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In the last dozen months we have seen a spectacular comeback of power politicsin international relations. It is partially caused by a crisis of democracy and of theinternational liberal order as well as by an increase of unilateralism in the policy ofbig states. At the same time, we note a peculiar pandemic of a petty tyrant type ofpoliticians who are power hungry and ready to change the political system of theircountry in order to extend their rule indefinitely. The trend has been accompanied bya dramatic decrease of moral standards in international politics. The trend of powerpolitics has been dictated by the US administration and enthusiastically followedby Russia and China, which feel in their natural element in it. The same has beennoted in the policy of a number of mid-size powers. The Middle East seems tobe a regional laboratory of this tendency, with the dangerous example of Saudi--Iranian confrontation. The new global political context means the risk of furthermarginalization of the European Union. Additionally, internal problems made theUnion even weaker. Macron’s and Merkel’s position has been put into question andturbulent Brexit damaged the energy and image of both the UK and the Community.Poland’s policy, marked by the rise of centrifugal nationalistic political forces, looksmore like part of the problem than the solution of the troubling European situation.
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In 2018, the world’s arms control architecture teetered on the brink of collapse.The paper presents some examples of this process: 1. the United States withdrewfrom the Iran nuclear deal (P5 + 1 – Iran); 2. the summit in Singapore was important,but negotiations between the United States and North Korea over Pyongyang’snuclear programme and denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula stalled; 3. the newSTART was correctly implemented but its future is uncertain; 4. the US threatenedto withdraw from the INF.
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2018 was a year of substantial internal reconfigurations in the EU. In the article,the author focuses on three processes with the biggest potential for change. There isgrowing awareness of practical difficulties of leaving the EU in an orderly fashion,especially in light of the severe political crisis in Great Britain. Chancellor AngelaMerkel declared her plan to leave (in an orderly way) and the opinion polls beforethe European Parliament elections suggest there is a possibility of a relative successof Eurosceptic parties, which would result in anything but order. The power gamewithin the EU starts with the May 2019 elections and it will take up a better part ofthe year. The consequences of 2018 political decisions are still unknown – growinguncertainty being the only certain factor.
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The aim of this article is to analyze international relations in the Asia-Pacific regionfrom the historical perspective of the 40th anniversary of the economic reformin China and the establishment of diplomatic US-China relations. China’s successfulreform programme and US-China economic cooperation have helped to transformthis country into a superpower and, as a result, multilateralism in the region hasbeen replaced by new US-China bipolar structure. 2018 was the year regional actorsgrew accustomed to this new strategic environment.
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After the end of the Cold War, the international order began its transition, bothon a global and a European scale. As a consequence of these changes and underthe influence of a series of crises in the EU, two opposing tendencies have beenstrengthened. On the one hand, intensified questioning of the current directions ofintegration, and on the other, the desire to reinforce the management in the EU bythe European core, represented primarily by France and Germany. The aim of thearticle is to show power politics in the EU on the example of internal market changeshappening at a time of transition of the international order.
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The aim of the article is to analyze the evolution of India’s strategy in the Asia-Pacific region after 2014, i.e. after the Indian People’s Party (Bharatiya Janata Party,BJP) came to power and the post of prime minister was taken over by NarendraModi. The article characterizes and discusses the main assumptions, directions, andinstruments of India’s foreign policy in the Asia-Pacific region.The article attempts to answer two main research questions: whether and, if so,why has India adopted a more active strategy in the Asia-Pacific region; and whether,in its strategy in the political-strategic and security sphere, it has opted for an alliancewith the USA in the Asia-Pacific region.Answers to these questions will allow us to verify hypothesis stating that,especially under the influence of the dynamics of intra-regional relations in foreignpolicy in 2010s, India has redefined its role and position on the Asian continent andhas strived to implement a balancing policy in order to limit China’s increasinglyimportant role and to prevent the shift of power on the Asian continent in favour ofBeijing. To achieve its goals, India advocates a political and strategic alliance withthe USA and its allies as one of the pillars of a democratic, liberal order in the Indo--Pacific region (as an alternative to the order proposed by China).The theoretical tool used in this case study of India’s regional strategy is thecategory of balancing policy. This research tool was selected for its cognitiveand explanatory values which emphasize the importance of the anarchism of theinternational system and the fact that the rules of relations between states area function of the balance of power between them.
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Please let me extend my gratitude to the Faculty of International Economy and Politics of the University of National and World Economy and to the Bulgarian Association of Political Science for the invitation and the opportunity to exchange withyou on the important topic of the European perspective and connectivity of the Western Balkans as a specific priority of the first Bulgarian Presidency of the Council 2018.
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As in previous times, nowadays processes in Southeastern Europe (the Balkans)have been swirled into the maelstroms of world geopolitical clashes. Following theunprecedented "new world order", initiated by the superpower that has prevailed atthe end of Cold War era, the main features of the current international system havebeen molded within the clashes among new centers of power, declaring ambitions tobe paramount factors in a dynamically changing world.
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Historically the European Union was relatively successful, especially for the original purpose of ensuring peace in Europe. Nowadays, however, many of the stakeholders, particularly from within, are becoming increasingly critical of the Union calling into question its future. The purpose of this research is to provide an overview and analyse factors commonly perceived as indicative of the decline of the European Union with an attempt at distinguishing between causes and consequences and singling out factors underlying current internal tensions. The findings suggest that the fundamental cause of struggle lies in the enlargements of 1985 and the ones that occurred after 2000. The acceptance of new members not sufficiently aligned regarding both the economy and political culture resulted in growing internal tensions, which escalated further in the face of additional pressures such as the financial and the refugee crises. Structural weakness and inability to organise democratic process at European level has made the accommodation of new members more problematic.
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The purpose of this article is to review the current aspects of the fiscal union concept, to explain its fundaments and its meaning for the successful governance of sustainable economic environment in EU. Methodologically the research largely employs content analysis to review over 20 primary and 15 secondary sources of information and most importantly the EU treaties and official communications of the European Commission. The research results imply computer-aided and manual content analysis exploring the legislative framework and authors contributions on the fiscal stability mechanism in the EU. The novelty of this research lies in its analytical approach, aimed at conceptualizing the EU fiscal union by means of content analysis of strategic documents, while it is otherwise approached in different context and conceptual setting (such as its contributions to the objectives of stable prices, sound public finance, monetary policy andsustainable balance of payments while ensuring open market with free competition).
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The paper analyses the results from the Economist Intelligence Unit’s research for Democracy Index 2017. It starts by offering a general presentation of the research and focusesspecifically on the results of Bulgaria and other Balkan countries on several major criteria: electoral process and pluralism; government functioning; political participation; political culture;Civil liberties. The paper seeks to answer the question why there are not "Full Democracies" on the Balkans?
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Today’s challenges of the Balkan countries are largely a result of the fact that the national model of statehood is very difficult to operate in a region where the Ottoman Empire existed for many years. This left a strong footprint on the culture and traditions of the population. All these formed the contemporary political culture of the Balkan countries. Thus, the present research focuses on the Balkan states’ political culture. It aims at making a general description ofthe political culture of the Balkans, identifying the common features of the countries, using historical approach and comparative analyses.. Also a comparison is made with the political culture of "full democracies". The analysis covers indicators and builds on data from the European ValuesStudy, 4th wave. The results show that the countries indeed have common characteristics but stillthere are variations. Although the Balkan countries are close to full democracies on some of theindicators, on others – significant differences are observed.
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In the last decades, the subject of the development of the energy sector in the Balkancountries provokes special attention due to its relevance in the context of the changing geopolitical and geoeconomic landscape in Eurasia, as well as the transformations on a global level. The restructuring of the region represents an essential element in the shifting model of international relations, determining new roles and functions for the Southeast European states within the world system. They are facing the challenge to adapt to the new realities and the measures undertaken and planned to improve the national situation alter their diplomacy and especially their approaches towards different regions. In turn, this causes large spillover effects on international relations. In the light of these new developments, the paper explores the principal dimensions of the energy architecture in the Balkans and the resulting foreign policy implications, by comparing the strategies implied according to the correspondent national energy guidelines. The aim of the study is to contrast the various approaches, in order to assess their potential capacity, the crucial differences and the similarities between them, as well as their advantages and limitations. The analysis also showcases the main vectors of the interests of global players such as the EU, Russia, the US, China, and especially the resulting implications of their involvement in the region with emphasis on recent transformations. The author discusses different aspects of the significance of this zone as an energy junction and the ambitions of the Balkans to act as a bridge between East and West. Special attention is paid to the impact of the political approaches on the establishmentof regional patterns of energy cooperation or competition. Looking at the subject from the perspective of the evolutions in the last years, the paper investigates the endogenous and exogenous dynamics of the changing energy settings in Southeast Europe. The research work outlines the conceptual frame of the attempts of the Balkan countries at both bilateral and multilateral level to recalibrate their actions, in order to unlock the potential of the region as a stable partner, particularly with regard to energy supplies. Currently, the level of energy insecurity and vulnerability of the Balkan states remains high, albeit to varying degrees, and the successful elimination of the label "unstable energy architecture" for Europe’s East requires revised vision for the region that will envelop political and economic dimensions of development.
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The purpose of this paper is to analyze the cooperation in energy issues among SEEcountries. The paper focus is on the current energy projects of common interest in the region andthe perspectives for their realization from Bulgarian point of view. The EU Energy Union Strategysets the goal of diversification of gas supplies to Europe. Currently there are more than 70 gasprojects listed as Projects of Common Interest (PCI). The European Energy Union should be established by 2020. The process, however, faces serious challenges when it comes to the Balkanswhere national particularistic approaches to energy security are still strong. This is the regionwith the lowest level of energy connectivity in Europe. Since the Balkan countries have modestenergy resources, the level of analysis cannot be national or only narrowly regional. One mustrefer to the wider regional level. Hence, the importance of the Balkans for the global energy corridors comes from their strategic position The region is important for the transport of oil and natural gas from the Middle East and Central Asia to western markets. The interconnectors that arebuilt or have to be built in the region are PCI for EU. The Union declares that an emergency planfor possible energy crises must be established, and common approach must prevail over self-helpin such circumstances. For that reason since 1993 there have been plans for eight energy corridors in the SEE: "South stream" pipeline, then its successor the "Turkish stream", "NABUCCO",the "Trans-Adriatic pipeline", "AGRI" and "East ring", as well as the oil pipelines "AMBO" and"CPOT". Consequently, the EU supports the PCI in the region with the intention to incorporatethem in the future European Energy Union.
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This study was prompted by the strong academic and research interest in President Donald Trump’s governance and rhetorical style, which is atypical of any senior government official holding a high post in the state administration. Another major motivation for selecting thisresearch object is the topicality of political discourse, and its linguistic and pragmatic aspects, inthe era of post-truth politics. Yet another reason was the typically negative image of the Balkans ina historical perspective. The findings in this study largely confirm those established in previousresearch with regard to Donald Trump’s foreign policy priorities. Even though Trump is differentin form – in language and rhetoric – in his foreign policy, he shows continuity with his post-ColdWar predecessors in substance, especially in the Balkans and South-eastern Europe.
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The article analyzes the nature and dynamics of EU and US spatial interests andpolicies that outline their spheres of influence in the Western Balkans. It presents the tools andapproaches (strategic, economic and political) through which these two actors assert their geopolitical interests in the region and specifically in the six Balkan countries (Albania, Bosnia andHerzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro). It is argued that the EU and US approaches in the Western Balkans are strategic in nature and sustainable. The paper aims at analyzing and comparing the two strategic approaches in terms of their compatibility and differences.
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We are increasingly seeing crisis situations where communication and coordination between institutions as well as the public have played a key role in the consequences of the crisis. Although the problem of refugee influx has passed its hottest moment in out country, this example can always be used as a case to be discussed and analyzed in the context of interinstitutional communication and coordination. The оbject of the article is the refugee crisis in Bulgaria, the subject of research will be communications, as part of the crisis management. The tasks of the author are: 1. to present the refugee crisis in Bulgaria and its basic parameters; 2. Provide communications, in particular during crisis, as part of crisis management; 3. to present a model for crisis communications. The material will aim to present a concrete alternative communication model during the refugee crisis in Bulgaria. The work will be limited only in the context of the refugee crisis in Bulgaria in the period of its biggest boom in 2014-2015.
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In the present study the concept of smuggling and tobacco products was analyzed. The relationships and relationships between the two concepts are indicated. The main issues and challenges of smuggling and illegal trade are characterized. Measures have been proposed to improve countering smuggling and illicit trade in tobacco products.
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