Przegląd Strategiczny, 2021, nr 14
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Item State Policy Towards Demographic Changes in Poland(Wydawnictwo Naukowe Wydziału Nauk Politycznych i Dziennikarstwa Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu, 2021) Andruszkiewicz, Iwetta; Łebkowska, JoannaThe aim of the article is to show that the modern civilization of technological, medical, structural and world-view progress determines the negative changes in the structure of families and the growth of the elderly population. Among the research hypotheses, in particular, it should be pointed out that the modern family policy should take into account the procreative context, as well as the family context with the participation of the older generation, as a consumer and participant in market services. The conclusions proposed by the authors concern a number of solutions in the field of social policy. The unfavorable demographic situation in the European Union raises specific challenges for social and demographic policy, among which, we should point out the changes in attitudes and individual behavior towards marriage and starting a family, changes in procreation attitudes, improving the quality of life of all generations, ensuring active participation of all generations in the demographic and socio-economic development of the country. The article has been written using the following research methods: descriptive, comparative and historical analysis.Item Cultural Security of Ukraine(Wydawnictwo Naukowe Wydziału Nauk Politycznych i Dziennikarstwa Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu, 2021) Krasivskyy, Orest; Pidberezhnyk, NadiiaCondition and problems of ensuring the cultural security of Ukraine were analyzed. Hypothesis that ensuring development and sustainability of the cultural sphere, formation of a single Ukrainian socio-cultural space based on Ukrainian language, historical memory, spiritual values, cultural traditions is one of priority national interests of the Ukrainian state at the present stage was put forward. Research methodology is based on the principles of objectivity and systematicity. During the research, methods of scientific learning of socio-political phenomena and processes were used, in particular: analysis, synthesis, systematization, empirical, and system-structural methods. The authors prove that cultural traditions, historical memory, self-consciousness and language are key factors that constitute and consolidate a nation, and threats to the nation’s cultural interests can jeopardize its existence. It was found that the centuries-old policy of de-ethnicization and assimilation of Ukrainian ethnos by foreign states has led to deformation and russification of the national linguistic and cultural space of Ukraine, loss of ethnic identity based on the language factor of the titular Ukrainian ethnos, deepening the spiritual crisis of Ukrainian society. It is determined that the key threats in the field of cultural security of Ukraine today are the following: Russia’s hybrid war against Ukraine, formation of information and cultural space of Ukraine under the influence of foreign information flows, imperfection of humanitarian policy in the context of cultivating Ukrainian national values, low level of development of cultural industries, dominance of foreign cultural and artistic products, control over Ukrainian media by financial and industrial groups that often take an anti-Ukrainian position. It was proved that the measures to assert and popularize Ukrainian language as the state language, ensure intercultural communication and interethnic socialization of ethnic subjects of Ukrainian society, formation of national-patriotic education, creation of competitive innovative cultural products and their popularization in the world should be priority directions of the state policy of ensuring cultural security of Ukraine.Item Determinants of the Participation of the People’s Republic of China in the United Nations Mission in South Sudan(Wydawnictwo Naukowe Wydziału Nauk Politycznych i Dziennikarstwa Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu, 2021) Jureńczyk, ŁukaszThe purpose of the paper is to analyze and assess the determinants of the participation of the People’s Republic of China in the United Nations Mission in South Sudan. The first part of the paper presents the background of the Chinese army’s involvement in the Sudanese states, and the second part shows the specificity of its involvement in UNMISS. The next two parts deal, respectively, with political, military and strategic, and economic determinants of China’s involvement in this mission. The research problem is contained in the question what were the most important determinants of China’s involvement in the UN Mission in South Sudan? The hypothesis of the paper assumes that the main deterimnant of the involvement was the protection of China’s economic interests in South Sudan and East Africa. In addition, by being active in UN peacekeeping missions, China wants to strengthen this organization and create the image of the state responsible for maintaining international peace and security. The Chinese army is also interested in gaining experience in expeditionary mission to increase the ability of military operations in distant theaters. The method of text source analysis was used in the paper.Item Biopolitical Reflection on Human Safety: Ukrainian and Belarus Experience(Wydawnictwo Naukowe Wydziału Nauk Politycznych i Dziennikarstwa Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu, 2021) Kravets, AnastasiaBiopolitical reflection is seen as a way of understanding the specifics of being “bios politicos.” It’s means as the understanding the transformational processes in bios and involve the appropriate political reaction, and internal changes “bios politicos,” its self-realization as a subject and object of policy, able to initiate profound transformations of politics and power in biopolitics and biopower. The concept of “bios politicos,” his life, freedom and safety are in the focus of scientific analysis. The key question: сan “bios politicos” exist and function effectively in conditions of danger, in conditions where every word, every action that is unacceptable to the disciplinary authorities can lead to punishment or even death? The aim is to prove that politics and power in the 21st century in Europe cannot and should not exist in a disciplinary form. Their transformation is possible due to the activity of a person as a conscious subject of social and political activity. The complex nature of the scientific problem involves the use of appropriate methods that combine different types of systems analyses: system-structural analysis, system-functional, system-historical analysis, as well as the method of rational reconstruction and prognostic method. The key hypothesis is that today Ukraine is very close (or seeks to get closer) to the implementation of the concepts of biopolitics and biopower. 2014 is certainly an illustration of the “bios politicos” resistance to disciplinary action, despite disciplinary techniques, including the threat of death. Belarusian society, after the 2020 presidential election, has shown such a high level of consolidation and awareness, non-acceptance of disciplinary techniques in the form of threats, violence, and punishment, that we can assume the beginning of transformational change. It is biopolitics and biopower today that is the response of the conscious subject – “bios politicos” to the crisis of disciplinary power, its techniques of domination, control, and violence. Biopolitics and biopower allow “bios politicos” to exist and develop freely in their country, to realize their knowledge and aspirations, to be realized in all spheres of life knowing that the main task of the state is to protect his life and freedom.Item Institutional and Legal Mechanisms for Protection of the Rights of Ukrainian Minority in the Warmia and Mazury Region(Wydawnictwo Naukowe Wydziału Nauk Politycznych i Dziennikarstwa Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu, 2021) Astramowicz-Leyk, Teresa; Turchyn, YarynaThe research aims at presenting and exploring the mechanisms for protection of the rights of national minorities (based on the example of Ukrainian minority) in the Warmia and Mazury Region of the Republic of Poland. The research hypothesis is based on the statement that in fact the protection of rights of national minorities at the level of the Warmia and Mazury Region could be treated as a model, and thus implemented in other regions in Poland, or even in other countries facing the problems related to the protection of national and ethnic minorities. The main research problems are addressed within the questions: how is Ukrainian minority distributed in the studied region?; What are the state and local government institutions working for national minorities in the studied region of Poland?; What activities do these institutions undertake to ensure equal treatment of national minorities and provision for their rights?; How are these activities assessed by organizations/representatives of the Ukrainian national minority? The leading research method was the institutional and legal one. The research also contained the interviewing method as well as the focus group interview. Obtained results of the study confirmed the research hypothesis. It turned out that the Warmia and Mazury Region has created an effective institutional environment for the development of national minorities, including the Ukrainian one. It was possible thanks to the activity of the only Polish Plenipotentiary of the Marshal for national minorities and also the only National and Ethnic Minorities Committee of the Regional Council in Poland.Item Identification as an Indicator of Social Entropy Under Globalization: Ukrainian Realities and International Context(Wydawnictwo Naukowe Wydziału Nauk Politycznych i Dziennikarstwa Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu, 2021) Ishchenko, Ihor; Bashkeieva, Olena; Zinukova, NataliiaThe purpose of the article is to show modern trends in identification in the context of globalization and the specific conditions of political and economic systems, to indicate ways of influencing their formation, to change the value paradigm of identification associated with harmonious human relations. А hypothesis is that modern identification in Ukraine does not correspond to the liberal-democratic tradition and will continue to generate conflict. The existing identification structure should be used to reorient individuals and groups to effective communication within organizations, which will contribute to the political stability and security of the state. The following approaches and research methods have been used as tools to achieve this purpose: synergetic method; the reflective method; the dialectical method; a comparative method; structural-systemic method; synthesis method. The article covers the following issues: Analysis of identification models; Features of the identification mechanism in post-soviet realities; Modern synergetic model of identification in Ukraine; Peculiarities of culture formation in the conditions of digital and socio-cultural globalization; A new approach to identification as a factor of political stability and security. The authors made the following conclusions: The “ethnic model” of identification turns into a strange attractor, resulting in the Ruelle-Takens scenario. According to the theory of synergetics, this scenario became possible after three bifurcations in the political and economic system of Ukraine over the past 29 years. The “turquoise paradigm” elements should be taken as a basis for model of national identity.Item Subjectness of Digital Communication in the Context of the Technological Evolution of the Contemporary Society: Threats, Challenges, and Risks(Wydawnictwo Naukowe Wydziału Nauk Politycznych i Dziennikarstwa Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu, 2021) Volodenkov, Sergey; Fedorchenko, SergeyThe purpose of this article is to identify the risks, threats, and challenges associated with possible social changes in the processes of digitalization of society and transformations of traditional communication practices, which is associated with the emergence of new digital subjects of mass public communication that form the pseudo structure of digital interaction of people. The primary tasks of the work were to identify the potential of artificial intelligence technologies and neural networks in the field of social and political communications, as well as to analyze the features of “smart” communications in terms of their subjectness. As a methodological optics, the work used the method of discourse analysis of scientific research devoted to the implementation and application of artificial intelligence technologies and self-learning neural networks in the processes of social and political digitalization, as well as the method of critical analysis of current communication practices in the socio-political sphere. At the same time, when analyzing the current digitalization practices, the case study method was used. The authors substantiate the thesis that introducing technological solutions based on artificial intelligence algorithms and self-learning neural networks into contemporary processes of socio-political communication creates the potential for a wide range of challenges, threats, and risks, the key of which is the problem of identifying the actual subjects of digital communication acts. The article also discusses the problem of increasing the manipulative potential of “smart” communications, for which the authors used the concepts of cyber simulacrum and information capsule developed by them. The paper shows that artificial intelligence and self-learning neural network algorithms, being increasingly widely introduced into the current practice of contemporary digital communications, form a high potential for information and communication impact on the mass consciousness from technological solutions that no longer require control by operators – humans. As a result, conditions arise to form a hybrid socio-technical reality – a communication reality of a new type with mixed subjectness. The paper also concludes that in the current practices of social interactions in the digital space, a person faces a new phenomenon – interfaceization, within which self-communication stimulates the universalization and standardization of digital behavior, creating, disseminating, strengthening, and imposing special digital rituals. In the article, the authors suggest that digital rituals blur the line between the activity of digital avatars based on artificial intelligence and the activity of actual people, resulting in the potential for a person to lose his own subjectness in the digital communications space.Item Cities Towards Global Climate Governance: How the Practices of City Diplomacy Foster Hybrid Multilateralism(Wydawnictwo Naukowe Wydziału Nauk Politycznych i Dziennikarstwa Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu, 2021) Strachová, NikolaOne of the effects of globalization is the increasing number of transnational ties that central governments not only ceased to control but also ceased to participate in; therefore, in recent decades, cities have been increasingly motivated to respond to international issues and initiate various contacts with foreign economic, cultural, and political centres. This article examines practices of city diplomacy in light of the current climate crisis. Albeit cities could be in conflict with their central government, they are executing the global climate agenda. Nonetheless, how do we frame cities’ autonomous activities in the global governance agenda? The article seeks to determine whether the framework of hybrid multilateralism is the niche for cities to assume the role of the central government in defending common global values such as preservation of the environment when the state fails to do so. Based on a dataset consisting of various subnational initiatives responding to climate change, we suggest a remarkable growth in the pledges to the international climate agreements’ commitments involving many subnational actors. Through these pledges, cities enter the international negotiations with various partners under hybrid policy architecture. Cities hold an enormous potential to influence the global conversation on climate change agenda. Furthermore, we conclude that cities are taking on the states’ role in global issues when they identify the inadequacy of the central governments’ action. Their conflict position forces them to carry out autonomous activities and fosters the new phenomenon of hybrid multilateralism.Item “The Other/Alien” Image in the Russian Federation Strategic Communications During the Russian-Ukrainian Confrontation (2014–2021)(Wydawnictwo Naukowe Wydziału Nauk Politycznych i Dziennikarstwa Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu, 2021) Shuliak, Antonina; Konstankevych, Iryna; Kunytskyy, MykhayloThe purpose of the study is to investigate what communication and media technologies and information operations are used by the mass media of the Russian Federation in relation to Ukraine to propagate the image of the “other/alien”. The methodology chosen for the work combines the application of the following methods and approaches: network analysis, SWOT-analysis, system, integrated and civilization approaches, system analysis, method of systematization and classification, methods of analysis, synthesis, objectivity, generalizations, analogies, case study, etc. The article explores the use of communication, media and information-psychological technologies by the Russian mass media to create and effectively promote the image of an enemy, alien, the other during the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, which began in 2014. The authors insist that the “Russkiy Mir” idea is promoted through the propaganda and manipulation resulting in the image of the adversary of this idea – “the other.” The “Russkiy Mir” foe does not perceive everything with the designation “Russian” as a priori positive and better, doubt the correctness of such a position, and therefore wishes evil to the supporters of the “Russkiy Mir”. Information operations and the most widespread media technologies in the Russian-Ukrainian information warfare are analyzed to model the image of “the other” as a threat. Prospects for further scientific researches are connected with the study of new scientific concepts that is some network-centric warfare, hybrid warfare, cyberwarfare, asymmetric warfare, undeclared information warfare, and others.Item Cursory Viewpoint on Transnistria as the Focus of the Russian Federation Policy(Wydawnictwo Naukowe Wydziału Nauk Politycznych i Dziennikarstwa Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu, 2021) Telenko, Olha; Prysiazhniuk, YuriyThe article outlines cursory viewpoint on Transnistria as the focus of the Russian Federation policy. Russia pursues political interests in Transnistria connected with its geostrategic ambitions on the post-Soviet state. It is revealed that Moscow has a great impact on the life of Transnistria and cooperates with Tiraspol in political, military, social, cultural, and economic spheres. It is discussed that Russian military presence in this de facto state helps not only to control Transnistria but also Moldova concerning its geopolitical choice. In the article Russia’s activity concerning conflict resolution in Transnistria is shown. A special attention is paid to the Kozak Plan aiming at unification of Transnistria and Moldova, according to which too-extensive rights to Transnistria had to be given. Although this plan was not implemented, in fact now its idea is promoted gradually through convergence of Moldova and Transnistria. In the article it is stressed that russification of the region influences on the mood of the population concerning the future status of the region. Social and economic relations between Russia and Transnistria are researched. It is revealed that all three presidents of this de facto state had close ties with the Russian government and coordinated their politics with it. It is discussed that officially Russia supports territorial integrity of Moldova but at the same time it gives comprehensive support of Transnistria. Although it is not declared in the documents, now the Russian Federation favours status quo in Transnistria.Item Passion for Putin’s Palace: Political Protests in Modern Russia(Wydawnictwo Naukowe Wydziału Nauk Politycznych i Dziennikarstwa Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu, 2021) Skiperskikh, AleksandrIn this article, the author analyzes the protest activity in Russia in January–February 2021. Protest activity came to Russia after A. Navalny’s investigation of V. Putin’s palace in Gelendzhik. Like the Belarusian protests in August 2021, the Russian protests were suppressed by the police. A feature of the Russian protests was their mass character. A large number of cities in almost all Russian regions were involved in the protest. Based on the data of secondary analysis, the author tries to give his own research of the Russian protest activity in January–February 2021. Protest activity in a number of Russian regions did not look accidental. One could observe protest activity in them before, but with a different agenda. The factor of unpopular government is of great importance in regional protests. The authorities no longer have the proper stock of legitimacy. This fully applies to the governors appointed by V. Putin, and, often, not directly related to the regions that have their own specificity. Case studies of protests in Russian regions show new trends. The protests are increasingly carnival-like. Power is ridiculed and discussed with irony. Familiar dialogue with the authorities is confirmed in various forms and languages of protest. From the author’s point of view, protest activity in Russia will increase by the fall of 2021. In September 2021, elections to the Russian Parliament are to be held. The author assumes that disappointment with the authorities in Russia will grow. The social base of new protests can be broader.Item The Dilemma of War and Peace in the Trend of the XXI Century (Russian – Ukrainian case)(Wydawnictwo Naukowe Wydziału Nauk Politycznych i Dziennikarstwa Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu, 2021) Perepelytsia, HryhoriiIn the presented article the author asks how the essence of the relationship between such states of international relations as war and peace has changed under the influence of the trends of the XXI century. A clear empirical example for such an analysis was the modern Russian-Ukrainian war, a manifestation of which we see on the Donbass. This war was largely the result and manifestation of these new trends in international relations at both the regional and global levels. First of all, these trends and their destructive consequences are typical for the security sphere. From so the dilemma of war and peace takes on a new dimension and becomes one of the most pressing problems of the theory of war and peace and the theory of international relations. The purpose of this article is to understand how the essence of the relationship between such states of international relations as war and peace has changed under the influence of the 21st century trends. In order to properly investigate this problem, was chosen as an object, a striking manifestation of which we see on the Donbass. Research questions relate to changing approaches to understanding the dilemma of war and peace and the nature of the relationship between these states of international relations under the influence of the 21st century trends. To address this research challenge, a systematic review of contemporary research on various aspects of war and peace has been carried out. The answers are based on a study of the criteria for determining the state of war and peace and the determinants that influence the dynamics of change in these states. The study used deductive methods, comparative, political and conflict analysis, as well as neo-realistic and neoliberal approaches to treating the dilemma of war and peace. The article based on the assumption that the modern Russo-Ukrainian war became a consequence and manifestation of these new trends in international relations both at the regional and global levels. The conclusions drawn from this study require a conceptual rethinking and a new reading of the dilemma of war and peace, which are becoming hybrid. Therefore, understanding the new quality of these hybrid forms of war and peace is a very important and necessary task. To solve it, it is necessary to determine how the parameters of the relationship between peace and war have changed. Empirical observations show that one of the new features of this relationship is the blurring of the boundaries of war and peace. The objectives of the study are based on the discovery of a new content of the categories of war and peace and their interdependence due to the influence of 21st century trends in the modern system of international relations. The results of the study are based on the analysis of modern research on various aspects of the war and peace, as well as empirical data on the course of the Russian-Ukrainian war. This article provides an overview of current research on various aspects of war and peace, identifies the interrelationships, interdependencies, and boundaries between hybrid warfare and hybrid peace. The author tried to define the criteria for such a distinction between war and peace, based on the neoliberal and neorealist theory of international relations. The scientific novelty of this publication is that the author clarified the methodological reasons for the unresolved dilemma of war and peace in the current trends of the 21st century. The article concludes with a forecast of the consequences of the unresolved dilemma of war and peace for national and international security. Recommendations are given for a possible solution to the problem of war and peace on Donbass. The research presented in this article is an attempt to conceptually rethink and re-read the dilemmas of war and peace that are becoming hybrid. The article greatly expands the understanding of how the parameters of the relationship between peace and war have changed.Item Understanding the Reasons for Transition from Iranian Constitutional State to Authoritarian State: an Analysis in the Framework of Laclau and Mouffe’s Discourse Theory(Wydawnictwo Naukowe Wydziału Nauk Politycznych i Dziennikarstwa Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu, 2021) Eltiyami Nia, Reza; Rezaei, RezaThroughout the history, the formation of the constitutional state has been the first experience of the modern state in Iran. The change in power relations and the restriction of authoritarian power were among the most important issues of constitutional state. The current study aims at investigating the reasons for transition from Constitutional state to an authoritarian bureaucratic state by adopting Laclau and Mouffe’s framework to political discourse analysis. Research methodology is descriptive-analytical conducted by library–based data. The results showed that the constitutional revolution transformed the power structure and traditional state, but the constitutional revolution failed to create a new order. Despite legal provisions such as the formation of the parliamentary system and the constitution, the constitutional state was unable to exercise its legal power. The co-existence of traditional and reactionary components such as the Khānins, tribal leaders, tribal populations and owners in line with modern elements, intellectuals and the heterogeneity of the ruling political elites made the constitutional revolution incapable of producing profound politico-social changes. As a result, a number of internal and external factors such as financial crisis, tribal power, the imperialist treaty of 1907,disillusionment of political elites, the formation of centrifugal forces, insecurity and global chaos and development of neighboring countries, diversity of ideological in line with geopolitical points of view have been the most important factors in the transition to the authoritarian bureaucratic state of Pahlavi and the failure of the nation – building process and the collapse of politico-constitutional system in Iran.Item Illegal Control Over the Territory in International Law and the Status of Donbas Determination(Wydawnictwo Naukowe Wydziału Nauk Politycznych i Dziennikarstwa Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu, 2021) Kresin, Oleksiy; Kresina, IrynaTotal rejection of the aggression and territory occupation in the international law leads to their hybrid and concealed forms using gangs and mercenaries, proclaiming new “states” etc. These activities constitute serious threat to international security, can cause and already cause the fragmentation of states, anarchy, criminalization of politics, new forms of expansionism and so on. The authors of the article generalize the forms of illegal control over the territory in international law and their application considering the status of Donbas determination. International law for more than a century provides for the possibility of separate regulation of the sovereignty and legal rights of the state to the territory, on the one hand, and the implementation of the regime of illegal control over the territory – on the other. Authors argue that in the modern sense, primarily developed by doctrine and courts, illegal control over the territory can be considered as a legal regime, one of the forms of which is occupation, while others are defined as effective, overall, general, de facto control and related to undisclosed actions and informal means used by the aggressor states. This regime is characterized by the exercise of power over the territory by the will of a foreign state, and the forms of implementation of the regime differ depending on whether such a will is officially recognized or concealed. The transformation of international humanitarian law after the Second World War erased the boundaries between recognized and officially unrecognized occupation. But unlike occupation, the fact of which may be obvious, the fact of effective or other control over the territory requires the determination by judicial authorities. The qualification of illegal control by the Russian Federation of the Donbas in national and international law is ambiguous. The authors argue that the full recognition of the international armed conflict between Ukraine and Russia in Donbas, as well as Russia’s illegal control over latter should be expected in the process of consideration of a number of cases in the international judicial institutions.Item Prospects for China’s BRI and Strategic Influence in the Post-COVID-19 Central Asia(Wydawnictwo Naukowe Wydziału Nauk Politycznych i Dziennikarstwa Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu, 2021) Khan, FurqanCOVID-19 brings a momentous decline for global economic activities but its consequences for China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) remains imminent. Despite the economic shocks of the Pandemic, BRI remains a top priority for China which allows Beijing to improve regional connectivity and expand its economic outreach far off to Europe and the American shores. On the other hand, the Central Asian economies are hard hit by the pandemic with a reduced regional trade, decline in oil prices and its commodities, deep slump in remittances, and the slackening manufacturing ability. The revival of BRI and its immediate success is desirable to the COVID-19 hit Central Asian economies. This is because BRI has bound the region together in terms of infrastructural development where China, under the rubric of BRI, is spearheading major developmental projects, pouring investment in energy sector, offering debt, and improving bilateral trade with regional economies. For this reason, the Central Asian countries desire immediate revival of close economic cooperation which could links the economic fortunes of regional countries to Beijing and brings the BRI to the fore in regional priorities. The paper highlight the impact of COVID-19 over Central Asian economies, the significance BRI for the region; its geopolitical importance for China; and the growing Chinese influence in the post-Pandemic Central Asia using Bourdieu’s Theory of Symbolic Power. Finally, using qualitative content analysis, the paper argues that the economic impact of COVID-19 are short-term and of limited nature and it will only increase prospects for BRI in the post-Pandemic Central Asia with vital strategic utilities for China’s geopolitical profile in the region.Item The Concept of China’s Peaceful Rise and Offensive Realism(Wydawnictwo Naukowe Wydziału Nauk Politycznych i Dziennikarstwa Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu, 2021) Araszkiewicz, AdamThis article aims at adressing several research issues. Firstly, to present offensive realism as a proper research tool to analyse US-China rivalry. Secondly, the author discusses the theory of “China’s peaceful rise” and I argues that it smoothly overlapped with the US strategy of liberal hegemony. Thirdly, He presents and defends the argument that China does not rise peacefully. Fourthly, the author claims that China wants to became a regional hegemon in South-East Asia and the USA according to offensive realism cannot let it happen. Last but not least the author considers the arguments that are frequently used to support the theory of “China’s peaceful rise” and explains why they fail to depict the current and predict the future nature of US-China relations. In this article the author employed the following research methods: historical, descriptive and decision making methods.Item Edward Azar’s Protracted Social Conflict Theory and Drivers of Self-Determination: the Case of Nigeria(Wydawnictwo Naukowe Wydziału Nauk Politycznych i Dziennikarstwa Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu, 2021) Bakare, NajimdeenSoon after attaining independence on October 1, 1960, the newly created nation-state – Nigeria had to wrestle with post-independent political realities. These combined with the legacies of colonial rule, and the prevalence of ethno-religious politics, led the country into civil war in 1967. Since 1960, Nigeria has experimented with different forms of government and achieved some degree of economic growth but is still plagued by the agitation of self-determination in the form of secessionist campaigns, be it the Biafra or the Oduduwa and Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND). To place the discussion in perspective, the paper reviews the existing literature on the subject and also discusses Edward Azar’s protracted social conflict (PSC) theory as the theoretical base. Upon laying the theoretical foundation, the paper situates and evaluates the agitation for self-determination in Nigeria in the light of PSC. Lastly, the paper concludes that instead of seeking self-determination or territorial disintegration, the polity of Nigeria should historically revert to the practice of congenial and connected regionalism.Item Soviet Legacy and Imagined Past Converge in Levant Battlefields(Wydawnictwo Naukowe Wydziału Nauk Politycznych i Dziennikarstwa Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu, 2021) Guliyev, EtibarThe article analyzes main drivers of the revitalization of the Soviet ideological narratives in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. A key impetus for the study has been ever increasing number of the terrorist attacks claiming dozens of lives in Russia committed by Central Asian originated fighters as well as arrest of dozens of members of the various religious organizations banned in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. The hypothesis rests on the assumption that ideological cacophony stemming from deep controversies embodied in the refashioned Soviet ideological narratives to me major cause of the problem. While employing the path dependence approach, I mainly point to interaction between the surge in the religious extremism and ideological disorientation caused by ideological disorientation in the region continuing since the breakdown of the Soviet Union in 1991 to address main research question “what are external implications of post-Soviet ideological narratives in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan?.” The paper finds out that the post-independent identity policies are not designed to build a new idea but to moot or keep at arms-length identities marginalized during the Soviet period. The Soviet legacy constitutes the core of the neo-ethnic identities introduced by former communist leaders just slightly refashioned with highly selective and politically motivated supplements. Sharp contradictions embodied in these narratives designed to ensure policy goals is among drivers of the ideological disorientation which in its turn acts as a breeding ground for the recruitment of Uzbek and Tajik youth to the global terrorist networks.Item Seeking a Place for Islam in Post-Soviet Russia(Wydawnictwo Naukowe Wydziału Nauk Politycznych i Dziennikarstwa Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu, 2021) Rozkošová, Zuzana; Čech, ĽubomírOne of the main characteristics of the post-Soviet transformation was the religious resurgence. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the post-Soviet Islamic revival in the 1990s. The awakening of Islam and seeking the place for Muslims in the society significantly influenced the formation of today’s Russian Federation. The authors examine the factors that influenced the role of Islam in newly created post-Soviet Russia and the federal government’s response to its dynamics. The paper is divided into two parts. The first part deals with the Islamic revival after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The second chapter is focused on the Kremlin’s reaction to new radical movements that emerged during the Islamic awakening and the separatist sentiments in Russia’s Muslim regions. Using the qualitative research method, the authors drew a conclusion that Islamic radicalisation in post-Soviet Russia was caused by several external and internal factors. The political developments in the Russian Federation between the second half of the 1990s and the early 21st century were characterised by restrictions on religious freedom and consolidation of federalism.Item History Repeats Itself. The Issue of Terrorism and Afghanistan on the Twentieth Anniversary of the 9/11 Attacks(Wydawnictwo Naukowe Wydziału Nauk Politycznych i Dziennikarstwa Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu, 2021) Wojciechowski, Sebastian