Search

In the past two decades, Brazil and China have deepened their political cooperation and intensified their economic relations. They have done so by founding multilateral institutions, such as BRICS and the New Development Bank. However, Brazil's policymakers have not accepted China's proposal to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). This article examines why and how Brazil—China relations have evolved to high-level political and economic cooperation. We aim to understand the reasoning behind Brazil's latest foreign policy decision to not sign a MoU, whilst maintaining the desire to stay heavily involved in cooperation with China. This study draws on qualitative surveys and interviews with scholars, policymakers, government officials, and businesspeople. The main findings are: 1) Signing the BRI agreement is seen by Brazilian policymakers as a symbolic act that does not add a new substantial element to the already well-established political relationship between both countries; 2) the Brazilian market and its strong regulatory environment remain attractive to Chinese investors, despite the lack of official participation in the BRI. Thus, our research sheds light on the multifaceted nature of the Brazil-China relationship, and how it extends beyond the boundaries of the Belt and Road Initiative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Strong foreign relations among nations are crucial for fostering global stability, economic growth, and cross-cultural understanding. A stable global system that resolves conflicts through dialogue rather than confrontation benefits from positive foreign relations. This paper examines Türkiye's changing foreign policy approach towards Sub-Saharan African regional blocs, with an emphasis on their political, cultural, and economic facets. Türkiye's strategic involvement with influential regional bodies such as the African Union (AU) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), among others, reflects its broader objective to expand its influence and cultivate multifaceted partnerships across the African continent. The scope of this paper is limited to the AU and ECOWAS. Through a comprehensive analysis, the paper evaluates Türkiye's economic initiatives, including trade agreements and investment flows, as well as its contributions to infrastructure development. The findings established Türkiye's peacekeeping roles, cultural diplomacy, diplomatic efforts, and educational exchanges. Through the investigation of these diverse aspects, the conclusion outlines a comprehensive understanding of Türkiye's place in geopolitical dynamics and regional integration in Sub-Saharan Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article connects the political science literature on small states and the historical coverage of trade in the Indian Ocean to identify a remarkable pattern in foreign relations management of Maldivian geopolitics. The long history of interaction with foreign powers since at least the fifteenth century shows how this small state has, historically as well as now vis-à-vis India, China and the Middle East, managed well to retain control and sovereignty as an independent nation. Rich experience in handling the challenges posed by competing geopolitical interests in the wider region partly explains this Maldivian success story. However, this article also brings out the role of constant internal political rivalry within the Maldivian elites. The resulting highly dynamic intersecting pattern identifies how different parties, fractions and certain strong personalities as competing stakeholders constantly attempt to retain or grab power through strategic alliances with foreign powers. Identifying this underlying pattern allows deeper analysis of the unique, literally liquid characteristics of Maldivian geopolitics and similar small-state scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista de Catalunya is the property of Fundacio Revista de Catalunya 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.)

With the 2011 civil war in Syria, the country's economy has collapsed, cities have been destroyed, infrastructure challenges and social tensions have emerged. This civil war has deeply affected bordering countries such as Türkiye. Hosting millions of Syrians, Türkiye has been one of the countries that have directly felt the effects of the war. Türkiye has carried out activities in many areas such as health, shelter, and education for Syrians, and developed policies to ensure social cohesion. In the following period, Türkiye established safe zones in Syria with the Euphrates Shield, Olive Branch, and Peace Spring operations and started reconstruction activities in these safe zones. Together with central government units, civil society organizations, and local actors, Türkiye has made efforts to ensure the success of the reconstruction process. As one of Syria's border neighbors, Gaziantep has been one of the prominent cities in reconstruction activities. of Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality has undertaken various activities to create livable places in safe neighborhoods. This study examines the activities of Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality. The primary purpose of the study is to reveal the main motivations behind Gaziantep Metropolitan Municipality's cross-border activities and to analyze the nature of its relations with the central government in this process. The study is designed as a case study. The research findings indicate that the external relations of local governments in Türkiye are shaped in line with a political and legal framework whose boundaries are determined by the central government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the issue of attracting foreign investment to Ukraine during the war, investigates and analyzes the process of attracting foreign investment. A number of negative factors that affected the process of attracting investments in the development of the economy, in particular, the development of the country and its economy under martial law, military aggression by Russia, which negatively affects potential investors, are singled out. Lack of protection and institutions guaranteeing foreign investments at the national level. Factors that create a positive image of the country and favorable conditions for attracting foreign investments are considered and analyzed. Based on the results of the analysis of official data of the State Statistics Service of Ukraine, the article provides statistical data reflecting the dynamics of investment inflows from various countries of the world into the economy of Ukraine. On the basis of the analysis of current legal acts, the competence of state authorities empowered in the field of investment management is determined, and each body separately. The conducted analysis made it possible to identify a significant shortcoming of the current legislation of Ukraine, which is manifested in the absence of a separate body of state power, empowered to manage investment activities in the form of granting permits for attracting foreign investments to objects of strategic importance for the economy, and objects objects of critical infrastructure, as well as the absence of a mechanism for supervision and control over the effective use of investment funds. The legislation of the leading countries of the world defines the procedure for rejecting foreign investments and the powers of state authorities, when the investment or actions of the investor may pose a threat to the national security of the state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the end of the Second World War, the U.S. military has been among the most important providers of humanitarian assistance, particularly in the wake of natural disasters and conflict. Yet, aid organizations rarely consider the U.S. military a humanitarian actor, and military personnel do not identify primarily as humanitarians. Nevertheless, the logistics and manpower capacities of the U.S. military have often pushed it into humanitarian spheres. Once involved, however, the traditional humanitarian principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality, and independence do not drive the military provision of humanitarian assistance. Instead, military personnel approach humanitarian assistance through their training, namely, moving items, building things, and managing people. They often pair a training-based framework with a general sense of helping those in need. The U.S. military is a humanitarian actor, but coming to grips with that requires reimaging humanitarianism. To explore the military as humanitarian, this essay first examines how the demands of logistics pushed the U.S. military into becoming a provider of refugee assistance in Albania during the 1999 Kosovo crisis. It then uses the 2021 evacuation and resettlement of Afghans to explore how the U.S. military's ready pool of manpower led it to become more deeply involved in humanitarian responses. Humanitarian crises are almost invariably complex and messy. The moral imperative to help those in need interacts with political and security priorities in often uncomfortable ways. That confluence helps explain why the U.S. military assists with some, but not other, crises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the night of January 17–18, 1955, the rain-swollen Rhine and Neckar rivers crested. At their confluence, inhabitants of the German city of Mannheim scrambled to protect their homes and property. Residents of the small islands on the outskirts of the city faced imminent disaster. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the twenty-first century, providing humanitarian assistance to other nations forms an essential part of the U.S. military's mission. Designed to "relieve or reduce endemic conditions such as human suffering, disease, hunger, [and] privation," the military's humanitarian tasks include such activities as assisting refugees, delivering food and medical equipment to partner nations, and removing unexploded landmines. But among the most recognized—and best publicized—of the U.S. Armed Forces' humanitarian activities are its foreign disaster relief operations. In response to such recent catastrophes as the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, the 2011 tsunami in Japan, 2019's Cyclone Idai in Mozambique, and the 2023 earthquakes in Turkey, the Department of Defense launched extensive humanitarian operations. Taking advantage of the U.S. military's vast global footprint, military leaders dispatched ships and aircraft, service personnel, relief supplies, equipment, and other material and logistical aid to the scene of these crises and to many others like them globally. Carried out for the humanitarian goals of saving lives and reducing suffering, each of these foreign disaster aid operations also shared a critical diplomatic objective: "generating goodwill" for the United States and creating a "favorable impression" of its armed forces. Never purely altruistic, the U.S. military's responses to global disasters also function as a valuable instrument of contemporary U.S. foreign policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article considers the role of national spaces in the creation of interwar-era internationalism. Specifically, it explores how the future editor of Foreign Affairs magazine, the mouthpiece of what would become the American Foreign Relations Establishment, found his way to internationalism not in the corridors of Versailles at the Paris Peace Conference, but rather through treading through the corners of the newly made Yugoslavia. During the 1920s and 1930s, internationally minded thinkers from across the political spectrum shared at least one commonality: they rooted their dreams for an international world in particular, and expressly national, spaces. This article explores how and why international thinkers became invested in foreign national movements during the interwar, suggesting that to some, these new states both represented and contributed to an idealized vision of an international world that could promote unity while protecting particularities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the United Nations (U.N.) is typically seen as a major humanitarian actor—that is, an organization committed to alleviating human suffering and improving human welfare, it is not often thought of as a military power. But that is one of the many functions that the U.N. has adopted since its origin in 1945. For over seventy years, the U.N. Secretariat—the international bureaucracy responsible for the U.N. organization's executive and administrative functions—has conducted long-term expeditionary military operations across the globe in the form of peacekeeping and observer missions. The military wing of U.N. operations has only continued to grow in the twenty-first century. As of July 2023, 87,544 peacekeepers were deployed on active operations. And that number is lower than in the recent past, down from a height of 107,805 in April 2015. During that time, only the United States has regularly maintained more foreign-deployed forces than the U.N. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

If the owl of Minerva flies only at dusk, what are we to make of the recent flurry of popular histories about foreign correspondents? In 2021, with You Don't Belong Here , Elizabeth Becker told us "How Three Women Rewrote the Story of War" in Vietnam, and Judith Mackrell gave us the stories of "Six Women Writers on the Front Lines of World War II" in The Correspondents. The year before, Nancy Cott, the pioneering scholar of U.S. gender history, explored the intertwined biographies of interwar journalists Dorothy Thompson, Vincent Sheean, Rayna Raphaelson, and John Gunther in Fighting Words. And then, in 2022, Deborah Cohen, an acclaimed historian of British and European cultural politics, subbed the relatively obscure Raphaelson out of Cott's quartet and added in H. R. Knickerbocker, the Pulitzer Prize–winning European correspondent in Last Call at the Hotel Imperial. (Cohen also elevates the role of Frances Gunther, John's wife, who suffered from crippling writer's block but was perhaps the most interesting thinker of the bunch.) When two leading, accomplished historians at the height of their games write essentially the same book, you know that something is in the air. So what era's eclipse are these works marking? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the 1907 book Pragmatism: A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking , the American philosopher and psychologist William James recalled a heated argument among companions during a camping trip. The quarrel was not about one of the heavy metaphysical topics that James addressed in his lectures, but instead a much more mundane matter: a squirrel. Imagine a squirrel clinging to one side of a tree trunk, while a man stands on the other side of the tree. The man attempts to catch a glimpse of the squirrel by moving around the tree, but the squirrel darts around just as quickly, evading observation, until both creatures circle the tree completely and end up where they started. James's friends were at loggerheads over the question: "Does the man go round the squirrel or not?" [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is an intervention in early modern global diplomacy. Integrating an indigenous community of the Philippines into foreign relations and maritime connections, the article reevaluates the complex story of the Pampangans of Luzon, allegedly long-term allies of the Spanish conquerors, and the narrative of indigenous collaboration. Foregrounding the Pampangans' involvement in military campaigns, as well as territorial and maritime expansion in the early decades of the 1600s, the article introduces three scenarios of Pampangan power bargaining with global consequences. The focus on Pampangan foreign relations opens new analytical perspectives on the role of language and knowledge for internal coloniality on the one hand, foreign and diplomatic negotiations on the other. Methodologically, it proposes a deep (re-)reading of the polyvocal archive of the colonial-indigenous encounter and integrates insights with the largely separated scholarship of diplomatic and indigenous history as a new avenue in global history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last two decades, forced removals have been the main feature of U.S. migration policy toward Latin America. In this research, we explore whether this policy has had implications in terms of Latin Americans' public opinion toward their northern neighbor. We argue that deportations breed anti‐Americanism by cutting off the flow of information and money associated with emigration, which has proven to be a source of better dispositions toward the United States. Using public opinion data and municipal data on deportations in El Salvador, we show that these perceptions have worsened over time and that rates of deportation are related to this trend. By using public opinion data on Latin America and deportation rates in the region, we also show that this pattern holds beyond our case study. We call attention to destination migration policies as a source of resentment among domestic audiences, which can be capitalized by new populisms in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses the evolution of China's political and economic relations with the Greater Maghreb States (Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia), a major part of the Southern Mediterranean that has attracted foreign powers. It discusses how China has gradually incorporated the Southern Mediterranean states into the New Silk Road through bilateral and multilateral relations, strategic partnerships, and the development of interconnectivity not only in the Southern Mediterranean but also onto the adjacent Sahel. Notwithstanding their dependence on Europe, the Maghreb countries' economic relations with China have grown noticeably. Due to shared historical legacy and overlapping roles, Algeria has the closest ties with China, which signed in 2014 a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with Algeria, the first of its kind in the Middle East and North Africa. China strives for an environment in the region that is conducive to advancing its economic and national security interests. It seeks to enact that objective through its self-attributed roles as South-South collaborator and developer. The multilateral forums it has instituted contribute to its external altercasting of 'developmental values', to cultivate trust, and engage in greater socialisation with its partners. Through altercasting, Beijing expects its partners to assimilate and support its policies and accept China's national role conceptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1900, news of U.S. postal officials committing fraud in Cuba became a scandal that influenced the political, legal, and governmental trajectory of U.S. imperialism. Anti-imperialist Democrats used the frauds to undermine Republican pro-imperialists on the eve of the 1900 election. Prominent Republicans hoped to contain the scandal through swift punishment, but when the accused refused extradition, the resulting Supreme Court case, though rarely discussed, became the first of the Insular Cases. In 1900, it was not yet clear whether the U.S. empire would be run by self-interested actors or self-proclaimed progressive reformers. The commitment to progressive imperialism observed later in other colonies was, at least in part, worked out in this postal frauds case, as individuals chose how to respond to the scandal. Their actions were guided as much by scandal and the pursuit of self-interest as they were by lofty ideals about good government. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the Qajar period, due to the emergence and expansion of capitalism and the globalization of the economy, the country's border gates were opened to other countries. In the meantime, Kermanshah, as one of the most important border routes in the country, had a significant share. And in confrontation and interaction with the Ottoman government and through it, in contact with other European countries. The arrival of representatives of foreign countries (merchants, Orientalists, religious missionaries, etc.), the establishment of offices such as the Telegraph, the bank, the consulate, etc. The import of Western goods (British fabrics, Turkish tobacco, Danish beers, etc.) led to Manifestations of Western culture are prevalent in this state. The new urban structure and architecture, the grounds for further expansion of Shiism, the introduction of antiquities at the world level, etc. were other cultural consequences of these relations. This research has been done based on travelogues, memoirs, documents, and other sources in an analytical-descriptive and library method. The purpose of this study is to investigate the cultural developments in Kermanshah province in relation to foreign relations in one of the most important periods of Iranian history. Findings show that Iran's foreign relations with European and Ottoman countries, caused other cultural developments such as health promotion, the establishment of schools with new educational content, the formation of the Kermanshah dialect and... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Zeitschrift für Unternehmensgeschichte is the property of De Gruyter 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 deep-rooted and protracted Sino-Iranian relations flourished in the Mongol and Timurid periods in political, economic, cultural, and artistic aspects. But, by the early 10th century AH/ 16th century AD, many of the requisites for maintaining the diverse Sino-Iranian relations were lost due to the political and economic situation in Iran and China, changes in the Asian political geography, the emergence of new powers between the two lands, shifting balance of political and economic power in the world, and increasing European influence around Iran and China. During the Safavid Period (907-1135 AH), Sino-Iranian relations were not the focus of interest for the rulers and elites of the two lands. Only certain types of relations were maintained partially, due to economic necessities and the influence of the Sino-Iranian common heritage. The present article aims to examine the types and the quality of Sino-Iranian relations during the Safavid period based on a descriptive-analytical method, using scattered information and scarce historical, literary, scientific, and artistic sources. The results indicated that these relations were mainly in economic, scientific, and artistic fields. Due to the preservation of these types of relations and the continuation of the heritage of Sino-Iranian long-standing and rich relations, the Iranian rulers and elites of the Safavid period, more or less, were aware of Chinese civilizational and cultural achievements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper compares the foreign relations and trade policies of Iceland and Malta and policy reforms in 1964–2004, and the global economic and political context within which they evolved. In a historical comparative perspective, Malta and Iceland exhibited contrasting political processes and electoral systems, dissimilar economic structures and natural resource abundancies and antipodal locations with different foreign security considerations. Their economic structures, policies and institutions became more akin in the 21st century as a result of their participation in the growing economic and political cooperation of Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the dynamics behind global diplomacy and knowledge in Asian maritime empires in the late eighteenth century. The short-lived diplomatic exchange between the Kingdom of Mysore and the Spanish Philippines in 1776–7 provides a rich resource for an analysis of how global diplomatic agents coproduced material objects, images, and written records which in turn impacted politics and trade relations. The article makes at least four important interventions in the burgeoning field of new diplomatic history. First, it sheds light on certain aspects of growing research on Asian diplomatic encounters connecting the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia; second, it offers insights into the manifold actors involved in creating and negotiating knowledge; third, it highlights the epistemological importance of the visual and material archives for the study of global diplomacy in the early modern period; and fourth, it challenges narratives of cross-cultural foreign relations which tend to overemphasise asymmetrical and confessional explanations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article traces the origin and deployment of a set of operational networks that were formed, during World War II, with the explicit aim of cultivating a favourable environment for the United States in the Latin American press. Coordinated by a state agency, the Office of Inter-American Affairs (OIAA) or "Rockefeller Office", these networks served as a link between public and private sectors and, as such, facilitated the mobilization of power resources beyond the realm of the state for the purpose of creating incentives and disincentives aimed at influencing editorial orientation related to issues relevant to US foreign policy. In order to reveal the impacts and also the limits of such a deployment of power, this article focuses on the particular case of the Colombian press, analysing primary sources such as foreign and local press articles, as well as the OIAA archives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From Oliver North's congressional testimony in 1987 to his near-successful Senate run in 1994, this article assesses the significance of the Iran-Contra scandal to the American domestic political landscape. It positions Iran-Contra at a transitional moment in right-wing politics, torn between loyalty to Reagan on one hand and the combativeness of the 1990s' New Right on the other. In four stages—denial, fame, fundraising, and forgetting—defenders of North set forth a model of how ascendant forces in the New Right would, post-Reagan, transform scandal into political capital. Iran-Contra provided grist for media outlets that demonized the mainstream media, voters and members of Congress who excused criminality, and two White Houses who longed to forgive and forget. Thus can the historiography of American conservatism, currently in full bloom, begin to reckon with Iran-Contra's place in domestic politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the first half of the twentieth century, debt played an unexpectedly large role in shaping public views of American foreign relations. Debt—specifically, the public debt of other sovereign states—seems far removed from the everyday experience of Americans seeking credit from butchers and grocers or, in the global arena, decidedly dull in contrast to headlines about wars and assassinations. Yet if articles in thousands of local newspapers are an indicator, before World War I millions of Americans had been exposed to detailed coverage of the problematic indebtedness of the nearer nations of Latin America. To engaged readers in every corner of the United States, the financial entanglements of Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, and Honduras must have been a familiar trope—a sign of weakness if not immorality—and, as the policy of Dollar Diplomacy emerged after 1904, a harbinger of U.S. intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Keywords: Empire and Imperialism; Foreign Relations; Military and Warfare; Politics and Government; Vietnam War EN Empire and Imperialism Foreign Relations Military and Warfare Politics and Government Vietnam War 259 264 6 09/19/23 20230701 NES 230701 This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of two important texts on excessive presidential war power. [6] Even Russell Kirk, one of the intellectual gurus of the New Right and certainly no fan of Schlesinger's, found it "heartening" that such a high-profile chronicler of Democratic presidents could develop a "healthy apprehension" for unchecked government power.[7] To be sure, Schlesinger's thesis was not exactly new. The second text celebrating its half-century is Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.'s bestseller I The Imperial Presidency i , published in late 1973 to positive reviews and widespread cultural acceptance.[1] The influence of Schlesinger's book - or, more precisely, its title - is clear, and it has arguably had the more enduring effect on American understandings of executive war powers. [Extracted from the article]

The present research aims to analyze the course of relations between Persian Gulf Arab countries and Israel, specifically focusing on their transition from divergence to convergence. Drawing upon the system theory, this study explains the development of their relations from divergence to convergence. The findings underscore the significant impact of interaction and interdependence arising from shared challenges and opportunities, leading to convergence in political, economic, and scientif domains. However, it is important to acknowledge that the support and establishment of peaceful relations between these nations have also been influenced by the economic and political powers in the West Asian region. If Persian Gulf countries and Israel is solely driven by external pressures from Western, Hebrew, and Arab statesmen, the prospects for their relations appear bleak. Instead, such a policy could potentially serve as an indicator of potential tensions in future conflicts involving Israel, Palestine, and Lebanon. The growing cooperation between Iran and Persian Gulf Arab countries, in comparison to their cooperation with Israel, has the potential to not only balance the convergence but also establish a balance in terms of threats. In other words, for Iran's convergence with Persian Gulf countries in security, politics, and economics to have a significant impact on the international environment (both regionally and globally) and influence the mindset of Arab officials, it must surpass the dependence of Arab countries on Israel and redefine their behavioral boundaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic, the health protection measures, and the policies meant to limit the economic effects of the disease have affected the world's economies on multiple levels, the international trade being one of the most seriously influenced domains. The paper aims to highlight the effects of the pandemic on Romania's current account, as well as some directions of action aimed at improving the external deficit of our country. The methodology used in the article joins the empirical analysis of statistical data and their interpretation, with the identification of causalities. The analysis shows that the uncertainty regarding the evolution of COVID-19 and the measures adopted by the authorities to stop the spread of the coronavirus affected negatively, especially in 2020, the current account, and its way of financing. The paper highlights some elements that can hamper the decrease of the external deficit in the future (the large needs of external financing in the coming years, the dependence of the economy on imports, the unfavourable structure of Romanian exports and imports), as well as some directions of action intended to support the improvement of the external deficit of our country, including supporting the recovery of the economy, reducing the budget deficit, improving the domestic offer, and the research and innovation activity, etc.

This article intends to offer a comprehensive analysis of Indonesia's foreign policy strategy, known as the "balance of powers." It specifically examines how Indonesia has successfully maintained balanced relations with both China and the United States. The article provides a comprehensive overview of the historical background of Indonesia's foreign relations. It also delves into the concept of "great power balance" and its significant role in guiding Indonesia's diplomacy. The article proceeds to examine the global context in which Indonesia operates and the strategic consequences of competition among major powers, highlighting Indonesia's drive to maintain equilibrium between them. The article further explores Indonesia's approach to maintaining a delicate balance in its diplomatic relations. It delves into Indonesia's positioning and strategy in the complex US-China relationship, as well as its efforts to establish equilibrium in its relations with both countries. The article specifically highlights Indonesia's "global maritime pivot" strategy and its aspirations to attain "maritime power" status. This section of the article examines Indonesia's strategy of a "global maritime pivot" and its efforts to attain the position of a "maritime power" through the enhancement of maritime security. Indonesia holds substantial worldwide influence, and its foreign policy plays a vital role in promoting regional and global peace, stability, and development. Indonesia may surmount diplomatic obstacles, optimise its national interests, and make a constructive contribution to the prosperity of the region and the world by developing its foreign policy in a logical and practical manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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.)

Copyright of Iranian Civilization Research is the property of Shahid Bahonar Kerman University, Faculty of Literature & Humanities 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.)

During the last two decades, Turkish-Israeli relations were downgraded from a strategic importance status to an almost hostile one. At the same time, the trade between these two countries has not been affected at all by this negative development. Even though this paradox has already been noticed in the relevant literature, scholarly works have not yet focused on the study of the strategic trade between these two countries in order to examine deeper this contradictory trade-foreign relations interaction. Taking into account that the bilateral relations reached a bottom level only after a political change in Turkey in 2002, the present paper focuses on the strategic products that Turkey imported from Israel. Therefore, the paper addresses the question whether the latter turbulent Turkish-Israeli relations have affected the Turkish imports of strategic products from Israel. To this research question, the paper hypothesizes that the unfavorable climate of the bilateral relations had a quite negative impact on the imports of such products from Israel. Thus, the aim of the paper is to study these imports of strategic products in terms of size and magnitude in order to explore their role in the overall imports of Turkey from Israel and the bilateral relations of these two countries, as well. To achieve this aim, the paper analyzes the quantitative data of Turkish imports from Israel concerning a number of strategic products, from 1995 to 2019, employing descriptive and correlation statistics. The research results reveal that strategic products constitute the main content of the imports of Turkey from Israel, while their trading took place mainly during the years when the bilateral relations had been severely deteriorated. Therefore, the role of strategic products is proved fundamental for the trade and foreign relations between Turkey and Israel.

It is common to criticize the State of Israel for its lack of strategy. This is true with respect to its foreign relations, and with specific reference to her relations with the EU. This criticism was reinforced during the five terms of Benjamin Netanyahu's premiership (1996-1999 and 2009-2021). Commentators expressed strong criticism of his leadership, blaming him for shaping and implementing Israel's foreign relations in a non-strategic, incoherent, and inconsistent manner. This article provides an alternative perspective, arguing that during his five terms Netanyahu and his governments adopted and pursued a calculated and coherent policy towards the EU, which was aimed at mitigating EU intervention in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and at dismissing any manifestation of EU political criticism towards Israel. The article analyses his policy towards the EU and the main instruments adopted in order to promote it, through the prism of scholarship pertaining to speech-acts and Euroscepticism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the similarities between Afghanistan's Emirate II and Emirate I in terms of foreign relations. It argues that since 15 August 2021, when the Taliban took over the government in Afghanistan and established Emirate II, there have not been significant changes in their foreign relations behaviour in comparison to Emirate I, which ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001. To prove this claim, the article first examines the objectives of foreign relations of both the regimes comparatively. Subsequently, the foreign behaviour of the two regimes concerning neighbours including Pakistan and Iran will be examined. Finally, the foreign relations of Emirates I and II towards great powers like the USA and Russia are explored in detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Central Asia’s pivotal geographical position allowed it to play an essential role in relations among nations of Eurasia in the Middle Ages as the bridge between China and Europe. Yet, during the Russian and then the Soviet rule in Central Asia, the region’s republics had no independent position in international relations as foreign affairs was formed and managed by the central government in Moscow. The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 made salient the geopolitical, economic, and cultural importance of the fi ve former Soviet Central Asian republics. They reemerged as independent actors in the global interstate system and could have played a signifi cant role in international affairs during the last three decades. The article aims to discuss the Central Asian region's position in the Soviet and post-Soviet eras. It explores how Central Asia as a “closed” region during the Soviet period changed its geopolitical position and became an infl uential actor in global affairs.In addition, the article addresses factors that have played important role in globalizing Central Asia.