Political Instrument Research Articles

In Chase of Vanishing Poles: Gaps in Conceptualization of International Politics

The paper offers an overview of the academic and practical discussion on ‘polarity’ as a fundamental element of the system of international relations and IR theory. The history of the question shows that the abstract, speculative, and essentially reductionist concept of the ‘pole’ hit the taste of political leaders as an indicator of a country’s power potential and international status, and a pillar of the world order. An academic concept has eventually turned into an instrument of international politics. As a result, the current ‘polar’ discussion has got stuck, unable to expand the analytical framework beyond the concepts that emerged in a completely different historical era. Today, the discussion about ‘poles’ constantly leads the academic community away from studying the reality of world politics, shifting the focus to a plot that has little to do with the changes that form the fabric of international life. Hence it seems it is the time to close it.

With Liberty and Justice For All? The U.S. Internment of Japanese Peruvians During World War II

After the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the United States committed to a policy of interning more than 120,000 Japanese Americans. While Japanese American detention remains the most researched instance of wartime internment, the U.S. incarceration of Japanese Peruvians merits equal attention. The political forces behind Japanese Peruvian internment transcended the more common explanations that haunt so much of literature today. Racism and hysteria played their respective roles in this history of wartime internment, but as the war progressed, other reasons for Japanese internment emerged. On January 4, 1942, the Japanese began interning American civilians in the Philippines. Days later, the U.S. State Department decided to hold Japanese Peruvians hostage for the purpose of aiding American repatriation. America used hostage-taking as a political instrument of war, facilitating the return of more than 3,000 American citizens. Such retaliation, however, came at the human cost of interning more than 1,000 Japanese Peruvians without charge in places like Crystal City, Texas.

Public policy and internal security sector governance challenges: A situational study of some economic development indicators

Lately, public policy as a major political instrument has failed terribly in ensuring desirable internal security sector administration in Nigeria. This paper investigates the Nigerian public policy and internal security governance challenges using poverty, unemployment, gross domestic product (GDP), and foreign direct investment (FDI) as the baseline. The incident of poverty in Nigeria in 2020 reveals that the six geopolitical zones in Nigeria experience a severe rate of poverty, owing largely to an unprecedented rate of internal security problems (Olurounbi, 2021). The paper explores secondary research methods, secondary sources of data, and secondary data analysis (SDA) techniques. The paper reveals that Nigeria’s crucial economic metrics, such as poverty, unemployment, GDP, and FDI, have been significantly aggravated by the country’s poor internal security situation. As a result, residents are now experiencing significant economic hardship, negatively impacting Nigeria’s current internal security governance situation. The paper concludes that Nigeria’s internal security sector governance, particularly in the last ten years of democratic administration, has failed reasonably to meet Nigerians’ expectations. Following the findings, the paper advocates, among others, for a genuine electoral process capable of bringing in skilled people to public policy decision-making and program execution in Nigeria.

Rhythm as a Counter-cultural Political Instrument of Empowerment in James Brown’s ‘Say it Loud, I‘m Black and I’m Proud’

Rhythm as a Counter-cultural Political Instrument of Empowerment in James Brown’s ‘Say it Loud, I‘m Black and I’m Proud’

Концептуализация морской силы в мировой политике

The article studies the formation of the sea power theory and its influence on world politics. Although seas influenced the rise and fall of states since ancient times, they acquired strategic importance only after the beginning of the Age of Discovery. From that moment, sea turned into a global transport network and also became a political instrument for transforming the balance of power in the world. After that the formation of the sea power of states began, which led to the rise of the British colonial empire. The research of the success of Great Britain formed the theory of sea power, which developed in the works of Western geopoliticians A. Mahan, F. Colomb, J. Corbett, and others, including Russian theorists N. L. Klado, S. G. Gorshkov, etc. Despite the fact that initially the founder of the theory, American Admiral Mahan, studied the experience of Great Britain to apply it to American politics for the rise of the United States on the world stage, at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries the theory quickly gained popularity among many other countries. According to some researchers, this was one of the reasons for the beginning of the “naval arms race” in Europe that rose contradictions in the distribution of the balance of power, which subsequently led to the First World War. It is indicated that the theory of sea power determined the global politics throughout the 20th century, and also led to the emergence of the United States not only as a great sea power, but also a superpower. Therefore, the main purpose of the article is to study the influence of sea power on the world politics of the 20th century. The theory also remains relevant today, because the relevance of using the World Ocean in achieving economic and political goals does not decrease, and therefore the study of the theory can be useful for the development of the maritime and naval strategies of countries.

Tracing Death as a Political Instrument: A Study of Osama Alomar’s Selected Collections of Flash Fiction

This research article analyzes two collections of flash fiction including Fullblood Arabian (2014) and The Teeth of the Comb and Other Stories (2017) written by Osama Alomar, a Syrian refugee author. Guided by the theoretical framework of necropolitics as proposed by Achille Mbembe, this article investigates the constant presence of death and its multifaceted role in the wake of the Syrian civil war as portrayed in Alomar’s selected collections of flash fiction. The article attempts to study how death becomes an instrument in the civil war, widely used, manipulated, and exploited by various actors during the conflict-ridden period, each employing it differently. Although the selected collections of flash fiction demonstrate that death takes on many forms and performs multiple functions in the backdrop of the Syrian civil war, this research article narrows its scope to the analysis of how death is used as a political pawn and a political statement. At the outset of this research, it is postulated that the ruling Syrian regime transforms death and its fear into an instrument to intimidate and subdue Syrian civilian characters, thereby downplaying death as merely a political pawn. On the contrary, death also emerges as a political statement of the Syrian civilian characters as they begin to embrace death as a form of political activism to bring about social and political change in Syria. Invoking Catherine Belsey’s textual analysis method, some flash fiction stories from the selected collections are analyzed to study how the ruling Syrian regime and civilian characters reconfigure death in the wake of the Syrian civil war.

An Ethics of Sanctions? Attempt and Critique of the Moral Justification of Economic Sanctions

In this article, I raise the question of whether economic sanctions are morally legal. I present the jus ad bellum principles and the Doctrine of Double Effect (DDE) as the theoretical basis for analyzing the ethical foundations of this political instrument. I show that economic sanctions are an instrument of war, that can be morally legitimized through the DDE and the just war principles. Using the example of the EU-sanctions against Russia I show how proponents of the DDE justify the use of economic sanctions and what negative side effects result from their application. From a critical perspective, I want to show that this kind of moral justification is wrong. My critique is based on the assumption that the individual intention of an acting person/government can be misdirected by various external factors. As the groupthink concept illustrates, dissenting opinions are neglected in the consensus-building process. In addition, advisors, experts and employees influence the opinion of government officials to a considerable extent. This leads to the formation of specific moral concepts. This is particularly evident regarding the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. The Russian government has created its own moral code based on historical events, individual opinions and fantasies of maintaining power. This is contrary to the moral codes of Western states. The difference in moral concepts also results in different intentions to act. These different views make it difficult to evaluate sanctioning procedures as morally good or bad. Consequently, the mere focus on intention is insufficient as an assessment standard for the moral status of an action.

Principles of legal policy in the field of domestic violence

The article analyzes the essence of the principles of legal policy in the field of prevention and countermeasures against domestic violence and distinguishes their groups.
 It is posited that the principles of legal policy in the field of domestic violence are the main normative principles and strategies that determine approaches to the creation, implementation and improvement of legal and political instruments for the prevention and counteraction of violence that occurs in the family, family environment, within the limits of the place of residence or between other persons living together as a family.
 It is indicated that the study of the principles of legal policy allows for the development of effective strategies for preventing and countering this phenomenon, in particular, the development of basic principles and norms that should be the basis of legal regulation in the field of domestic violence, the rights and obligations of all parties, a system for detecting illegal phenomena, and as well as victim protection mechanisms. General and special groups of principles are distinguished.
 The general principles reflect the universal policy of countering manifestations of any violence or aggression against persons in a democratic state, in particular the rule of law; the principle of inevitability of punishment; the principle of prevention and prevention of violence; the principle of effective response of law enforcement agencies.
 Special principles include the following: the principle of zero tolerance for domestic violence, which consists in the inadmissibility of any form of violence, ensures the categorical non­admission of any manifestations of aggression, physical, psychological or economic pressure on family m.embers and persons equated to them; the principle of forming a gender-equal society, since the victims of violence are usually women and girls; the principle of systemic interaction of special bodies and institutions; the principle of involving civil society in preventing and countering domestic violence, in particular in the form of public condemnation; the principle of recognizing the social danger of domestic violence; the principle of a balanced approach in protecting the privacy and security of the family space; the principle of cultural sensitivity

Commodification of instrumental Islamic piety in Indonesian political contestation 2019

ABSTRACT This study examined the practice of extensive commodification of Islamic piety by political actors during the Indonesian presidential election 2019. By identifying the posting of contestants between 23 September 2018 and 16 April 2019 and analyzing using the multimodality technique, this research found four forms of extensive commodification of Islamic piety. They are extensive commodification of piety-based developmentalism, social-oriented personal piety, Islamism-based nationalism, and welfare-state-based Islamism. This research concludes that Islamic piety became a political instrument. The religion of Islam is not only a system of beliefs and religious practices but also a political commodity, which political actors commodify during political contestation. The commodification of Islamic piety functions to increase the value exchange or marketability of political candidates. Any candidates are political symbols or commodities among Indonesian voters. The production of instrumental piety messages in political communication results from the intricate interplay between Indonesia's demographic structure, voter psychography, and patron-client culture.

Professionalizing Emotions as Reflective Engagement in Emerging Forms of Journalism

ABSTRACT The argument for this article rests on exploring the significance of emotions and emotion-related forms of journalism that have historically been dismissed as improper reporting and flawed journalism. So far the emerging research on emotionality in the media, marking the so-called “affective turn” in communications, has mostly analysed emotional media performance in relation to its influences on the public. This article complements the existing research by exploring journalists’ own views and narrations on emotions with the aim of unravelling emotionality as a vital emerging journalistic practice in a hybrid media environment. Results of semi-structured interviews with journalists in Slovenia, where the media developed at the cross-roads of fierce commercialization and political instrumentalization, show how they craft emotionality as professional journalistic conduct, articulating emotions as “special effects” with potential for motivation and engagement, but also revealing criticism in using emotions when their only purpose is to boost a commercial interest, thus feeding the attention economy model of media development.

Budownictwo cerkiewne w kontekście procesów modernizacyjnych w Królestwie Polskim w drugiej połowie XIX i na początku XX w.

This article aims to examine the historical significance of church building in the Kingdom of Poland during the second half of the nineteenth century, with a particular focus on its role in the processes of colonisation, Russification, and modernisation of the region. The article analyzes the utilization of the Russian Orthodox Church as an instrument in Russian nationalist politics, shedding light on its involvement in shaping the political and religious landscape. The Uniate question and the issue of the separation of Chelm region are also explored in the context of this policy. The authors provide insights into how the Russian Empire viewed the Kingdom of Poland, dividing it into two key regions and highlighting the consequences of this policy from the perspective of the local population. Additionally, the article examines the priorities of the Russian administration in the Kingdom of Poland, taking a closer look at their impact on the modernisation processes that took place in the Congress Kingdom. By analyzing the historical interaction between religion and politics, this article offers a comprehensive understanding of the role of the Orthodox Church in shaping the internal situation of the Kingdom of Poland at the end of the 19th century.

Categorias sociopolíticas da ética climática: Plano Municipal de Arborização Urbana (São Paulo)

Abstract This article aims to understand the dispute between different worldviews through the analysis of proposals for the socioenvironmental reordering of a mega-metropolis. Ecocentric and anthropocentric moralities coexist in the structure of the political instrument developed to face the climate crisis: the Municipal Plan for the Urban Afforestation of the City of São Paulo – PMAU (2019). The theory of contemporary convivialism was used to polish categories emerging from the field of climate ethics: decision-making pluralism, planned naturalness, and temporal benefit. The result indicates that the structural content of the PMAU is still fragile to face the climate crisis. However, we highlight the importance of including the climate ethics dimension for the evaluation and effective formulation of public instruments to mitigate climate change in cosmopolitan regions.

Association of political candidates and ulamas during the 2019 election on Twitter

This article explores how Indonesian political actors associate themselves with Ulamas through Twitter visual messages to symbolise Islamic piety during the Indonesian Presidential Election 2019. Despite past political events, socio-political dynamics are still relevant to understanding the current political climate. This article employed a qualitative approach by observing and analysing messages from @jokowi, the official account of the elected President, during the political contestation period. Specifically, multimodal analysis was used to examine visual data. We conclude that Islamic piety symbolisms were strategically used as a political instrument during the Election. Political actors, such as Jokowi, associated themselves with Islamic piety symbols and other Islamic cultural attributes to construct a certain strong image and appeal to the Indonesian Muslim voters. An association with Islamic piety symbols could boost his image and appeal to voters.

“Türkiye,” not “Turkey”

Abstract This paper critically examines the recent presidential memorandum that replaced the Anglicized exonymic version “Turkey” with the endonym “Türkiye” as a conscious, performative and public relations campaign at both national and international levels. On the surface, this change addresses populist sociolinguistic hypersensitivities surrounding the connotations of the term “turkey” while simultaneously harnessing the commodification and marketization of the Turkey brand through selective references culled from collective memory (i.e., past) and branding aimed at economic gains (i.e., future). However, at the deeper level, this transformation serves as a discursive political instrument and a top-down nation branding effort powered by substantial resources from the state and its institutions with an ultimate motivation to consolidate President Erdoğan’s political power and authority, elevate his status to that of a national leader and institutionalize his populist/nationalist yerli ve millî rhetoric from a de facto to de jure within Yeni Türkiye as a competitive authoritarian regime.

Maternalism and new imperialism in Russia: “good mothers” for a militarizing state—expectations, implications, and resistances

This article explores maternalism in Russia in the context of the contemporary Russian authoritarian state. In particular, I analyze what implications maternalism has for women, mothers, and families on the one hand and how it is connected to the Russian state's new imperial ambitions on the other. I also explore how maternalism is challenged and employed by those resisting state politics, including militarism. Historically, maternalism was used for the analysis of the development of the welfare state in Europe and beyond and for studying women's activism that contributed to significant changes in the state's welfare politics. Maternalism in European history could be seen as “a progressive heterosexual maternal womanhood”; according to Mary Daly, it could be explained as a recognition of the “existence of a uniquely feminine value system based on care and nurturing” and as the assumption that women are performing “a service to the state by raising citizen-workers”. Gender historians of Latin America showed that speaking from the position of a mother was quite important for claiming both the right to be accepted as an equal citizen and the improvement of maternity care, welfare, and living conditions for mothers and children. Furthermore, maternalism was widely used in protests against state militarism, wars, and military dictatorships, not least as a part of the campaign against the Vietnam War or the crimes of the Argentinian military dictatorship. However, maternalism was also widely used by several totalitarian regimes, including fascism and Stalinism. Maternalism was an important political instrument used by the state socialist discourse in order to show the superiority of the “socialist” welfare system over the “capitalist” one and to make this system appear attractive to women from “developing” countries.

A Political Economy of Public Policymaking and Underdevelopment in Postcolonial African States: A Marxian Perspective

Debates over who makes public policy in postcolonial African states are lengthy, spanning from 1960s until now, even as such debates prompt pernicious human underdevelopment in this region. Driven by these unfinished debates’ impervious outcomes - the impoverishment of postcolonial Africans, this paper uses the Marxian political economy perspective to determine the mischievous insights arising from these debates, which prod irrational policymaking. It argues that, although policymaking is par excellence the impeccable and inescapable normal government activity and an important political instrument for exerting exhilarating or doldrums societies, it is fraught with inequitably precarious, intricate and dispute-prone processes for mobilising, distributing and allocating resources in societies. Consequently, the paper examines this activity’s shortcomings, not only through the cognitive capacities or incapacities of government officials, but through subjective irrational groups’ interests. Using the rational-comprehensive theory of policymaking, it concludes that, even as policymaking is estranged by malicious contestations through soft or hard power from competing forces with undemocratic claims over rights and resources, the Marxian political economy perspective and rational-comprehensive model can dependably ensure the region’s equitable development rather than underdevelopment.

Freedom of movement versus freedom of work? Coping with the mobility of indigenous workers in a palm oil concession in French Congo (1910-1940)

ABSTRACT In colonial French Congo, one of the main challenges for labor relations was the need to reconcile contradictory efforts to promote the mobility of native workers while also stabilizing (or immobilizing) the workforce. As the interests of colonial employers and officials overlapped and merged, so did the status of indigenous workers evolve according to how administrative and economic leaders categorized indigenous work. Indigenous workers were therefore progressively categorized as migrant workers, deserters or vagrants. The political instruments which were supposed to ensure the circulation of migrant workers particularly (the laissez-passer, worker logbooks, orders regulating the flow of the workforce within the colony, etc.) were perversely used to constrain worker movement. Drawing on the archives of the French colonial administration and the private archives of the Compagnie Française du Haut-Congo, this article tries to grasp the relation between freedom and (im)mobility in the context of a colonial concession. In that context, colonial leaders sought to control of mobility for purposes relating to the construction of a local labor market, the consolidation of governmental rationality and the stabilization of colonial order.

Humanitarian activity as a ‘soft power’ instrument of transnational corporations

Globalization has turned transnational corporations (TNCs) into the key actors in the world economy and at the same time strengthened their political ambitions. In order to establish a monopoly over certain markets, create opportunities for additional revenue growth and geographic expansion, TNCs are actively using a wide range of political instruments, in which various humanitarian projects and initiatives play an increasingly important role. In this context, it seems appropriate to consider the humanitarian activities of TNCs through the lens of the concept of soft power. The first section of the paper examines the views of Russian and foreign experts on the role of political considerations in the humanitarian initiatives of TNCs, as well as on the possibility of achieving a balance between the development goals of host countries and the interests of foreign capital. The author shares the view of those scholars who argue that the humanitarian activities of TNCs can not only create a favorable political climate for the corporation in the host country, but also subtly introduce Western (globalist) narratives into the public consciousness. The second section examines the activities of Nestle in Colombia as an example of effective use of the humanitarian agenda to promote the economic and political interests of TNCs in developing countries. The author shows that within the framework of corporate humanitarian expansion Nestle implemented a wide range of humanitarian projects, which allowed it not only to secure a foothold in the Colombian market, but also to penetrate its political system, as well as to gain opportunities to further expand its political presence in the region. The author concludes that the growing influence of TNCs erodes the government structures and may even put into question the political sovereignty of their host countries. In this context, the Russian authorities should not only be very cautious about the activities of TNCs on its territory, but also provide a clear legal framework regulating the presence of transnational businesses in the humanitarian space of the country. The third section outlines a set of principles that, if implemented, could minimize the opportunity for TNCs to influence political processes in the Russian Federation through the use of various humanitarian actions and projects as a tool of soft power.

Science Diplomacy in the Arctic and Antarctic

The article studies the phenomenon of science diplomacy with regard to the Arctic and Antarctic. These two polar regions are similar because of high importance of international scientific activity and science diplomacy based on it. Science diplomacy is understood as a kind of synthesis of scientific and political-diplomatic activities, in which state and non-state actors can take part. The conditions for science di-plomacy in the Arctic and Antarctic are very different due to the history of development, legal status and established practice of international relations in these regions. The challenges faced by international scientific activity and science diplomacy in the two regions are considered. It is shown that in the Arctic and Antarctic, science diplomacy as a political tool is objectively in demand and cannot be “cancelled” due to the political context. In the current situation, science diplomacy can contribute to de-escalation of the conflict in relations between Russia and the West. At the same time, science diplomacy is not a panacea for creating international relations based on the principles of peace and cooperation. Like any political instrument, it protects national interests and not only serves to solve global problems arising in the Arctic and Antarctic.

The Impact of Cancel Culture on Politics and International Relations

The article aims to reveal particularities of cancel culture in politics and international relations using methods of sociology and conflict theory. Deriving from previous research of cancel culture, authors define cancel culture as non-institutionalized form of social control that is implemented through mass mobilization in social media. After informal pressure the formal punishment could follow against those who break norms or behavior expectations. As a kind of social control cancel culture could contribute to overcoming gap between manifested values and social practices, preserving social order and fighting elitism and inequality. At the same time cancel culture could be used as instrument of unfair competition, political struggle and suppression of opinions. Comparison of cancel culture cases in the USA, United Kingdom and Russia allows to conclude that the scale and effectiveness of collective actions depend on national context, different systems of norms and values and cultural practices to react on violation of values and norms.In politics and international relations cancel culture manifests as an addition to actions of formal political institutions, and it aims to undermine authority and reputation of a politician. It is important that in politics and international relations cancel culture is an instrument of informal control, which follows formal sanctions. Conclusions about the nature of cancel culture as an instrument of politics helps to understand better its functions in regard to attempts to “cancel” Russia. Cancel culture adds to formal sanctions and aims to isolate the country, to undermine its legitimacy as international actor. In regard to Russia the efforts are made to “cancel” it on two levels: formal – by sanctions and informal – via rejection to cooperate coming from various professional communities. In both cases countries and respective communities have their own understanding of norms and acceptable means and tools, and thus cancel culture becomes a toll of collective punishment. International relations lack universal understanding of norms and single center of political power, so that causes selective usage of instruments to impact, and thus cancel culture becomes an instrument of political struggle.