War Conflict Research Articles

What a Cold War crisis over Taiwan could tell us about China-Russia relations today

ABSTRACT The crisis today in Ukraine between Russia and the West has uncanny parallels to an often-overlooked Cold War conflict between China, the Soviet Union, and the United States known as “The Taiwan Straits Crisis of 1958” or “The Second Taiwan Straits Crisis” – which some analysts have referred to as the first serious nuclear crisis. In addition to worries about nuclear escalation, there are other similarities: Russia and China viewed themselves, then and now, as exceptional nations, superior to a decadent, materialist America thought to be in decline – but still carrying dangerous military clout. Faced with a strong West, the leaders of China and Russia in the 1950s tried to present a united, Sino-Russian public front, even if their two countries were fundamentally split over the issues that led to the Taiwan Straits Crisis. If the past is any guide, then despite economic pressure from the United States and the loss of international reputation, China is unlikely to ever join the US-led sanctions against Russia. As the conflict deepens, both dictators’ assessments of the strength and intentions of the United States might begin to diverge, opening a way for their rivals to drive a wedge between them.

MATHEMATICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE SEA PORTS THROUGHPUT ASSESSMENT

The sea transportation system, which in turn forms the basis of the global trade system, has been developing during the whole history of human civilization. The abrupt leaps in this steady development were caused both by the changes of technological paradigms (e. g. by the shift from sail to steam, appearance of steel framing and hull shells, containerization, digitalization etc.) and social reasons (abandon of the acceptable losses strategy after world wars, end of cold war, relaxation of the international tension and war conflicts etc.). Unfortunately, the social factors can not only push forward the development, but also have destructive character, manifesting themselves as crises of different scales and natures. The complexity and the scope of the global transportation system that has developed by the XXI century have already shown the tendency to kaleidoscopic changing of its states under small shocks. In full scale this sensitivity has developed after COVID-19 and Ukraine affairs. It seems unreal to expect not only quick revival of the collapsed world system of sea and land transportation, but even preservation of its structure. Consequently, the key elements of the transport infrastructure, i. e. sea port, found themselves in a very serious situation. Major ports have faced a problem of cargo flows deterioration and relevant redundancy of their capacity; minor ports have discovered the opposite problem, namely, the residual cargo flows squeezed on the periphery of business areal turned out to be too large for the existing facilities and resources. In both cases the changes in external commercial environment and relevant route patterns set for the ports a task of finding a new balance between potential cargo flows and existing resources. A decision of this problem by the methods of mixed integer linear programming is described in the paper.

Social cohesion and intercultural studies in the educational community

The article shows the important role of social cohesion as a social phenomenon, its impact on the development of society and intercultural communication. The social role of trust, in particular, in the development of social cohesion, is also shown. Social cohesion acquires acute relevance and importance in the current time of social transformations, as cohesion allows communities overcome various fluctuations and changes. The social cohesion as complex social phenomenon has been analyzed in the focus of intercultural studies. The aim of the research was to investigate the important spheres of social cohesion related to intercultural communication in the educational community, in particular, in the university community of National Pedagogical Dragomanov University. The research conducted several times, including the crisis states of society – pan-demic and war conflict in Ukraine. This research continues social cohesion studies, which are conducted in the National Pedagogical Dragomanov University since 2016, and demonstrates one of the current stages. The methodological tool is an adaptation of the "Social Cohesion Radar" model at the university community level. The study is based on primary data from the author's questionnaire. The important role of social cohesion, trust and values in intercultural communication is demonstrated.

THE ROLE OF YOUTH IN THE WORLD’S DEVELOPMENT AND POST-WAR REHABILITATION PROGRAMS IN UKRAINE

The article contains results of the scientific study of the research in several post-war and post-conflicts countries performed by an international team. It is devoted to the generalization of the youth policy experience in terms of solutions to economic and social problems provoked by war conflicts. Adolescents and youth, as a subject of study, in such a post-war situation are considered as important agents and actors in this process. Many young people are not only among the most vulnerable groups affected by armed conflict, poverty, unemployment, they are also the generation that will reach adulthood during the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030 Agenda. In addition to the sustainable development goals, policymakers must not neglect to prioritize the needs of young people and make room for them to carry the next development agenda forward. Young people should be involved in all aspects of the process. Only through meaningful representation by and collaboration with youth will it be possible to move away from an entrenched mindset of delivering basic services to youth towards an approach that empowers young people and enables them to realize their potential with special attention to the conditions of countries that suffered from the armed conflicts. The article offers a number of recommendations on improvement and development of the youth policy in Ukraine as a country that was subjected to a brutal attack by the russian army, an occupation of part of its territory, destruction of the economic and social infrastructure, emergence of a large number of refugees and internally displaced persons, primarily those young and economically active. This paper is addressed to demographers, economists, sociologists and experts in state administration and social policy.

Georg Lukács and the World Literature of Socialist Realism: A Case Study of Cold War Cultural Conflict

Georg Lukács and the World Literature of Socialist Realism:A Case Study of Cold War Cultural Conflict Nicole G. Burgoyne (bio) In this study of Georg Lukács (1885–1971), I will explore how Lukács was an agent of World Literature in the sense that his literary criticism informed political policy concerning the formation of an international canon of Socialist Realist literature. As the German-speaking community of Communists and Communist ideas became ever more fractured after World War Two and divided across the Iron Curtain, Lukács's writing was alternately published and promoted in either the East or the West Bloc according to the conceptions of world literature operative in each. Lukács is representative of the trans-national ties that persisted from an earlier imperial era, but also essential to understanding the struggle to claim the legacy of Marxism amidst the cultural conflicts of the Cold War. This article focuses on Lukács's German-language publications and their reception in East and West Germany in order to show that Lukács mediated not only literary publications written in several languages, but also the cultural and political contexts of the two Blocs. As examples of Lukács's Socialist Realist mode of reading, I have chosen two extremes, that is, authors at the periphery of what was generally deemed to be acceptable Socialist Realism. Within the context of the East Bloc's rejection of literary Modernism and insistence on the tenets of Socialist Realism, Lukács's continued engagement throughout the entirety of his career with Thomas Mann requires explication. Similarly, his outspoken support of [End Page 305] the writings of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn has been largely overlooked. These two authors are extremely different in their subject matter and social criticism and the fact that Lukács wrote approvingly of both shows the breadth of his conception of Socialist Realism in ways that were not acceptable to other prominent cultural critics within the East Bloc. By explicating Lukács's engagement with these authors I demonstrate that this key figure in defining the canon of Socialism Realism delineated a World Literature that included Thomas Mann and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, authors most frequently and reasonably claimed by the West Bloc. As I will demonstrate, Lukács argued for these authors' place in his canon of World Literature. Lukács is the philosopher and literary theorist most often ascribed the role of establishing the criteria of Socialist Realist literature in the German Democratic Republic (GDR or East Germany). As Wolfgang Emmerich writes in his touchstone literary history of the GDR, Lukács held a monopoly in terms of defining the literary theory of Socialist Realism until 1956 (12).1 Lukacs's literary criticism created a set of prescriptive criteria according to which books that were officially published within the borders of the country were evaluated even after 1956. In East Germany an interlocking system of government offices and state-owned publishing houses enacted censorship through a licensing process that developed after the Soviet military authority ceded control when it officially withdrew after the Second World War. The GDR's censorship process entailed demanding changes of works in progress, refusing to print manuscripts outright (and sometimes suggesting they be destroyed), as well as confiscating published material that had not been approved by political authorities.2 Additionally, the national university system educated and credentialed all those who aspired to join the intellectual labor force that managed East Germany's cultural sphere, and here too the tenets of Socialist Realism were required doctrine and Lukács's ideas grounded this doctrine even after his name was no longer cited.3 In many ways then, Lukács might appear to embody the official criteria that constrained East German literature. Such a view of Georg Lukács's literary critical oeuvre suffers from a failure to contextualize it historically. Most importantly, Lukács's numerous outright reversals of opinion have been dismissed as political opportunism.4 Criticism of Lukács's support of Stalinism is well-founded, as is the understanding that Lukács often served as a mouthpiece of the Soviet [End Page 306] Communist Party. Beyond elaborating on the Party's official...

The Sustainability of International Trade: The Impact of Ongoing Military Conflicts, Infrastructure, Common Language, and Economic Wellbeing in Post-Soviet Region

The sustainability of international trade is subject to immense pressure. Apart from obstructed logistics, disruption of production chains and changes in demand, the sustainability of international trade is heavily affected by the sanctions caused by the Russia–Ukraine conflict. This paper studies the factors predicting sustainable international trade in the post-Soviet region. We hypothesize that ongoing conflicts, infrastructure, language integration, geographical proximity, common border, and economic wellbeing significantly impact international trade. Methodologically we rely on linear and hierarchical regressions estimating a set of gravitation models (N = 15 countries—104 trading pairs; 2010–2020). The results suggest that Russian as a primary language and the average density of road networks positively predict bilateral trade volume. The geographical distance, infrastructure differences, military conflicts, and, surprisingly, the pair-average GDP per capita diminish bilateral trade. Countries’ GDP mediates the effect of GDP per capita. The results are robust over time. The results present an important insight into sustainable international trade within the region affected by the numerous military conflicts in the past and the war conflict between Russia and Ukraine nowadays. The rebuilding of Ukrainian transport infrastructure is one of the essential measures from the country’s point of view and a factor supporting internationally sustainable food supply.

The position of women in Corfu as demonstrated in the notarial registers during the last century of the Venetian period

The economic changes that took place in Europe, along with other factors such as the reduction of the male population due to war conflicts, created the right conditions for the emergence of women's activity. The position of women, although still subject to certain restrictions, improved considerably. Women are now presented as self-reliant in numerous contracts of an economic nature. Apart from this, they gradually seem to carry out other types of activities, such as artistic activities, engaging in charity, and intellectual cultivation.

Adjudicating Competing Theories: Does Civilian Control Over the Military Decrease Conflict?

What explains variation in the propensity for conflict involvement and initiation among states? In the study of international security, a debate remains between those who argue stronger civilian control of the military lowers the likelihood of interstate conflict, and those who argue that states with stronger civilian control over the military will be more conflict-prone. This article adjudicates between these competing theories through the use of a newly published measure of civilian control over the military. The theory is tested via Poisson regression using a large-N country-year data set. Ultimately, the results support theories of military restraint, showing that states with stronger civilian control over the military are more conflict-prone than states with weaker civilian control of the military. The article contributes to our understanding of war and interstate conflict and the study of civil–military relations by showing that increased civilian control increases the likelihood of interstate conflict.

The Rise of the Nostalgic Spy Thriller: Globalizing the Neo-Cold War Narrative of Totalitarian State Socialism in the TV Series Deutschland (2015–2020)

ABSTRACT This article examines the portrayal of German Democratic Republic (GDR) socialism in the TV series Deutschland, the first foreign-language show to premiere on a U.S. network. Paving the way for the globalization of Germany’s TV industry, the series exemplifies the rise of the nostalgic spy thriller. It employs the aesthetic and ideological codes of a genre rooted in the 1960s to evoke the time period and ideological certainties of the Cold War from a contemporary perspective. Deutschland focuses on the Stasi’s division of counterintelligence to portray the GDR as a totalitarian regime, run by corrupt elites, which subjugated its population and supported terrorism and illegal arms trading. The series employs the conventions of “historical event TV” and re-created historical settings to claim veracity and authenticity for plotlines that invoke sensationalized coverage of Cold War conflicts and distorted allegations against the GDR. Deutschland dismisses GDR efforts to create and globalize an alternative system, based on principles of anti-imperialist solidarity with the global South, and caricatures postsocialist nostalgia as an elite sentiment for the re-creation of totalitarianism. The series contributes to neo-Cold War imageries that evoke a past of Western superiority over European state socialism, which has little to offer to a future post-neoliberal world.

Inequalities and Asymmetries in the Development of Angola’s Provinces: The Impact of Colonialism and Civil War

Angola, as with many countries on the African continent, has great inequalities or asymmetries between its provinces. At the economic, financial, and technological level, there is a great disparity between them, where it is observed that the province of Luanda is the largest financial business center to the detriment of others, such as Moxico, Zaire, and Cabinda. In the latter, despite the advantages of high oil production, from a regional point of view, they remain almost stagnant in time, in a social dysfunction where the population lives on extractivism and artisanal fishing. This article analyzes the most important events in contemporary regional history, the Portuguese occupation that was the Portuguese colonial rule over Angola (1890–1930) and the civil war that was a struggle between Angolans for control of the country (1975–2002), in the consolidation of the asymmetries between provinces. For this work, a theoretical-reflective study was conducted based on the reading of books, articles, and previous investigations on the phenomenon studied. Considering the interpretation and analysis of the theoretical content obtained through the bibliographic research conducted, this theoretical construction approaches the qualitative approach. We conclude that the deep inequalities between regions and within them, between the provinces studied, originated historically in the form of exploitation of the regions and from the consequences of the war. The asymmetries, observed through the variables studied show that the provinces historically explored and considered object regions present a lower growth compared to those that were considered subject regions in which the applied geopolitical strategy, as they are centers of primary production flows, was different. We also observe that, due to the conflicts of the civil war in the less developed regions, the inequalities have deepened, contributing seriously to a higher level of poverty and a lower development of the provinces where these conflicts took place.

Call for Socioeconomic and Health Infrastructure Rehabilitation after Pandemics and armed Conflicts - an ultimate wake up Call for the International Community?

This current issue of Clinical Social Work and Health Intervention (CSW, 1-5) summarizes the three last issues focused on two devastating events. 1st – the two year pandemics of coronavirus infection originated from Hongkong 2003; via Abu Dhabi 2012; Busan 2017; Wuchan 2019 via Italy, France and large airports and sports/ cultural events to Central and Eastern Europe. 2nd – three war conflicts, two of them in Europe, or very close to the EU: first in 2012-2020 in Yemen due to airstries and infrastructure bombing of Taizz, Sanaa and Hodeida; second in Karabakh, Stepanakert Region by shelling from Azerbajjjan; third in Ukraine after bombing and still permanent shelling from Russian and Russia-satellite allies to Ukraine. We have to face the part played by devastating infrastructure destruction of hospitals schools, socio-economic and industrial damage to health and sanitary with consequences such as has been noted after an earthquake in Haiti and war in Rwanda and DRC. Currently, unfortunately, dealing with destroyed urban infrastructure in Mariopil and other towns, such as cholera outbreaks and Covid 19 resurgence results in massive a flow of refugees of war - a classic example of how socio-economic tragedy is followed by large health catastrophe. The EU is prepared for country rehabilitation including healthcare and educational support. The ultimate condition however is the immediate stopping of armed activities especially bombing and shelling of the water supplies and sanitary infrastructure.

Social Work and Health Intervention in the Karabakh Region of Armenia during the War in 2019

War conflict between two of three Caucasian Republics, in and to Upper Karabakh as a part interest of at least two countries, acquired during the civil war years ago, has led to substantial numbers of refugees and migrants from Karabakh to Armenia. The spectrum of acute humanitarian help is analyzed.

Destruction of Socio-economic, Educational and Health Infrastructure including Pipelines may lead to Cholera Outbreaks in Mariupol and other Damaged Towns in Ukraine

Cholera always accompanies huge displacements due to war conflicts and natural anthropogenic disasters such as volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, tsunamis, etc. The aim of this review is to assess the risk of cholera outbreaks and other waterborne public health related threats due to disrupted water pipelines and supplies due to armed conflicts in Ukraine last spring/summer.

Weakness Period in Food Assistance as Part of Social Work for Ukrainian Migrants of War Conflicts

Food supplies are leading priorities during reception and first contact with all refugees of war. The aim of the study was to longitudinally document the clients flow in a food and clothing center at SEUC in Bratislava, serving clients sent from various checkpoints between Ukraine, Slovakia and Poland.

What is to be done? In the age of ignorance

This paper is dedicated to the issue of collective guilt and the interconnection between theoretical political thinking and ethically grounded political action, collective guilt, and personal responsibility. It assumes that facing political events in a form of media representation (such as with the war conflict in Ukraine), we mostly deal with simulacra, which affects and creates passive shock content consumption instead of active participation. The interconnection between irrational and rational ways of interpretation of political conflict is shown together with the attempt to rethink the social responsibility of nowadays, switching the prospective from synchronic to diachronic dimensions. Instead of producing descriptions that multiply monstrous zombie/victims-blaming apocalyptic discourse or subconsciously continuing to symbolically support “fratricide”, it is proposed to think about the legacy for future generations and see the moral dimension of politics in terms of “adults’ responsibility for children” as each one’s personal responsibility issue. Acting “as if you would wish all children on Earth to grow in safety and deserve a happy life no matter where (s)he would be born, as if it were a universal law” – this is proposed as an ethical-political common-sense formula, based on potential equality and global interconnection, maturity, and care – which could lead to a common goal of overcoming starvation, wars, sufferings, and catastrophes.

Actual criminal law problems of war and peace (view from military Kharkiv)

The article examines actual criminal law problems of war and peace on the basis of the Criminal Code of Ukraine and related international law and taking into account the immediate sense of the features of modern war, which is still ongoing in Ukraine.
 Emphasis is placed on the fact that the concept of war needs to be defined in international and national criminal law as reflecting the large-scale bilateral use of armed forces by states or the state and private armed groups. War is the most dangerous manifestation of armed confrontation, which always has its own special character. The choice of means of response to the war should be made taking into account this nature, because it depends on the correct choice of method of reconciliation of the warring parties. The importance of this method of response is increasing in modern warfare, which is conducted with the use of non-nuclear weapons of mass destruction and manifests itself in the form of total destruction of settlements. Armed conflicts are less dangerous manifestations of armed confrontation, but they can be a manifestation of external manipulative influence on the state and then transform into war. Private armed groups can take part in the war or act as an enemy. A systematic solution to the various options for responding to war and armed conflict in the world is proposed to be implemented through the development of a Code of War and Peace.
 The article analyzes the provisions of the Criminal Code of Ukraine and international law relating to war. Some of them require terminological coordination. The category of "military necessity" is important for determining the content of such provisions, as well as for the correct choice of means of response to war.
 Proposals have been developed to improve the criminal legislation of Ukraine, which consists in establishing criminal liability for the following acts: 1) non-state armed aggression against Ukraine; 2) development and implementation of a plan for an armed conflict of a non-international nature in Ukraine or provocation of such a conflict, or public appeals to take such actions; 3) intentional provocation of the continuation of war or other military conflict or their escalation; and other proposals.

Looking Back at the Gouzenko Defection

A historical perspective aids our understanding of the present and capacity to anticipate the future. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, but particularly its brutality and policy of “constructive destruction,” was shocking and unexpected, but faced with Russia’s relegation from superpower status, it was always a possibility that Putin would emulate Stalin’s determination to maintain Russian influence in the world and challenge the West’s dominance. The risk of recurrent totalitarianism borne of the fear, distrust, and mutual demonization which characterized the ideological rivalry of the early Cold War years has led to a search for historical analogies of relevance to the growing East/West tensions of today that threaten to bring about a second Cold War or limited nuclear conflict. The motivating ideology for Russian expansionism is no longer Communism, but a mythical narrative that promotes Russian nationalism, patriotism, and exceptionalism. Putin’s authoritarian state with its concentration of power and recourse to propaganda, disinformation, and lies is daily looking more Stalinesque and the Cold War question—how to contain Russian ambition—remains to be answered. While the focus has so far been on Stalin’s geopolitical strategy regarding Russia’s near neighbors, two books about the first post–World War II defection in 1945 merit re-visiting for the in-depth analysis and insights they provide into the period and the mindset of participants caught up in that affair. The defector, Igor Gouzenko, a Russian cyber clerk, insisted that Russia was preparing for a Third World War. His revelations precipitated the start of the Cold War.

Incidence of Rheumatoid Arthritis at Marjan Teaching Hospital in Babylon, Iraq (2014–2019)

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic disease associated with inflammation and progressive damage of joints. It is present in the Middle East and North Africa where the epidemiology of RA remains poorly understood with a dearth of data of the prevalence and activity of disease among Arab countries. The prevalence of RA in Babylon, Iraq in 1975 was 1.02, but during the past decade it was noticed that the prevalence and clinical data varied greatly depending on the area of the study. Objectives: We tried to estimate the incidence of RA in Babylon Province, Iraq during 2014–2019. Materials and Methods: It was a cross-sectional study to detect new cases of the disease in Marjan Teaching Hospital from 2014 to 2019. All patients were diagnosed according to the American College of Rheumatology criteria of 1987 and the revised one of 2010. Results: The total number of new RA cases during this period was 1814 patients. Females were 1577, and male patients were 237. The incidence was 1.1 in 2014 and then reached 1.7 in 2019 with an accumulative risk of 10.0. The average duration of the disease was 2.1 years, and the average age was 43 years. Conclusion: This study was done to follow the previous study performed in the same hospital between 2001 and 2011. The incidence was not significantly increased during the period of this study when compared with other studies. This study lacks the rate of severity and response to treatment, which indicate that another study is needed. It is done to see the incidence of disease and the effect of social and environmental factors that followed war conflicts in the area of Iraq.

“I thank God that I have been in the very big push for the motherland”: The Role of Violence and Society in the Correspondence of IRA Commander Liam Lynch

This article is a thematic examination of the Irish Republican Army’s (IRA) relationship with both violence and social issues in the War of Independence (1919-1921) and Civil War (1922-1923) through an interrogation of the writings of Irish republican leader Liam Lynch (1893-1923), specifically, looking at Lynch’s understanding of the role of violence, social issues, and his crucial role in Civil War. Lynch went from a position of local leadership in the Cork and then Munster IRA in the War of Independence to one of national leadership by going on to become Chief of Staff of the whole IRA in the Civil War, before dying in combat in April 1923. Lynch was a highly religious and shy man but who also displayed a much remarked devotion to the republican cause, together with a natural gift for organisation. In contrast to his quiet and sensitive persona though, throughout his revolutionary career Lynch consistently called for an escalation of violent measures and often envisaged both military and social solutions which were never fully thought out and if implemented could well have done more harm than good. Issues around the dynamics of violence have recently been explored by Gemma Clark and Brian Hughes, while Gavin Foster has added further layers to our understanding of class conflict in the civil war but this article is the first systematic analysis of these issues from the perspective of the leading IRA figure during the latter stages of Ireland’s revolution. The article argues that while Lynch’s organisational talents and devotion are unquestionable, he lacked the leadership skills necessary in the civil war and often envisaged impractical solutions based on what was often his still local or regional rather than national viewpoint, or inability to consider the ramifi cations of his ideas. The article contends that an exploration of Lynch’s perspectives reveals much about revolutionary activism and of the ar of Independence and Civil war era IRA. The article hopes to further the understanding of the motivations of activists during the revolutionary period, the ramifi cations of the implementation of political violence together with the interplay and tensions within the republican movement between social issues and the national question.

Civil War and Ideology Conflict as Seen in Alex Irvine's Transformers: Exodus

This study discusses civil war and ideology conflict represented in Alex Irvine's Transformers: Exodus. It aims to analyze how the ideological conflict contributes to civil war in the novel and the moral messages that the readers can learn from the narrative. Antonio Gramsci's theory of hegemony and Terry Eagleton's theory of ideological features are used to examine ideology's role, and the moral-philosophical approach is used to analyze moral values. The findings suggest the existence of three ideologies: the Cybertronian traditions, the Autobots' ideology, and the Decepticons' ideology. In addition, this study finds that the novel contains moral values related to peace, toleration, and diplomacy.