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Copyright of Bulletin of Ablai Khan KazUIRandWL: Series 'International Relations & Regional Studies' is the property of Kazakh Ablai Khan University of International Relations & World Languages and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

A prominent characteristic of contemporary global governance is simultaneous involvement of multiple regional and international organisations in governing a policy issue. When these organisations overlap without established hierarchy and differentiation between them, their member states can choose those organisations that are most favourable for their interests. Existing studies often approach this forum-shopping strategy as an opportunistic behaviour that prevents international cooperation. However, using insights from international relations and law scholarships, this article argues that a broad notion of forum-shopping is insufficient to account for the multiple and complex effects of forum-shopping on international cooperation. By examining the EU and NATO member states' strategies in these two organisations' overlapping crisis management operations, this article shows that the implications of forum-shopping for interorganisational cooperation depend on the type of forum-shopping taking place. As the analysis suggests, multiple and overlapping venues of governance can create opportunities for international cooperation when these venues are used based on their practical rather than political aspects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Global Strategis is the property of Universitas Airlangga and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The blockade imposed on Qatar changed the power dynamics in the Persian Gulf, increasing tension and insecurity in the area. Qatar’s ability to overcome the blockade was largely due to its cooperation with Iran, and the two countries’ ties grew as a result. This study investigates whether Qatar’s long-standing hedging toward Iran has changed into an alignment in the wake of the 2017 blockade. The key conclusion of the article is that, despite Qatar’s faint signals of alignment with Iran during the blockade, it did not entirely stray from its hedging strategy. Qatar-Iran relations has been selected as a case study to illustrate the effects of regional developments and security crises on the hedging strategy within the context of the Blockade Crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The peacekeeping became actual agenda of international relations due to increased number of internal conflicts with mass human rights violations in different regions of the world including Africa. The problems of ensuring peace and security have become priority for United Nations (UN) and regional organizations involved in constant search of conflict resolution best practices. Peacekeeping actors admitted the key role of law-enforcement agencies, and first of all the police, in ensuring security in conflict or post-conflict reconstruction. Therefore, the UN actively developing the strategy of police methods usage in peacekeeping operations. Because of this process, the number of member states contributing police contingents to the UN including formed police units increased. Joint activity of police officers from different countries with different education, professional experience and specialization requires high-quality training of candidates for peacekeeping operations. The purpose of this article is to analyze the needs of African police officers in professional development and the capabilities of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation in training of African police officers for the UN peacekeeping operations. The study is based on insights from non-participant observation, interviews and analyses of the UN official documents, policies and training materials. Actual Russian and foreign scientific publications were used. Results confirmed that Russian Federation has many years of experience in African policemen training for the UN peacekeeping operations. The promising areas of Russian Federation participation in the development of the peacekeeping potential of African police, along with the provision of standardized pre-deployment training based on the UN certified programs, can be training in the crime investigation methodology and the training of special police units of the UN member states.

The geographic area of the Sahel is of particular interest when examining regional security issues that have negatively affected political, economic and social interaction on the African continent for decades. The region has seen a massive upsurge in lethal violence, and militant groups continue to expand their activities southward, now threatening coastal West Africa. The paper examines the links between the growing dynamics of the Sahel and the security of Liptako-Gourma, composed of groups of contiguous states rooted in historical and geographical environments. The paper empirically applies the Barry Buzan and Ole Wæver’s “Regional Security Complex Theory” (RSCT) as a framework for studying the discourse of security threats and the dynamics of security challenges in the region. The application of RSCT theory makes a significant contribution to understanding these regional security issues in the Liptako-Gourma region. The complex links between threats demonstrate the likely impossibility of addressing these threats in isolation, and the need for a broader approach. The study interprets the current relationship between France and Mali in relation to Mali’s withdrawal from the G5 Sahel Force as hostile. The authors argue that the regional nature of the security threats strongly supports the claim that geographic proximity is a major contributor to security interactions. The paper also reveals that the individual security of each state cannot be separated from that of its neighbors. Therefore, it is suggested that mutual interests could contribute to a stronger regional security initiative that integrates the fight against a common threat such as terrorism.

Abstract This paper explores the securitisation geopolitics around environmental sustainability, advocating for regional securitisation as a means to address environmental challenges that otherwise complicate traditional security challenges, which are foundational to a regional security complex approach. The global landscape lacks a unified approach to environmental practices, prompting the examination of regional contexts to influence state behaviour and apply a regional security complex model to symbolise this transformation as “Regional Environmental Sustainability Complexes” (RESC). The paper demonstrates that the South Asian Regional Security Complex (SARSC) concept by Buzan has evolved into the broader South Asian Regional Environmental Sustainability Complex (SARESC).

This article aims to analyze how, throughout the Cold War era, Pakistan did not cultivate strong ties with Russia. It was the international structure that compelled Pakistan to join the Western bloc, addressing the security and economic needs of a newly born state. Similarly, the USSR's support for India led to strategic imbalance in the South Asian region. However, global politics is dynamic, not static. The 21st century, especially post-9/11, has transformed the global political arena. Contemporary global politics is witnessing new alliances; today, Pakistan is looking towards the East while India's focus is towards the West. Geo-political and geo-strategic changes are reshaping global politics. This study aims to highlight the changing geo-political landscape of the region, the factors responsible for policy shifts, responses to the new global geo-strategic scenario, and how these changes have helped bring the former Cold War rivals, Russia and Pakistan, closer. Gradually, Russia and Pakistan are strengthening diplomatic ties, with Pakistan securing Western support. While Pakistan has signed military cooperation deals with the USA and other European countries, it is also compelled to reassess its foreign policy weaknesses and forge closer ties with Russia and other regional states. This shift is driven by a need to build trust and move away from the hegemonic designs of Pakistan and the US in the South Asian region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this research is to examine the regional security of the Islamic Republic of Iran, focusing on the Arabian political officials. Using the descriptive study concludes that between 2010 and policy changes primarily aimed at containing the Islamic Republic of Iran. These measures sought to prevent Iran from assuming a dominant and decisive role in the turbulent West Asian region. between Iran and Saudi Arabia has the potential to transform the West Asian region into the epicenter of intense regional and geopolitical rivalries, thereby posing security challenges at both national and regional levels. As long as this competition persists, national security remains at risk. Given Miller's theory of war and peace, the turning point in this policy lies in the perceptions of decision-makers. If decision-makers alter their perception of the operational environment, it is possible for them to transition from a hegemonic model to a collaborative model, fostering a convergent and cooperative atmosphere in West Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rising U.S.-Chinese tensions affect all East Asian nations in almost every sphere. This kind of a tangible influence originates in decrease of predictability of the major actors behavior and their respective efforts in enhancing military security. As a matter of fact, regional environment is suffering from mutual distrust and cyclic assertive reaction of the players. J. Biden’s statement that “America is back at the table” affirms Washington’s intentions to develop its ally and partner ties with the East Asian nations. The most obvious reasons are opposing China’s rise and suppressing DPRK. However, not all regional states are ready to make such a strategic choice and support the United States completely, demonstrating binding commitments. Some nations accent on obtaining efficiency in defense, while others prefer to maintain an equal distance from either Washington or Beijing, and maintain a reliable dialogue with both of them. Mostly East Asian nations refrain from spoiling relationship with now-mighty China but it seems more and more complicated to justify rocketing of their respective defense budgets and strive for gaining an extra military capacity. This factor seriously destabilizes regional security complex of the East Asia, where Russia is also a potent actor so far.

Taiwan's security is inextricably linked to the strategic stability and preservation of the regional order in the Indo-Pacific region. For the leading Indo-Pacific powers, particularly the United States, maintaining the status quo ante in the Taiwan Strait is an integral part of the rules-based order. The United States and Japan have linked it to their own security. Even though Taiwan has no formal diplomatic relations with the majority of the nations in the Indo-Pacific region, it is an intrinsic part of the regional dynamics, particularly in trade, investment, and regional supply chain contexts. Taiwan has been trying to regain its political and diplomatic position in recent years, especially under the Tsai Ing-wen administration. In that context, the Taiwan government has been reiterating the need to collaborate with the Indo-Pacific countries to safeguard a rules-based order and secure a more resilient and peaceful Indo-Pacific community. Taiwan's advocacy for an open, transparent, inclusive, rules-based order is backed by its good governance practices domestically and non-confrontational approaches externally. A region as diverse as the Indo-Pacific, where like-minded countries face a range of shared and divergent concerns and interests, needs to be truly inclusive to find solutions to traditional and non-traditional security challenges. Furthermore, the China-US rivalry, with Taiwan as a major factor between the two, is shaping the Indo-Pacific discourse. This article discusses Taiwan's centrality in the Indo-Pacific dynamics, particularly regarding the region's major power politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 21st century has surprised, after 2001, metamorphoses of the Russian Federation, both internally but especially at the external level, from a strategic regional identity towards a desired global identity. Identity and identification of power for the Russian Federation became a target centered on the recovery of the state’s major power and to restore the greatness of power. In the global context of geopolitical transformations, we can identify a new regional approach versus globalization – as a response reaction, in which new centers of power, and the powers print its presence in a world that tends toward structural changes of multipolar system. Thus, a strategic identity in the multipolar context is what wants and the Russian Federation. The present article, it is focused to debate the new dimensions of international theory and practice and aims to analyze a few aspects of defining social – political and cultural identity, which allow us to point out the extent to which, both geopolitical and geostrategic policies, identify and mobilize the meanings of evolution on postSoviet Russia. In a context on the multidimensional system of international relations, the proposed research was aiming at the theoretical and methodological issues focused on an interdisciplinary approach, specific geopolitical analysis, combining the meanings of identity perspective historical, political, social, economic and cultural.

Introduction. The article examines traditional and recent factors that affect the situation in the geopolitically significant southern Russian region. The reasons for the actualization of socio-political and ethno-confessional conflicts are considered as factors of possible regional destabilization. Methods and materials. Conflictological diagnostics of the regional tension dynamics, as well as the nature and features of situational and long-term risks to regional security and socio-political stability in the South of Russia are based on factor analysis of Rostov region, Krasnodar Krai, and the Republic of Adygea materials. Analysis. By analyzing the statistics, the authors has revealed the presence of such negative processes in these regions as a decrease in the standard of living, a sharp increase in the unemployment rate, an increase in corruption and crime rates, population decrease, which is provoked by the COVID-19 pandemic – the newest factor of regional tension. Results. It is concluded that socio-economic problems against the background of a pandemic crisis may adversely affect the nature of interethnic and interfaith relations. Competition in the labor market, deterioration of the criminal situation, and uncontrolled migration can be considered as factors of conflict. According to the results of the study, it was found that the destabilization factors of the Rostov region regional situation have an endogenous character: demographic (population decrease), economic (deterioration in the socio-economic situation of the population), growth of protest activity and destructive content in the media. For Krasnodar Krai and the Republic of Adygea, exogenous factors of regional tension remain relevant: there is a high level of external migration for the region. Authors’ contribution.The contribution of M.V. Tarasova in writing the article is to form the research logic, develop methodology and tools, and analyze statistical information in Rostov region. The analysis of the regional situation in Krasnodar Krai and Rostov region was carried out by I.V. Yurchenko, and M.V. Dontsova.

The painful consequences of political, economic and social shocks provoked by the Arab Spring forced the political elites of the Middle Eastern states to revisit traditional approaches to maintaining stability and security in the region. This inevitably aff ected the activities of the Gulf Cooperation Council, which was from the outset established in order to enhance cooperation between the countries of the region primarily in the fi eld of security. This paper attempts to identify the key milestones, factors and trends that have shaped the GCC decision-making process in the security sphere over the past 10 years since the beginning of the Arab Spring. The author shows that the Arab Awakening has encouraged the GCC member-states to deepen military-political integration, aimed at strengthening their defense capabilities, as well as their abilities to respond to external and internal challenges. The author notes that the GCC countries still view Iran as the main source of all these threats; moreover, con-sidering substantial strengthening of Iran’s infl uence in the Middle East their position has even hardened. Tehran is accused of meddling in the internal aff airs of the GCC member-states, supporting illegal Shiite groups operating on their territory, and instigating religious discord. In this context, it is quite natural that the Iran’s nuclear programme is of particular concern to the GCC. At the same time, the author emphasizes, that although the GCC member-states declare common approach towards Iran, their practical actions can vary signifi cantly. In particular, it was Qatar which opposed an excessively hard-line approach towards Iran. This fact, as well as accusations against Doha of supporting terrorist and extremist groups, led to two crises that shook the GCC in the 2010s. However, the fact that these crises have been eventually settled shows that security issues still press regional actors towards strengthening the capacities of the GCC. Especially since military threats have been compounded by a new threat — of the outbreak of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. The author concludes that this new threat, which has already incited the GCC to promote cooperation in a health sector, will also strengthen the member-states’ focus on various nonmilitary challenges including epidemiological and environmental ones.

Over the decades, Middle Eastern security has been influenced by both strong regional and global security interdependence. Since the end of the Cold War, Washington has played a leading security role in the region, providing an extended nuclear umbrella for its allies in the Gulf Cooperation Council organization. However, the U.S. strategic pivot to the Asia-Pacific region and China’s rising profile as a global power has set the Middle East’s security dynamics again into flux. This article employs a regional security complex framework, paired with a realist theoretical lens, to analyze how the growing Sino-American rivalry is affecting Persian Gulf security by identifying the regional interests of these two powers and examining the emerging regional security dynamics.

In November 2019, a new series of annual one-week meetings began to eliminate non-conventional arms – essentially nuclear weapons, and to a lesser extent chemical and biological weapons (CBW) – from the arsenals in the Middle East. It followed the acceptance of Egypt’s proposal for a new conference by the First Committee of the UN General Assembly on 22 December 2018. The new Conference derives its mandate from the Resolution on the Middle East, adopted at the 1995 Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Besides expanding the original idea of a Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone (NWFZ) to one that would also cover CBW, it also requires the regional disarmament initiative to be verifiable. This enlarged scope for regional disarmament in the Middle East presents significant challenges for the negotiating parties. While the NWFZ primarily addressed security relationships with Israel, chemical weapons and their past and present use in the Middle East affect other regional fault lines. This article traces how CBW were inserted into the objective of a NWFZ for the Middle East. It then discusses the legal regimes governing CBW, their status in the region and implications for a regional zone exempt from non-conventional weaponry. The demand for effective verification poses multiple challenges because of the processes in the CBW disarmament treaties. The paper finally discusses steps the Conference could consider for building trust and confidence while negotiating the regional treaty framework.

Advanced ballistic and cruise missiles have become a salient feature of the Middle Eastern security landscape. More states are either developing indigenous production capabilities or importing these missiles than ever before and their use has also become a frequent occurrence in regional conflicts. Despite that the issue remains one of the least examined aspects of regional arms control. This research article surveys the historical and contemporary missiles landscape in the Middle East and the evolution of regional debates aimed at arms control. It demonstrates the disconnect between a regional arms dynamic marked by competitiveness and a fragmented and underdeveloped ideational and normative arms control framework. The article identifies some of the challenges in addressing missiles control in the region and proposes a taxonomy of modalities for addressing missiles control including cross-cutting themes that can frame the substance and content of regional missiles control.

Copyright of Itobiad: Journal of the Human & Social Science Researches / İnsan ve Toplum Bilimleri Araştırmaları Dergisi is the property of Itobiad: Journal of the Human & Social Science Researches and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The study of regional dimensions, including the role of individual regions in the international system, plays a significant role in understanding the formation of a new multipolar world order. Undoubtedly, one of the most important regions is the Great Mediterranean, which is considered to be the cradle of civilization. Located at the crossroads of Asia, Africa and Europe, it has a special status in global economic and political events. The author first defines the concept of the Greater Mediterranean, analyzing it in the short, medium and long term and, accordingly, in a narrow regional, wide regional and global scale. Then the analysis is carried out from the point of view of the regional security complex theory. The purpose of the study is to identify the territory covered by the Greater Mediterranean, as well as the type of regional security complex that it is part of. Since there is no clear, unified definition among Russian and foreign scholars about the geographical boundaries of this region and what it represents, the theoretical justification allows the author not only to determine the limits of the region, but also to give its characteristics, which in turn conditions the relevance of the research. In summary, it is concluded that the Greater Mediterranean constitutes a global-level security complex as it includes states, such as Russia, France, and Great Britain, which have a significant influence in world politics, as well as Turkey, Italy, Israel, and Iran with considerable powerful capabilities that extend beyond their neighbors.

The heated bilateral relation between Iran and the United States has brought the middle east into another level of problem. The divided geopolitical and regional interest of both countries has led to several and many multidimensional issues, ranging from political, security, and even to economic ones. This article discussed the Iran – US tension on their proxy conflict in the Middle East. This article employs the Regional Security Complex Theory to construct the events related to both states’ proxy conflicts. The polarized region for sure has drawn another line that seems to be more complexed for both countries to achieve mutual understanding and continued peacebuilding. The US withdrawal from JCPOA, killing of Soleimani, and Saudi Arabia – Iran Yemen proxy war exacerbated the status quo. This article perceived that the intertwined issues show how the traditional thought of security should be redefined as both countries try to gain bargaining power. Especially with Iran that was hindered very much by sanctions and embargo placed by the US. This article discusses many important issues on Iran, US, and Saudi Arabia involvement and their correlated dynamics within the UN. This article analyzed Trump’s leadership style in the Middle East and its implication from the proxy war to the Middle East security architecture.

Since the Biden administration took office, its approach and strategy for domestic and foreign affairs have become the focus of global attention. The new administration’s policy toward the Korean Peninsula is one of the most heatedly debated subjects among policymakers and pundits. The past four years have seen major changes in regional security architecture, the most noticeable of which are dynamics on the Korean Peninsula and intensified China-U.S. strategic rivalry. In this context, a comprehensive overhaul of Mr. Trump’s approach to global affairs is expected under a Democratic administration staffed with foreign policy veterans, and the Korean Peninsula policy will be among the most consequential decisions for Biden’s White House. President Biden’s policy toward Pyongyang will be substantially different from Trump’s approach. A bottom-up, incremental model is likely to replace Trump’s personalized diplomacy marked by flashy summit meetings and “love letters.” Existing sanctions will be maintained until the Biden administration sees substantive results regarding the North’s nuclear and missile arsenal. While keeping up the pressure to coerce Pyongyang back to the negotiating table, President Biden is expected to respond more proactively to Kim Jong-un’s overtures or “provocations” and place a high premium on policy reciprocity. The Biden team will elevate the role of Seoul and Tokyo in its strategic planning and increase trilateral coordination and consultation. Stiff competition is more likely to hinder China-U.S. coordination on the Peninsula. The tone, substance, and results of diplomatic engagement between Beijing and Washington over the nuclear issue in the early days of the new administration will give a foretaste of what could ensue on the Peninsula. Positive initial interactions may generate broader implications for China-U.S. relations, regional stability, and global security at large.

The Black Sea region is an important geopolitical and geostrategic area where the interests of various authors of world politics — both regional and global — intersect. The importance of the region as a transit area of energy resources and an important transport hub attracts the attention of the European Union as well. The EU’s interests in the Black Sea region cover a number of areas: economy, energy transit, security, environmental and climate issues, social and cultural initiatives. Energy and transport flows through the Black Sea region, as well as access to broad markets, are key factors in the EU’s interest in the region. Since the 1990s, the European Union has consistently increased its interest in the Black Sea region. Among the key initiatives in this direction, it is necessary to highlight the “Black Sea Synergy” and the “Eastern Partnership” program, which allow the EU to progressively increase its presence in the region and influence individual countries geographically related to it. The EU’s attention to the region and its policies are in conflict with the foreign policy interests of the Russian Federation in this geographical area.

Eurasia is gradually turning into the point of intersection of various longterm political and economic initiatives undertaken by the leading actors of contemporary international relations, including the Russian Federation, the European Union, the United States and the People’s Republic of China. This trend compounded by a complicated dynamics of integration and disintegration processes in the post-Soviet states further exacerbates tensions in the region, already fraught with conflict. It also poses additional obstacles to the projects of Eurasian integration, promoted by the Russian Federation. In order to provide a better understanding of the specificities and prospects of Russia’s initiatives, the paper examines the origins and the evolution of the Russian strategy of Eurasian integration, and identifies its key elements. The author concludes that fundamental principles of the Russian strategy for reshaping the post-Soviet states have been laid down during the presidency of B.N. Yeltsin and were merely adjusted to meet certain political, social and economic changes both in Russia and abroad. These principles include: 1) commitment to the idea of a multipolar world; 2) creation of supranational Eurasian economic institutions to multiply the economic potential of member-states; 3) prevention of a change of political regimes in neighboring countries if they can bring to power anti-Russian groups; 4) establishment of closer links with China, especially on political, economic and security issues; 5) formation of a new center of political gravity in Eurasia through expanding the capacities of regional political and military organizations which would complement integration processes and ensure regional security. The paper shows that amid growing international tensions in the second half of 2010s the Russian integration initiatives have become increasingly focused on geostrategic, political and military issues. In that regard, the author concludes that, although the development of the Eurasian integration projects enables a wide range of horizontal and vertical economic linkages between the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) memberstates, overtly competitive nature of both the Russian and the Western states’ strategies increases the conflict potential of the region. In the absence of alternative approaches, this conflict could not only become a potential source of new tensions between Russia and the West, but also threatens to reverse the current integration processes within the EAEU. The author emphasizes that the abandonment of excessively politicized and ideologized policies both in Russia and in the Western states, which prevents political elites from finding compromises and developing alternative approaches, is the only way to improve the situation in the Eurasian region.

The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), as an international regional organization, unites states that have common principles for ensuring collective security in the post-Soviet space. In addition to military, political, anti-terrorist, anti-drug, migration aspects, the Organizations practical activities provide for the implementation of peacekeeping missions in the region, as well as beyond. Over the past decade, the CSTO has been systematically raising the level of its readiness to respond to various types of threats, interacting with both states and other international organizations in this area. The purpose of this article is to assess the current state of the CSTO peacekeeping activity, to identify its strengths and weaknesses, and possible ways to increase the effectiveness of peacekeeping. The scientific novelty of the research lays in the consideration, on the basis of a retrospective analysis, of the actual state of the political, military, information components of the Organizations peacekeeping, which at the present time, obviously, have not yet reached their maximum efficiency. The author examines the reasons for the creation of the CSTO, the historical stages of the Organizations interaction with the UN, the practical aspects of their cooperation. Special attention is paid to the existing relationship between the member states within the Organization itself, to the political problems of the perception of the CSTO by other subjects of international law as an equal partner. It notes its complete political ignorance on the part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in the presence of bilateral contacts with most member states. In conclusion, the author comes to the conclusion that the Organization is currently experiencing an identity crisis and does not show sufficient efficiency in the context of the implementation of close allied relations in the system of ensuring regional security.

The global Indian and Pacific region is playing an increasing role in modern international relations. At the beginning of the XXI century, this region is a crossroads of different interests of great powers. The United States continues to play a leading role. The Pentagon introduced the concept of the Indo-Pacific region. From a military-strategic point of view, this concept is a symbol of American-Chinese competition. This process intensified under the Trump administration in 2017-2020. The Biden administration is consolidating regional democracies. Australia, India and Japan play a key role in this process. The European Union promotes the values and ideas of democracy in the Indo-Pacific region. China is an important trading partner of the EU. The intensification of the Sino-US confrontation in early 2022 has blocked the entry into force of the China-EU Free Trade and Investment Agreement. In early 2022, the United States, Great Britain and Australia announced the creation of a military alliance. India and Japan are concerned about China's growing military power. The Republic of Korea has a similar position. Hotspots of confrontation in the region are Taiwan, the Korean Peninsula, the disputed Spratly Islands. The Indo-Pakistani conflict around Kashmir destabilizes regional security. The Indo-Pacific region is an example of a complex multipolar system of international relations. This system is more risky in terms of security. The functioning of internal regional and interregional communication networks is complicated by military-technical, environmental, demographic, socio-cultural, interstate contradictions. The formation of a regional security system is limited by political problems. Post-modern democracies, such as Australia, India, Japan and the modernized Chinese autocracy and the North Korean Stalinist dictatorship, coexist in the Indo-Pacific region. The balance of interests is maintained by the United States and the European Union. This balance is volatile and unpredictable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (the Gulf Cooperation Council, GCC) is one of the key regional organizations and its significance has only augmented in recent years. Meanwhile, the author emphasizes that both Russian and foreign academic literature on the topic lacks general works covering activities of the organization. This paper aims to partially fill this gap. It highlights specific features of political systems of the GCC states, the institutional structure and the main directions of this organization’s activity: from economics and finances to security and common defense policy. The author emphasizes that the GCC’s ability to adopt a joint position based on a compromise should be credited to the leaders of the member-states. However, the paper outlines a range of issues impeding effective realization of the goals proclaimed by the organization. Particularly, the author focuses on the differences of opinion among the GCC countries on military cooperation and transformation of the organization into a full-fledged alliance. The Arab Awakening became another major challenge for all states of the Gulf. The paper examines how the ruling regimes of the GCC states were forced to respond to the unfurling of the wave of popular protests in their countries. Nevertheless, the author stresses that the GCC states managed to prove solidity of their political regimes, and the organization as a whole increased its impact in the region. Finally, the paper dwells on the events of the so called Qatar crisis, resulting from the discontent among the majority of GCC states with Qatar, which they accuse of supporting terrorist organizations. The author concludes that the Qatar crisis has demonstrated that national interests and the desire to maintain national sovereignty tend to have preference in the policy of the Gulf States over the common goals of the GCC. However, the GCC leaders strive to revive the spirit of cooperation and since the GCC members are interested in strengthening their cooperation, the organization could meet the challenges it has faced.

In this article, the importance ofAfghanistanfor South andEast Asiaand for regional security is assessed.Asiaas a whole and the south Asian region in particular is playing an increasingly important role in world politics and economy. It’s believed that south Asia is moving forward and will be in a much better position both in politics and economy in the future of Asia and world. The region has been characterized by the dynamic inter-play of security, economic and diplomatic factors reinforcing each other owing to the complex nature of territorial claims and religious extremist activities.Afghanistanstrategic location is so important for south Asian countries likePakistan,Indiaand also forChina,IranandRussiastability and security in the region. AsAfghanistanis still a safe haven for international terrorists’ groups and Taliban, therefore it’s a serious threat to the region and world. Due to the geo-strategic Location of Afghanistan any problem will affect the region stability and security as it did in the past too. Further Successive regimes inPakistanhave tried their best to impose a favorable government inAfghanistanbut those policies harmed them only. ForChina, the importance ofAfghanistanbecomes evident from the internal security in Xinjiang region.Iranwould like to seeAfghanistanfree fromUSexistence. From other sideRussiaworry about the inflow of opium and other narcotics fromAfghanistanto the centralAsia.

The article analyzes the Russian-Turkmen relations, which at the present stage are characterized by special dynamism. Thanks to the return of Russian Gazprom to the energy market ofTurkmenistanin 2019, cooperation between the two countries has intensified. The leading role of the energy factor in the relations betweenRussiaandTurkmenistanis substantiated. The problems arising in cooperation between the two countries in the oil and gas sector have a negative impact on the overall background of bilateral relations. The article considers the external and internal challenges faced byRussiain the Turkmen direction.Russia’s focus on strengthening military-political cooperation withTurkmenistanis shown. Despite the fact that the interests ofRussiaandTurkmenistanoverlap, approaches to their implementation are markedly different.Turkmenistan’s foreign policy actions are entirely determined by its domestic political priorities.Turkmenistan, fearing excessive dependence onRussiaand relying on its neutral status, is in no hurry to establish closer ties withRussia, limiting itself exclusively to the gas sphere. It is concluded that the future of Russian-Turkmen relations will largely depend on the ability of the two countries to come to agreed decisions on the oil and gas issue.

The article takes a critical look at the current state of the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands dispute in light of the recent escalation between China and Japan. The article's central thesis is that the practical significance of the dispute has diminished considerably due to developments in the security and economic spheres. Rather, the dispute continues to exist and escalate because of the domestic political interests of the respective governments. This recognition is important to manage the dispute effectively, to avoid hyperbolic arguments about the dispute's conflict potential, and similarly to avoid undue comparisons with the South China Sea. This article adopts a realist, rational-choice based approach to demonstrate the diminishing nature of the security and economic significance of the islands, which underpins a decreasing rationale for actively seeking an alteration of the status quo. The question of why the dispute continues to escalate is highlighted in the article's examination of how the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan and the Chinese Communist Party use the islands as a political symbol to pursue their own domestic and regional political agenda, in a way only tangentially connected to the actual dispute. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Bilge Strateji is the property of BILGESAM and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article analyzes Russia’s policy from the point of view of goals formulated by the government in response to challenges in international politics, economics and security, as well as challenges associated with the threat of losing the status of a great power, maintaining territorial integrity and independence. Russia’s dissatisfaction with the existing order of things – when its interests were not taken into account, and the West did not set any limits for itself, advancing its geopolitical interests –had been growing for a long time, however, most clearly manifested itself in the landmark 2014 when Western sanctions after the Crimean events pushed the Russian authorities and business to more active in the Asia-Pacific.The authors formulate a number of signs of the new regional order of the Asia-Pacific countries, which may develop into a new international (global) order. This type of system, according to the authors, will be more competitive and less hierarchical, within its framework there will not be a single dominant force or ideology, it will be based on a multitude of centers of power. Such a world order is more attractive for Russia than the unipolar Atlantic order. It will give the country the opportunity to use its own comparative advantages, such as territory, resources, hard power, a fairly rigid political organization and the ability to mobilize resources for strategic purposes. Nevertheless, it is important to understand that the modern non-Western world is still very amorphous, its future contours are blurred, and Asian business is still weakly responding to the Russian “turn to the East”.

The author studies the EU policy on the UN peacekeeping operations and problems of development of partnership with the UN in early warning of crisis situations and crisis management. Special attention is devoted to analysis of basic models of the EU participation in the UN peacekeeping after Lisbon Treaty. The author envisages that the EU would continue to develop the structural strategic partnership with the UN in light of the recent Action for Peace keeping (A4P) and the UN Declaration on mutual commitments on peacekeeping ( September 2018). The search by the EU of the optimal models of its partnership with the UN is linked to the policy of the EU tandem (France- Germany) on strengthening European sovereignty and its defense capabilities.

This article aims to study the behavior of the Iranian regime in Yemen during the period of 2004-2018. It reveals the main objectives of Iran’s intervention and examines the determinants of the Iranian foreign policy towards Yemen. We also comment on John Mearsheimer's real-life theory of Iranian behavior in Yemen and consider the Role Theory by K. J. Holsti. Our research concludes that Iranian behavior in Yemen has affected the balance of power in the region and resulted in a regional reaction represented by Operation Decisive Storm. Furthermore, it is our determination that the Iranian intervention in Yemen has sought to achieve two goals: an ideological one achieved through the dissemination of the Twelver doctrine in Yemen; the second goal is geopolitical directed at controlling Bab-el-Mandeb Strait. Iran seeks to realize these goals through its agents in Yemen, the Houthis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the article the basic directions of activity of the Russian Federation in the framework of the Shanghai cooperation organization are considered. The conclusion is that Russia from the moment of foundation of the Organization actively supports association of the member countries’ positions of the Shanghai cooperation organization in the sphere of ensuring regional security. The analysis was carried out of economic policy concerning Organization member countries. As a result revealed that the creation of energy club lobbied by the Russian Federation shows the paramount importance of the energy component of the countries cooperation of the Organization. Highlight some positions that determine the importance of Russian energy diplomacy in the activities of the Shanghai cooperation organization.

South Korea has long been regarded as a middle power nation. Accession to Group of Twenty (G 20) status and membership of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development-Development Assistance Committee (OECD-DAC) were heralded as confirmation of South Korea's status as 'global Korea' and a middle power and seemed to also confirm the rise of second-generation middle power activism, convenor-ship and leadership. The article explores how conventional IR realism and liberalism have yet to fully explain the emergence and role of network-based middle power leaders. The article assesses current strategic issues for South Korea in the context of North Korea's nuclear program and responses to it. From this, what emerges, are a number of strategic concerns and opportunities given the current power dynamic in the region that are currently identified as to enabling South Korea as a transforming middle power to confront what has recently been termed the new phenomenon of 'Korea passed.' [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australia has been among the most prominent advocates of the increasingly popular Indo-Pacific concept. This article argues that Canberra's enthusiasm for the concept stems from its appeal to the two dominant traditions of Australian foreign policy—a 'dependent ally' tradition and a 'middle power' approach. While these two traditions are typically seen as being in tension, the Indo-Pacific concept provides a rare point of convergence between them. The article begins by outlining the appeal of the Indo-Pacific concept to each of these traditions. Using a case-study of recent Australian policy toward the South China Sea disputes, however, the article then demonstrates that Australia has in practice implemented its stated Indo-Pacific strategy far less consistently than its very vocal support would appear to suggest. This disjuncture is attributed to the growing influence of a third, generally understudied, 'pragmatic' Australian foreign policy tradition. Because Australia has been such a prominent champion of the Indo-Pacific concept, the article concludes that this divergence between the rhetoric and the reality of Australia's Indo-Pacific strategy threatens to have a negative impact on the concept's broader international appeal and sustainability, particularly among Australia's south-east Asian neighbours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Islamic Republic of Pakistan faces many internal and external challenges and remains a major point of reference in contemporary international security analysis. This article examines selected issues relating to Pakistan's foreign policy contextualized within the transformations in the security dynamics of South Asia. The specificity of the security environment in South Asia, the least politically and economically integrated region of the world, engaged in the protracted Kashmir conflict, serves as the starting point for the multi-dimensional study of the key objectives of Pakistan's foreign strategy towards its neighbouring states, such as India, China and Afghanistan. Methodological approach for this research is based on offensive realism, which seems to present the appropriate explanatory tool for studying the South Asian securityrelated specificity. The naya (new) Pakistan narrative, promoted by the Prime Minister Imran Khan seems hardly a game-changing chapter in the history of the state. Analysis of Pakistan's current policies, persistent domination of the army over the state's bureaucracy, increasing dependency on external loans and bailouts provokes rather opposite conclusions. Pakistan's strategic goals vis-à-vis Afghanistan and India exploit its own resources and strongly affect the regional security system whilst the country has no adequate means to achieve them. Consequently, there is a vital need of a paradigm shift in Pakistan's regional security calculus from ideologically motivated, unfeasible claims to a more cooperative posture, supplemented by campaigns for de-radicalization. This research study was conducted during seven trips to Pakistan during the last decade; the results and conclusions of this study were discussed and debated with academics and other South Asia experts both in Asia and in Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Engaging North Korea in stable structures of international cooperation is among the most pressing challenges of international relations. While the country's formal (Track-1) foreign relations have repeatedly aroused the interest of international research, its informal foreign relations receive far less attention. Building on personal experiences and interviews with other practitioners and organizers, this study addresses the main characteristics as well as the strengths and limitations of European Track-1.5 initiatives with North Korea. It is argued that such European Track 1.5 initiatives are critical in order to facilitate dialogue with North Korea, especially when regular channels of communication are blocked. While these initiatives thus do play a critical complementary role to official dialogue with North Korea, they are faced with a number of challenges and limitations, ranging from a vulnerability to political framework conditions to a set of structural limitations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reelection of Shinzo Abe as Prime Minister provides a favorable climate for both Donald Trump’s first presidential visit to Japan and an improvement of Chinese-Japanese-U.S. bilateral relations. In the 22 October 2017 ballot, Abe’s dominant Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its coalition partner Komeito, secured a two-thirds majority in the House of Representatives, the lower house of Japan’s bicameral legislature. The coalition already holds a supermajority, required for amending the constitution, in the upper house. It justified Abe for calling the national elections a year earlier than needed to secure a public mandate for addressing the growing North Korean threat and to validate popular support for deepening national economic reforms, which have had recent success in boosting Japan’s growth rate and the stock market. Still the outcome gave Abe a mandate for his policies. However, his stewardship was unclear as several other factors contributed to LDP’s overwhelming victory. At the structural level, Japan’s first past the post-electoral system tends to amplify electoral wins in comparison to proportional representation systems. Abe’s foreign and security policies highly charged with ideological revisionism contain the potential to shift Japan onto a new international trajectory in East Asia. Its degree of articulation and energy makes for a doctrine capable of displacing the Yoshida Doctrine that has been Japan’s dominant grand strategy in the post-war period. Abe will remain pragmatic and not challenge the status quo. However, Abe has already begun to introduce radical policies that appear to transform national security, US-Japan alliance ties and relations with China and East Asia. The Abe Doctrine is dynamic but high risk. Abe’s revisionism contains fundamental contradictions that may ultimately limit national effectiveness.

Under the Goldwater-Nichols Defense Department Reorganization Act of 1986, the President of the United States must submit to Congress each year a report on the national security strategy. This report under the name of “National Security Strategy” is intended to be a comprehensive statement anticipating the worldwide interests, goals and objectives that are deemed crucial to the national security of the United States. The new “National Security Strategy” (December 2017) lays out the strategic vision of the Presidential Administration under Donald Trump about ways and means by which the US seeks to deal with internal and external threats. The authors of the Strategy set themselves the main task of proving that American security is based on the realization that American principles are: “a lasting force for good in the World.” The authors of the Strategy prioritize the protection of the American way of life and American interests all over the world. In that aspect, they see the main danger from the hostile states and non-states actors who are “trying to acquire different types of weapons”. In addition, the administration is demonstrating concerns about the activity of international terrorist organizations (jihadist), transnational criminal organizations, drug cartels and cybercrime. Different from previous similar documents, Trump’s Strategy makes an evident accent on economic security as an important part of national security. The task in that area is “to rebuild economic strength at home and preserve a fair and reciprocal international system.” In a rather confronting manner, the Strategy assesses the role of China and Russia in the international affairs. It underlines that between the main sets of challengers – “the revisionist powers of China and Russia and the rogue states of Iran and North Korea”, the United States will seek areas of cooperation with competitors but will do so from a position of strength. The Strategy pays great attention to restoring military capability of the US. It is stressed that military strength remains a vital component of the competition for influence. In a certain sense, the authors of the Strategy demonstrate a new approach to the role of diplomacy, and especially in regards to the tools of economic diplomacy, intended to protect the US “from abuse by illicit actors”. Pillar four of the Strategy outlines considerations for expanding US influence on a global scale and for supporting friendly partners. As stated in the Strategy, American assistance to developing countries should help promote national interests and vice versa. The US will use all means, including sanctions, to “isolate states and leaders that pose a threat to the American interests.” The Strategy pays much attention to the regional aspect of national security, and, from these positions, the situation in various parts of the world (the Indo-Pacific region, Europe, the Middle East, etc.) is assessed. The authors emphasize that changes in the balance of power at the world level can cause global consequences and threaten American interests and US security. On the contrary, “stability reduces the threats that Americans face at home.”

Copyright of Revista de Estudios Internacionales Mediterraneos is the property of Taller de Estudios Internacionales Mediterraneos and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article examines the current state of and prospects for cooperation of the Russian-Bahraini relationship in the context of the formation of a regional security system. The author analyzes the bilateral agenda between Moscow and Manama in the broad context of the legacy of the USSR in the region, the wide-ranging course of the Russian Federation towards the Middle East in general and the states of the Persian Gulf in particular. Also, the study takes into account the factor of other extra-regional presence in this subsystem, special attention in this context is paid to the role of the United States. As a result of the analysis, the author formulated his own characteristic of the general trends of Russian policy towards the countries of the Persian Gulf. At the same time, relations with Bahrain were considered in the framework of several “baskets” - the most relevant problems for both states, whose influence could be extrapolated from the bilateral agenda to regional and subregional security issues. To such “baskets” the author included problems: Arab-Persian contradictions, terrorism and extremism, Shia-Sunni confrontation, interstate relations in the format of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf. The subject of the study was concentrated on the compatibility of Russian and Bahraini positions on these issues in the context of the formation of a regional security system.

This article analyzes the main challenges of Saudi Arabia’s foreign and security policy. Considering the recent unrests in the Arab world, it is clear that, beyond de Iranian projection, the threat of internal riots also becomes a priority item on the Saudi security agenda.

After obtaining independence the republics of Central Asia faced with difficulties of regional security maintenance. The first threat to regional security comes from political instability in the Caucasus, the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China, Afghanistan, the Middle and Near East. The second dangerous factor is a terrorist activity in the Central Asia accompanied by growth of various offices and funds of Islamist orientation in the Central Asia. With these factors in mind, the author considers possible methods of combating terrorists in different countries of the Central Asia.

As a result of the dynamic socio-economic processes taking place globally on the agenda in society, new problems arise which are related to the strengthening of the national and regional economy in the conditions of globalization. For this reason, the fundamental importance of achieving the sustainable development of the nationstate is associated with increasing and achieving a high level of economic and social security, as globalization creates new opportunities for national actors involved in international relations but at the same time leads to risks and external threats to the functioning of national economies. Economic and social security play a huge role in shaping essential qualitative aspects of the life of the citizen, society and the state in today's globalizing world. In the modern world, it is impossible to guarantee the country's economic security without extensive international cooperation at all levels because a significant and important part of the problem concerns the spread of threats beyond national borders and the impossibility of finding a solution through national instruments and mechanisms. In the global age, uncertainty is everywhere. The job, which in the modern age is associated with life projects, because of the lack of security no longer provides support for the prospects and ambitions of the people. Conditions change quickly and often without warning. But not only working conditions and jobs are constantly changing. The whole framework, in which long-term plans (partnerships, households, neighborhoods) are usually embedded, breaks down with the enormous momentum of the new era. The lack of economic and social security at the moment is the greatest threat to the state, society and the individual. In addition, the communication and information revolution places the issue of information security in all its aspects. National interests in the global age are never restricted by state borders, which creates the prerequisites for the emergence of numerous contradictions that can be solved at the level of interstate interactions. On the other hand, the national interests of individual countries can coincide with the interests of other socio-political institutions and co-implement them. The growing interplay between countries, the deepening of integration links, the need for cooperation in solving global problems does not mean that national and regional interests are losing momentum. The new one point is to change the environment of their realization and to increase their interdependence with the national and regional interests of other countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The strategic guidelines directing Algerian foreign policy are still dominated by normative principles inherited from the early years of the national independence war, which have underpinned the construction of the regime's legitimacy. This doctrinal position has been shaken up by new security threats coming from neighbouring countries. This article analyses the evolution of Algerian foreign policy since 2011, identifying the main constraints and obstacles that limit its ability to adapt to the new sub-regional context marked by the disintegration of the neighbouring states of Mali and Libya. Libya is in the midst of a massive security vacuum brought on by the absence of a central authority and a collapsing defence system. In Mali, in spite of the 2015 peace agreement designed to end the military and political crisis, the north is still facing high levels of violence and insecurity. This deteriorating regional security situation entails new challenges and dilemmas that are pushing Algeria to reconsider the normative foundations that have guided its foreign policy since independence, namely the principles of non-interference in the internal affairs of another state, respect for state sovereignty and support for anticolonial and revolutionary movements. Furthermore, these security concerns are also closely connected with Algeria's domestic stability in terms of both state and regime security. The article addresses the following questions: How do these intertwined internal and external factors affect Algerian foreign policy? What are the main constraints that impede the emergence of a new strategic orientation to better respond to the challenges coming from Libya and Mali? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following the fall of President Hosni Mubarak in February 2011, analyses of political change in Egypt have primarily focused on domestic processes and paid relatively less attention to the influence of changes in the country's foreign policy. The circular character of the recent Egyptian political transformation process enables strategic shifts to be observed and the scope of foreign policy change – and continuity – to be assessed. This article addresses the evolution and the adaptive moves made by Egyptian foreign policy towards the Arab region between 2011 and 2016, paying special attention to the relations between post-Mubarak Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Egypt and Saudi Arabia have traditionally maintained a mutual interest bilateral relationship in which Egypt's economic dependence and shared security concerns – the stability of the Gulf and Middle East countries, the containment of Islamist movements such as the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas and Hezbollah – have led them to act pragmatically and overcome disagreements. In keeping with a framework of foreign policy analysis that distinguishes between foreign policy determinants, decision-making and behaviour, the article will first examine how the domestic political transformations witnessed since 2011 have affected Egypt's foreign policy. A more in-depth case study will then focus on the sub-regional level of analysis with the specific aim of explaining the strengthening of relations between Egypt and Saudi Arabia from 2014 to 2016. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]