HISTORICAL ISSUES OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
The topicality of the article is determined by many contemporary ethnic conflicts in different parts and regions of the world, including the conflict in Ukraine. The article’s study base is formed by modern Russian, Byelorussian and Polish, researches and historical sources. One of the main features of the emerging ethnic conflict in the Polish-Byelorussian borderland in the first half of the XX century, which had significantly influenced its development was the rivalry between two different cultural centers “west-oriented” Warsaw and Moscow as part of a greater “Russian World”. The article confronts two ideologically motivated policies towards Western Byelorussian lands: assimilation and integration. Both of them according to their background (nation-oriented assimilation and concentrated on the pattern of social and economical ties and relations – integration) somehow neglected very specific local identity. Specific character of the process was emphasized by lasting for many decades Byelorussian nation shaping, which ran under several different regimes: Russian Empire, II Polish Republic and Soviet state. As a result, such an ambiguity led to the development of a stronger local identity immune to the stronger oppression in the concerned period. The Tensions between Polish and Byelorussian regional communities escalated during the period 1939–1941, when integration processes in Western Byelorussia were taking place. In some aspects of interaction e.g. in the area of administration they even resulted in outright confrontation. The main reason for was caused by the fact that by the majority of the Polish population their national statehood was regarded, despite all the disadvantages of its realization during the II Polish Republic, as a significant value. Local polish community could not understand the reluctance of ethnic minorities to defend the old regime, that would discriminate them. Soviet authorities acted as a buffer, taking responsibility for the negative manifestations of the new ethnic policies and transformation processes.
CENTRAL ASIA
MIDDLE EAST
The article discusses the current state of relations between Russian and the West. The author presents long-term assessment of rising tensions between Russia and the West. The article identifies the NATO expansion as one of the most important factors that contributed to the current deterioration. The author argues that the NATO expansion was a political miscalculation of the Western countries. The author believes that the relations between Russia and the West can be improved through foreign policy linkage of two regions: Middle East and Eastern Europe. It is the place for significant political transformations (especially in the Middle East) and both sides are politically involved there. The first major recent shift in the global political landscape there is Russian-Syrian alliance that has changed the development of the civil war in the country as well as global counterterrorist efforts. The second major shift occurs in the Saudi Arabia where a more moderate leadership has come to power. The author proposes the diplomatic framework for improving relations 5+1 format that includes the USA, major European states and Russia. However, the main issue is not the format of negotiations, but its essence. Russia could use its current potential as a mediating power to fully restore the Syrian state and calm down the tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran. In return, the West can be more flexible in conflicts in the postSoviet space.
Muslim scholars from Egypt and British India formulated the principles of Islamic economy in the second half of the 1940s. At the turn of the 1970s-1980s a number of countries (Sudan, Iran and Pakistan) attempted to Islamize their financial systems. However, in none of the three, the experiment was successful. Afterwards, the Muslim world has not undertaken to build a financial system based on the principles of Islamic economics and finance any more. However, interest in the application of individual institutions of the Islamic economy has not faded away. The article examines how the principles of Islamic economic doctrine were applied in the formation of the “state” budget in the terrorist entity “Islamic State” (IS). The author analyses the principal differences between the theoretical constructions of the Islamic economy and their practical implementation in the territories controlled by the IS. In fact, the IS implements a completely different concept of Islamic economy and Islamic finance (fundamentalist) from the one that was applied in a number of Muslim countries (modernist). Considering the practice of application of Islamic economic principles by the IS, the author of the article develops the thesis expressed in his earlier publications that there is no single universal Islamic economic doctrine that could be applied with some modifications in any society and in any jurisdiction. Moreover, the various interpretations of the economic provisions of Shariah can come into serious contradiction with each other. This is indicated, in particular, in the case of the IS, where, with the help of law-permitting institutions, they try to legalize activities that are illegal from the point of view of Shariah. Another important feature of the financial policy in the IS is the insignificant interest in modern Islamic financial institutions: banks, insurance (takaful) companies, etc. The author explains this as follows. In their attempt to build a caliphate, the ideologists of the IS and their followers take a traditionalist approach in which there is no place for institutions unknown in the 7th-13th centuries. For traditionalists, such institutions as Islamic banks, etc., formed in the second half of the XX century, are often unauthorized innovations (bida’).
IRNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS AND INSTITUTIONS
The article analyzes main trends in the work of the UN Security Council on the Syrian issues. The author notes that the interaction of the Security Council members fully reflected the modern development of international relations, related to its transformation towards polycentricism. This process is associated with a reduction in the ability of the US to use the UN Security Council to conduct its own narrow-conjuncture policy, with the growing influence of new centers of power, primarily Russia and China. Those actors are ready to uphold the principle of inadmissibility of using the UN Security Council to interfere in the internal affairs of states in order to change regimes. To counter this trend, Washington and its allies pursued a policy of pressure on Moscow, trying to force it to abandon an independent course toward Syria. At the same time, the thesis of the “paralysis” of the UN Security Council with reference to the conflict in Syria was actively used because of Russia’s position. Simultaneously, Russian initiatives in the UN Security Council aimed at de-escalating the situation and launching an inter-Syrian dialogue were rejected. Nevertheless, the consistent position of Russia and China forced the West to gradually realize the non-alternative search for common denominators on the Syrian issue as well as collective partnership efforts to find measures to end the conflict. As a result, it became possible to adopt a number of decisions of the UN Security Council concerning various aspects of the settlement of the crisis. The main principles of the settlement, negotiating formats for the participants in the conflict and external players were agreed upon. Thus, it was the interaction in Syria that gave the UN Security Council the opportunity to become the embodiment and guarantor of a multipolar world, a platform for harmonizing approaches on an equitable collective basis in a changing world.
Since 1990s the EU has been highly aspirational on its role in human rights promotion on a global scale, which has led to the EU’s proactive participation in international organizations. The Union identifies itself as ‘global human rights force’ but less and less acts in accordance with that identity at the UN HRC. At this intergovernmental body the EU acts as a smoothly coordinated block, which is contested by the other regional and political coalitions of states. The emerged multi-polar world system urges for a less normative analysis of EU human rights promotion. The article proposes and applies 4 measurable indicators to assess the EU actorness in human rights promotion: 1) explicitness of references to the UN or global fora in the EU primary law and secondary legislation related to human rights promotion; 2) degree of support/contestation for the EU objectives by other non-EU actors at the HRC; 3) degree of (in)cohesiveness of EU external representation at the HRC; 4) EU (in)consistency in formulating priorities and using instruments at the HRC. Multi-polar world system questions the EU high aspirations as ‘a global force’ in human rights promotion. The EU ability to use its instruments in human rights promotion is moderate even despite its enhanced burden sharing among the EU member states, a hybrid system of representation, a vast diplomatic and NGOs’ network. ‘Big’ states still play the leading role in this process. The internal disagreement among the EU member states weakens the EU human rights promotion. The UN HRC structural context limits the EU opportunity to promote human rights, therefore, the EU tries to be less loud and less visible.
GLOBAL CITIES
BOOK REVIEWS
Book review: Alexander Zakharov, International competitive bidding in modern world economic relations. Moscow:MGIMO-University, 2017. 379 p.
Book Review: Geography of world economy: traditions, modernity, prospects (in Russian) / Ed. By V.A.Kolosov & N.A.Sluka. Collective monograph. Moscow-Smolensk: Oikumena, 2016. 400 p.
The book under review is a solid monograph, the result of the work of the famous geographers, whose core is staff and graduates of the World Economy Geography Department of the Geographic Faculty of the Moscow State University. The stages of formation and achievements of the national school of the world economy geographical research are revealed. Modern changes in the geography of material and non-material spheres are estimated. The changes in the place of countries and regions in the world economy and politics are considered. The international migration of the population at different territorial levels has been analyzed. It seems that the book under review the book is written on a high scientific level, good language and will be of great interest not only for geographers, but also for international economists and political scientists.
ISSN 2541-9099 (Online)