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Keywords: United Kingdom; USA; Security
The British government will try to deepen the country’s cooperation with the U.S. in the area of security and defence to offset the negative political and economic effects of Brexit. However, Britain will face the risk of a further decline of its military potential and serious differences with the administration of Donald Trump on major foreign policy issues, including NATO and Russia. In effect, the UK might be forced to focus on strengthening European security at the cost of supporting the U.S. in other regions.
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Keywords: European traditional beliefs; serpent worship; sexual intercourse in traditional beliefs; magic tale; genius loci; reincarnation; chthonic beings; ancestors; animal bride
The article examines the snake as a mythological character of folk traditions of Europe, Western and Southern Asia and Africa, in the aspect of their sex and marital connection with a person, idea of the relationship of man and snake, as reflected in the fairy-tale and folklore. Fairy tales and ethnographic evidence reveal a snake as a human counterpart (both living and dead), the connection with the birth of the human snake, the reincarnation of the deceased into a snake and the snake — into a newborn. Special attention is paid to the idea of the snake as a tribal ancestor (totemism), and how the snake is related to male and female initiation. The article addresses the relationship of the snake with the elements (fire, water, earth, air), parts of the home (fireplace, oven), the world of plants, the world of the dead.
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Keywords: Venice; Persia; 15th c.; Giosafat Barbaro; international relations; embassy;historical geography;
This is the first complete publication of the Russian translation, with comments, of the Journey to Persia by the 15th century Venetian public figure, diplomat and traveler Giosafat Barbaro. He headed Venetian embassy to the Persian shah Uzun-Hassan. The discussed travel account was written in late 1480s — early 1490s as a narration of this embassy, during which Barbaro had to make a long and eventful way through different cities and localities of the Mediterranean, Ottoman Empire and Persia. Besides, he provides some details on the countries he had never visited — India and China. Journey to Persia is a valuable source on history of international relations, historical geography, ethnography, economy and culture of medieval Persia and other Oriental countries. The article contains parallel Italian original and Russian translation texts.
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Keywords: Belarus; Bulgaria; Czech Republic; Estonia; Hungary; Latvia; Lithuania; Moldova; Poland; Romania; Slovakia; Ukraine; Nuclear sector; Economic policy;
Belarus is a land locked country bordering with Russian Federation, Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania and Latvia. Belarus declared independence at the end of the WWI just to be occupied by Soviet troops shortly after and eventually incorporated to USSR as Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic from 1919. After the Russian-Polish war the country was divided between these two states. The USSR has taken back the Polish part in 1939 and Belarus was not an independent state until July 1990 when Republic of Belarus was created. In 1994, Alexander Lukashenko was elected president of Belarus; he was reelected again for the second term (2001-2006), the third term (2006-2011) and also the fourth term (2011-2016). The election process especially for the fourth term had been criticized as flawed by most EU and OSCE countries. As a result, Lukashenko and his associates are forbidden to travel to EU member countries. Belarus is also very well known for his authoritative leadership (sometimes called as Europe's last dictatorship), oppression and corruption.
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Keywords: Italy; Coronavirus pandemic; internal politics; European policy; spread of COVID-19; EU aid;
In the middle of March, Italy became the country with the highest number of deaths caused by Covid-19. The spread of the pandemic triggered a global economic crisis, which will affect Italy greatly. The Italian government aspires to obtain as much EU aid as it is possible, but its demands are problematic for Poland.
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Keywords: Italy; Coronavirus pandemic; internal politics; European policy; spread of COVID-19; EU aid;
W połowie marca br. Włochy stały się państwem z największą liczbą ofiar śmiertelnych COVID-19 na świecie. Rozprzestrzenianie się pandemii wywołało światowy kryzys gospodarczy, którego skutki będą dla Włoch szczególnie dotkliwe. Włoski rząd dąży do uzyskania możliwie jak największego wsparcia ze strony UE. Zgłaszane przez niego propozycje są jednak problematyczne z punktu widzenia interesów Polski.
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Keywords: Canada; Justin Trudeau; government; domestic issues; relations with China and US; international trade;
Po wyborach federalnych, które odbyły się 21 października br., Liberalna Partia Kanady Justina Trudeau pozostała największą siłą w parlamencie. Straciła jednak większość i będzie sprawowała władzę w rządzie mniejszościowym. Rosnąca sprzeczność interesów regionalnych będzie wymagała od nowego rządu skupienia na sprawach wewnętrznych. W polityce zagranicznej wyzwaniami będą naprawa relacji z Chinami i uniknięcie kolejnej eskalacji napięć z USA. W sytuacji rywalizacji amerykańsko-chińskiej Kanada może poszukiwać bliższych stosunków z UE.
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Keywords: Turkey; military policy; international relations; overseas military bases; foreign military bases; security policy;
The expansion of Turkey’s network of foreign military bases is part of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s vision to make Turkey a global power. The long transformation of the country’s security policy has given the overseas bases programme a lasting character. In the medium term, the bases can strengthen Turkey’s strategic position in the Middle East and in NATO. However, they also allow the country to be more assertive, making Turkey an even more difficult ally.
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Keywords: Turkey; military policy; international relations; overseas military bases; foreign military bases; security policy;
Rozbudowa sieci zagranicznych baz wojskowych stanowi realizację wizji prezydenta Recepa Tayyipa Erdoğana, który chce uczynić z Turcji mocarstwo globalne. To także efekt długofalowych przeobrażeń w tureckiej polityce bezpieczeństwa, co nadaje programowi rozbudowy baz trwały charakter. W średniej perspektywie może on wzmocnić pozycję Turcji na Bliskim Wschodzie i w NATO. Jednocześnie jednak zwiększy asertywność państwa, przez co stanie się ono jeszcze trudniejszym sojusznikiem.
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Keywords: United States; Missile Defence Review; missile defence systems; NATO; development of offensive systems;
The Missile Defence Review assumes the continuity of U.S. and allied missile defence systems, including within NATO. Studies on new, ambitious and costly technologies, are the most controversial elements of report. The shape and schedule of these projects are unclear, which risks causing disputes in NATO on arms control and the development of more advanced offensive systems by Russia and China.
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Keywords: United States; Missile Defence Review; missile defence systems; NATO; development of offensive systems;
Przegląd obrony przeciwrakietowej zakłada kontynuację budowy dotychczasowych systemów obrony USA i ich sojuszników, w tym w ramach NATO. Zapowiedziane studia nad nowymi, ambitnymi i kosztownymi technologiami są jego najbardziej kontrowersyjnym elementem. Kształt i tempo realizacji tych projektów pozostają jednak niejasne, co niesie ryzyko sporów w NATO w kwestii kontroli zbrojeń oraz przyspieszenia prac Rosji i Chin nad ich zaawansowanymi systemami ofensywnymi.
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Keywords: Volodymyr Zelenskyi; Petro Poroshenko; Yuliia Tymoshenko; Victor Yanukovych; Anatoliy Hrytsenko;
In less than two weeks, on March 31,2019, the Ukrainians will head to the polling stations to cast their vote for the country's next President. However, the winner would be announced only at the beginning of May since it is highly unlikely that any of the candidates would secure more than 50% of votes in the first round. The level of unpredictability of this year's elections in Ukraine is unprecedented. Out of 39 candidates included in a ballot, at least three seem to have the biggest chance to get into the second round and, consequently, win the presidential race.
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Keywords: biological life; cell; organism; ecosystem; sex; symbiosis; altruism; antropogenesis; evolution
A concise introduction to the latest knowledge of the world of living beings, highlighting the links between biology and physics, chemistry, geology and broadly defined humanities. The author, responding to the fundamental questions of today’s science, describes the phenomenon of life at all subsequent organizational levels: from the earliest forms of biological life, through the structure and functioning of cells, development, anatomy and the functioning of multicellular organisms, to unique relationships between organisms, like symbiosis and altruism, and the position of man in nature. The richly illustrated book, written in a clear language, free of scientific jargon.
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In light of the ambitious targets for long term decarbonisation set by the European Green Deal, a critical question for decision-makers is how to sustain a coal phase-out that is as swift as possible while also ensuring security of supply, affordable electricity, and a just transition in regions dependent on coal. The aim of this report is to support decision makers in Bulgaria, Greece and Romania to implement a timely phase-out of coal by analysing the impact on electricity systems as well as the local economy, and highlighting policy recommendations to deal with potential issues related to compensation, system security and local economic impacts.
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Keywords: Serbia; Coronavirus; vaccine; policy; government; 2020;
Agencija za lekove i medicinska sredstva je vakcinu protiv COVID19 uvrstila u listu humanih lekova i to je pozitivno. Predstavnici Agencije su se u prethodnih nedelju dana povremeno obraćali javnosti, što je takođe korak napred – imajući u vidu da ova institucija jedina nosi teret garancije za bezbednost svih vakcina koje će biti odobrene u Srbiji.
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