State Visit Research Articles

Psychosocial Support: The New Challenge for Humanitarian Activity

The article examines humanitarian activities of the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta. Special attention is drawn to activities on psychological rehabilitation. It is mentioned that the years of 2018 and 2019 were important milestones in the relations between the Sovereign Military Order of Malta and Ukraine. In 2018, the states celebrated the 10th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations. In addition, in 2019, the governments of the two states concluded the first Agreement on Cooperation in the Facilitation of Humanitarian Activities of the Sovereign Order of Malta in Ukraine. It is stressed that the Sovereign Order of Malta has carried out its activities in Ukraine since 1991, providing assistance to the sick and needy, children and orphans, the most vulnerable social groups. In 2015, in the east of Ukraine, the Order started activities on psychological rehabilitation for almost 15,000 people. It is emphasised that psychological health has always been a matter of heightened concern in many countries. However, quantitative analysis and assessement of programmes for psychological health and psychosocial support are quite complex. One of the reasons is that psychological health remains a taboo. Since July 2015, under the auspices of Malteser Ukraine, a team of 80 specialists started its operation in the centres for psychological rehabilitation. These centres operate in different cities of Ukraine, providing free legal, psychological, and social support for internally displaced persons, while officials, social workers, and volunteers acquire knowledge and skills in psychological rehabilitation at trainings, workshops, and panel discussions. The article considers a state visit to the psychological rehabilitation center in Sloviansk in 2016. Three Ministers for Foreign Affairs visited it and shared their opinions with employees and participants of various rehabilitation programmes. The article concludes that this and many other directions of activities confirm the readiness of the Sovereign Order of Malta to improve humanitarian conditions in Ukraine by cooperating with central or local governmental agencies as well as with Ukrainian and international organisations. Key words: humanitarian activities, the Sovereign Order of Malta, psychological health, psychological rehabilitation centers, cooperation.

Intercultural Communication Strategies in Diplomatic Relations: A Case Study of Donald Trump’s First Visit to China

This paper explores the intercultural communication strategies adopted respectively by Chinese President Xi Jinping and United States’ President Donald Trump during the latter’s first state visit to China. Based on Hofstede’s theory of cultural dimensions and Hall’s theory of high-low context, the author makes an analysis of the strategies and concludes that high-low cultures will not constitute the barriers for communications between different countries with different cultures, and further points out that intercultural communication strategies in diplomatic relations, on the one hand, are embodiment of cultural dimensions, and on the other hand, are determined by leader personality, national strength and demand for interest.

Twitter diplomacy between India and the United States: Agenda-building analysis of tweets during presidential state visits

This analysis examines Twitter comments from the United States and India (N = 11,532) during reciprocal state visits by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Barack Obama. Results show the most retweets in both countries were generated from the White House and from The Times of India, reflecting agenda-building effects. The American comments had more individual sources and they were far more negative about Obama than about Modi, unlike the Indian comments. Discussion addresses implications for global public diplomacy and international effects of government agenda-building.

Paladines ideológicos con resonancia internacional: La prensa española y portuguesa ante el viaje de Franco a Portugal

El trabajo analiza la cobertura mediática realizada por ABC, Arriba, Diário de Notícias y Diário da Manhã del único viaje de Estado del general Franco al extranjero. Se desplazó al Portugal de Salazar en octubre de 1949 con la pretensión de mejorar su imagen y romper el aislamiento internacional. Prensa española y portuguesa, sometidas ambas a censura previa, contribuyeron al logro de este objetivo. La puesta en marcha de un análisis cuantitativo, cualitativo y comparativo ha permitido contrastar el comportamiento de estos diarios en función de su ámbito geográfico y del modelo de prensa privada u oficial que representan. Se ha comprobado la homogeneidad de sus discursos y de los leit motiv defendidos; la mayor cobertura que brindaron las cabeceras portuguesas y el papel de los diarios oficiales como auténtica prensa de combate ideológico.

Angola – President Lourenco Embarks On State Visits

Angola – President Lourenco Embarks On State Visits

Maura Lynch: fistula fighter and nun

When Maura Lynch entered the order of the Medical Missionaries of Mary two days before her 18th birthday, she was hoping to spend her life serving poor populations in Africa....

XIX СЪЕЗД КПК И ФАКТОР ТРАМПА В ПОЛИТИКЕ КИТАЯ

After the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Xi Jinping managed to consolidate political power at the highest level since Mao Zedong’s time. Xi achieved his personal goal of becoming the “No. 3 leader” in modern Chinese history, having managed without an open opposition in the CPC to make changes to the CPC Constitution and put his ideas on “socialism with Chinese characteristics in a new era” on the same level as the ideas of Mao and Deng Xiaoping and above the ideological contribution of his predecessors Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao. In addition, Xi was able almost entirely with the exception of Premier Li Keqiang to replace the PC members of the PCB of the Central Committee of the CPC without designating, in spite of the tradition established during the reforms, his successor. All members of the PC are at such an age that in five years they will overcome the age limit and will not be able to qualify for the post of General Secretary. At the same time, Xi introduced a number of new personnel to the BOP and the CC, including the “young” ones, born in the 1960s, who worked together with Xi at the provincial level. And also – almost completely got rid of the cadre heritage of Jiang and Hu. It seems that Xi has decided to “grow” a successor of the current 50-year-olds by organizing among them a kind of competition for the place, the arbiter of which will be Xi, for whom a new post is likely to be created after 2022. In the economy immediately after the congress and visit to China, D. Trump, it seems that work begins on the implementation of pre-Congress and congressional promises of Xi on financial liberalization. In mid-November 2017, the Chinese government announces plans to open the financial services market (insurance, investment activities, securities) for 3 to 5 years for foreign capital, giving it, ultimately, the right to own up to 100% of the property (instead of less 50% today) of joint and foreign corporations working in these sectors. The visit of D. Trump to China immediately after the end of the 19th Congress of the CPC was of a special nature for Peking. It was important to show that, as a strong leader, he is able to build new relations in the “new era” with the main, in the Chinese sense, world development actor – the US, and move from the previous phase of the deterioration of bilateral relations to a new one – their improvement. In China, the Summit was given a special character, underlining its “State visit plus ...”. Against the backdrop of the Summit, Chinese analysts say privately that relations with the United States today are more important for China than for Russia.&nbsp

Improving interactive reinforcement learning: What makes a good teacher?

ABSTRACTInteractive reinforcement learning (IRL) has become an important apprenticeship approach to speed up convergence in classic reinforcement learning (RL) problems. In this regard, a variant of IRL is policy shaping which uses a parent-like trainer to propose the next action to be performed and by doing so reduces the search space by advice. On some occasions, the trainer may be another artificial agent which in turn was trained using RL methods to afterward becoming an advisor for other learner-agents. In this work, we analyse internal representations and characteristics of artificial agents to determine which agent may outperform others to become a better trainer-agent. Using a polymath agent, as compared to a specialist agent, an advisor leads to a larger reward and faster convergence of the reward signal and also to a more stable behaviour in terms of the state visit frequency of the learner-agents. Moreover, we analyse system interaction parameters in order to determine how influential they are in the apprenticeship process, where the consistency of feedback is much more relevant when dealing with different learner obedience parameters.

Exploring Post-Colonial Leadership Crisis in Africa: A Linguistic Stylistic Analysis of Osundare’s The State Visit and Two Plays

SummaryThe colonial experience in most African states alongside the attendant merger of nation-states based on administrative convenience precipitated the urgency for sustained positive leadership. However, the constant punctuations of civil democratic rule by military juntas forestalled the change envisaged by most African countries upon independence. Niyi Osundare is one of the most vocal literary activists from Nigeria whose writings, in reflecting the literary writer’s social responsibility role, have documented and emphasised the paucity of quality leadership in Nigeria, nay the African continent. The present study is a linguistic stylistic analysis of The State Visit, a satirical drama on military encroachment into governance and Two Plays, a social commentary on the effects on leadership crisis on the masses. Emphasis is on lexico-semantics in the (re)presentation of the leadership lacuna in the texts. Culture-specific expressions, neologisms, lexical sense relations, collocational deviations and word range were established stylistic tools found to be preeminent in showcasing the post-colonial leadership rut in which African nations are bespattered.

Explaining the 2014 Sino–Russian Gas Breakthrough: The Primacy of Domestic Politics

On 21 May 2014, during a state visit by President Vladimir Putin to Beijing, China and Russia signed a $400 billion, 30-year gas deal. Under this agreement, China will import 38 billion cubic metres of natural gas from Russia’s Gazprom, beginning in 2018. Why, after 15 years of stalemated negotiations, did this breakthrough occur in 2014? Why did a natural, symbiotic gas relationship not develop earlier and more gradually? Most studies explain this by looking at Russia’s international isolation post Ukraine. Based on interviews with both Chinese and Russian officials this article argues the following: domestic incentives, rather than foreign-policy pressures, are the real force behind the timing of Sino–Russian energy breakthroughs in 2014.

Migrant Reading

Migrant Reading Thomas Docherty (bio) 1 In February 1835, the eminent English politician and historian, Thomas Babington Macaulay, wrote his famous "Minute" on the proposed educational arrangements for the people of India, where he served as a Member of Council. The British East India Company's charter had been renewed two years previously, in 1833. The regulations governing charter renewal stipulated that the East India Company must engage in educational activities; and, ever since the charter renewal of 1813, a sum of one Lakh (100,000 rupees) had been provided "for the revival and promotion of literature" (Macaulay 1835, 2). For Macaulay, this had to be specifically English literature, and it had to be advanced through the medium of the English language, the language that "is the best worth knowing" (9). Despite acknowledging complete ignorance of both Arabic and Sanskrit, Macaulay insists that there is not a single orientalist "who could deny that a single shelf of a good European library was worth the whole native literature of India and Arabia," given the "intrinsic superiority of the Western literature" (1835, 10). This "superiority," casually asserted, is both moral and metaphysical, for English literature abounds with works of imagination … with models of every species of eloquence,—with historical composition, which, considered [End Page 839] merely as narratives … have never been equaled—with just and lively representations of human life and human nature,—with the most profound speculations on metaphysics, morals, government, jurisprudence, trade,—with full and correct information respecting every experimental science which tends to preserve the health, or increase the comfort, or to expand the intellect of man. (Macaulay 1835, 12) As Gauri Viswanathan has pointed out, there is a deep irony in the fact that "English literature appeared as a subject in the curriculum of the colonies long before it was institutionalized in the home country" (1989, 3). "English literature," as an institutional form, is, indeed, inaugurated "across continents." Further, it owes a good deal of its intrinsic impetus to the demands of capital within the context of global political power. As Macaulay argued, since "English is the language spoken by the ruling class" in India, "it is likely to become the language of commerce throughout the seas of the East" (1835, 12). This all shows that the status of "English literature" is determined by politics, and explicitly by what we can call "the government of the tongue" (Heaney 1988, passim). Speaking occurs, as it were, only within governing conditions, under governance. This is so even in minimal conditions whereby our "first" language is that which is conventionally spoken around us and in which we willingly engage, or that which is "imposed" upon us, either contingently or by political design. 2 Such governance—and such imperialism—can be broken, however. Two notable occasions will advance the argument here. Speaking in Berlin on June 26, 1963, John F. Kennedy (JFK), then-US President, famously stated that "Two thousand years ago, the proudest boast was 'civis romanus sum.'" He then uttered the phrase for which the speech became known, saying "Today, in the world of freedom, the proudest boast is 'Ich bin ein Berliner'"; adding "I appreciate my interpreter translating my German." In this, JFK explicitly acknowledges his linguistic imprecision and, in doing so, places German and American on an equal and democratic footing with each other. He also indicates that the days of empire—specifically that of Rome—may no longer pertain in the same way as they once did; the implicit political sub-text and claim is that "empire" is replaced by "freedom." The words establish the political identification of the [End Page 840] United States with Germany (and specifically Berlin) as the locus of freedom and democracy, set against an encircling but outdated Communist imperialism. It is intended to signal a gesture of friendship, not of expansion of US interests (the real politics behind the rhetoric differs, of course). The United Kingdom's head of state made a similar gesture in an address given on the occasion of her State Visit to Ireland, hosted by President Mary MacAleese, on May 18, 2011. This was the first such visit by a British monarch for a hundred years, the only...

The Role of Queen Margrethe II in the Soviet-Danish and Russian-Danish relations

The theory of political leadership includes different approaches to the analysis of head of state as an actor of foreign policy. Mostly, heads of state as political leaders are described as possessing charismatic traits of character and capable of having a dramatic influence on internal and external affairs of the country. However, a question can be raised whether the theory of political leadership is applicable to the analysis of head of state activities in limited monarchies. In parliamentary monarchies, head of state powers are de-jure brought to a minimum. The aim of this research is to define the role of Queen Margrethe II as a head of state in a constitutional monarchy in international processes during the turbulent times of the Soviet-Danish and Russian-Danish relations. In accordance with the Constitutional Act of the Kingdom of Denmark, Queen Margrethe II is the executive head of the nation, i. e. by signing all governmental acts, she nominally determines the foreign policy of the Kingdom. However, in several specific situations, connected, for instance, with dynastic issues or peace maintenance, the Queen is ready to contravene the approved course of action. Shortly before the conclusion of the Helsinki Accords in 1975, Queen Margrethe II made her state visit to the USSR which has had a great impact on the bilateral relations. Not without interest is the Queen’s willpower to conduct the ceremonies connected with the reburial of the remains of Empress Maria Feodorovna in St. Petersburg. Finally, we have made two conclusions. Firstly, a head of state in parliamentary monarchies, who mostly undertakes ceremonial duties, can influence contentious bilateral relationships while being an “ambassador for peace”, strengthening friendly ties in all areas of cooperation. Secondly, a head of state in limited monarchies is able to conduct his or her own foreign policy course, which will contravene with the policies of the Government if issues important for the monarch are concerned.

Methods, Making, and West African Influences in the Work of Fatimah Tuggar

Methods, Making, and West African Influences in the Work of Fatimah Tuggar

Resources for China–ASEAN Relations

Resources for China–ASEAN Relations Juan Chen (bio) As a research institute based in Singapore, the EAI monitors developments in relations and interactions between China and the individual countries of Southeast Asia as well as the ASEAN grouping as a whole. This material is presented in the form of (i) a chronology of events and (ii) important documents. —the Editors CHINA–ASEAN RELATIONS JULY 2017 TO SEPTEMBER 2017: CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS JULY 2017 3rd–4th The Third East Asia Summit Clean Energy Forum, jointly organised by the Chinese National Energy Administration and the ASEAN Centre for Energy (ACE), takes place in Kunming, China. At the event, ACE signs a memorandum of understanding with the China Renewable Energy Engineering Institute (CREEI). Both parties agree on long-term strategic cooperation, and launch the “China–ASEAN Clean Energy Capacity Building Programme” that is expected to produce 100 experts on clean energy in the next 10 years. Both sides also launch a joint report, the ASEAN Power Cooperation Report, on electricity development in the region. 6th Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong ahead of the G20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany. Xi points out that both countries enjoy traditional friendship and fruitful cooperation, which progress over time and feature mutual learning. Lee affirms Singapore’s willingness to actively participate in the “Belt and Road” construction, implement inter-governmental projects and expand bilateral cooperation in finance, a high-speed rail project and establishment of a free trade zone. [End Page 204] 20th The Sixth ASEAN Plus Three Ministerial Meeting on Youth is held in Jakarta, Indonesia. The meeting reiterates the commitment to cooperate in five priority areas put forth in the ASEAN Work Plan on Youth 2016–2020, namely youth entrepreneurship, youth employability, enhanced appreciation of the ASEAN Community, youth volunteerism and leadership, and youth resilience and competencies in advanced technological and managerial skills. 24th Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visits Thailand, and meets with Thailand Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai. Wangi applauds the China–Thailand Railway project as an example of mutually beneficial cooperation, which will promote Thailand’s quest to become a hub of regional connectivity. Prayut expresses hope for integration of Thailand’s 4.0 Development Plan with the “Made in China 2025” plan, and welcomes Chinese enterprises to participate in the construction of Thailand’s Eastern Economic Corridor. Wang also extends an invitation to King Maha Vajiralongkorn for a state visit to China. 25th Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visits the Philippines, and meets with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano. Wang affirms China’s support for the Philippines on five aspects: (i) the Philippines’ pursuit of independent foreign policy; (ii) the fight against drug crimes and terrorism; (iii) Duterte’s choice of a friendly and cooperative policy towards China; (iv) the Philippines’ efforts in fulfilling duties as the rotating presidency of ASEAN; and (v) the joint effort with ASEAN countries in safeguarding peace and stability in the South China Sea. Cayetano indicates willingness to further coordinate with China on the South China Sea issue, and to discuss and implement China’s idea of joint exploitation. After the meeting, the ministers jointly sign the memorandum of understanding on cooperation between China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs. The Third Meeting of the ASEAN-China Connectivity Committee is held in Jakarta, Indonesia, and is co-chaired by Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce Qian Keming and Elizabeth Buensuceso, permanent representative of the Philippines to ASEAN and rotating chair of the ASEAN Connectivity Coordinating Committee. Both sides agree to align China’s Belt and Road Initiative with the General Plan of ASEAN Connectivity 2025, and discuss cooperation in priority areas. 28th The 10th China–ASEAN Education Cooperation Week takes place in Guiyang, Guizhou province. Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong delivers a keynote speech at the opening ceremony. Liu also meets with Lao [End Page 205] Deputy Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone who is attending the event. During the week, various events including seminars, principals’ forum, education services summit, hiking and football games are held. AUGUST 2017 6th Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi attends the...

Postcolonial Roadways

Jamaica gained her independence from Britain in 1962, after 152 years of Spanish colonialism and 307 years of British colonial rule. The first independence government had to tackle the legacies of colonialism, which included more than 300 years of slavery. But the emerging political and economic elites almost immediately ran into a crisis in their approach to tackling these legacies in pursuit of development. This crisis expressed itself in several ways, and four are highlighted in a photo exhibition: the Coral Gardens Incident of 1963; the government bulldozing of Back-a-Wall and Shanty Town from 1963 to 1966; the 1966 state visit of Haile Selassie; and the riots spawned in 1968 by the government expulsion of University of the West Indies lecturer Walter Rodney. This crisis arose from a clash of paths of development—a largely neocolonial one that marginalized the epistemic, ontological, and agential compass of the black majority, and the other, the opposite.

China–ASEAN Relations April 2017 to June 2017: Chronology of Events

China–ASEAN Relations April 2017 to June 2017: Chronology of Events Juan Chen (bio) As a research institute based in Singapore, the EAI monitors developments in relations and interactions between China and the individual countries of Southeast Asia as well as the ASEAN grouping as a whole. This material is presented in the form of (i) a chronology of events and (ii) important documents. —the Editors APRIL 2017 10th Chinese President Xi Jinping holds talks with Myanmar President U Htin Kyaw, who is on a six-day state visit to China from 6 to 11 April at the invitation of Xi. The leaders issue a joint press communique that agrees to make use of the China–Myanmar Diplomacy and Defense “2+2” Consultation to jointly safeguard security, the rule of law, peace and stability in border areas. Both sides sign nine cooperative documents covering economy, technology, medical care, sports, transportation, forestry, cultural relics and other areas. According to Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin, one of the collaborations is on a crude oil pipeline that would stretch from Kyaukpyu port in Myanmar to Kunming city in Yunnan province, and the other is on the development of an industrial park and a deep-sea port in the Kyaukpyu Special Economic Zone. The 18th Meeting of the ASEAN–China Joint Cooperation Committee is held in Jakarta and co-chaired by Permanent Representative of Singapore to ASEAN Tan Hung Seng and Chinese Ambassador to ASEAN Xu Bu. The meeting highlights the significant progress of cooperation in achieving US$1 trillion in ASEAN–China total trade target by 2020, and in the launch of ASEAN–China Year of Tourism Cooperation in March. ASEAN also recognises China’s contribution to ASEAN’s community-building by supporting activities and projects through the ASEAN–China Cooperation Fund. Both sides have reaffirmed commitment to improve the implementation process of projects and to advance cooperation in the coming years. 13th–16th The 2017 China–ASEAN Expo Culture Exhibition, organised by China–ASEAN Expo Secretariat, is held in Nanning, Guangxi. The event aims to promote exchanges and foster mutual understanding among ASEAN youths through theatrical performances and art. 17th The 10th Meeting of the China–Vietnam Steering Committee for Bilateral Cooperation is held in Beijing and co-chaired by Chinese State Councillor Yang Jiechi and Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh. Both sides agree to enhance high-level exchanges, and advance cooperation in areas such as joint construction of the “Belt and Road” and the “Two Corridors and One Ring”. Pham also points out the need to push negotiation mechanisms for border and territorial issues, and to re-sign their bilateral cooperation protocol. 19th Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin meet separately with visiting National Security Advisor U Thaung Tun of Myanmar. Both sides exchange views on international and regional issues of common concern. During the process, U Thaung Tun expresses willingness to work with China to strengthen cooperation and safeguard the stability in the Myanmar–China border area. 27th Chinese State Councillor Yang Jiechi and Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Hor Nam Hong co-chair the Fourth Meeting of China- Cambodia Intergovernmental Coordination Committee, held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Both sides agree to elevate their comprehensive strategic partnership of cooperation to new highs, and to strengthen collaboration in fields such as production capacity, transportation, communication, agriculture and water conservancy. They also pledge to expand bilateral trade to US$5 billion by year end. 28th King Norodom Sihamoni and Prime Minister Hun Sen of Cambodia meet with Chinese State Councillor Yang Jiechi, who is in Phnom Penh to chair the Fourth Meeting of China–Cambodia Intergovernmental Coordination Committee. Yang says that China is ready to speed up the integration of the Belt and Road initiative and Cambodia’s development strategies. He also expresses support for Chinese enterprises to contribute to the Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone, participate in connectivity projects and create new areas of mutually beneficial cooperation. Hun Sen describes the two countries as having unbreakable political mutual trust, and expresses his hope to elevate bilateral relations to new heights ahead of his imminent visit to China in mid May to attend...

INDONESIA AND THE TRANS-PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT (TPPA): THE LUXURY OF TIME

This Presentation examines Indonesia’s recent declaration to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPPA), as announced by President Widodo during a State visit to the United States in October 2015, and his subsequent announcement that this accession would occur within two years. The Presentation explores both the implications for Indonesia of TPPA membership as well as the likelihood of achieving the President’s two-year aspiration. It focuses on one of the more controversial elements of the TPPA, namely, the inclusion of Investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) provisions, particularly in light of former President Yudhoyono’s 2014 determination to terminate all its bilateral investment treaties with ISDS provisions. In joining the TPPA, Indonesia commits to its ISDS provisions, likely without carve-outs or reservations. The change may perhaps be driven by a perceived imperative to open up Indonesian economy to greater international investment, and to compete with other growing ASEAN economies. However, the future of the TPPA is not necessarily assured, with the U.S. Presidential election and U.S. domestic politics having a major impact on its future status, or even very existence. President Obama considers it a key element of his Presidential legacy, and has Congressional agreement for a “fast-track” vote, but both Presidential candidates, as well as members of both parties in Congress, have at times soundly criticised or even rejected the TPPA. It appears increasingly unlikely that he will succeed in achieving ratification as he enters his Presidency’s “lame duck” period. The Presentation also examines the implications for Indonesia and for the TPPA if the United States unduly delays or even rejects its own domestic ratification of the TPPA.

Thieves like us: the British monarchy, celebrity, and settler colonialism

ABSTRACTThis article considers how the treatment of the British Royal Family as celebrities simultaneously maintains and displaces the white diasporic ties between Commonwealth settler nations. The media production and consumption of the House of Windsor in terms of celebrity culture is a crucial way in which the British monarchy is legitimised as an important part of civil and public life in settler countries such as Australia and New Zealand. This article focuses on print news reporting of two state visits by Prince William to Australia and New Zealand in 2010 and 2011. As part of this reporting, I examine the mediation of protocols of sovereign welcome and recognition by and for the Royal Family and Gadigal and Māori peoples in terms of their contribution to a civic polity that normalises settler durability. Although Royal visits are enabled by white diasporic links between settler countries and the United Kingdom, I argue that media tropes of celebrity aura and divine charisma function to ex-nominate whiteness and race from media reporting on the British Royal Family. The celebritisation of constitutional monarchy has the effect of obscuring the racial and religious power that authorises constitutional monarchy as well as these states’ settler colonial histories.

The impact of Africa‐China's diplomatic visits on bilateral trade

AbstractThis article documents that African leaders’ state visits to China could stimulate China's exports to Africa in capital intensive manufacturing goods. We further find that state visits significantly increase official aid and exports by state‐owned enterprises to African countries which contribute to the trade growth after state visits.

ТРИ ОПОРЫ РОССИЙСКО-ПОРТУГАЛЬСКИХ ОТНОШЕНИЙ

Russia and Portugal established diplomatic relations in the last quarter of the 18th century. Since that time, they experienced natural periods of rise and fall. Russia and Portugal are not comparable on many parameters: size of territory, population and workforce, the volume of economy, etc. In its turn, the Portuguese nation also can boast of considerable achievements. Political or ideological considerations have always dominated in bilateral relations, which for a long time have prevented building cooperation in accordance with strategic interests. The membership of Portugal in NATO and accession to the European Communities in 1986 obliged Lisbon to form its relations with Moscow in line with overall negotiation processes of these international associations and with an eye on the partners’ position. In certain periods, this fact made it difficult to engage in a constructive dialogue, forcing both sides to see each other through the prism of global confrontation between two hostile social and political systems. At the same time, there has never been acute, intractable disagreements or open conflicts between the two countries. High-level visits and the ruling elites’ interest degree were of great importance for the development of the bilateral relations. In this respect, the period of 1990s and 2000s belonged to the most fruitful. The legal base of cooperation was expanded, important treaties were signed, an exchange of the heads of state visits took place during this time. However, in the following years of the global financial and economic crisis, the Russia–Portugal political relations stalled, later hampered by the consequences of the Ukrainian crisis and the sanctions war. Largely due to the change of political power in Portugal in 2015, contacts between Moscow and Lisbon have a chance to restart. The current government and the President hold a more flexible position towards Russia, seek new opportunities for development of a mutually beneficial dialogue. However, even the years of political difficulties did not stop cooperation in trade, tourism and culture. These areas have become the three pillars for resumption of the dialogue today.