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Transitions Online_Around the Bloc- U.S. Defense Chief Urges ‘Yes’ Vote in Macedonia Referendum
Jim Mattis accuses Russia of trying to scuttle deal with Greece.
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Jim Mattis accuses Russia of trying to scuttle deal with Greece.
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It is obvious that in the 21st century, the global power balance is changing. The Unite States’ relative power is declining, and the world’s centre of gravity is shifting from the Atlantic to the Asia-Pacific region. The rise of ‘two Asian giants’ China and India requires rewriting the strategies toward the region. The conceit of Asia Pacific now leaves its place to the “Indo-Pacific” conceptualisation. “Indo-Pacific” ist he perception of the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean as a single ‘geopolitical/strategic’ region. The basic logic in the “Indo-Pacific” notion is to reduce the perception of Chinese power in Asia-Pacific and prioritising the perception of Indian power and its leading role coming from its ‘Raj’ legacy. The “Indo-Pacific” approach is the confluence of India’s “Look East/Act East”, China’s “String of Pearls & Belt Road”, US’ “Pivot/Rebalance” strategies.
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Donald Trump’s evaluation of NATO as “an obsolete organisation” following his election as the President of the USA initiated a discussion on the future of NATO and Transatlantic relations. Subsequently, it was claimed that Permanent Structured Cooperation was formed as an alternative to Trump’s elucidations and NATO. In accordance with these developments, the study examines NATO’s transformation after the Cold War, the conflicts between the USA and Europe, defence expenditures of NATO members, increasing anxieties resulting from the election of Trump as well as the initiatives regarding European security, and evaluates the future of transatlantic relations.
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Islam is among the basic components of social identity in Africa, which was effectively utilised for political mobilisation during the colonial period. Decolonised Muslim African states have conserved the socio-cultural aspect of Islam but restricted its influence on politics. Despite officially defining itself as an Islamic republic,Mauritania also maintained a quasi-secular stance with regard to the political role of Islam. This stance is observed in the other Maghreb states as well. Starting from this point, the present paper will investigate the influence of Islam on anticolonialism and post-independence politics in northwestern Africa in general and Mauritania in particular.
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The Syrian Civil War has been enduring between the Assad regime and the oppositionssince 2011. The oppositions in Syria are composed of different groups with differentaims. The United States of America (USA), the Russian Federation, Turkey, Iran, SaudiArabia, Qatar, Israel, Hezbollah, Syria, Britain and France have all been involved inthe civil war. However, the most relevant actor is undoubtedly the United States. TheUS has forged an alliance with PKK/PYD/YPG terrorist group in Syria. Moreover, theUS carried out various operations in Syria through the Central Intelligence Agency(CIA). This article evaluates CIA operations in Syria and deliberates the effects ofthese operations on regional security.
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The article analyzes the main vectors of foreign policy of the Ukrainian state: the Eurasian, European, South-East. It focuses on the development of the South-East geopolitical areas through practical implementation of the concept “Intermarium” in the face of increasing international calls. The idea of creating a Baltic-black sea Union was supported by a number of Ukrainian and foreign figures: the Josef Pilsudski Siegfried Marocs Hrushevsky, Andrei Sinyavsky, Tadeusz Golovko, Wladyslaw Sikorski, Jaroslaw Kaczynski and other. It is noted that the implementation of the project “Intermarium” will have a significant geopolitical, economic and socio-cultural benefits.
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Between the end of the 80s and the beginning of the 90s, the changes in the political regimes in the Eastern European countries have enabled millions of people to have access to new political, economic and civil liberties. According to several economists, political and social sciences, the transition from a dictatorship to a democratic political regime has positive effects on Human Development (HD). However, recent studies do not provide strong empirical evidence in favour of this hypothesis. Therefore, the debate about the relationship between democracy and HD is still open. Considering the case of former Socialist countries, the aim of this paper is to empirically analyse whether and to what extent democracy affected the level of HD in these countries during the transition period. Using data on Polity IV and Human development index for 18 former Socialist countries from 1990 to 2014, we find evidence of a positive relationship between democracy and HD. Also, the results were robust when we checked for a set of control variables as growth rate, the degree of trade openness and log population.
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The relative decline of the United States in several regions of the world, as well as the more and more visible role of the European Union, have lately favoured new types of approaches to continental geopolitics, of adaptation to the differentiated growth of power among states and of real modification of the present international system. This article discusses the place occupied by Romania within the new regional politics in the context of the new opportunities of entering to the area energy mechanism, becoming a regional power, edifying and consolidating its position within the process of regional cooperation, and increasing economic competitiveness.
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La globalisation produit des mutations intéressantes dans la géopolitique, qu’elle diviser dans des zones régonales et sous-régionales, des cercles de développement, des voies d’accès etc. Dans les conditions géopolitiques actuelles, le nouvel empire de l’information se trouve dans une expansion impréssionante qui implique la connaisance, les options, les valeurs sociales authentiques , mais aussi l’univers de la volonté, la vie quotidienne et la destruction de l’équilibre entre les générations.
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This paper explores metaphors used in Russian and Ukrainian parliamentary and TVdebates during the Ukraine conflict from November 2013 to November 2015. It adopts proximisationtheory to the target domain of approaching danger illustrated by different source domains (motion,border crossing, disease, fire and explosives). It thus showcases the plight of a country whoseterritorial integrity has been violated and whose nationhood is questioned by its powerful neighbourand former dominator.
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The research is focused on the influence of modern open collaboration in the field of communication for development of the revolutionary events in Ukraine in 2013-2014. The research shows the role of the information society dynamics coupled with the deteriorating situation of civil and political liberties in creating conditions for social upheavals. The paper analyzes the development of open collaboration tools such as virtual social networks and video streaming services and their role in information support of the revolutionary processes. This study was motivated by the results of one of the previous studies on conditions and factors of revolutionary events in the region of the Middle East and North Africa, which took place in 2010-2011. The research also shows that the deployment of the information revolution on the background of restricting civil and political freedoms plays the crucial role in the initiation of social upheaval unlike previously assumed a negative economic situation as a main reason.
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Recent events in the international arena confirm China's aspiration to become a worldpower. This means Beijing's desire to dominate the existing structures of internationalorder, which is expressed in the attempt to delegitimize the United States as a hegemon.The understanding of China's actions and the general direction of developments resultingfrom them can be explained in terms of the Modelski's theory of hegemonic cycles and theOrgansky's theory of the transition of the power. These theories allow to analyze theprocess of the existence and reconfiguration of international order based on four criticalnodal points: hegemonic warfare, domination, delegitimisation and deconcentration. Thecontext for the analysis of current events corresponding to the phase of delegitimisationand deconcentration is the theory of power transition.
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The major changes generated by globalization at the level of the international environment have also led to the attribution of increased importance to public diplomacy among states or regions. The new public diplomacy uses a wealth of tools and actors in order to create and enhance the image of countries or regions on the international scene. In addition to governments, which are the traditional actors in international relations, there are other entities at national, regional or local level, who successfully engage in public diplomacy.
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Nowadays, city branding is a useful tool for public diplomacy, since it can help the local actors in their striving to establish contacts with different categories of citizens. At the same time, it contributes to the creation of long-term relationships with communities and business people, inside and outside the region, and to the identification of the competitive advantages that might ensure the success of the city, in a process whereby it attempts to create and communicate its image and attributes.This paper aims to demonstrate that the city of Oradea is an example of good practice in the field of both territorial marketing and strategic management, demonstrating leadership capacity and the presence of a substance of the place and of the critical mass that are needed for shaping a referable identity at national, regional and international level.
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Border region location had been associated with social and economic backwardness for a long time. Nevertheless, the advantages resulting from the border region situation and the processes promoting development of the regions concerned gain more and more attention nowadays. In view of the above, the aim of our paper is to offer an analysis of the relationship between economic development and border region location through the example of Debrecen situated in the eastern border region of Hungary. The chief results of our study may be summarised relying on the development concepts of the city and the promotional brochures prepared for the enterprises which emphasise border location from many aspects (e.g. accessibility of new markets, labour reserves), although the references made to the gateway role of Debrecen started to diminish in the most recent period.
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The article examines the capacity of green tourism development in Roztochya cross-border region on the basis of main provisions of place marketing concept. Introduction of green tourism in Roztochya cross-border region will contribute to turning of the threats of economic and ecological conflicts into the chances of efficient territorial development. Advisability of green tourism development from the viewpoint of correspondence to principles and tasks of national and regional strategies of Ukraine and Poland is explained, in particular 2020 State Regional Development Strategy», Ukraine 2020 Sustainable Development Strategy, 2020 Lvivska Oblast Development Strategy, 2014-2017 Program of Tourism and Resorts Development in Lvivska Oblast, 2020 State Development Strategy, 2030 Concept of State Spatial Development, 2020 Eastern Poland Social-Economic Development Strategy, 2020 Podkarpackie Voivodeship Development Strategy, 2014-2020 Lubelskie Voivodeship Development Strategy.The capacity of green tourism development in Ukrainian-Polish cross-border region is outlined, in particular such strategic development directions as elaboration of the Concept of Green Tourism Development Marketing Strategy, creation of joint brand of green tourism and its promotion, development of green tourism website, conducting of bilateral training seminars for perspective entrepreneurs, presentation of green tourism business capacity. Major activities necessary to implement for green tourism development are defined, in particular creation of positive image of the region and its places, informational and consulting maintenance of perspective “residents” in their choice of places in the region, creation of positive image of region’s “residents” and goods produced in the region, informational and consulting promotion of already existing “residents” of the region.
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Cities and regions have developed into economic, industrial or cultural hubs with the help of proper branding techniques that resemble those used in the private management of companies. The reason? Globalization creates a growing competition between the LRAs (local and regional authorities) for investment, which could bring overall development at the sub-national level. One element that can help provide better impetus for investment is technology. More specifically, cities or regions must also create a tech-friendly climate in order to attract investment, which can come in many forms: tourism, innovation, manufacturing, research, etc.In this sense, the purpose of the article is to follow the connection between city branding and the smart/digital city strategy. Using examples from Romania and Germany, the article beings with the theoretical framework of place branding and marketing to analyze such agendas from the two countries. Then, the article will provide a comparative look at smart versus digital branding for cities to provide an answer to the fundamental question of the paper: How does the smart city/digital city branding help a city brand?
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Internet usage continues to explode across the world and digital technology impacts country’s economic growth. This article contributes to the understanding of the current digital challenges in the EU and the EaP countries. Due to the large community of the EU and the EaP countries this study concentrates on two representatives of these communities – Poland as a member of the EU and Georgia as the EaP country. This article addresses the arising issues and programmes, which are provided under the Digital Single Market strategy adopted in 2015. This article demonstrates digital challenges in Poland and Georgia and assesses if, and to what extent, they are specific to one country. This article shows if Polish and Georgian needs are coherent or if any of the best practices implemented in Poland might be adopted in Georgia. Finally, it tries to suggest other solutions known from different EU programmes to be applied in Georgia or other EaP countries.
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This paper is an assessment of the Eastern Partnership (EaP) energy framework. It presents the research results concerning the impact of the initiative on energy transition of the EaP countries. We try to make the way through the maze of legal acts and EU reports on support in the energy sector and to identify the key trends. Firstly the evaluation focuses on the financial help awarded to the region and based on that we draw the conclusions on effectiveness of the EaP agenda. Secondly this study determines the place of the EaP energy platform within the already existing legal framework in this area.
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The United States demonstrated its global hegemony and proved the existence of the unipolar order by military and political engagement and by supporting the secessionism of Albanians in Kosovo and Metohija in 1999. After the self-proclaiming of the so-called independent Kosovo in 2008 and with the leadership of the West, more than half of the states in the world recognized this act. The process of recognition can be divided into four phases. The first phase (during 2008) is characterized by the ‟explosion” of recognition. During the second cycle (2009‒2013) driven by inertia, relatively numerous acts of recognition continued. There was a slowdown in the third phase (2014‒2016) and even several withdrawals of recognition occurred in the fourth phase (from 2017 onwards). The alternation of the process of recognition has had a causal effect on the termination of the absolute unipolarism, i.e. on the relative weakening of the US and the EU, and the strengthening of Russia, China and other global and regional powers. In this context, a specific form of geopolitical alignment has emerged: states that recognized the so called independent Kosovo form the pro-atlantistic group, and those who did not – the anti-atlantistic group. Thus, Kosovo and Metohija has become an indicator of the new bipolarism, within which two antagonistic blocs determine the future of that part of Serbia. In order to confirm its credibility as a world leader, the United States promotes a ‟quick solution” that implies Serbia’s compliance with the so-called independent Kosovo’s membership in the UN. On the other side, Serbia, with the support of Russia and China, could postpone the final solution, advocating the concept of ‟frozen conflict” waiting for the moment when it will be in a better international position.
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