Western Policy Research Articles

Türkiye’s Vision for Africa: Humanitarian Diplomacy and Development Cooperation

This article aims to analyze Türkiye’s humanitarian diplomacy and development cooperation strategies toward Africa within a theoretical and conceptual framework, assessing their impact and significance on the continent. The research problem addresses how Türkiye’s unique approach, which integrates historical ties, cultural interactions, and development efforts, distinguishes it from other global and regional actors. The arguments presented highlight that Türkiye’s humanitarian diplomacy strategy, based on mutual benefit and sustainable development goals, has effectively enhanced its positive image and influence in Africa. The hypothesis posits that Türkiye’s humanitarian diplomacy and development cooperation efforts have strengthened its position as a humanitarian actor on the continent and contributed to achieving sustainable development goals. The findings suggest that the country’s activities in healthcare, education, agriculture, and socio-cultural fields have created significant impacts, improving local communities’ living conditions and fostering sustainable development. Furthermore, Türkiye’s distinct approach, unlike traditional Western policies, is characterized by an emphasis on mutual interdependence and cooperation, positioning it as a reliable partner in Africa.

Red Army operations 1944: are they appreciated in the historical memory of Russia?

Ten strategic offensives of the Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army in 1944 (“Stalin’s ten offensives”) led to the liberation of vast territories in the western part of the USSR, the beginning of the cleansing of the “brown plague” of the countries of Eastern, Southeastern and Northern Europe, and the critical weakening of the Wehrmacht itself. Nevertheless, these events have not yet received sufficient attention in the politics of Russia`s historical memory. When referring to the lists of days of military glory, hero cities, cities of military glory, as well as art cinema, it turned out that no more than half of the 10 key operations of 1944 were noted. The focus is on the campaigns of 1943, when the mass liberation of the territories of the USSR began, and 1945 when there was the final surrender of the Third Reich. Russian society perceived 1944 only as an intermediate stage, although eventful, but not so bright. It is also important that in 1944, not only the territories of the RSFSR were already liberated, but the Union`s republics located to the west, which became independent states after the collapse of the USSR. Currently, Western policy, together with the policy of the Kiev regime, is trying to turn the coverage of the Red Army’s liberation role into a purely national agenda of Russia. The article suggests possible solutions to this problem which are the expanding the list of days of military glory due to the landmark dates of 1944 and the establishment of a day of complete liberation from Nazi occupation of each subject of the Russian Federation, as well as close coordination in this area with Belarus and Serbia.

The same and the change: a topology of a Sino–French joint programme

ABSTRACT This study aims to elucidate how joint programmes can be used in the transfer and translation of Western policy to the local level in the context of China’s efforts to build first-class higher education as a rising power. Although the Sino–French joint programme being studied was intended to be a wholesale adaptation of French engineering education, its development over the decade was around the theme of change rather than the monotony of replication, as envisioned in the beginning. This can be explained by what we call topology work, the process by which an organisation’s boundary is constantly reshaped and recreated while maintaining certain traits. Awareness of the richer scope of change, supported by the concept of topological work, may suggest how comparative education can grow for global development.

Pro-Western or pro-Russian? Elections, foreign policy and inter-party rivalry in Georgia

ABSTRACT The article studies Georgia’s relations with Russia and the West as an object of rivalry among Georgian political parties. It argues that political parties have instrumentalized Russian–Georgian relations by picturing a) other political parties, b) politicians, and c) government policies as pro-Russian, in an attempt to delegitimize their opponents. Since the Georgian political establishment perceives the West as a source of internal and external legitimacy, the instrumentalization of Georgia’s Western policy has taken place in a complex way. On the one hand, political parties have positioned themselves as pro-Western actors and depicted their opponents as a threat to Georgia’s Western future. On the other hand, being sensitive towards the West’s assessment of Georgia’s democratization process, they used it to delegitimize their opponents and legitimize themselves. Delegitimization attempts occurred not only between the ruling party and the opposition, but also among opposition parties themselves.

The Image of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in the Russian Press During the Sanction Pressure on the Country, 1992–1995

Many studies have recently focused on the tragic events in the Balkans from 1991 to 1995. The Yugoslav crisis researchers examined various aspects of the crisis, including its causes, stages, and consequences, as well as Russia’s Yugoslav policy at the time. Nevertheless, neither domestic nor foreign authors have provided in-depth coverage of the Yugoslav crisis in the Russian press. The issue of the “image of the other”, particularly in crisis situations, has taken on a wide range of, often asymmetrical, configurations, and it is becoming increasingly relevant for preserving humanity’s long-term development. Examining it can help one gain a better understanding of the media’s role as the most important communicator in interethnic dialogue. In this paper, we will examine articles from four Russian newspapers with opposing political views, namely “Pravda”, “Rossiyskaya Gazeta”, “Nezavisimaya Gazeta”, and “Izvestia” on international sanctions imposed on Yugoslavia at the time, and the country’s situation between 1992 and 1995. We will examine its perspectives on the sanctions, its causes, and consequences. Journalists from four Russian newspapers reported on events in the Balkans in the first half of the 1990s, analyzed the consequences of international sanctions and took into account important factors of the Yugoslav crisis such as the role of the Western countries in the conflict, Slobodan Milošević's political ambitions, and etc. Some journalists have taken an openly pro-Serbian stance, criticizing not only the US and Western European policies towards Belgrade, but also the “inactivity” of the Russian diplomacy, although the majority of them have showed restraint in their assessments of the Balkans situation. They portrayed Yugoslavia as an isolated country by informing their readers about the reasons for imposing sanctions, its nature, and Western policy toward it.

Policy of Western States in Central Asia: The Role of Rare-Earth Metals

After the collapse of the USSR, the policy of the Western states towards Central Asia was focused on the issues linked to the expansion of trade and economic relations, gaining access to hydrocarbon resources of the regional countries and organizing their reliable export to foreign markets. In recent years, due to changes in technological development, the Western countries have increased their interest in rare-earth metals. Competition aimed at getting control over explored and prospective deposits is unfolding in different regions of the world. One of the promising areas with significant reserves of rare-earth metals is Central Asia. For this reason, in the last few years the USA, the EU, Great Britain and other countries have become increasingly interested in the region. The West is pursuing an active policy course towards Central Asian states. Such an approach is aimed not so much at developing the countries of the area as at expanding the presence of the West and reorienting the foreign policy course of the regional states towards the interests of non-regional actors. The ultimate goal of the Western states is to gain control over the deposits of rare-earth metals, which are located in Central Asia. The article covers the main directions of the policy the Western states apply in the region and underscores the mechanisms they use to promote their interests in gaining access to promising deposits of rare-earth metals. At the same time, the countries of the region generally welcome the Western policy, believing that it will attract additional investments into their economies. In turn, some influential and rich Western states along with companies they support exert pressure on Central Asian countries, seeking the most favorable conditions for themselves in the development of deposits and control over the resulting resources. The article concludes that Russia and China are competing with the Western states in Central Asia for getting access and gaining control over the deposits of rare-earth metals.

Prospects for interaction between Asia-Pacifi c countries and the Russian Federation in the context of transformation of the world order

The article discusses issues of relations between the countries of the Asia-Pacific region. Important and complex issues of relationships between key players are raised, both in the region and beyond. Particular attention is paid to the issue of economic development of the region, since the center of capitalist interaction is gradually moving there. At the same time, current problems associated with the new vector of cooperation between Russia and the countries of the region since the beginning of the Northern Military District are considered. Reorientation of economic directions, active interaction with such regional players as Northern Korea, China and other countries that did not put as much sanctions pressure on Russia as US satellites. Due to opportunistic changes in Western policies, new opportunities have opened up for the whole world, within the framework of weakening the hegemon and building new alliances and centers of power. At the same time, this does not make the world more predictable, but on the contrary, it has become less calm and manageable. That is why it is important to consider the role of Russia and the country’s prospects in the most dynamically developing region of the planet.

“Decolonizationˮ and “Deimperializationˮ: Modern Western Policy Towards Fragmentation of Russia

Introduction. Multinational Russia at various stages of its existence faces the playing out of the national question by opposing geopolitical centers. The discourse of “decolonization” and “deimperialization” of Russia has acquired a new level of relevance in the international arena after February 24, 2022. The purpose of the article is to identify and investigate the features of the destructive form of ethno-political mobilization in the regions of the Russian Federation through the construction and promotion of the discourse of “decolonization” and “deimperialization” of Russia by Western states. Materials and Methods. The materials used in the study include U.S. legal documents, resolutions of the European Parliament, publications and speeches of representatives of the Western political elite and scientific and expert community, materials of the United States Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, content of various organizations, foreign mass media and media foreign agents. The methodological basis of the study is represented by systemic, geopolitical and instrumentalist approaches, as well as such methods as monitoring, discourse analysis and content analysis. Results. The narrative of “deimperialization” and “decolonization” of Russia in the publications of the Western scientific and expert community and media materials is studied, and the political technologies of Western states oriented at the actualization of ethnic nationalism and, as a consequence, separatist tendencies in the regions of the Russian Federation are revealed. Western projects of practical policy oriented at actualization of national contradictions in the Russian Federation are implemented mainly through the following initiatives: holding events dedicated to “decolonization” and “deimperialization” of Russia; using representatives of Western-oriented national elites to actualize separatist tendencies in the regions of the Russian Federation; adopting declarations on “liberation” of the peoples of Russia from “colonial” dependence; popularization of information about the need for “decolonization”; and the use of the “decolonization” of Russia. Discussion and Conclusion. “Decolonization” and “deimperialization” of Russia are focused on the implementation of a destructive form of ethno-political mobilization and fragmentation of the Russian Federation along national lines of settlement. The authors identify five technologies for the formation of ethnic nationalism in the regions of the Russian Federation, which are used by Western states in the process of modern confrontation with Russia. The results of the study will be useful for public authorities at both regional and federal levels to develop a set of measures aimed at countering the playing of the “national card” on the territory of Russia by competing geopolitical centers.

Иран на пути к региональной интеграции: политические и экономические аспекты взаимоотношений с государствами-членами ШОС

The article examines Iran’s relationship with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), analyses the process of establishing cooperation with the member states of this organization, primarily Russia and China, in the field of regional security, as well as the political and economic spheres. The history of Iran’s inclusion in the SCO, the dynamics of cooperation, as well as the impact of this interaction on regional and world politics are explored. The focus is on joint projects, diplomatic, trade and economic relations, as well as potential challenges and prospects for cooperation between Iran and the SCO. The work notes that Iran’s desire for full membership in this organization was reinforced by the confrontation with the leading Western powers led by the United States and fit into the framework of Eastern policy with the prospect of an alliance with Russia and China. It is emphasized that due to opposition to Iran’s desire to strengthen its independence and sovereignty, Western powers prevented its inclusion in the regional or international security architecture. Under these conditions, Iran has intensified its efforts in search of its place in the international security system, relying on the idea of national identity and drawing closer to Russia and China. It is noted that the negative consequences of sanctions, threats of military intervention, cyber warfare and attempts to destabilize the Islamic regime were the main methods of Western policy towards Iran. Based on this, accession to the SCO was considered by the Iranian leadership as the most important task to neutralize Western sanctions and become one of the leaders in the regional security system.

The Russia-Ukraine frozen conflict: Evidence from an expert survey

Many ask whether the war between Ukraine and Russia will turn into a frozen conflict, but the frozen conflict has existed since 2014. To improve the understanding of this conflict, we combined existing frozen conflict research with an original expert survey. Our main findings are that the conflict is driven by both the political issue of Ukraine’s alignment with the West and the territorial status of Crimea, Donetsk, and Luhansk; that achieving stable peace hinges on an improbable scale of Ukrainian military victory; and that the alternative Western policies were unlikely to deter the invasion, raising concerns for the future resolution of conflict.

The Attitudes of the South Caucasus Countries Towards the Full-Scale Russian Aggression Against Ukraine

This article not only seeks to answer the question of how the South Caucasus countries reacted to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, but also to outline how international relations in the South Caucasus are currently evolving and identify the main foreign policy objectives of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. A research hypothesis was developed for the purpose of this article, which assumes that none of the South Caucasus countries are currently viable allies of the United States and the European Union in the region anymore, because following the Russian Federation’s aggression against Ukraine, neither Armenia, Azerbaijan nor Georgia have decided to take measures that would strike directly at Russian interests and also align with Western policy. In verifying the research hypothesis that was put forward in the Introduction to this text, it should be concluded that it is true. Looking at the actions of all the three South Caucasus countries, none of them has openly supported Ukraine on the political or military level. Nor have any of them joined the sanctions imposed on the aggressor by the West. The article mainly uses the decision-making method, the comparative method and one of the general logical methods, namely analysis.

Exploring Lessons from Soviet Diplomacy and Western Allied Cooperation in World War II

Based on an analysis of documentary sources from Russian, American, and British archives, this article delves into the intricacies of coalition diplomacy among the Allies during World War II. It places special emphasis on the adherence to obligations and coalition behavior norms, encompassing respect for partners' interests, maintaining unity amidst divergences, coordinating actions towards shared objectives, and avoiding actions that risk coalition breakdown. The comparative analysis of Soviet and Anglo-American diplomacy reveals that the principal members of the anti-Hitler coalition generally adhered to these norms, contributing to the ultimate defeat of their common adversary. However, the study indicates that the Soviet Union exhibited greater fidelity in fulfilling its obligations and was more proactive in institutionalizing the coalition for enhanced stability and equal participation in strategic decision-making for war conduct and postwar arrangements. This quest for parity was often impeded by the Western powers' reluctance to accept the Soviet Union as an enduring, equal partner and legitimate member of the great powers' club, both during and after the war. This hesitance, the article argues, was rooted not just in geopolitical considerations but also in deep-seated cultural factors, particularly the traditional Western sense of superiority and perception of Russia as a 'lesser' civilization not fit for inclusion in the Euro-Atlantic community. The article brings to light lesser-known documents from US and UK archives to illustrate this mindset. It also acknowledges dissenting voices in Anglo-American political spheres who advocated for a more equitable relationship with the USSR. However, these perspectives did not significantly alter the overarching direction of Western policy.

Scientific research by British authors on the Second World War as an element of information and psychological confrontation with Russia

The article examines the political and ideological narratives in the scientific research of British authors devoted to the Second World War. The purpose of this publication is to study the works of British authors as a tool of information and psychological warfare aimed at promoting a certain ideological agenda in Russian society. In the course of the study, some recommendations were formulated that can contribute to strengthening state policy in the field of preserving historical memory. The subject of the research is the scientific research of such authors as: E. Beevor, M. Hastings, T.Ripley, K.Aylesby, S. Crawford, N. Cornish, S.Hart, R. Hart and M. Hughes. The object is political and ideological narratives aimed at promoting the pro-Western agenda in the information and educational field, as well as in the publishing sphere. The research methodology was subordinated to the goals and objectives of the work, directly reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of the topic under study. To identify the main narratives in the works of foreign authors, a qualitative content analysis was conducted aimed at reflecting the main plots, images and their political and ideological content. According to the results of the study, it was revealed that the distortion and manipulation of historical memory in the research of British authors is aimed at promoting a certain ideological and political agenda. This process is carried out using a one-sided selection of facts in the description, certain events and the placement of narrative accents, as well as in the dehumanization of the Red Army and the Soviet Union. The narrative constructed by Western authors is aimed at both the internal audience and the younger generation within our country, in order to involve them in the areola of Western information policy. Today, the narrative of the Second World War is used by modern researchers and politicians of the Western world as a tool to promote the anti-Russian agenda. In order to counteract the Western policy of distorting historical memory, it is necessary to take a number of the following measures: the promotion of popular scientific journals on history, the return of editorial edits and articles from the editor when publishing research by Western authors, the return of printing memoirs of Red Army soldiers and the restriction of publication of memoirs of the German military.

РАТ КОЈИ ЈЕ ИЗБИО СА ТРИ ДЕЦЕНИЈЕ ДОЦЊЕ

The paper gives arguments for the thesis that, from the perspective of Russian geopolitical interests and their protection, the military intervention in Ukraine was inevitable and came with the delay of three decades. On the one hand, it is a direct consequence of the USSR breakup and the NATO encirclement of Russia, through extending the North Atlantic Alliance to the former member-countries of the Warsaw Pact, some of the former member-states of the USSR (the Baltic countries), as well as all the former Yugoslav republics (except for Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina). On the other hand, it is the result of building new state identities in the anti-Russian narrative, with the violence exerted against ethnic Russians and Russophones, which was particularly pronounced in Ukraine. At the same time, the West pursued a perfidious policy towards Russia. The three-decade delay is the consequence of the illusions cherished by the West and of untimely Russian learning the lessons from the bloody breakup of Yugoslavia, for which the West is most directly responsible. Concurrently, the attitude towards the compatriots who remained outside the borders of Russia also partly explains Russian policy during the Yugoslav crisis in the last decade of the 20th century. The ultimate goal of such Western policy is in the idea of achieving the “breakthrough to the East” via breaking up Russia (“decolonization of Russia”) and, furthermore, via breaking up China, which was declared as the sole global competitor of the USA in the latest US National Security Strategy from 2022. Key words: disintegration of the USSR, breakup of the SFRY, Russia, Ukraine, genesis and causes of the ethnic conflict, 2022 Russian military intervention.

Antagonistic symbiosis: The social construction of China's foreign policy

China is often considered as motivated by a desire to challenge the international status quo, a challenge the West is trying to mitigate. Social constructivists account for this challenge via a norm of nationalistic assertiveness in Chinese foreign policy; a norm constructed in the synergetic relationship between China's Communist Party and its nationalist movement. However, this work argues that Chinese foreign policy is motivated, in part, by nationalist pressure arising from an antagonistically symbiotic relationship between the Communist Party and China's nationalist movement. This understanding is significant as it indicates that western policies are paradoxically factoring in the emergence of a challenger China. © 2023 Victoria University of Wellington and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

Informational Confrontation of “MoskovskieVedomosti” Journal and European Press During Polish Uprising of 1863

In the article the author examines informational confrontation of “MoskovskieVedomosti” journal with European press during Polish uprising of 1863. In response to the aggressive anti-Russian rhetoric of the Western press, “Moskovskie Vedomosti” vigorously supported the actions of Russian administration in Poland, headed by General M.N. Muravyov. On the basis of the newspaper's publications analysis, the author reveals the main ideological and thematic directions of their statements on the Polish issue: exposes the policy of Western powers that used the situation in Poland to pressure Russia and weaken it; substantiates the the anti-national nature of the uprising, initiated by the Polish nobility and Catholic clergy; shows the formation of the rebels negative image, and exposes the falsifi cations and insinuations of the Western press. The author comes to the conclusion that the publications of “Moscow Vedomosti” during the period of military operations in Poland contributed to the formation of the consolidated public opinion in Russia, and their confrontation with the leading Western European editions can be considered as prototype of modern information wars.

New Phase of the U.S. Struggle Against the Serbian Orthodox Church

The article evaluates the study by Vasily Shchipkov, “Systemic Pressure of the United States on the Russian Orthodox Church in the Ideological and Geopolitical Confrontation”. Next, it considers the history of the Serbian Orthodox Church from 1990 till present from the point of view of its involvement in political and geopolitical processes. Specifi cally, the Serbian Orthodox Church acted as a subject of political infl uence from the United States and European countries. The article specifi es fi ve periods that diff ered in the vector of the Western policy towards the Serbian Church: 1 — the period of socialism (before the fall of the Berlin Wall), 2 — the period of the rule of Slobodan Milošević (1990–2000), 3 — the period of the Western infl uencer network creation (from October 5, 2000 till 2010), 4 — the period of strengthening of the Western ideology in the Serbian Orthodox Church (from 2010 till 2017), 5 — the period of geopolitical pressure of the West on the Serbian Orthodox Church (from 2017 till present). While analyzing each historical period, the author of the article comes to the conclusion that until 2017, the major pressure vector on the Serbian Church was the ideological one, which allowed to form and institutionalize the liberal, modern- ist, inclusive, anational theology as an infl uential alternative to tradi- tional conservative national theology. Supporters of the liberal, pro- Western worldview started to hold many key positions in the church hierarchy. Starting from 2017, this allowed the West to proceed with direct lobbying its political agenda within the Serbian Church through its infl uencers. In the current situation, the West is interested in at tracting the Serbian Church to its side in the geopolitical confronta- tion with Russia and the Russian Orthodox Church. As a result, the Serbian Church found itself in a challenging situation: the failure to comply with the demands of the West might lead to the rejection of foreign dioceses in favour of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, while the compliance with the demands of the West will consolidate its role as an anti-Orthodox policy tool and might also lead to the internal schism.

Western policies to obliterate the Arab identity in Africa -Western Sudan as a model-

This research effort seeks to identify the policies adopted by the Europeans to obliterate the Arab identity in Africa (the country of Western Sudan as a model), and how they distributed roles to rob the region of its cultural and religious identity in addition to plundering its economic resources and capabilities. Through their western policies and expansionist goals, Europeans have posed a major challenge to the Arab-Islamic culture of Western Sudan in contemporary history, as the factors of influence they used were mutually reinforcing; form the actual occupation of the land, a cultural invasion of its peoples, and the launching of systematic evangelization campaigns, to enshrine a new reality in the region, contradicting the previous of the Arab-Islamic language and culture during the Middle Age and beyond. Those policies have, to a large extent, succeeded in achieving their goals to change the cultural reality of the region and its political and geographical maps.

The Religious Politics of Empire in the Gilded Age

In the fall of 1880, Rutherford B. Hayes became the first sitting U.S. president to tour the U.S. West. While rarely recognized as such in scholarship, Hayes was a culture warrior. His seventy-one-day, 2,500-mile tour of the West traced the spiritual battle lines of the politics of empire in the Gilded Age. On his journey the president explicitly and implicitly championed his answers to the Indian Question, School Question, Mormon Question, and Chinese Question. These Western policy positions established a Republican culture war program with deeply religious overtones that animated U.S. politics for over a decade and continues to resonate today. This article is part of a special issue of Pacific Historical Review, “Religion in the Nineteenth-Century American West.”

Russia’s Foreign Policy Priorities in Eurasia and Northern Africa after America’s Withdrawal from the Middle East: The Purport of Statements

The article focuses on the priorities of Russian foreign policy in relation to the Middle East, North Africa, and, above all, Russia’s Eastern European neighbors, after a significant reduction in the activity of the United States in the Middle East. The main research material is the official statements of the top-level Russian decision-makers. It is assumed that the priorities can be examined after analyzing the determination of states to sacrifice a certain group of benefits for more significant gains in the long-term and axiological perspective. The official Russian narrative since President Putin’s Munich speech in 2007 has been characterized by increasing criticism of the US and its allies, especially in view of the destabilization of the situation in the Maghreb, Syria and Afghanistan.What Russia proposes instead is to stop promoting political patterns that are alien to the region and to start pragmatic cooperation. Its obsessive goal is to build a multipolar world that respects zones of influence. The annexation of Crimea and further steps towards assertiveness towards Belarus and Ukraine, whichcould be observed verbally, became the motivation for sanctions by NATOcountries. However, according to its narrative, Russia does not trade with its sovereignty, and the economic activity of the state and the oligarchs rather focused on moderating the effects of the sanctions that the Kremlin was and still is ready to take into account in the long-term perspective with the hope to reunite the socalled Russian World and keep an eye on the ‘near abroad’. After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Russian narrative only became sharper, without departing from its fundamental assumptions. In addition to the obsession with multipolarism, the imperative of defending the Russian population in eternally Russian territories sounded even clearer. Despite the obvious aggression in real behavior, the Kremlin’s verbal propaganda portrays Western policy as the source of international problems and makes it responsible for the outbreak of war. This may indicate the validity of Mearsheimer’s thesis that the presence of Russia’s closest neighbors in the European Union, and even more so in NATO, is perceived in Moscow as an existential threat.