Przegląd Strategiczny
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Internal Factors and its Impact on Iranian Foreign Policy
Full text linkThe Islamic Republic of Iran has a political structure with co-shared and competitive activity in the field of foreign policy. There are two power centres the president and the supreme leader. Iranian political elite is composed of factions of the conservatives, moderates, pragmatists, and reformers. Each faction has influence on the course of Iranian foreign policy. The dominant faction, conservatives, has caused isolation and imposition of severe sanctions on Iran during Ahmadinejad’s presidency Although domestic sources of foreign policy reveals competition among different factions there is consensus in principal goals of Iranian foreign policy.
Destabilization of the Internal Situation as One of the Main Threats to the Security of Russian Federation
Full text linkFor the first time internal security has been clearly articulated in Russian National Security Strategy of December 2015. That is when the so-called colour revolutions and “radical social groups which use nationalist and extremist religious ideologies, foreign and international nongovernmental organisations, as well as private citizens who act against the Russian territorial integrity and destabilise political processes” have been deemed the most significant challenges to the Russian security, together with the North Atlantic Alliance and the United States of America. As a response to such defined threats, Russian legislation introduced solutions that attempt to prevent the danger. The aim of this article is to answer the question, whether Russian authorities treat the destabilisation of internal situation as one of the main challenges to the Russian security, and if yes, what are the indications of that? Does Russian legislation (especially from the last few years), actions of the Russian authorities and Russian subject literature, include evidence confirming this hypothesis
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY’S ACTIVITIES FOR THE SECURITY OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
Full text linkThe aim of this article is to show that the activities of the European Space Agency contribute significantly to the security of the European Union. What was required to develop space potential and to start using it for security purposes was the political and programmatic evolution of both organizations. The original objectives for which the European Space Agency was established were not related to security. Before the ESA became an organization with important implications for the security of the EU, it was an intergovernmental organization exclusively dedicated to the exploration and exploitation of space for peaceful purposes. The paper assumes that in order for this evolution to be possible, both the ESA and the EU had to find and/or develop common platforms and forms of possible cooperation. The paper identifies the most important reasons for and stages of this evolution, as expressed in program documentation. As this process is not yet complete, the remaining obstacles to the optimal use of the potential of both organizations to strengthen the security of the European Union are identified. The paper was created on the basis of the descriptive method, analysis of the content of documents and synthesis
Strategic Environment of East Asia in 2017–18 Analysis of Key Trends and Issues
Full text linkThe international security environment of East Asia is undergoing dynamic changes. This articleis another instalment in a series of analysis initiated by the “Strategic Review” in 2017. It deals with international security situation in various regions. The article’s main aim is to present the influence of selected international events of 2017’s second half and 2018s first half on the evolution of East Asia’s long term international security environment. In order to achievethis aim the author has posed two research questions: what long term trends have the strongest influence on international security environment of East Asia? and, do key events of 2017–18 increase or decrease stability of the regional security environment? Following research methods have been adopted to solve this research problem: the comparative method, legal-institutional analysis and forecasting method based on identification of key trends shaping the evolutionof the studied phenomenon. The main conclusions are twofold. First, the most important long term trends shaping the international security environment of East Asia are, on the one side, the growing bipolarity of the regional order (with US and PRC as main protagonists) and, on the other side, other player’s attempts to increase the degree of their own autonomy. The events of 2017–18 show that almost all regional powers act to limit the tensions. It doesn’t change thefact that long term trends point towards a growing confrontation of two contradictory visions of regional order – one championed by USA, and the other by PRC
National Media as a Projection of a Devastating Effect of External Influences
Full text linkThis article is devoted to the research of media space of several countries in the Western Balkans and the Baltics, where we can observe the emergence and effective use of dubious media, in order to promote aggressive narratives, identified as a destructive influence of the Russian Federation. It is considered as the threat to the national security of these states. The information tools of a destabilizing nature include diplomatic, intelligence, and energy tools. The media component of information influence has become the central object of research. It is stated that the destructive use of dubious national media, as well as their replenishment, takes place systematically and efficiently in those areas, where Russia’s state interests are focused on the restoration of its domination. On this basis we can conclude that dubious media is used within Russia’s hybrid aggression in relation to Ukraine, where it is seen as a mean of animating the externally initiated destabilizing political influences. However, Russia will be forced to spend more and more resources (financial, organizational and informational) on such operations, and their effectiveness will fall as local governments, society and citizens will learn how to recognize the threats, retransmitted by dubious media, public associations, populist politicians or radicals
Counter-Terrorist Security: the Example of the Special Powers of the Polish Special Services in the Field of Surveillance of Foreign Nationals
Full text linkThe material scope of the analysis presented in this paper refers to special powers held by the Polish special services with respect to the surveillance of foreign nationals in connection with terrorist threats and terrorist offenses. This paper connects the issue of anti-terrorist measures with the assessment of the effectiveness of the Polish special services and with the assessment of potential social costs, which are related to the increase in the powers held by these services in the field of surveillance of Polish citizens and foreign nationals. The analysis of the powers of the special services focuses on the powers of one of the counterintelligence services, i.e. theInternal Security Agency (Polish: ABW).The purpose of this paper is to indicate the consequences of the introduction of legal changes concerning the powers held by the special services in the scope of applying particular types ofsurveillance activities (operational-and-intelligence activities). It poses the following research questions: (1) To what extent can mechanisms in Polish law influence the effectiveness of combating terrorism by the Polish special services? (2) To what extent can mechanisms in Polish law in the field of combating terrorism violate the rights and freedoms of Polish citizens andforeign nationals? In order to answer the research questions, the activities and powers of Polish special services were analyzed from a legal and institutional point of view. On the other hand,to analyze legal regulations related to surveillance, the author applied a dogmatic and doctrinal interpretation and a pro-constitutional interpretation of the provisions of criminal law
British Scientific Journals in the Area of International Relations – 2017 Review
No full textThe text constitutes a review of articles published in 2017 on the pages of British academicjournals dealing with international relations. The author has selected texts from issues of: “EuropeanPolitical Science Review”, “The British Journal of Politics and International Relations”,“Politics”, “Cambridge Review of International Relations” and “Political Studies.” The presentedarticles have been analyzed in the context of thematic groups such as: Brexit, elections,trust in politics, Middle East issues and others
PRETEXTS AS THE MOTIVES FOR TRIGGERING ARMED CONFLICTS AND STATES PARTICIPATION
Full text linkThe causes of armed conflicts are a subject of constant interest to the social sciences. This has resulted in many theories and findings regarding the selection of different criteria in determining conflict-triggering factors. In international practice, states decide to declare war citing reasons connected with the state or vital national interests. Sometimes, the true motivations for the use of force are hidden. The history of armed conflicts includes many cases of using contrived pretexts or outright lies to start a war. External circumstances which were beyond the control of the state starting the war and which did not depend on the state’s will and actions have beenused as pretexts. Some of the pretexts, however, were deliberately fabricated to justify and explain military operations. States taking advantage of pretexts to use force can be observed from the time of the Trojan War to the attack on Iraq in 2003. Among the countries using pretexts to start a war, the superpowers occupy the leading position – they claim higher purposes, despite the fact that there are no objective criteria upon which to establish their superiority over the conventions of morality and international law
ПОСТСОВЕТСКОЕ СОДРУЖЕСТВО (СНГ). ОСТАЛИСЬ ЛИ РЕСУРСЫ ДЛЯ НОВОЙ РЕИНТЕГРАЦИИ?
Full text linkIn the proposed article, the authors set out to consider whether the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) still has the resources for a new reintegration. This question has been raised for a long time by the leaders and political elites of the CIS member States, the history of the formation and development of the Commonwealth, experts and experts, internal and external conditions and circumstances related to the most incredible combinations with the past, present and future of the CIS. We solved the problem of classification and analysis of information available in the public domain: documents, events and facts, representations and views of leaders and elites, experts and specialists. Such a broad task has a significant limitation-only a political view of events, facts, assessments and judgments. Such a broad task has a significant limitationonly a political view of events, facts, assessments and judgments. The results of the study are expressed in the following terms: a) the present and future of the CIS is in the grip of a contradiction between the favorable for the effective development of the countries’ natural, material and human resources, on the one hand, and the stable vices and weaknesses of political governance and governance, on the other; between the natural interests and desires of the peoples of the Commonwealth countries to develop integration for the benefit of the common good and in their rational oligarchic elite demands and selfish policies that objectively lead only to profit by any means; b) to date, the CIS, despite encouraging statements from the leaders and part of the political elite, is on the verge of a systemic crisis as a consequence of a non-critical and delayed reaction to the causes of the crisis and inadequate internal and external challenges reactions and leadership of Russia, and the leaders and elites of a number of CIS member countries; c) the construction of an updated and effective system of relations within the CIS will largely depend on the level and quality of changes in the political and economic segment of the Russian Federation; g) the signs of the Imperial power of the model of behaviour of Russia in the former Soviet Union, increasing the conflict potential of the political processes in the Commonwealth, show the possibility of the destruction of the CIS, and the urgency of replacing Imperial-the Imperial power politics, the spiritual and the enlightened; the CIS is still relevant-political concept, gradually acquiring value and meaning purely historical concept, which in its transformation remains a resource and a potential birth of a new organization – greater Eurasia with the inclusion of all States of the Commonwealth and the region
Is this the Collapse of Islamic State? The Evolution of the Terrorist Threat in the Middle East in 2017
Full text linkThe main aim of this article is to present an evolution of the terrorism threat in the Middle East in 2016. For this purpose, firstly, the essence and determinants of the contemporary terrorism threat have been analyzed. Some main Middle East terrorist organizations, actively operating in this area, have also been indicated. Secondly, the chronology and the most important terrorism trends in the region have been presented. A special attention has been paid to consequences of the fall of the Islamic State. And last but not least some predictive scenarios regarding the development of above phenomenon in 2017 and beyond have been pointed out