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Afghanistan under Taliban: a new regime poses a threat to international stability
Get PDFThe purpose of this study was to see whether the Taliban regime poses a threat to the international community. The research primarily examined the threats that the formation of a theocratic regime in Afghanistan poses to neighboring countries and the international community. With regards to research methods, a document analysis method was used to obtain valid information and to analyze and describe the complex situation in Afghanistan. A wide array of documents and scholarly articles were analyzed to obtain reliable and objective information. This research revealed that the Taliban has not changed at all and still rules Afghanistan with medieval methods and strategies. Since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, the economic situation has deteriorated considerably and people face severe hardship. Therefore, hundreds of thousands of Afghans want to leave their homeland and migrate to the West. The Taliban violates constantly human rights and discriminates against women, ethnic and religious minorities. The Taliban has transformed Afghanistan into a narco-state. Neighboring countries fear that Afghanistan might become a hotbed of terrorism and extremism again
The escalation of conflict between Armenians and Azerbaijanis and the problems of peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh war
Get PDFThis article explains why it is so difficult to achieve peace in Nagorno-Karabakh and what factors prevent the peaceful resolution of the conflict. This conflict is very difficult to resolve because the conflicting parties have contradictory geopolitical interests and cannot achieve consensus during negotiations. We have to take into account Russia’s geopolitical interests in South Caucasus that Kremlin is interested in freezing this conflict to weaken both states, Azerbaijan and Armenia, and bring them back to Russia's orbit. Moscow aims to establish firm control over South Caucasus which was viewed in the past as a "Russian backyard". Russia still views South Caucasus as its zone of influence and tries to bring this region back into Russia's orbit
Is Globalization a Source of Prosperity and Progress or the Main Cause of Poverty? What has to be done to Reduce Poverty?
Get PDFThis article analyses globalization process and its positive and negative sides. Globalization is a double-edged phenomenon. This research is based on comparative method. Two contradictory approaches to understanding globalization are compared with each other. On the one hand, advocates of globalization argue that globalization is a positive phenomenon which promotes greater prosperity and increases living standards of people. On the other hand, opponents of globalization see it as the main cause of impoverishment and economic crisis. The problem of describing the effects of globalization is closely linked with these two contradictory approaches to understanding globalization
Factors that caused the deterioration in American-Turkish relations
Get PDFDuring the Cold War Turkey had excellent relations with the United States of America. Both countries needed each other and saw the Soviet Union as their main rival. Strategic Partnership was established between the two nations and USA provided military assistance to Turkey in order to contain the Soviet Union. With the assistance of the USA, Turkey managed to neutralize Soviet threat and integrate into NATO. Turkey became a close ally of the West. After the Cold War, American-Turkish relations have gradually cooled and deteriorated significantly over the last years. The aim of this article is to analyze those factors that have caused the deterioration of American-Turkish relations
The Issue of Gibraltar’s Sovereignty and Spain’s Territorial Integrity. What could Spain do to Resolve the Gibraltar Problem?
Get PDFThe maintenance of Spain’s territorial integrity strongly depends on the integration of Gibraltar into the Kingdom of Spain.Spain has repeatedly tried to regain control over the Rock - a British Overseas Territory - by both military and diplomatic means.The decline of Spanish imperial power and the British preeminence during the 19th century made any recovery attempt bySpain futile. Following World War II, Spain reactivated its claim over Gibraltar and Gibraltar’s integration into the kingdomof Spain has remained a stated objective of successive Spanish governments. Negotiations between Spanish and Britishauthorities remain unproductive and the issue of Gibraltar remains unresolved. Spanish national unity rules out the right toself-determination on which the Gibraltarians themselves insist and the Spanish government continues to treat the Gibraltarianproblem as a bilateral matter between United Kingdom and Spain, thereby ignoring the economic, social, and political interestsof Gibraltarians. This analysis questions the strategies and policies employed by the Spanish government when addressingthe current Gibraltarian crisis
How the coronavirus pandemic contributed to the rise of authoritarianism throughout the world
Get PDFThe article explains how the Coronavirus pandemic contributed to the rise of authoritarianism throughout the world. Advocates of the small government fear that the Corona-virus pandemic may lead to the unprecedented rise of government power and the rise of authoritarianism in the universe. The government might take advantage of the crisis and impose a lot of restrictions on the people. Governments use pandemic as a pretext to limit human rights. On the pretext of controlling the pandemic such fundamental human rights as freedom of speech and expression, freedom of assembly and association, the right to privacy, etc. are massively restricted. Since the outbreak of the pandemic civil space has been severely restricted and press freedom is a thing of the past in many countries. The state of emergency in various countries creates favorable conditions for the government to restrict human rights and impose total control over the society in order to prevent the outbreak of pandemic
US-CHINA RIVALRY FOR GLOBAL HEGEMONY
Get PDFThis article describes the competition between China and the USA for global hegemony. Both states have hegemonic ambitions and compete with each other over the domination of Asia. The rise of China has transformed global politics, as well as the balance of the global economy. As China’s economic and military power increases steadily, its geopolitical ambitions are also constantly growing. Some experts do not exclude the possibility of conflict between China and the USA in the future. There are many potential hot spots in East Asia where conflict could erupt at any time in the future between the USA and China. Many experts doubt whether the USA and China can escape Thucydides’ Trap in the future
The term politics reconsidered in the light of recent theoretical developments
Get PDFThis article deals with the problems of the definition of the term politics. The definition of politics varies from time to time and from place to place. In other words politics is a loaded term. It has a wide range of meanings when used in everyday life. Politics is defined in such different ways: as the study of conflict resolution, the art of government, the conduct and management of public affairs, and so on. The aim of this article is to explain the difficulties of defining the term politics. This research is based on the comparative method: two contradictory approaches to understanding politics are compared with each other, the narrow definition of politics and the broad definition of politics. The narrow definition of politics is a highly restricted understanding of politics. According to the narrow definition, politics is what takes place within the government and state departments: only politicians, government officials, members of the political parties are involved in politics. In contrast to the narrow definition of politics, broader conception of politics argues that politics is not only confined to a particular sphere, but also takes place in all aspects of human life. The problem of the definition of politics is closely linked with these two contradictory approaches to understanding politics
Investment Climate in Turkmenistan: Problems and Risks
Get PDFIn the 1990s Central Asian republics experienced enormous economic problems because their economies were heavily dependent onRussia and could not function separately. The collapse of the Soviet Union meant also the collapse of the Central Asian economic systems. TheLeaders of former Soviet republics decided to carry out rapid economic and political reforms. They adopted economic policies which were knownas “shock therapy”. Shock therapy caused the emergence of many socio-economic problems, as well as the growth of unemployment and inflation.It also increasedsocial inequalityandthe gapbetween richandpoor. Withregardsto Turkmenistan,itstransition fromacentrally plannedeconomyto a free market economy was a very slow process and the central government continued to play strong directive andprotective rolesinthe economy. Much of the economy has not been exposed to market disciplines and remained under the firm control of central government. At first glance Turkmenistan seems a very attractive country for investors. It has immense amount of natural resources, especially oil andnatural gas. Each year scientists discover large deposits of natural gas and oil in Turkmenistan. It is the fourth - largest producer of natural gas inthe world. But, if one examines the country’s current socio-economic and political situation in details, he/she would discover that it is becomingincreasingly an “investor unfriendly” country. Turkmenistan is regarded as one of the most oppressive countries in the world. The country hasa long tradition of dictatorial rule which is a main obstacle to any kind of economic and political reforms. Turkmenistan has a largely state-runeconomy and the country’s economy is still based on the system of state ownership. Government still controls the vast majority of lucrative businessesand industrial assets. Theeconomy of Turkmenistanis still characterized by state control of investment. 
The refugee crisis, Brexit and the rise of populism: major obstacles to the European integration process
Get PDFThis article describes the main challenges that the European Union is facing over the last years. It also analyzes the European Integration process and the emergence of the European Union. European integration process began after the Second World War. European politicians realized that “the old continent”, which was destroyed and razed to the ground, needed unification in order to play more important role in the bipolar international system. The European integration was a step by step process, which reached its culmination after signing the Maastricht Treaty in 1992, when the European Union was formally established. The European Union created very favorable ground for free movement of people, goods, services and capital within the internal market. Despite these positive developments, new threats emerged over the last years that can put an end to the European integration process. From these threats and challenges, particular attention is dedicated to Britain’s exit from the European Union (Brexit), rise of radicalism and populist parties, migration crisis and a heightened terrorism threat
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