities have long called actions of the state “corrupt,” rhetoric that has arguably intensified in the wake of large-scale infrastructural upgrading decisions. Inspired by a new wave of critical corruption studies, in this paper I ask: how is infrastructural upgrading a key site of politics and political understandings of the state for residents in Complexo do Alemão, Rio de Janeiro? How do discourses about corrupt decision-making mechanisms and money appropriation produce common sense notions of how the political system operates? And what work do these narratives do for demonstrating agency of the people living in Complexo? In answering these questions I contribute to an emerging conjunctural research agenda in global urban and corruption studies. I draw on the dual notion of articulation as central to the conjuncture: how the conjoining of political forces alongside discursive enunciations are crucial to crafting hegemonies of corruption and understandings of political and civil society. I add to this Gramscian understanding of the conjuncture a focus on how residents constitute themselves as agential subjects through discourses of corruption. By focusing on the brewing frustrations of Complexo residents, the paper argues that articulations of corruption materialized an articulated political bloc against which community members could express frustration but also, importantly, constituted a civil society demonstrating a constrained agency.

O CYBORG E A ESCRAVA: GEOGRAFIAS DA MORTE E IMAGINAÇÃO POLÍTICA NA DIÁSPORA NEGRA

In order to explore ways in which we can address anti-black hatred, a foundation of modern sociability, in this article I analyze two ideal types of black diasporic and trans-temporal political experience: the cyborg and the slave. These ideal types are analytical references with which we can interpret the black worlds of life and death: their geographies, their political projects, and their horizons of desires. While the cyborg refuses the abjection of black people and struggles to improve the social world, the slave considers this world fundamentally and hopelessly anti-black, and therefore seeks escape and refuge. The cyborg fights tirelessly against racism and sees (and hopes for) a redeemed social world in which black people are unquestionably part of it. With its multiracial political bloc, the cyborg demands the reform of society; he believes in the promise of multiracial democracy. The slave fights against anti-blackness, and therefore wants the destruction of the world and its protocols of sociability and ontology.

Политические аспекты американской помощи Украине накануне парламентских выборов в 2002 году

The article is devoted to the political analysis of the tools used by the United States to withdraw Ukraine from the sphere of economic influence of Russia. Based on the analysis of the materials of individual projects and scientific publications, the authors come to conclusion that by 2002 the expected change of generations of political scientists and economists did not take place in the USA. The tone within the Ukrainian issue continued to be set by the veterans of the Cold War and the financial structures behind them. The fragmentation of the activities of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) on the eve of the Ukrainian parliamentary elections made it possible to characterize the network principle of the distribution of financial resources allocated for the implementation of pre-planned framework political programs. It is noted that the American economic component was reliably hidden in the mechanisms of the formation of Ukrainian pre-election political blocs.

Between the West and Russia: Moldova’s international brokers in a two-level game

ABSTRACT Moldova pursues a “dual alignment” strategy between two opposing political, economic and cultural blocs: the European Union (EU) and Russia. Why does Chișinău pursue such a strategy, and how (if) can it be sustained? While geopolitics and identity have their own explanatory power, this article brings in local actors – international brokers – playing in the two-level game. The “international broker” links the domestic and international fields by focusing on strategies deployed by local actors embedded in different interface networks. It is that double position in both the domestic and the international fields that allows elites to broker capital outside one field and turn it into policies and power positions in the other. Moldova’s tightrope act is thus explained by looking into how domestic actors strategically navigate within Russian and/or Western fields and in between the two. Russia-embedded President Dodon together with Western-embedded businessman/politician Plahotniuc and then, shortly, with former prime minister Sandu, made for “collective international brokers”: domestic actors with diverging but complementary external networks collaborating and using their respective (educational, political, business or oligarchic) networks to bolster their position in the domestic political arena.

Indonesia's Defense Diplomacy through the United States: Case Study of Cooperation a Float Readiness and Training (CARAT) 2019 Joint Exercise

Global dan regional constellation shows a rapid dynamic after the cold war ended. Global polarity turned to multipolar at the same time the center of gravity of international relations has shifted to Asia-Pacific. Indonesia geographically and strategically in the central position regarded to the reality above. US rebalancing policy brings Indonesia to a geopolitical rivalry among great powers. Indonesia committed to Free and Active policy which means do not side to any political blocs but keep active to prevent conflict in the international system by cooperation approach. This research aimed to discuss Indonesia's defense diplomacy to US through joint exercise of Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) by 2019. The research is qualitative research with a case study approach. Depth exploration conducted by the researcher over the case of CARAT exercise supported by the main analysis tool of defense diplomacy theory which explaining that joint exercise is one of the activities aimed to reach a confidence-building measure (CBMs) and defense capability building. To describe Indonesia's foreign policy towards US within the contemporary political environment, this writing uses the theory of foreign policy and theory of strategy. As an initial conclusion, the joint military exercise of CARAT 2019 successfully strengthening mutual trust and mutual understanding between Indonesia and US in addition to improving Indonesia's military skill which is crucial in the current global political situation.

INSTITUTE OF PRESIDENCY IN HUNGARY AND UKRAINE: POLITICAL AND LEGAL ASPECT

The article provides a comparative study of the constitutional powers granted to presidents in Ukraine and Hungary in the context of the political and legal aspect, and also an attempt to appraise the role of subjective factors involved in the exercise of state power and transformation of the presidency institute of the aforementioned states. The aim of the article: to comparative study of the constitutional and legal status of Hungarian and Ukrainian presidents in the political and legal context and performing an appraisal of the personal impact exerted by the head of state on the government of the above-said countries. The research methodology: to observation and generalization; ordering of all basic elements; method of scientific generalization, which made it possible to formulate conclusions. As a result, it is established that the institution of the presidency in Ukraine is the core of the executive branch, which dominates the state system. In Hungary, the executive and legislative branches make up a political bloc (alliance) which is counterbalanced in certain relations by the constitutional court and judicial power. The subjective factor, namely personal qualities of presidents – career path, role perception, interpretation of powers – determines the political heft of the head of state. Subject to sufficient individual traits, a constitutionally “weak” president is able to influence the country’s development concept and the positioning strategy on the global scene.

Into a Headwind: Canadian cycle commuting and the growth of sustainable practices in hostile political contexts

Political obstacles are one of the biggest single challenges in the development of more sustainable transportation. Motorists, car producers, road builders, and others with a vested interest in the continued domination of the private automobile are a powerful political bloc, while professional experts in town planning or traffic engineering tend to privilege cars over alternatives. While there have been successes at promoting sustainable transportation in a handful of cities around the world, the political power of the car continues to hold sway in most places, creating powerful resistance against any policy efforts to promote walking, cycling, or transit. This article uses a case study of the history of bike commuting in Canada to show how sustainable transportation practices can grow and win political victories despite this resistance. Canadian cyclists have had several such victories, despite the hostile context in which they find themselves. Much of this is due to the fact that they were able to form effective social movements to champion their interests. Using the literature on policy feedbacks and communities of practice, this article shows that these successful movements emerged out of a confluence of material, cultural, and political developments; and that there are ways for policymakers to encourage these developments as a form of policy feedback. It concludes by discussing the implications of this not just for cycling policy, but also for sustainability transitions more generally.

THE IDEOLOGY OF UNIVERSITY STUDENTS TOWARDS POLITICAL DISCOURSE IN SATELLITE CHANNELS

يتنوع الخطاب الذي يصدر عن الكتل والأحزاب السياسية أيديولوجياتها وتوجهاتها المختلفة عِبر الفضائيات وغيرها من وسائل الإعلام والتواصل الاجتماعي، بين خطاب معتدل يدعو إلى التهدئة وآخر متشنج مثيراً للأزمات، ويكمن خطر هذا الخطاب في تعدديته نظراً لتعدد مرجعياته الداخلية والخارجية، لذا يسعى الباحث للكشف عن مخاطر هذا الخطاب بين أوساط الجمهور لا سيما في أثناء الأزَمات السياسية التي يشهدها العراق، والتي أثارها ويثيرها الساسة المتنافسون على السلطة، مما أدى بالنتيجة إلى اتساع هوة انعدام ثقة الجمهور بهم، وهو أمر لا يجب التهاون به وبخطورة انعكاساته القائمة، لاسيما في العراق الذي يشهد ولادة عسيرة للديمقراطية بعد سنوات من الدكتاتورية. ويُثير بحثنا هذا تساؤلات عدة، أهمها: كيف ينظر المواطن العراقي الى الخطاب السياسي، هل هو خطاب معتدل، أم متشنج، أم مثيراً للأزَمات، أم دعائياً، أم يدعو للتهدئة، أم تصعيدياً؟ وهل يثق الجمهور بقدرة الساسة على حل الأزَمات السياسية؟ وما هو الخطاب الذي ينبغي أن يُصدِرَه الساسة للرأي العام العراقي في أثناء الأزَمات؟ وقد عمد الباحث إلى تشخيص الخلل في الخطاب السياسي الموجه إلى الجمهور العراقي عِبر الفضائيات في الظروف المختلفة ، لا سيما في أثناء الأزَمات السياسية المتكررة التي يمر بها العراق، والناجمة عن لغة التصعيد في أثناء الأزمات السياسيون التي يتبعها السياسيين في خطاباتهم، بهدف تبني خطاب معتدل ينهي الخلافات بشأن الأزَمات السياسية : وتوصل البحث الى نتائج عدة، أهمها: * يشكل الخطاب السياسي الموجه عِبر الفضائيات رأياً لدى الجمهور بشأن الأحداث والأزمات السياسية المختلفة. * يرى الجمهور أن الساسة يسعون عِبر خطاباتهم لإثارة الأزَمات في العراق. * يفضل الجمهور العراقي الخطاب المعتدل الذي قد يسهم في استقرار الأوضاع.

Unity or Distinction over Political Borders? The Impact of Mainstream Parties in Local Seat Majorities on Refugee reception

This study exploits close elections in Sweden to assess the causal relationship between seat majorities for mainstream political parties and refugee reception policy. The study focuses on the two dominant mainstream political blocs, in a centre‐right and a centre‐left coalition, during three waves of elections from 2002 to 2010. In doing so, the study makes a few contributions to current research: Firstly, besides addressing a current knowledge gap in the focus on mainstream parties and refugee reception policy, this study investigates the impact of seat majorities which potentially have a more influential position compared to individual parties. Secondly, the study relies on an empirical strategy which allows comparison of comparable cases. Lastly, the study focuses on mainstream parties at the local level of government within one institutional context and thus addresses the obstacle of case comparability within cross‐country studies. In conclusion, this study finds that the relationship between the mainstream political blocs and refugee reception policy is of an associative nature. In order to find significant estimates of seat majorities, the win margin for each bloc needs to be substantial. These results indicate that there is a unified political attitude over the mainstream blocs towards refugee reception and that other factors, and not political seat majorities, have contributed to the uneven distribution of refugees among municipalities in Sweden.

CAMPAIGN AGAINST OF THE SLOVAK «BOURGEOIS NATIONALISTS» IN CZECHOSLOVAKIA (1948 – 1951)

У статті досліджується кампанія проти словацьких «буржуазних націоналістів» в Чехословаччині 1948 – 1951 рр. Методологія дослідження спирається на загальнонаукові принципи історизму та об’єктивності. Реалізація цих принципів дозволила уникнути у роботі непослідовності, неконкретності, відірваності від об’єктивного історичного процесу під час дослідження. Автор простежує вплив зовнішніх та внутрішніх факторів на початок та перебіг кампанії проти словацьких «буржуазних націоналістів», яких через невирішеність словацького питання було зараховано до числа «ворогів держави». Акцентується увага на тому, що носіїв «буржуазного націоналізму» в лавах комуністичної партії спершу звинуватили у намірах створити спільний політичний блок зі словацькою буржуазією з метою збереження максимальної незалежності словацьких органів влади в Чехословаччині, а згодом – у сепаратизмі та бажанні відродити Словацьку державу. У даній статті зроблена спроба показати, що невирішеність словацького питання в Чехословаччині після лютневого державного перевороту 1948 р. стала однією з причин загострення політичної боротьби в лавах правлячої комуністичної партії. Автор висвітлює перебіг кампанії проти словацьких «буржуазних націоналістів» у контексті інших політичних процесів в Чехословаччині та країнах соціалістичного табору. Він відзначає, що головним обвинуваченим у цій справі став державний, політичний та партійний діяч Г. Гусак, який був прибічником рівноправності у чесько-словацьких відносинах та на завершальному етапі Другої світової війни підтримував ідею федеративного устрою Чехословаччини. Кампанія проти словацьких «буржуазних націоналістів» 1948 – 1951 рр. свідчила про те, що комуністична влада не планує вирішувати словацьке питання в Чехословаччині.

Party leaders and voter responses to political terrorism

In this article, we study the political implications of terrorism rooted in extremist political ideologies. Our data uniquely allow studying the potential role of party leader evaluations on political outcomes, including voter turnout and vote choice. To strengthen causal identification, we combine an event-study framework with the fact that Norwegians were affected personally to differing degrees by the 22 July 2011 terror attack because of variation in the victims’ municipalities of residence. Our main findings suggest that extreme right-wing terrorism influences party vote intentions and evaluations of political leaders strongly in the short run, as well as party choice in actual elections in the longer run. We document shifts within Norway’s left-right political blocs rather than shifts between those blocs frequently observed following religious/separatist violence.

The American Role in Rebuilding of State in 'Post invasion Iraq (2003)

The fundamental objective of this research is to make an overall assessment of the political system in post-invasion Iraq, this research taken the year 2003 as turning point, due to this year witnessed two major event, the first is the collapsed of dictator regime "Saddam regime", as it dominated for more than three decades, second, is the political changing that witnessed Iraq, where the country entered a new phase of the democratic governance and the establishing of a democratic, federal parliamentary republic system in which ensures the participation for all Iraqis. The findings of this research show that the applying of democratic regime in Iraq by the American government had brought with a dissatisfied results, the evidence is that the democratic practice had produced a political system which based on power-sharing, and sectarianism, that this led to trigger the conflicts among the political blocs, for the sake of dominating on power and resources. This is reflected negatively on the security situation of the country, in which the country never witnessed the stabilize since the occupation in 2003 up to now.

Anxieties of an emerging donor: The Korean development experience and the politics of international development cooperation

This article examines recent knowledge sharing initiatives aimed at promoting South Korea’s development experience as a ‘development alternative’ and questions the coherence of the narratives being shared. Drawing upon an idea first put forward by Anna Tsing , I discuss how South Korea’s development cooperation initiatives occupy a zone of awkward engagement in which multiple meanings of its experience have proliferated and explore the anxieties that this engagement creates for practitioners. In particular, the article finds that practitioner anxiety is informed by a triple set of pressures for Korea to export an alternative development model, extend the overseas activities of domestic businesses, and entertain the ambitions of ruling political blocs. By focusing on questions of anxious engagement and the seemingly strategic ambiguity of knowledge sharing efforts it produces, the article highlights some of the limits and possibilities that shape the promotion of the Korean developmental state as an alternative development model for South–South cooperation and extends the emotional register of literature on emerging donors by questioning discursive claims that privilege empathy and reciprocity as drivers of development cooperation.

Voter Attitudes Towards Fiscal Trade-Offs: Evidence from Three European Countries

Political opposition to fiscal adjustments has varied significantly across countries. Our analysis links this variation to differences in congruence of voter attitudes towards fiscal trade-offs across political blocs. These differences in attitudes, in turn, coincide with the implications of different macroeconomic growth strategies that these countries pursue. Based on original survey data, we show that in Germany, voters of different parties not only share similar views on the appropriate size of fiscal adjustment, but also on how to distribute these cuts across different spending items. In Spain, there is fundamental disagreement on the amount of austerity, but voters largely agree on the composition of fiscal adjustments. In the UK, there is disagreement between voters of different political blocs on both accounts. Variation in public attitudes, therefore, gives rise to very different political dynamics surrounding fiscal adjustments in different countries.

The effect of institutional differences on the economic development of German-speaking countries

The growth rates and sustainability of economic development of five German-speaking countries: Austria, German Democratic Republic (GDR), Luxembourg, Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and Switzerland in the period 1947-1990 are investigated. The comparison is carried out for five economic cycles of the united Germany over this period. The indicators of the standard deviation of the growth rates of real GDP and national income are used as a sustainability performance. It is revealed that the GDR’s institutional system showed in a sustained way high growth rates, and after the isolation of West Berlin – favorable risks and firmness of prices. This system may even be regarded as the best institutional model of economic development for the German nation. At the moment of accession into the blocs, the member countries of the military and political bloc obtained benefits of development; during the exacerbation of the military and political situation, Switzerland, which was far from the contact of the blocs, became the winner, and during the detente – border Austria. Countries with smaller economies demonstrated greater institutional mobility.