France’s reaction to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was initially conciliatory. However, the current French President’ statements, Macron, gradually changed, suggesting a potential shift in France's stance. The French president recently suggested troops could be sent to Ukraine to fight the Russians, a move that could significantly impact the course of the war. Our paper aims to address this possibility. How feasible would this be from a military perspective? Second, are there any other relevant political actors that will support it? Third, why has Paris changed its position to such a radical stance? We start from the theoretical design of realist constructivism. Postcolonial theories and the concept of locked-in path dependence supported this research. The methods follow the path of historical synthesis, discourse analysis of key political actors, and text analysis of defense white papers. Quantitative military variables are used to understand France’s and the EU’s militaryindustrial complex capabilities and assess its potential. The collapse of France’s neocolonial empire in Africa and Russia’s growing influence in the region partially explains Macron’s discourse change. This is correlated with the need to follow a more independent European security policy and the worsening military situation in Ukraine.
In the past 10 years at least, not only that human resource specialists have been challenged to upskill and re-skill themselves to stay relevant in a world dominated by technology, but they are in the driver's seat for selecting the right technology for employees and leadership, for managing large scale implementations and integrations, managing vendors, with the objective to keep the workforce engaged. Technology development disrupted traditional thinking, changed consumer behavior, and led to what we could call systemic malfunctions – the rapid development of technology gave no time to human resource specialists to acquire expertise in data analytics, information technology, user behavior, etc. – which translated into watermelon effect: metrics look good, but reality feels different. This study aims to add one more perspective in evaluating human resource technology performance, showing that we are measuring mostly service efficiency instead of measuring employee and business impact and outcomes. The methodology used in this study is Action-Research, mainly because is mostly aligned with Agile philosophy and business operating models. The existent literature is rich in proposing new ways to keep technology users engaged, and delighted, however, is not provide practical and relevant guidelines on how to measure their perception over the holistic experience mediated by technology. Outdated key performance indicators are no longer capable of driving further innovation, setting the stage for failure in keeping employees engaged. Furthermore, we believe that now more than ever before it’s time for consultants to play the role of service aggregators, to bring together technology, processes, and service providers, to unify the experience of employees.
The way firms and marketers promote their products is being shaped by consumer needs and trends alongside the evolution of the marketplace. As web technologies and consumers’ online behavior improve, influencers are becoming increasingly significant in social media marketing strategies. This research intends to investigate a particular digital phenomenon observed in the field of books, namely, marketing books on Instagram. Therefore, the study aims to highlight the key aspects of book influencers' Instagram activity, namely by examining the literature, but also the evolution of the bookstagram phenomenon in a dual perspective in both Romania and the United States. Furthermore, the purpose of this research is to draw attention to the similarities and differences among the existing communities in the two countries pointed out by a quantitative research. On that account, the data analyzed was collected in two different ways, first we retrieved information from Statista online database about the phenomenon in the United States of America and then, we conducted a questionnaire to bookstagram community members in Romania. Accordingly, the paper will contribute to the expansion of the literature on #bookstagram communities in various cultures around the world by providing useful information and a more diverse view of this market.
This study investigates the factors influencing food inflation in Turkey, employing both endogenous and exogenous models and integrating major literature findings. Utilizing monthly data from February 2007 to November 2023, standardized for analysis, it explores the relationship between food inflation and various determinants through classical and Bayesian methods. The analysis reveals that increases in the real effective exchange rate, money supply (M1), Turkish and Federal Reserve interest rates, and the food and beverage price index contribute to rising food inflation. Conversely, higher oil prices have a statistically significant negative effect on food inflation. The most influential variables, determined by their inclusion probabilities in the model, are the money supply, Federal Reserve interest rate, real effective exchange rate, and Turkish interest rate. These findings underscore their importance in understanding and analyzing changes in Turkey's food inflation.
In the age of globalization and increasing social and environmental awareness, corporate social responsibility (CSR) and commitment to sustainability are becoming increasingly important for companies. These practices are no longer just optional choices but are becoming essential criteria for consumers in their purchasing decisions. In our empirical endeavour, we used document content - and survey analysis as research methods. By employing a qualitative content analysis procedure, we examined and evaluated various campaigns promoting sustainability and philanthropy in relation to different apparel brands. Thus, we identified four such relevant campaigns, designed to emphasize ethical and sustainable values enabling a comprehensive overview of the impact of these marketing strategies on consumer purchasing decisions. Moreover, we statistically analysed how the perceived brand value (i.e., translated into purchasing decision) is influenced by philanthropic and sustainable business practices. Based on our results we draw some relevant conclusions about the impact of CSR campaigns, in general, and on Romanian consumer purchasing behaviour, in particular.
The purpose of the article is to evaluate the importance and relevance of fundamental values, beliefs to Ukrainian citizens in the context of full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The research assessed the worldviews and beliefs of respondents that have changed in Ukraine regarding the European Union’s values commitment. An online survey of Ukrainians’ worldviews of European values perceptions was conducted for Ukrainian citizens in all regions in 2022. The assessment of Ukrainian citizens' values shows the growing tendency of Ukrainian citizens to adhere to the European Union values. The study demonstrates dissatisfaction of citizens with the pace of Ukrainian integration into the European Union. Economic values estimations show the dissatisfaction with fiscal freedom and tax burden in Ukraine. The study's findings prove how important it is to implement political and legal changes to build a civil society, democratic institutions, and a state that protects property rights and the rule of law.
The European Union's (EU) Cohesion Policy, the oldest policy within the EU, has undergone numerous transformations over more than three decades, evolving in both objectives and implementation instruments. The recent expansion of the European Union has rekindled discussions on the efficacy of Structural Funds in achieving economic goals. (Drăgan, 2018). Analyzing the impact and effectiveness of cohesion policy in Romania, as well as understanding the challenges involved in fund absorption and distribution at all levels, is crucial for achieving sustainable regional development to benefit citizens. Starting from the research question: "To what extent has Romania capitalized on the funds allocated through the cohesion policy?", this study outlines the following main objectives: (O1) identifying and analysing the main challenges for the regional policy and for the strengthening of regional and urban development (O2) determining the thematic priority areas to which the majority of cohesion funds in Romania have been allocated, (O3) identifying the primary investment priorities for which European funds have been attracted in Romania. This study aims to address the stated objectives and, where necessary, to identify areas for improvement and suggest strategies to overcome these obstacles.
The study explores the relevance of eco-industrial clusters in promoting Ukraine's post-war reconstruction and sustainable development. To this aim, the paper carries out a comprehensive literature review of academic articles, reports, and case studies on eco-industrial clusters and sustainable development, collect data on Ukraine's post-war reconstruction efforts and the current state of its industrial sector, and analyze relevant legislation and policies. The results show that the success of eco-industrial clusters can be attributed to several critical factors, including robust collaboration between companies, a supportive regulatory framework, and a long-term vision for sustainable development. In the context of Ukraine's post-war reconstruction, an eco-industrial cluster offers an opportunity to build back better by creating new jobs, promoting sustainable economic growth, and enhancing environmental protection. This suggests that an effective ecoindustrial cluster in Ukraine should align with the country's long-term vision for sustainable development, identify industries and companies that can benefit from collaboration and resource sharing, and prioritize stakeholder engagement and public awareness. The involvement of research institutions, a supportive regulatory framework, and financial resources from international donors and investors are also critical for the success of an eco-industrial cluster in Ukraine. By adopting a collaborative, innovative, and sustainable approach to economic development, Ukraine can build a more resilient, inclusive, and prosperous future for its people.
This paper delves into the potential impacts of the recently published Network and Information Security Directive 2 (NIS2) and Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) on EU cybersecurity resilience and cloud adoption. Employing a mixed method of descriptive literature review, narrative review, and thematic synthesis, we explore challenges for implementation, drawing from past data privacy regulations, notably the GDPR, which served as a basis for our analysis and has already significantly affected many organizations. We emphasize the need for efficient software solutions to assist organizations in complying with the new regulations, building upon lessons learned from the GDPR. Cloud service providers and enterprise software vendors are identified as key players to address these challenges. This paper discusses the paradox of organizations' historical reluctance to migrate to the cloud due to data privacy concerns, and how the motivation to comply with recent regulations may now drive increased modern cloud adoption.
In the business environment, economic entities are aware of the importance of reporting transparency for them and their stakeholders. This study provides a comprehensive review of the topic of transparency, with the aim of identifying current research trends. PRISMA method ("Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses") is used to analyze literature published since 1990 on "Scopus", "Web of Science" and "Google Scholar" platform. The study is based on a corpus of 125 articles. Our research found that very few literature review articles capture all aspects of transparency in reporting, leading us to believe that transparency in reporting is still a major challenge in accounting research. Transparency was studied at the level of the country, sector of activity or economic entity. It has also been strongly associated with the quality of reporting and influenced by the application of national or international standards of accounting, corporate governance and auditing.
The support of loved ones is beneficial at any time and in any activity that an individual wants to pursue. In difficult moments in life, the importance of the support given by the loved ones increases. This is also the case at the time of separation from society by being sentenced to a prison sentence due to committing an act condemned by the criminal law. Periodic visits from family, friends or other acquaintances help the condemned to get over the dark period in his life more easily. Also, being released into society for short periods is extremely important for the moral tonus of the person serving a custodial sentence. Such rewards are predominantly used near the time when the prisoner will end his prison sentence to alleviate the shock of reintegration into the community.
Due to the increasing role of digital payments, demand for commercial bank money and nonbank money is expanding, while that for physical cash is sharply diminishing. The retail central bank digital currency (CBDC) is considered the only safe alternative to compensate for this decrease, as a public good complementary to cash that can be used by the general public. It is seen also as a response to the surge of private digital currencies, which could threaten national monetary sovereignty. Complementarily, in parallel to the retail public digital currency, wholesale CBDC targets large-value interbank transactions, limited to selected financial institutions, focused on efficiency, security and lowering transactions costs for cross-border transactions. Based on the extensive literature review and a qualitative synthesis, the present paper has as a key objective the interpretation of the main approaches to the retail CBDC adoption, justified by specific motivations. The research question is “in which circumstances should a retail CBDC be adopted?”. The historical perspective of failed projects, combined with current experiences, offers a clear overview of the CBDC as a potential dominant currency of the digital economy, but in the presence of a cautious approach.
The goal of the present paper is to analyze changes in the compositional structures of Georgia's economy, explore the related qualitative transformations and explain implications for trade and development. By comparing the evidence of several European countries, we put Georgia’s structural changes within a broader regional-level context. We rely on two key measures of structural transformation: sector employment shares in total employment and sector value-added shares disaggregated at the industry level. To explain trade implications, structural transformation indicators across exporting sectors are evaluated. The existing divides between structural transformation of Georgia and that of the Eastern European economies reveal those structural risks that can negatively affect regional positions of Georgia and its long-term economic development.
The practical implementation of a circular economy in the European Union poses significant challenges, notably for the EU-11 (Central and Eastern Europe) countries. The aim of this paper is to analyze the transition of the EU-11 countries toward a CE by examining existing circular strategies, national-level policies, as well as bottom-up initiatives, and on the other hand to explore the prevalent circularity discourses within the EU-11 countries. The study employs a discourse analysis method to comprehensively examine documents related to the CE aspects. This methodology integrates both quantitative categorization (codes and categories) and qualitative interpretation (reading and explanation) to support the understanding of circularity discourses. The results of this paper indicate that the countries within the EU-11 are actively advancing their efforts towards a CE. These countries are seen to be proactively developing a circular vision and setting ambitious objectives to facilitate a transition to a circular economic model.
The article examines the ways to develop small businesses in Ukraine in the post-war period. The overall objective of the study is to identify potential ways to promote small business development in Ukraine in the post-war period. The research objective leads to the following question: what are the best practices and tools that can be used to develop small businesses in Ukraine in the post-war period. To achieve the research objective, the following tasks were used: the analysis of scientific literature on the research topic, using the data obtained within the framework of the UUT 25 Grant Project “Dynamic Capabilities building in Ukrainian SMEs for development and growth in the framework of post-war restoration of territorial communities of Ukraine” ( Odesa Polytechnic National University,2023) and secondary analysis of data from open Internet resources, and the proposals for the small businesses in Ukraine development in the post-war period were given.
This paper explores the policies of the United Nations and specialized institutions concerning the coordination of international community efforts to combat terrorist threats. Terrorism remains a significant threat to international security, despite the war in Ukraine taking priority in terms of insecurity. In this regard, international cooperation aimed at countering terrorism remains relevant, and the actions taken between 2015 and 2018 must be expanded and intensified. Such cooperation requires the participation of a broad spectrum of actors in international relations, including states, governmental international organizations, and civil society. Terrorism continues to be a global problem, and multilateral cooperation is both timely and necessary to counter it. Terrorist movements have not taken a break, despite their lack of large-scale actions, as they continue to express themselves through the activities of crisis cells or lone wolves. Consequently, prophylaxis methods must be supplemented, considering the new forms of terrorism expression. The United Nations organization continues to prove itself as the institution authorized to develop the legal framework and coordinate international efforts to counter this scourge.
This article answers the following research question: What effects did Romanian Foreign Policy have on the settlement process in Transnistria between 1992 and 2008? By looking at this particular question this article conceptualizes the role of Romania towards the conflict in Transnistria. It identifies three different major changes in Romanian’s Foreign Policy between 1990 and 2008 that include the following defining traits: post-communist identity( 1990-1993) ; re- defining of national identity (1993-2004) and defining an Euro-Atlantic identity (2004-2009).Based on this distinction three types of action towards the Republic of Moldova are identified: 1.Establishing Bilateral relations 2.Consolidation of diplomatic relations 3.Advocacy in Euro-Atlantic structures that have led to specific roles by Romania towards: 1.the facilitation of direct mediation (1992-1993) 2. Non-involvement in direct mediation and support for third party mediation (1993-2004) and 3. Support for the expansion of the third party mediation framework in the conflict in Transnistria (2004-2008).
After consolidation following the Second World War, the Yugoslav regime began modernising the country and transforming means of production, which resulted in a fragile economy and increasing labour surplus. The reforms coincided with economic development and increasing demand for migrant workers in several countries in the western hemisphere. Consequently, the migration of Yugoslav labour emerged and expanded for more than a decade. This article discusses developments conditioning and sustaining Yugoslav labour migration and Yugoslav workers’ labour market performance in industrial countries of Western Europe. This article draws on empirical literature and theoretical understandings of labour migration merged with the perception of temporariness of labour migrants’ relocation. The article argues that Yugoslav workers’ labour market performance in Western Europe was an outcome of interactions between driving forces of Yugoslav labour migration, practices of its main agents, and the surrounding socioeconomic contexts.
The participation of the European Union in the settlement of the Transnistrian conflict created favorable conditions for the implementation of the concept of "involvement without recognition" of the Transnistrian region in the legal field of the Republic of Moldova. The effectiveness of this approach largely depended on the effective functioning of the EU as an intermediary and the tools used to solve this problem. The purpose of the work is to consider the influence of the "post-military" stage on the effectiveness of the implementation of the mediation activities of the European Union, as well as to analyze the strategy of "Europeanization" from the point of view of rational choice theory, which affects the change in the behavior of the conflicting parties in the context of the settlement of the Transnistrian conflict.
The context of this article is a larger, ongoing postdoctoral research that looks into the relationship between opinion mining – more precisely sentiment analysis – and the conflict between Russia and Ukraine that started in February 2022. The postdoctoral research aims to analyze political speeches in the context of the war by using available sentiment analysis tools, the purpose being to discover the real emotions behind the speeches per se: are they indeed negative as they pretend to be, or are they rather neutral, in fact, or perhaps even positive. Furthermore, the political speeches selected, coming from official bodies and governments, are focused on the sanctions applied to Russia since invading Ukraine, so both context and sentiment should converge. This article has therefore meaning in the larger context of that research and it aims to offer a short exercise into using a sentiment analysis tool for investigating the presence on social media, this time, of the realities of this conflict. For this purpose, a couple of relevant key words were selected and they were analyzed using opinion mining in the framework of social media platforms and their numerous users. The article investigates the results of this search, discusses them and offers a personal perspective on the topic.
