Regional Actors Research Articles

Balancing Act: The Dual Role of Military Alliances in Contemporary International Relations

This paper critically examines the dual role of military alliances in contemporary international relations, particularly focusing on their impact on global stability and regional cooperation. By analyzing historical and modern examples, including NATO and the interactions among the United States, China, and Russia, the study elucidates how military alliances have transitioned from Cold War security mechanisms to multifaceted entities confronting today's geopolitical complexities. It delves into the security dilemmas alliances face, their strategic contractions, and the unique challenges posed by China's ascendancy and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict. The paper underscores that while these alliances are pivotal in upholding global order, they also generate substantial obstacles to regional cooperation, especially in East Asia. This dichotomy is evident in the alliances' evolution, which reflects a shift from primarily defensive postures to roles that encompass economic and diplomatic dimensions, influencing regional dynamics and power balances. This paper demonstrates the various differences and contradictions between today's military alliances and regional cooperation, including contradictions in mechanisms, differences in concepts, overlaps in functions, and conflicts of practical interests. The findings advocate for a reassessment of military alliances, suggesting that future frameworks should foster trust and inclusivity, accommodating the diverse interests of regional actors to enhance cooperative security and stability.

Assembling state power through rescaling: Inter-jurisdictional development in the Beijing-Tianjin Zhongguancun Tech Town

Recent studies have applied the explanatory framework of state rescaling to interrogate China's emergent city-regional governance. Much of the extant literature has concentrated on either the centrally driven city regionalism from above or local efforts on cross-boundary cooperation from below. Rather than simply abstracting the multi-dimensional and multi-scalar dynamics in the rescaling process around one singular state project, this paper moves forward to explore the co-existence and co-functioning of variegated rescaling processes contributing to regional governance by deploying assemblage as a heuristic approach. This paper examines an inter-jurisdictional development zone – Beijing-Tianjin Zhongguancun Tech Town in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region to provide a relational and processual understanding of scalar politics on the ground. Our analysis demonstrates how discrete and fragmented spaces and actors are assembled within a specific entity through various rescaling processes. The interplay of local, regional and national actors with different motivations gives rise to a new inter-scalar and inter-jurisdictional regulatory regime for regional industrial integration with relative coherence. This emergent governance regime is sustained and embedded in both topological and territorial political relations. This article furthers the understanding of China's city regional governance by analysing a situated assemblage. It provides an applicable perspective for investigating other trans-local projects and city regionalism.

Venezuelan migration in South America: coordinating regional responses to a transboundary reception crisis

ABSTRACT Migration is a policy field that is prone to transboundary reception crises due to the weakness of inter-state cooperation and global governance institutions’ incomplete architecture. Research suggests that the regional level is a more realistic policy arena where cooperation to coordinate responses may emerge. Our paper aims to explore and analyse the conditions under which coordinated responses to transboundary reception crises are present in (or absent from) regional migration governance. Below we develop an analytical model based on crisis management scholarship to examine coordination capacities at the regional level. Empirically, we comparatively assess the ability of old regional institutions (i.e. MERCOSUR, the South American Conference of Migration) and new ones (i.e. the Quito Process) to orchestrate responses to receive Venezuelan migrants across the region. Our findings reveal that coordination capacities remain scarce as regional institutions navigate from non-crisis to crisis times. This is largely because there was a shift in policy framing regarding immigrant reception, to self-interested national, regional and extra-regional actors promoting new regional mechanisms, and to the increasing complexity of regional migration governance as (new) competing actors emerge. Our conceptual and empirical contributions provide insights into how governance processes in South America have changed, particularly during crises.

Standing tall like Caesar? Qatar’s unwavering voice for Palestine at the United Nations

This article examines the complexities of Qatar’s Palestine policy, emphasising Doha’s multifaceted role as a mediator, problem-solver, humanitarian aid provider, and representative of the Palestinian issue at the United Nations. The study employs a mixed-methods research approach. Firstly, it utilises qualitative data from official statements, key policymakers’ remarks, and literature on Qatar’s foreign policy and Palestinian engagement. Secondly, it introduces text analytic methods such as latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) topic modelling, word clouds and network analysis to identify key themes, relationships and trends in Qatar’s speeches. The findings reveal that the Palestinian issue has been a prominent and consistent topic in Qatar’s United Nations General Assembly General Debate addresses over the past five decades. Qatar has consistently advocated for a resolution to the conflict, emphasising the importance of peace, justice and the two-state solution. Qatar’s support for Palestine remains steadfast, despite pressure from other regional actors to end its engagement with Hamas and divert its attention from the Palestinian issue. This commitment to the Palestinian cause aligns with Qatar’s broader state preferences for an independent foreign policy, its opposition to external interference, and its aspiration to restore its role as a trusted international partner on global platforms.

Charting the Boundaries of Societies in a Trans-European Perspective: The “Ruhr Poles” in the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries

This paper considers the Polish-German workers, mainly from the eastern parts of Prussia, Austria-Hungary, and the Russian Empire, who moved to the Ruhr Valley in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Extrapolating from this case study, it suggests a way of rethinking our conception of societies by analyzing the processes through which demarcation and belonging were produced at local, state, and trans-European levels. During this period, increasing numbers of people arrived in the region, some of whom stayed while others moved on. The intellectual and social figure of the “Ruhr Poles” is particularly revealing because it points to competing spatial affiliations whose meanings shifted according to geographical setting and social context. An analysis of the interwoven processes of differentiation and evaluation surrounding these mobile people demonstrates the influence that regional actors exerted through administrative practices of categorization. It also shows the diverse ways in which newcomers to the area represented and normalized social relationships. Finally, the article discusses the consequences of these processes for the scholarly classification of individuals who moved, in ways not defined by the grid of nation-states, between spaces such as the Ruhr Valley and Polish-speaking areas. Overall, the article demonstrates that even as the model of the nation-state was becoming prevalent in scholarly and public discourse across Europe, different constructions of belonging based on origin, achievement, and visions of the common humanity of subjects coexisted in the Ruhr region as an economic zone shaped by mobilities.

Strategic planning for a sustainable local-regional transit-oriented development

ABSTRACT Regional enlargement and Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) has in Sweden been an active policy and strategy at both municipal, regional, and national level to make society more resource efficient and strengthen local labour markets. The paper aims to explore and discuss how strategic local-regional planning can be used to counteract local, municipal and sub-regional uneven development enhanced by city-centric transit-oriented development. Mutual learning processes between local and regional actors can be used to benefit regional investments and manage local expectations. This means including local knowledge of the local situation and local knowledge of the regional context in the regional planning process and to institutionalize local-regional integration and common projections of TOD.

Влияние региональных игроков на политический статус афганского движения «Талибан»

This article examines the role of the countries of the Arab region and Asia in shaping the political status of the Taliban movement (prohibited in the Russian Federation) after its return to power in Afghanistan in 2021. The reaction of regional actors to regime change in the country is described. A comparative analysis of the relationship of these states with the first (1996–2001) and second (2021 – present) Tali-ban regimes is presented. The article highlights Afghanistan's interaction with other countries in the economic, financial and humanitarian fields, as well as in the field of infrastructure projects. Common interests that contribute to intensifying partnerships between Afghanistan and regional powers are as-sessed. At the same time, risks associated with the terrorist activities of militants stationed in the coun-try have been identified. Measures of supporting and counteracting the domestic and foreign policies of the Taliban movement by other countries are analyzed.

Роль центральных и региональных органов власти в развитии системы научных организаций в Красноярском крае в 1950–1970-е гг.

The formation of scientific organizations, as well as their networks, are traditionally determined through an economic base – by the need to develop either individual sectors of the national economy, most significant in a certain period, or the entire economy. At the same time, specific influences generated exclusively by the political sphere of public life are beyond consideration. This article attempts to comprehend these processes by examining the formation and development of not central, but peripheral, regional systems of scientific organizations. The author analyzes the role of political entities in the development of the scientific organizations structure of the Krasnoyarsk territory and identifies two main acting actors – the state and regional nomenclature with bureaucracy. While the state provides overarching directives and resources, regional elites wield significant influence over the allocation and distribution of scientific resources within the region. This interplay between central and regional actors results in a complex network of scientific institutions characterized by both cooperation and competition. In conclusion, the study underscores the importance of understanding the interplay between political, economic, and institutional factors in shaping regional scientific systems. By elucidating the roles of central and regional authorities, the research contributes to a nuanced understanding of the dynamics driving scientific development in peripheral regions.

SOCIAL INTEGRATION OF REFUGEES IN TÜRKİYE: A FIELD OF COLLABORATION BETWEEN TURKISH RED CRESCENT AND THE EU

Türkiye has been hosting approximately 6 million migrants according to the World Migration Report published by the International Organization for Migration in 2022. To manage the migration flows, the EU has provided financial assistance to Turkish civil society organizations working on the integration of migrants. One of those organizations has been the Turkish Red Crescent. The migration literature criticizes the externalization approach of the EU and the instrumentalization approach of Türkiye in the 2000s. However, this paper focuses on the good practices of those actors and argues that the EU-Turkish Red Crescent collaboration has directly served the social integration of refugees. The migration-related programs and activities of the Turkish Red Crescent let the religious and cultural similarities between the societies positively contribute to the integration. It is concluded in the paper that collaborative actions among the regional actors, state, and civil society to overcome problems between refugees and the host community and contribute to producing a peaceful environment for social integration.

The Predicament of Security: Tracing Two Years of Taliban Rule

The paper is an overall assessment of the security situation in Afghanistan that includes both traditional and non-traditional aspects. The paper highlights the deteriorating internal security that is bolstering Pashtunisation in Afghanistan and causing the forced displacement of non-Pashtuns. The implication of this grim development in India’s neighbourhood has severely impacted the peace and security of the Central Asian Region, Russia, China, Iran, India and Pakistan. The victory of the Taliban has resuscitated myriad terrorist groups who want to establish Islamic Caliphate in neighbouring countries, therefore leading to the gradual Talibanisation of the Asian region. The paper also delves into how the departure of foreign forces has created a power vacuum in Afghanistan that has led to the revival of a New Great Game with the addition of regional actors.

Understanding October 7 through Hamas’s Adaptability and Leadership Structure

This essay examines Hamas’s pragmatic adaptability and its decentralized leadership structure in order to offer insight into the movement’s decision to attack on October 7, 2023. It hones in on Hamas’s decision-making processes since it gained control of Gaza in 2007, situating the discussion within regional and international attempts to contain the movement into mainstream politics. The essay presents a critique of this approach to Hamas since 2007, highlighting regional and international failures to engage with Hamas as both a resistance movement and governing ­authority. Ultimately, the essay aims to clarify the complex interactions between Hamas’s leadership model and regional actors that preceded the October 7 events.

Empirical analysis of social impacts of a rural social enterprise: insights for local and regional development

ABSTRACT In developing countries the most marginalised and disadvantaged people are in rural, remote and regional areas and social enterprises in these areas – rural social enterprises (RSEs) – have been identified as key development actors in this context. However, their impacts are rarely rigorously measured. Our study fills this gap by measuring an RSE’s social impact in a developing country. A smallholder farmers’ survey (n = 1021) is utilised in a propensity score-based method which allowed us to generate counterfactual and estimate outcomes between members and non-members of an RSE. This method was complemented by a stakeholder focus group discussion. Predictors of participation and social impacts of the RSE are identified besides an evaluation of its interventions. Results generate implications for social enterprise practitioners, supporters and policymakers interested in applying RSEs as local and regional development actors as well as researchers involved in social impact measurement.

Formal urbanisation in East-Central Europe

The East-Central European region has undergone a unique urbanisation process during socialist and postsocialist periods. These peculiarities result from social and economic development delays, which the statehas tried to remedy through massive interventions. One such intervention is urban reclassification, where the state promotes certain places it deems crucial, granting them urban status, often without actual developmentor urban characteristics. Due to its artificial character, this intervention is called formal urbanisation in our approach being a specific local feature of the urbanisation process. The visible result is the growth of the urbanpopulation, often only by administrative causes, with the reclassification of villages as towns. The emergence of numerous small towns, which we refer to as newest towns, has significantly influenced urbanisation, alteredthe concept of towns and cities3, and generated significant debates. In this paper, we compare the formal urbanisation of the socialist and post-socialist eras, trying to estimate the added value of formal urbanisation inthe latter period. We compare the administrative backgrounds of formal urbanisation in selected ECE countries for similarities and differences. Throughout the research, we analyse their formal urbanisation involvingapproximately 800 municipalities promoted since 1990 in Poland, Czechia, Hungary, and Romania, trying to identify common and unique features in the processes. Based on historical determination, modernisation, and integration into new spatial processes, considering demographic and functional changes, we developedtypes of formal urbanisation. Our research has revealed several common factors in the reclassification process, such as local initiatives, while we have also identified disparities between principles and practices and varyinglevels of control from regional and national actors. The study has also led to a deeper understanding of formal urbanisation in the context of the urbanisation process as a whole.

China’s Africa Policy during the Xi Jinping Era (2012-2022)

This study examines China's Africa policy during the Xi Jinping era, in the context of political, economic, security, and socio-cultural aspects. Africa is one of the regions of strategic importance, especially in terms of meeting the energy and raw material demands of global and regional actors, despite the significant lack of accumulated capital. In this regard, China has notably intensified its relations with African countries, particularly since the 1990s. China's approach to Africa began with collaborations based on economic interests, progressed to consolidating political relations through soft power elements, and the establishment of reliable relations in this process has also paved the way for China to become a security actor in the region. In the study, these aspects are considered as turning points and are examined through the process tracing method. Consequently, the main objective of this study is to analyze China's Africa policy during the Xi Jinping era specifically using the process tracing method.

Formation of all-Russian civil identity in the context of regional elites' activities (on the materials of the North Caucasus)

The general socio-political situation in the region is analyzed, the centrifugal and centripetal forces that determine the very nature of politics in the region through the prism of ethnic and civic forms of identity are considered. The emergence of new points of ethnopolitical and ethno-religious tension, chauvinistic tendencies, and anti-Semitic sentiments demonstrate a fairly high level of conflict potential and the severity of nationalist manifestations in the region. Such conflict behavior is most often provoked from the outside, including through the use of modern information resources, social networks, using manipulative technologies that have an impact on the masses. These processes indicate the existence of socio-cultural and religious grounds for the growth of discriminatory rhetoric and clashes. The study of these problems is an urgent scientific task in the context of transformation and transit of local identity features. The article also analyzes various forms and approaches of identity formation in the North Caucasus, highlights common and special factors, contradictions in the development of general civil attitudes. The national composition is considered, the role of regional actors in the political management and development of the region is highlighted separately. These issues carry elements of novelty and relevance. The work uses specialized political science techniques: the method of analyzing a specific situation - case-study, secondary analysis of sociological research data. Along with private scientific methods and approaches, general scientific methods and approaches are also used in the study: historical and philosophical methods and approaches (dialectics, the principle of historicism), the system integrative method, comparative studies. In conclusion, recommendations are presented aimed at solving the problems of forming the civil identity of the peoples of the North Caucasus, through the transition of ethnic forms of identity to all-Russian ones.

The political economy of deforestation in the Colombian Amazon

The Colombian Amazon has experienced rapid forest loss in the past decades due to growing colonization, infrastructure development, and commercial agriculture expansion. While much of the analyses of deforestation in the Amazon have been in Brazil, there is a need to extend to Colombia where forest and land use exploitation are driven by post-conflict social and political dynamics. This research contributes to this knowledge gap by unpacking the mechanisms underpinning deforestation on the northwestern side of the Colombian Amazon. We used theory-building process-tracing to guide us in conceptualizing the underlying logics of deforestation in the region through qualitative text analysis of policy documents, articles, reports, and grey literature, and virtual semi-structured interviews with key national, regional and local actors. Findings indicate that the power vacuum resulting from the demobilization of FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia), Marxist-Leninist guerrillas, acted as a window of opportunity for peasants, squatters, narco-traffickers, cattle ranchers, landlords, and other investors to access public lands and capitalize from converting forests to coca crops and pastures for cattle ranching. Accumulation of land and surplus primarily from cattle ranching and coca production has increased the ability of these actors to reshape the landscape and societal structures. Traditional elites and old and emerging narco-bourgeoisie have capitalized on preexisting power asymmetries by disproportionally accumulating land, money, gun power, influence, and prestige seeking to consolidate territorial hegemony, and controlling the means for material reproduction in society. Powerful actors use their resources and prestige to displace historically marginalized groups – such as indigenous communities, peasants and squatters – from their means of subsistence and production, resulting in the installation of a capitalist economy based on land rent and drug trafficking, where less powerful and marginalized actors engage in deforestation as means for capital accumulation and subsidizing their peasant and subsistence economies. All this has deepened forest loss, inequalities, and conflict over land access between actors. 

Türkiye's milestones in Antarctica and main arguments in its motivation

This study aims to clarify the fundamental arguments underlying Turkish motivation regarding the Antarctic Continent. The article asserts that Türkiye's motivation is grounded in its scientific endeavors, aligned with the principles of the Antarctic Treaty. Study suggests that, upon achieving the status of a Consultative Party, Türkiye, acknowledged as a regional actor, has gained heightened attention for its objectives in Antarctica and its increasing efforts in this domain, particularly over the past decade. The article proposes that if Türkiye, driven by its scientific pursuits in harmony with the ethos of the Antarctic Treaty, attains Consultative Party status alongside its growing influence, it could potentially make substantial contributions to strengthen and perpetuate the Antarctic Treaty System in line with its current understanding.

Strategie zarządzania kłopotliwym dziedzictwem kulturowym na Warmii i Mazurach

The article sets out to characterize two main strategies of dealing with the resources of dissonant cultural heritage located in Warmia and Mazury. This type of heritage includes any material or symbolic objects that arouse a sense of dissonance in the social consciousness of representatives of certain social groups. One of the strategies undertaken by regional social actors is described as the strategy of Polonization. The media of memory are filtered so that the story about the past and cultural specificity of the region created by such actors fits the ethnocentrically defined Polishness. The second strategy, called cultural succession, consists in the inclusion of all elements of the existing cultural heritage, regardless of their ethnic or political origin. Those implementing it are striving to create a multi-cultural region. The social actors implementing the above strategies are in conflict because they are playing a game of symbolic domination.

Budget Process and Execution: A Case Study on the Underperformance of the Peruvian Health System, 2000-2021.

Health system financing for emerging economies with aging populations and changing epidemiological profiles is an increasing challenge. Peru, as one of the countries with the highest economic growth in this century, provides a good example for analyzing the impact of the budgeting process and the budget execution on the performance of a health system. This article aims to answer how policies and processes are the root causes of the performance gap of the Peruvian health system. We used a case study methodology composed of 17 semistructured interviews with senior national and regional actors conducted between the end of 2021 and the beginning of 2022. Participants were selected with a combination of purposive, convenience, and snowball sampling until reaching saturation at 14 interviews. Participants' answers were grouped according to the topics explored, enabling comparisons and identification of themes. The responses revealed that 4 interconnected influences affect the Peruvian health system. Political instability affects the sustainable development of health policies. The fiscal cycle limits the public health expenditure to a low 3% of the gross domestic product. The budget cycle is based on the low motivation of the Ministry of Health (MOH) to establish a proper budgeting process. The execution cycle represents the results of chronic underinvestment with a lack of professionals, equipment, and data affecting the access to care expressed by a high out-of-pocket share in health expenditure. To escape these cycles, the MOH needs to be able to argue in economic terms for the prioritization of health, showing the economic rationale for investment in health. Taxes need to finance the additional investment within the available fiscal space. The rigidity of the budget law needs to be adapted, and a technical budget that is oriented to the current and future health priorities needs to be elaborated.

Central Asia: Region’s Potential and New Challenges

Traditionally, Central Asia is associated with a favorable geographical location and significant natural resources. These factors are of interests for the West, Russia, and China in the region. Meanwhile, the potential of Central Asian countries leaves many questions unanswered, as they face many regional challenges. The aim of the study is to identify the geopolitical and economic potential of the Central Asian countries, as well as to identify the challenges that the states have faced in recent years. A special attention is paid to the water and energy issue, which remains the most pressing problem for the whole region. In the conclusion, the author identified two of them: the persistence of economic difficulties in the development of Central Asian countries, which to a certain extent act as economic competitors, as well as the increased influence of extra- regional actors on the countries of the region.