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The article analyses the process of choosing different strategies of identification bythe Bulgarians in Ukraine. The present state of the “identification processes” againstthe background of the “war of memory” and the “invented traditions” places themamong the priority problems of science and politics.The subject of analysis are the specifics of the formation of collective memorywhich are at the root of the choice of identification strategy: commemorative practices,mechanisms for memorialization of the past, the correlation between the localgroup history and the national strategies of Bulgaria and Ukraine. The conclusionis that the choice of identification behaviour is influenced by the efficiency of thesocial adaptation under the specific historical circumstances. The social resources atdisposal of the group in any particular moment influence the choice of vectors of thecollective memory and predetermine the formation of defensive practices aiming topreserve the group.
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The article sets out to unpack the modes of governance and related policy instruments for steering educational establishments and sport organisations employed by the Sofia municipality Department of Prevention, Integration, Sport and Tourism (DPIST). These instigate a process of institutionalization the actions and behaviours of local schools, kindergartens, sport clubs, youth organisations, and various social groups participating in DPIST funded or supported projects and sport initiatives. Four primary modes of strategic steering are identified including coercion, voluntarism, targeting and framework regulation. The process of steering collective actions, policies and resources is premised on creating a system of institutionalized rules. In fact, such a process takes hybrid forms. The key mechanism for achieving both the strategic and sport policy intentions of Sofia municipality has been the machinery of project management. It is also demonstrated that the pursuit of the new promoted vision envisaging Sofia as a vibrant city of juvenile, active and innovative people where sport, in combination with education, volunteering and entrepreneurship, is seen as the key means and agent of social change, however, requires a proactive forward thinking and strategic approach. It is directed towards pursuing some future, but still unknown desired state in terms of necessary social time, space and projection. Due to this uncertainty Sofia municipality reasonably has relied on a set of already tested in the social practice sources of reasoning and mechanisms of cognitive knowledge and social interventions.
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The Ural River is one of the main fisheries reservoirs of Kazakhstan. Its hydrological regime has been unstable over the past 10 years, which has affected the formation of fish resources. The present study has shown that commercial fish populations decrease from year to year due to the deterioration of spawning conditions in low-water years, when spawning grounds are not fully watered. In these years, the spawning efficiency decreased from 11% to 70%.
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The article focuses on the question how the normalization of U.S. –Soviet relations in the beginning of the 1970s influenced the communication between the superpowers. Four main aspects of the dealings between the United States and the Soviet Union are discussed. They are: the negotiations about the status of Berlin and SALT I; the India-Pakistan and Vietnam wars in the context of relations between the two principal powers of the Cold War period. The main conclusion presented is that triangular diplomacy played an effective role in Europe, but a destructive one in Asia.
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The topics of civic education and children's rights are being discussed more and more frequently in the past 11 years after Bulgaria joined the EU. Civil education is expected to familiarize children with their "equal and inalienable rights, the most important of which are freedom, justice and peace in the world". The outcome of civic education cannot be just “simple voters”, but rather personalities concerned about the public good. Through the civic education, the moral basis of children's rights is internalized.
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The article reveals the content, methods and results of the study of the formation of readiness to future border guard officers to apply risk analysis methods. The essence of readiness for application of methods of risk analysis in operational and service activity, criteria and indicators are defined, levels and state of the formation are characterized. For effective formation of readiness of future frontier officers to apply risk analysis methods, pedagogical conditions have been substantiated and tested experimentally. Based on the research results, methodological recommendations have been developed for cadets, scientific and pedagogical staff
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This text aims to analyse the project of elite change implemented by the United Right in Poland in the field of cultural production. The authors argue that culture is recognized by right-wing politicians and intellectuals as a particularly important way of legitimizing its domination also in other fields. The special role of culture can be interpreted by the nature of the public sphere in Poland and the importance of the intelligentsia, who converted cultural capital into other types of capital (the political, the social, and especially the symbolic capital). The authors argue that the replacement of cultural elites serves the revision of history and assertion of power. Although, the elite change project is conducted not only within the cultural field, however, the latter is seen as a particularly important for the right-wing intelligentsia. We argue, that this exchange is based on the long-formulated announcements and is justified by the right-wing intellectuals and politicians who argue for a traditional, Polish model of culture. However, it also conceals political goals. The main goals of the replacement are to change the old elites with people favouring new order and, in the long run, to form right-wing elites, who, referring to the one-dimensional model of culture, will play a hegemonic role in the social life.
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The concept of network-centric activities was created in the 20th and 21st century as a result of striving to increase the combat capabilities of army in a manner allowing to dominate the opponent. Numerous scientific analyzes, practical methods and operating schemes have mostly made it possible to meet these needs. This article is a continuation of considerations on network-centric activities and focuses on the indication of their nature and methods of conducting Network Centric Warfare.
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The paper deals with the public sociologists of the former Julian Hochfeld’s circle in the time of the political system change in Poland. Among the sociologists of that school Jerzy J. Wiatr played the most important role as both a traditional and an integral public sociologist involved in the Left-wing party politics. The paper depicts his activities as a public intellectual who became an eminent political leader, as well as his work as a social and political analyst. The paper confronts his vision of the political system change, as presented in the writings of the 1989–1991 period, with the work of another eminent sociologist of that school, Zygmunt Bauman. The latter did not play any political role and was much less involved in commenting the political change that was happening at that time, being a lot more skeptical about its result.
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The article has intended to study the action of Twitter-based media advocacy promoted by the Ministry of Health (MOH) of the Government of India, and World Health Organization (WHO) during the Covid-19 pandemic. Its goal was to assess the degree of the WHO and MOH's media campaigning for Covid-19, as well as the public's perception of this advocacy. In this regard, mixed methods have been used for data collection where a survey has been conducted with 125 respondents, who use Twitter, from Kolkata (India) with the help of random sampling. A content analysis of two well-known Twitter accounts was conducted, which helped to reflect the current trends that they follow. The findings of this research have reflected the choice of medium preferred by the respondents for receiving news and information during the Covid-19 pandemic. It has also helped to identify the Twitter handles and tweets they mostly follow and thereby the major factors influencing their choice. The outcome of this research has helped to study whether Twitter can be used for institutionalized health communication or not in the future.
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The article examines of evolution of Chinese security policy in the light of the white papers on defense. It hypothesized that the goal of the Chinese strategy is to ensure the security of the state, and not to maximize its power. The theory of neoclassical realism was adopted as the theoretical basis for the analysis. The distribution of power in the international system was adopted as the independent variable in the study, and the Chinese security policy as the dependent variable. China's Grand Strategy was recognized as an intervening variable. The study used elements of the qualitative method in line with the recommendations of the neoclassical realism program, emphasizing causal relationships in the process of evolution of China's strategy being followed. As a result of the research, the following conclusions were drawn: 1) China perceives security holistically; that is, it considers both internal and external security. A particularly important aspect is also security at the seas and in new domains: space, cyber and electromagnetic space; 2) The security threats to China are primarily of an internal nature, and the most important threat is the possible declaration of independence by Taiwan. 3) The armed forces are the most important means of countering potential threats. The Chinese strategy assumes the future conflict as a people's war, consisting of the total mobilization of the nation's and state's resources. The army’s main task is to win information wars; 4) The most important supporting objective in China's security strategy is to protect China's "overseas interests"; 5) The security strategy is evolving, and its scope grows with the growth of China's global interests. The Chinese plan goes far beyond the primary goal of ensuring the security of the state. It is therefore also expansive.
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This research aimed to analyze the Albanian parliamentary elections held in 2013, 2017, and 2021 in order to evaluate the process of development of representative democracy in Albania, one of the post-communist countries of the Western Balkans. The analysis was based on assessing the dynamics of the Electoral Integrity Index (PEI) as a quantitative indicator that reflects the level of fulfillment of international standards for democratic elections. The PEI was evaluated using the average perception values for 11 indicators reflecting the election process. Based on the value of the PEI2013 (54.1 scores), PEI2017 (53.3 scores), and PEI2021 (57.7 scores), the parliamentary elections in Albania were considered as processes that do not exceed the ‘moderate’ level. The non-significant difference between 2013, 2017, and 2021 PEI (p>0.05) demonstrated low progress in developing democratic performances in Albanian society.
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The article presents the methods of influencing particular groups of the revolutionary “Supraciu” movement in Belarus. The subject of the research is to verify the goals of the "Supraciu" movement as an opposition to the Belarusian regime and to define its status in the structure of national liberation organizations. The main research method is the analysis of materials from various media, including social media. The study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the activities of these groups. The adopted thesis is that the "Supraciu" movement is a national liberation movement that uses terror to weaken the dictatorial regime of Alexander Lukashenka. Following this assumption, the methods and effectiveness of group members of the "Supraciu" movement were presented, and the prospects for the development of this movement in Belarus were assessed.
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Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has global and regional dimensions with deep implications for international security. The war poses strategic questions also for the actors from the Persian Gulf region as it affects them directly and indirectly in terms of security relationships, energy markets, and economic stability. Three Arab Gulf states – Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Qatar – experience contradictory incentives and disincentives with regard to their reaction to the war in Ukraine. This article aims to analyze the stance of those three key Arab Gulf players towards Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in the first year of the full-scale war. In the article, we argue that the stance of those three Arab Gulf states can be analyzed through Regional Security Complex Theory (RSCT) as their reaction is best explained through a regional perspective. The article offers a comprehensive explanation, emphasizing the importance of the intra-Gulf security dynamics.
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In many of the world's armed conflicts, the health sector has become a target of attacks, and the number of such attacks has increased significantly in recent years. The impact and consequences of armed conflict on health care are far-reaching and long-lasting. In addition to the direct casualties of armed conflict, indirect casualties remain significantly underestimated. The unstable situation as a result of armed conflict leads to the abandonment of preventive programs, the delay of diagnosis, or the abrupt interruption of the therapeutic process, which significantly reduces the prognosis of patients and leads to an increase in mortality. Mass migration, including the migration of patients, shortages of medicines and medical equipment, interrupted basic and clinical research, the mental strain on the population, or staff shortages, have a significant burden on the health sector. This article attempts to collect and describe the key problems faced by health systems affected by armed conflict, using examples in the context of the current war in Ukraine, among others. This paper aims to conduct an analytical study to develop recommendations for the health sector facing a humanitarian crisis. It describes the findings of a literature review regarding the impact of armed conflict on the health sector. The collected literature was the subject of critical analysis. The conclusions drawn were placed in the context of the current conflict in Ukraine.
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On the 6th of February, 2023, a strong earthquake struck south-eastern Turkey and north Syria. A number of international search and rescue teams went to the affected region. Against the background of these events, the author discusses the most important aspects of the operation of the international civil protection systems, focusing on those directly related to the deployment of rescue teams to the earthquake-affected region. In addition, the key stages of rescue operations carried out by a group from Poland (HUSAR Poland) are discussed, with references to theoretical issues of organising the work of the teams and assisting those who were affected. The article demonstrates the activities of international aid systems and provides statistics of victims extracted by search and rescue teams. It proved their effectiveness in saving lives.
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In the article „The fate of frozen conflicts in the Black Sea region in the context of the war between Russia and Ukraine“, prof. Natalia Bekiarova argues that the continued existence of frozen conflicts is an anachronism in the international life and an opportunity for their solution should be sought. The tendency to de-frost the so-called frozen conflicts in the region and their nature and characteristics are explained. The destabilizing role of Russia in the post-Soviet space is substantiated and the possible prospects for regulating the frozen conflicts in the conditions of the war between Russia and Ukraine are outlined. Special attention is paid to the Nagorni-Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which has already been softened and is expected to be finally resolved in the foreseeable future. The conflicts on the territories of Georgia and Moldova are also awaiting a solution. The same refers to the frozen conflicts in Donetsk and Luhansk, which have meanwhile joined the Russian Federation.The fate of all conflicts depends on the development of military operations on the fronts in Ukraine. The way in which the outcome of the war will affect the regulation of conflicts is suggested. It is emphasized that only a military victory of Ukraine and restoration of the authority of international institutions could ensure peaceful and relatively fair solution of the mentioned conflicts above. It is concluded that the Black Sea region will remain deeply divided and confrontational for a long time, and the countries will experience serious economic, social and political difficulties.
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Social media informs the public about the most important events and conveys important information. Before, during, and after disasters, social media are used to disseminate information about disasters and collect data relevant to the implementation of preparedness, response, and recovery activities and measures. Social networks are effective in disseminating information and warnings, as well as in educating the public. The subject of the research is examining the influence of demographic factors on the effectiveness of social media in informing the public about the risks of disasters. Using an online survey questionnaire and according to the snowball principle, a survey of 247 respondents was conducted in 2022. The research results show no statistically significant relationship between the respondents’ education level and the assessment of the effectiveness of social media reporting on disasters. Using social media can improve communication between stakeholders in disaster management and facilitate coordination of efforts, fostering communication and allocation of resources. To effectively use social media in disaster management, decision-makers in the disaster management system must be aware of new technologies, their disadvantages and advantages, and ways to collect and analyze data from social networks.
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Local government, as an extremely important element of the political system of the state’s political system, carries out public tasks not reserved by law for other organs of public authority. To this end, the state secures the possibility of implementation of tasks by the local government, providing it with a balanced system of finances and the appropriate distribution of sources of income, allowing the implementation of assigned tasks. Today, the challenges facing local self-government are different than just a few years ago. In recent years, the biggest problem has been effectively dealing with the effects of pandemics, restrictions on economic activity, the need to help war refugees from Ukraine, etc. Therefore, it is important to analyze on an ongoing basis to what extent the public finance system is transparent and allows them to effectively support local and regional development at the social, economic and spatial levels. The article presents an assessment of the financial situation of local government units in Poland in 2018-2022 based on selected financial indicators. Such a time frame coincides with the extended term of local governments and allows for comparing data from the years preceding the pandemic and the outbreak of war in Ukraine and looking at the situation's impact on the subsequent years of local government units. The article presents the main issues of own income, property expenditures and operating results of local government units at all levels. The data source for analyzing the relationship between the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine and the financial situation of local government units in Poland is the database of the Local Data Bank of the Central Statistical Office.
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