Around the Bloc: Stalin in Pink, and Other Victory Day Highlights
In Moldova, U.S. military hardware removed from Chisinau square ahead of 9 May celebrations.
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In Moldova, U.S. military hardware removed from Chisinau square ahead of 9 May celebrations.
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Were ‘Taliban’ fighters crossing the Afghan border terrorists, drug smugglers, or both?
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Openly critical of the U.S. presence and policies, Kremlin officials seek deeper ties to the Kabul government – and the Taliban.
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Report on Russian brigade’s involvement in Malaysian plane’s downing over Ukraine full unworthy of ‘serious comment,’ Defense Ministry says.
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Police models are designed to improve safety in society. Although Estonia has not deliberately used any (combination of) police models for developing its policies of safety and its police reforms since the country regained independence, its safety has improved considerably during the last couple of decades. The scholarly discussions about police models are overwhelmingly about the possible effects of different models on safety management and about their application to particular countries. However, countries like Estonia with no consistent conceptions of police have received little attention in academic literature. We aim to fill this gap by analysing the developments of the Estonian police in its philosophical, strategic, tactical and organisational dimensions over the period between 1991 and 2013. The analysed materials include the official police development plans, legislation, statutes, training programs and statistics about the police. Our analysis shows that although safety in Estonia has improved considerably, developments of the Estonian police are characterised by internal discrepancies and inconsistencies. In view of this, we put forth some hypotheses for further studies regarding policy development in a situation where policy is not explicitly stated or where organisational reforms are seen not as “simple” or “complex” problems, but as “wicked” problems.
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Social welfare for the whole community is the basic tenet of Islamic social justice. In modern Islamic Republic of Iran it is also a strong political appeal, used by the successive Iranian governments. The core of the Islamic Revolution was not only ideological positioning of political Islam, but also the quest for social justice in a country characterized by economic inequality. Effects of the Iran-Iraq War, nepotism and corruption, system of bonyads, and inexperience in governance are basic difficulties of the Islamic Republic, together with social inequalities in urban-rural, women, youth, and ethnic minorities nexus.
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The Article is founded on several theses which are pertinent to functions of measurement as a socially organized process. A measurement is social activity which derive from a formal language – mathematics. The language had historical origins where real measuring beings from nature was compared with measured beings which was captured and understood as multiplication of the former. Abstract language of mathematics is heir of this social activity. In processes of social measurement of one’s identity formal language of mathematics is undergoing anthropomorphisation and humanization (it is now interpreted formal language) while beings which are measured conquered on this way some a new numerically rendered being. The letter has broadly acclaimed social acceptance for his precision and possibility of instrumental manipulation. But social identity is a structural-relational totality which we can’t so easy render in quantitative formal language. First of all mathematics is founded on philosophy which have fundamental presupposition – logical atomism. Without the one laws of addition, commutation and distribution would be impossible. Thus quantitative manipulation presuppose ontological deconstruction of social identity on atomic acts which are now undergoing possibility of numerical manipulation. The totality of identity in temporal dimension precede all thinking about quantitative aspect social reality. We can assign quantity to beings of real world if we predate their existence with qualitative naming of the one. Thus pragmatic quantity have only secondary role in measuring of social identity. The Social identity in the article concern a phenomenon of social typization as an objective cultural being which have functions of stabilization of social behaviors. It is a device of identification of social situations in everyday life for their transparency and easiness of social actors. A welfare state as phenomenon of collective social identity have existence of ideal type. The letter is assigned to the welfare state on the way of social typization in processes historical scientific generalization. The article tracing „pains” and troubles of measurement the welfare state social identity and its immanent logical, philosophical and methodological problems.
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The article pertain to a case study research of social assistance processes in a social policy system of G. city. A main method of investigation was opened, unstandardized systematic interviews with social workers, political figures and administrators of the system. Social services in experiences of our respondents we have interpreted as games for uncertainty control. The games in perspectives of social workers and administrators of the system we understand as pedagogical environments for customers which in the processes of these interactional games shape many of the social, adaptive skills. Such skills enable customers institutional identity management and effective winning spheres of freedom from control. Behavioural strategies of social workers in institutional and organizational environment in relation to customers we conceptualize as exchange models of a “gift for power” above customers spheres of uncertainty control. Inefficiency of social assistance comes from incapacity of such aid to effectively exchange gifts for uncertainty control in daily situations for customers. The Institution of social services has many functional substitutes in social, political and economic environments which are much more effective. Second goal of our investigation was a presentation and portrayal of the real pedagogical environment of social workers. Theory of social intervention and social pedagogy suffers from too many abstracts from reality foundations, premises und presumptions. So social pedagogy as practical science needs also careful and diligent investigation of real social practices in institutional and organizational environment of social policy systems.
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Modern threats are a multidimensional problem, in addition to the old and well-known, there are constantly new, dynamically changing security environments. The grounds for security threats are diverse and evolve along with the development of international relations, changes in the interests of the state and its position on the international arena. The aggressive, imperial policy of the Russian Federation is an example of this and contributes to instability in the region and seriously threatens the sovereignty of neighboring countries. Guaranteeing the security of the Polish border (especially the eastern – external of European Union) is a serious challenge and must be constantly adapted to the changing threats occurring in times of peace, crisis, and also in times of war. The author characterizes the contemporary security environment of Poland and the accompanying cross-border threats, presents the process of shaping the EU external border security system together with the current situation of the security management of the Polish state border. It also draws conclusions that the state border must still be in the center of interest of the state authorities and indicates that as a result of the current external threat to the state, there is a need to improve the cooperation of services and institutions responsible for the security of the state border in the national and international dimension.
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Legislative trends in the Polish implementation of the CER Directive with particular reference to aspects of standardisation and certification of organisational and technical solutions
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Legislative trends in the Polish implementation of the CER Directive with particular reference to aspects of standardisation and certification of organisational and technical solutions
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The coronavirus crisis led to severe restrictions of numerous fundamental rights almost globally, amongst which the right to vote was also concerned. Our research article aims to integrate the experience of the Visegrád region into the emerging strand of international legal scholarship from the long-term impact of the public health emergency on electoral frameworks. Based on a research collaboration funded by the International Visegrád Fund, the study presents the adaptative measures implemented by the four Visegrád countries to hold national or municipal elections in the shadow of the global pandemic, and contextualizes these interventions in the light of the global electoral tendencies. Finally, based on our research, the expected features of post-COVID electoral frameworks in the Visegrád region were also provided. Alternative electoral regimes are discussed for the promotion of flexibility and resilience, which are grounded on the combined elements of the traditional voting system, on additional public health requirements, and also on the extensive application of postal- and electronic voting.
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The aim of this study is to present the course of the decision-making process using the example of a competitive design task, as well as to attempt to address questions related to factors influencing the formation of the urban layout of a large-scale residential complex, its architecture, and implementation strategy. The subject of this study is an original concept of a new residential district with a ring-shaped layout, which was developed as a result of the urban-architectural competition conduc- ted by the City of Piła in the period between 2021 and 2022.
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This paper presents the most important issues concerning the use of the Territorial Defense Forces for the task of securing the site of a mass disaster. It discusses the concept and features of a mass disaster, the organization and tasks of Territorial Defense Forces, and the participation of soldiers from this formation in securing the site of a mass disaster. The aim of the article is to present the most important aspects of the participation of Territorial Defense Forces soldiers in securing the site of a mass disaster, mass events. Although the TDF issues have been present and developed in various publications in recent years, there has been no work analyzing the participation of this formation in the activities of securing a mass catastrophe of such events. In the work, classical research methods were used, including the study of sources, their analysis, criticism, heuristics and inference. Established in 2016, the Territorial Defense Forces constitute a valuable new type of the Armed Forces, which can be very useful in activities related to securing the site of a mass disaster, which is part of the crisis management system. Territorial Defense Forces soldiers can be used to help and safeguard, interrupt an incident, mitigate its effects, prevent bystanders from reaching the crash site, which has a significant impact on securing traces and evidence against their loss or distortion. The great advantage of the formation is its territoriality, because in the event of a summons to the site of a mass disaster, it can appear very quickly and, in cooperation with the relevant services, promptly take effective action.
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This research strives to present a comparative analysis of the vaccine diplomacy of the United States, China, India, and Russia during the COVID19 pandemic. As each of the examined countries possesses the technology to research and manufacture the vaccines, as well as the logistical capacity and infrastructure for their global distribution, it was natural to expect that they would start with their own vaccine diplomacy, especially in the countries and regions that are considered a priority for their national and foreign policy interests. However, each country had a different approach to the vaccine diplomacy engagement based on their vaccine manufacturing capacity and global distribution limitations. At the same time, competition was observed between the rival powers. It can be concluded that although even such a severe global crisis as the COVID-19 pandemic failed to bring closer cooperation between the great powers, such a crisis established vaccine diplomacy as an additional element of foreign policy, and it will most likely be developed as a soft-power tool even more in the near future.
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This study examines those variables that affect social security finances and those that affect the macroeconomic situation in the EU countries with a view to enabling stability to be maintained under changing conditions. A retrospective analysis, the bootstrap panel Granger causality test, the Pesaran CD test for cross-sectional dependence in panels and Pesaran’s CIPs test for unit roots in panels were employed to this end. These methodological tools were applied to panel data of EU countries. The research period was from 2000 to 2019 inclusive. The results reveal that the inclusion of selected macroeconomic variables in the model that predicts the values of the components that shape social security finances, and vice versa, increases the accuracy of the prediction. It is confirmed that the studied variables have a mutually stabilizing effect. This is essential for increasing the adaptability of social security systems to changing conditions and ensuring the long-term stability of financing benefits. This discovery is what distinguishes this study from those conducted on general go- vernment finance; two-way causal relationships in this field have never before been verified.
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This article shows how the development of pension funds in Poland can be linked to privatization. It also proposes a mechanism, modeled on solutions adopted in Scandinavia, to strengthen corporate governance in state owned enterprises. It argues that such a link would make it easier to overcome the political obstacles to privatization that stem from its negative public perception. First, the link would result in a sustainable diffusion of business ownership and would effectively separate politics from business management. Second, it would increase pension savings without straining public finances. The literature review indicates that both effects would be conducive to Poland's long-term economic growth.
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Health security is a dimension of international security, resulting from the securitization of its threats. The article proposes to include health security in the second generation of non-military dimensions of security (the first generation being those proposed by the Copenhagen school). The aim of the article is to analyze the specificity, i.e., autonomization, of health security in relation to: 1) the specificity of threats; 2) securitization of these threats; 3) determination of the referent object; 4) ensuring health security. The focus was on the structure of the phenomenon and the structure of each of its elements. Firstly, the specificity of securitization of health threats by a political entity such as the United States was analyzed in particular. Secondly, the human individual was taken into account as susceptible to health hazards. Thirdly, actions for health security were analyzed at the level of the international system and at the level of national health care systems.
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