The article analyzes the development of cooperation between China and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) in the field of food security within the broader context of the Global South’s international structures. As one of the world’s largest agricultural exporters, Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) represents a strategic partner for China, which over the past two decades has actively sought to diversify its external supplies and reduce the risks of one-sided dependence on traditional partners. The authors examine the evolution of the agrifood dialogue, the institutionalization of cooperation, and the formation of multilevel platforms (the China - CELAC Forum, specialized ministerial meetings, working groups, etc.), as well as the dynamics of trade and investment in the agricultural sector. Methodologically, the study draws on political economy and institutional approaches and employs the concept of the Global South. The theoretical framework incorporates liberal institutionalism and the theory of complex interdependence. Case study and process-tracing methods are applied to the China - CELAC relationship, alongside document analysis and descriptive statistics on trade and investment. The paper also explores the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on regional agrifood systems and the evolution of China’s food security policy, including the shift from the concept of grain self-sufficiency to the new “expanded food” doctrine, as well as the transformation of China’s approach to global food chains. The article identifies a new partnership model in which China views CELAC countries not only as an important source of raw materials, but also as a platform for technological, institutional, and investment innovation in the food sector. It concludes that a sustainable model of South - South cooperation is emerging - one capable of promoting sustainable development and adaptation to global challenges. The study further identifies the mechanisms for institutionalizing agrifood dialogue between the actors under consideration, assesses the achievements of this dialogue during the first decade of the Forum, and outlines prospects for further deepening cooperation in the global fight against hunger and food inequality.
One of the defining characteristics of the emerging polycentric international order is the persistence of military rivalry. The United States remains engaged in political and military competition with both the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the Russian Federation. The demise of Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty) has provided Washington with the possibility of adding another instrument of power projection to its arsenal: land-based missiles with ranges between 500 and 5,500 kilometers. This category of weapons has both advantages and disadvantages. In the author’s view, the central problem regarding post-INF missiles today lies less in the stabilizing or destabilizing effects of their deployment in Europe and the western Pacific than in how the U. S. leadership will interpret events once these missiles are actually fielded. This study aims to identify the possible consequences of deploying U. S. intermediate-range missiles in Europe and the western part of the Pacific Ocean. The theoretical framework of the research is the deterrence theory. The originality of the proposed approach to the INF issue is that it makes it possible to examine the widest possible range of potential scenarios in the event of deployment, and to clarify how this ensemble of scenarios may be perceived by the U. S. administration. The primary research method employed is modelling. The analysis focuses on the possible actions of both sides during a crisis between the United States and Russia, as well as between the United States and China. The comparative method is used to juxtapose the doctrinal provisions of these states regarding the employment of non-nuclear weapons. The modelling of likely crisis situations demonstrates that, at each stage of escalation, there are both real risks of further deterioration and opportunities for de-escalation and settlement. It is plausible that non-nuclear intermediate-range missiles may become, for the United States, an important instrument for waging a limited armed conflict with a nuclear-armed state at the pre-nuclear level. By operating on the brink of major war, such missiles could compel adversaries to make political concessions.
Prolonged conflicts have been experienced in almost half of the countries in the Great Lakes region. Despite the robust efforts of mediators and peacemakers, peace processes aimed at resolving these conflicts have not been successful. The relevance of this research stems from the UN’s introduction of a gender perspective into peacekeeping architecture over the past two decades, as well as the increasing role of women not only in peace and security, but also in mediation, negotiation and preventive diplomacy. Based on an interdisciplinary, historical and structural-functional approach, this article aims to identify the role of women as facilitators in mediation and negotiation processes in the Great Lakes region of Africa. In addition, the authors used a case study method to investigate the role of women in negotiations and mediations in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and to identify challenges to the peace process, as well as the method of analysis of the official UN documents and data, analytical reports of international organizations. The results obtained made it possible to establish that, despite possessing certain attributes that are critical for the successful outcome of peace processes, women are often sidelined from these processes. Women can participate in the entire peace process or in specific phases of negotiation and mediation. Major findings of the research are that women should be empowered by states, conflict parties and supporters to become mediators or negotiators. It is generally recommended that this empowerment should include the development of skills in mediation and negotiation, thereby facilitating effective contributions to the success of peace process outcomes. This experience can be scaled up and used in crisis management in other African states, which will make it possible to implement successfully the recommendations contained in the UNSC resolution 1325.
This study examines the relationship between military rule and the initiation of interstate wars. The prevailing view in academic literature holds that the involvement of the military in political power increases the frequency of armed conflicts between states. This paper aims to empirically test whether military governments are indeed more likely to initiate interstate wars compared to other types of autocracies, and to assess the validity of the claim that military dictatorships are more prone than military regimes to initiating interstate armed conflicts and wars. To this end, a list of armed interstate conflicts from 1946 to 2007 was compiled, and the initiator states were categorized by their political regime type to identify potential correlations. Conflict data were drawn from the Correlates of War project. For the purpose of this study, a list of 38 interstate conflicts occurring between 1946 and 2007 was compiled, and the political regime type of each conflict initiator was identified. The findings suggest that, in general, authoritarian regimes initiate more interstate conflicts than democracies. Compared to other types of autocracy, military rule does not rank first in the initiation of interstate wars; instead, it is typically preceded by personalist dictatorships. The study distinguishes between military dictatorships and military regimes. A military dictatorship is a form of military rule in which the head of state or president is a career military officer who comes to power through the overthrow of a civilian government-i.e., via a military coup. Its key distinction from a military regime lies in the absence of a collegial governing body. A military regime represents a more institutionalized form of military rule. It has been established that military dictatorships initiate wars and armed interstate conflicts more frequently than military regimes, a difference attributed to the presence of checks and balances in the form of a military government junta acting as a collegial authority. The initiation of international conflict by military authorities coincides with the existence of a territorial dispute between the states involved. The findings of this study significantly contribute to understanding the escalation and potential resolution of international conflicts.
The relevance of this study stems from the fact that cyber operations have become an integral element of contemporary armed conflicts, while the applicability of international humanitarian law (IHL) to the digital environment remains contested and is only partially regulated. In practice, this is reflected by the lack of well-established criteria for classifying specific cyber operations as an “attack,” a “use of force,” or as unfriendly yet formally lawful conduct. Given the transboundary nature of information and communication technologies, the anonymity of actors, and the involvement of non-state entities, there is still no common approach to qualifying cyber activities or protecting civilian infrastructure, which complicates the development of a coordinated international response to cyber incidents. The problem is further exacerbated by the fact that many cyber operations do not cause physical destruction, but rather result in a loss of functionality of systems, calling into question traditional understandings of violence and harm under IHL. The methodology of the study combines a comparative legal analysis of official national positions, United Nations documents, and specialized doctrinal sources, with a systematic interpretation of IHL norms as applied to new forms of armed confrontation. The research employs doctrinal legal analysis, content analysis of governmental doctrines and expert commentaries, as well as elements of case studies focusing on representative cyber incidents, including operations targeting critical infrastructure and dual-use information systems. This article contributes to the literature by providing an integrated examination of three pivotal dimensions of the application of IHL to cyber operations: digital sovereignty, the classification of cyberattacks, and the distinction between military and civilian objectives in cyberspace. For the first time within a single analytical framework, it juxtaposes Russian and Western approaches to sovereignty in the digital domain, to the thresholds for qualifying cyber activities as “attacks,” and to the legal status of data and dual-use objects for humanitarian protection purposes. The findings demonstrate that divergent national approaches to digital sovereignty and attribution impede the development of common criteria for applying the IHL principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution to cyber operations that do not involve physical destruction. The article therefore argues for clarifying the status of data as objects protected under IHL and for adapting traditional categories of military and civilian objectives to the operating conditions of critical information infrastructure.
The relevance of the topic lies in the increasing role of nuclear weapons in international relations, both as a political and military tool and as a means of exerting influence and engaging in confrontation. It also lies in the erosion of the legal regime for the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. Türkiye, while officially a non-nuclear state, is a NATO member and has nuclear weapons and missile defense radars on its territory. This article aims to explore Ankara’s policy and its prospects in the field of nuclear non-proliferation (NWF). The scientific novelty of the study is to examine the historical foundations of Turkish nuclear defense policy, to identify a set of factors influencing Ankara’s policy, and to identify its three main areas - tactical nuclear weapons, the American/European missile defense system, and the peaceful atom. The scientific problem is considered within the framework of neorealism based on the problem-chronological approach, the principles of dialectics, objectivity, and the historiographical tradition. Traditional historical methods, such as retrospective, concrete historical, and comparative historical methods, were employed. It is concluded that at present time, the issue of Türkiye’s official launch of its own nuclear program is not on the agenda, as it may provoke a regional arms race, in which Türkiye will be in a position of catching up with regional actors such as Iran and Israel. In this regard, Türkiye is interested in preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons and, in general, adheres to the nuclear non-proliferation regime, having signed international treaties in this area. At the same time, Türkiye is an important element of the NATO collective security system, and its position on the issue of nuclear weapons largely depends on its membership in this organization.
The article presents the results of a media geographic research of the European mental space. The theoretical and methodological tools of media geography as a new direction in humanitarian research are adapted by the author to study the mental landscapes of different countries that are transforming in the context of digital reality and the mediatization of all spheres of public life. This study focuses on analyzing Europeans’ interests in the field of international relations. The empirical basis of the study is the statistics of Internet users’ requests in European countries on topics substantively related to international politics. The research methodology involved implementing different methods (rank analysis, factor analysis, cluster analysis) in a space-time coordinate system. Rank analysis revealed which topics of international politics Europeans are most interested in, and how they feel about them. Based on the study results, several factors were identified that characterize the Internet users’ behavior of different European countries in relation to events and processes in the international field. Cluster analysis illustrated the similarities and differences in Europeans’ reactions to potential international conflicts. The study’s findings enabled us to draw several conclusions that classify European countries according to their priorities when reacting to current international crises: the first group includes Sweden, France, Great Britain, Belgium and Spain, whose Internet audiences are focused on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict; the second group consists of Serbia, Finland, the Czech Republic and Hungary, with a focus on political processes involving Russia. Interpretation of the obtained results makes it possible to form ideas about conflict zones in the European mental landscape in the context of international relations, which can become the basis for predicting the social behavior of the population of European countries and the nature of Europeans’ response to international politics.
The article examines the modern tools of the “soft power” policy of the USA, Russia and China in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), considering the economic, political, humanitarian, cultural, diplomatic, historical context of cooperation in the region. The relevance of the study is conditioned by the increasing popularity of the “soft power” ideas in the era of the world order transformation, a phenomenon that is required around the world, including in the LAC countries, where there is a strong competition for influence. The purpose of this work is to identify and analyze the contemporary effective “soft power” tools employed by key actors in Latin Caribbean America in the context of multipolarity. The main sources for analysis encompass modern monographs, scientific articles, materials from analytical centers, speeches delivered by officials. Methodologically, the work is based on comparative, statistical and synthetic analyses. It is revealed that with the activity and aggressiveness of the “soft power” of China, which forms the image of a reliable and gratuitous investor, the United States maintains high authority in the field of politics, economics and culture, albeit with methods of influence that are sometimes destructive. In 2025, Washington began actively using “hard power,” which has not yet made it easier to oust China and Russia from the region. As demonstrated by the statistical assessment of public opinion, there has been a decline in the reputation of the Russian Federation in South America since the start of the Special Military Operation. However, at the same time, Latin America is helping to restore Russia’s status as a world power. The Russian Federation is creating an image as a builder of a just, equality-based and value-based multipolar order. Not being associated with neo-colonialism, the country successfully operates with cultural, diplomatic and humanitarian “soft power” and it has potential in other areas. That is why the United States is trying to restrict the work of Russian media in LAC. Common promising and effective modern tools of “soft power” in Latin America in the era of multipolarization include economic tools, mass media, space diplomacy tools, high technologies, public and digital diplomacy.
This paper investigates the applicability of the concept of ‘falling forward’ to crisis management in the European Union. An idea central to the literature is that the EU draws upon crisis situations to enhance its power and influence, as member states are willing to delegate further competencies to EU organs in order to collectively solve pressing problems. The assumption that crisis situations lead to an increase in the power of the supranational entity has been the subject of multiple studies, yet, the long-term impact of this process, which takes place with minimal public accountability, has been largely neglected. We seek to go beyond the short-term effects of crises on integration, to determine how shock events impact integration structures in the long run. A mixed methods inquiry, based on 102 survey responses and 15 interviews with EU experts, triangulated with Eurobarometer results, reveals that accelerated integration can foster dissatisfaction, bringing about a surge in elections of extremist and Eurosceptic parties. These political changes could pose a significant threat to EU integration and may cause the union to ‘fall backward’ rather than ‘forward’, as is systematically predicted in the existing academic literature. The case-study of the 2022 energy crisis in the EU confirms that the regional organisation does indeed gain in power and influence as it works to manage and mitigate the repercussions of a crisis but that this strengthening gives rise to new challenges for the union. This paper yields novel theoretical insights into the spill-over process (including the original concept of ‘falling backward’) and the functioning of regional organisations as complex polities.
In recent years, the BRICS group has undergone profound transformations, including the expansion of its membership, the establishment of alternative global financial institutions, and the diminishing role of the dollar in intrabloc settlements. However, this rapid evolution has also revealed pre-existing challenges and generated new constraints on multilateral cooperation among member states. Despite these obstacles, it is evident that BRICS has undoubtedly become a major driver in the ongoing transformation of the global order. As a result, forecasts regarding the association’s future, ranging from strongly optimistic to alarmist, have proliferated, while its nature and long-term objectives continue to be interpreted in diverse ways. The present study aims to identify the key themes and trends in academic literature on BRICS, and analyze how scholars conceptualize its development within the broader context of global order transformation. Using both qualitative and quantitative content analysis, the research examines peer-reviewed journal articles and monographs published between 2023 and April 2025. The findings reveal the absence of a unified scholarly perspective on BRICS’ evolution. Publications authored by researchers from non-Western countries outnumber those from Western academia. Differences in analytical approaches depend largely on the focus of research-whether it addresses individual member states or BRICS as a whole-and on the disciplinary lens, encompassing economic, political, or cultural-humanitarian dimensions. The topics attracting the greatest scholarly attention include BRICS financial and trade integration, the establishment of non-Western financial mechanisms, de-dollarization, the development of instruments for mutual settlements, and the use of new technologies to enhance economic governance. The persistent challenges experienced by the region are multifaceted, encompassing disparities in economic and political capacities, divergent national interests, bilateral tensions, and the growing difficulty of achieving consensus amid continued expansion. The most promising areas of potential lie in expanding intra-BRICS trade, strengthening non-dollar payment frameworks, and increasing the group’s influence in key sectors of the global economy such as energy, agriculture, and the extraction of strategic resources, including rare earth elements.
The “end of history” proclaimed at the close of the 20th century, alongside the rise of the humanitarian agenda, globalization, and the redistribution of centers of power, has significantly influenced the reorganization of the post-bipolar world order. A key focus has been the discourse on whether states may violate the sovereign borders of another in order to prevent mass civilian casualties. This study examines illegitimate military interventions involving Spain, initiated and led by the United States, and the factors that influenced Spain’s decisions to join military campaigns not sanctioned by the UN Security Council. By identifying the distinctive approaches to the use of force within realism, liberalism, and structuralism, and by incorporating insights from the behavioral approach to international relations, the article analyzes the evolution of foreign policy decision-making in democratic Spain. Using Spain’s first humanitarian interventions in Kosovo (1999) and Iraq (2003) as case studies, it reconstructs the opportunistic and structural factors that shaped the political decisions to deploy Spanish troops to these countries in violation of international law. The study concludes that support from civil society and inter-party consensus remain crucial for Spain when deciding whether to participate in interventions. The goals of such interventions must be consistent with considerations of responsibility for peace, rather than a demonstration of force that risks escalation and regional destabilization.
The study focuses on the transformation of China’s grand strategy in the context of the ongoing, long-term Sino-US strategic rivalry. In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in the study of China’s grand strategy in global politics. To date, at the international level, the relevant study has been overwhelmingly dominated by the American school and narrative based on American realism. This paper therefore conducts the relevant research from a Chinese perspective. The study explores the evolution of the US China policy and the transformation of China’s grand strategy in the context of the Sino-US strategic rivalry. In particular, it demonstrates the linkage between China’s grand strategy evolution and the Sino-US relations. Furthermore, it provides an analysis of the implications of China’s grand strategy transformation. The research methodologies mainly contain comparative, analytical and inductive approaches. A conceptual framework is outlined, illustrating how the US policy and approaches towards China navigate the Sino-US rivalry and transform China’s grand strategy-making and its foreign policy implementation. The author concludes that it is the strategic rivalry and US policy towards China that are transforming China’s “grand strategy” from a defensive to an offensive model. Bloc-driven policy is one of the defining factors in the Chinese-American confrontation. However, in the case of the U.S., the obvious anti-Chinese orientation of the blocs created by Washington may cause a negative reaction from potential allies. In turn, China, relying on the states of the Global South, is also building a network of global partnerships in which such structures as the BRICS, which is becoming increasingly attractive to developing countries. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is also a significant player, and if it expands further, it could become the largest military-political bloc in the Eurasian space.
Economic globalization not only leads to significant changes in the international economic system, but also to the formation of the institution of economic sanctions. It identifies the targets, structure and consequences of economic pressure on sovereign states in the context of economic globalization. Methodologically, the study is based on the dialectical method, which implies the study of phenomena in constant development and interrelation, in addition to methods of comparative and structural analysis, abstraction, synthesis and others. A special feature of the study is the inclusion of data from the Global Sanctions Data Base together with the World Bank and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) on the socio-economic indicators of the objects and subjects of sanctions since 1960. The author concludes that the intensification of sanctions over the past three decades has more to do with the declining share of major actors in international production and trade than with concerns about, for example, territorial integrity and human rights. A study of the sanctions’ dynamics and their impact on the socio-economic development of the most popular objects (Afghanistan, Iran, Libya, Myanmar and Russia) reveals a cyclical nature of the processes. After the peak of sanctions pressure, the intensity of sanctions pressure diminishes, although unilateral economic measures are lifted more slowly, especially financial ones, the value of which gradually increases. It is evident that trade sanctions are more frequently lifted, while visa restrictions are less frequently imposed. This reveals the impact of economic sanctions on the sanctioned country in general is often overstated or considered to be short-term. The size of the sanctioned country’s economy remains a significant barrier to negative effects. However, the effects of economic sanctions on the (economically active) population are more noticeable and may lead to an increase in the gap of their national income and well-being with the global level. The impact of sanctions on the global economic landscape is evident, with their intention being to preserve the prevailing distribution of wealth and power, favoring the declining economies of the United States and the United Kingdom while concurrently fortifying those of China, India, and other emerging economic powers. The following conclusions and recommendations are posited for the purpose of enhancing the adjustment policy of the sanctioned country.
As European society has become increasingly multicultural, interest in the problems of representation of ethnic and racial minorities in contemporary Western cinema has grown significantly. The processes taking place in Western cinema are a response to the political challenges posed by immigration, globalization and the problems of interethnic and international relations. According to some researchers, the roots of these problems should be sought in the colonial past. It is therefore particularly relevant today to look at the history of colonialism and its cultural aspects. Cinema as a historical source provides valuable insights into the manner in which the colonial era constructed cultural boundaries between the West and the East, as well as between the colonizer and the colonized Other. In particular, Third Republic films about colonies in Africa supported the colonial discourse of their time, reflecting the power of the French colonial empire, and portraying the colonizers as noble, brave, and selfless and the colonized “others” as exotic, savage, and rebellious. However, after the World War II, in the wake of decolonization, the relevance of previous approaches to representing the empire and its possessions was called into question. This article reveals the influence of the political decolonization process on the ideological content of French cinema about the Empire during specified period, the changing approaches to the visual representation of the colonized Other, and how these changes were perceived by the audience. According to the authors, such historical research can help to better understand the origins of modern phenomena in European cinema and Western culture in general. The work uses French films from 1945-1960 as historical sources. The authors examine cinema through the frame of postcolonial theory, as a tool for strengthening colonial power and forming ideas about the colonized Other. In analyzing the films, the authors use an approach that examines their genesis, content, cinematic imagery and public response. Based on the analysis, it is concluded that the need to soften the colonial discourse in the context of the Empire collapse led to the ideological content of the Fourth Republic’s cinema becoming more contradictory. It reflected, on the one hand, nostalgia for the past imperial greatness, and on the other, uncertainty, a desire to stay away from current problems, and even sympathy for the anticolonial movement. Stereotypical ideas about the colonized, although they did not completely disappear from the screens, still evolved along with how the empire itself transformed, giving rise to images of the Other that were atypical of the earlier period.
The article examines the development of relations between China and Latin America, focusing on economic cooperation with Uruguay. The study analyzes the formation of a new economic and political landscape in the Global South, highlighting the specific aspects of China’s policy in this region. The authors identify two key phases in the bilateral relationship between China and Uruguay, spanning nearly twenty-five years, with the 2016 agreement marking a significant milestone in establishing a strategic partnership between the two countries. Using the Global South as a theoretical and methodological marker for scientific inquiry requires a clear methodological framework built around the conceptual parameters of the Global South itself. Uruguay’s approach to the Global South concept is methodologically crucial, given its balanced and moderate foreign policy stance. The article demonstrates how China, seeking to strengthen its position in Latin America, is developing a comprehensive policy to increase trade turnover and investments in the region. Specifically, the dynamics of export and import between China and Uruguay are examined, as well as Uruguay’s role as a strategic partner for China. The authors analyze Uruguay’s legal and institutional environment that facilitates foreign investment and note that despite significant successes in trade, the level of Chinese investments in Uruguay remains relatively low. The article goes on to explore potential reasons for this phenomenon and the prospects for further development of investment cooperation. Special attention is given to the role of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which Uruguay joined in 2018, thus becoming the first Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR) member to support this Chinese initiative. The article underscores the importance of further deepening the strategic partnership between China and Uruguay, which can serve as a successful example of interaction within the Global South and contribute to the strengthening of the positions of Global South countries on the international stage.
The history of Greek-Russian bilateral relations is characterized by periods of close and fruitful cooperation, interspersed with periods of calm and even confrontation. Meanwhile, Greece stands as a state, often carrying out a kind of a dialogue bridge between the West and Russia. The current global changes in the world, including in the political arena, have had a cardinal impact on Greek-Russian bilateral relations, questioning their further mutually beneficial cooperation: the reason for this was the international diplomatic isolation of the Russian Federation by Western states in the context of the Ukrainian conflict, which escalated in early 2022. The objectives of the research were to analyze the current bilateral ties between Greece and Russia in the context of the current state of international relations through the prism of the Ukrainian conflict, to determine the role of Kiev in the diplomatic relations between Athens and Moscow and to study the position of the Greek leadership towards Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine. At the same time, the public opinion of ordinary citizens of the Greek state was studied in relation to the current political activities of Moscow, taking into account the disinformation process in the Western and Greek media. The main research methods chosen were the concrete historical method and the case study. The authors concluded that in the context of a protracted conflict between the Euro-Atlantic community and Russia, Moscow’s relations with Athens, which, in turn, took a pro-Western position, will deteriorate both bilaterally and at the interethnic level. The authors also assumed a change in Russia’s regional priorities: Greece, as Moscow’s key regional partner in the Balkan region, the Black Sea region and the Mediterranean, was ousted by its main opponent, Türkiye, which was largely facilitated by the cooling of Greek-Russian relations and the position taken by Athens regarding the Ukrainian conflict. Preliminary conclusions are also presented on the consequences of the implemented Greece’s current foreign policy towards Russia and the impact of the Ukrainian conflict on Greek-Russian relations.
