France in the era of global transformations

2021 ◽  
pp. 7-27
Author(s):  
Natalia Lapina ◽  

Since joining the current stage of globalization, France has changed considerably. Shifts occurred in all spheres of society, but they were not synchronous. The most dynamic area – the economy-was the fastest to «react» to France's entry into the global economy. In the social sphere, the changes were slower than in the economy, but they were very profound: they affected the working class, employees, and the middle classes, which were numerically reduced and fragmented. In the mid-1990 s, France's foreign policy began to adapt to the new world order that emerged as a result of the collapse of the USSR. This forced the French political class to reconsider its foreign policy attitudes and «to make lower its ambitions». By the second decade of the twenty-first century, the political landscape of the country had changed: traditional parties had collapsed, and radical populist parties and movements («Unconquered France» of J.-L. Melenchon and «National Union» of M. Le Pen) had become stronger on the left and right flanks. Against the background of these large-scale changes, social protest movements have emerged and intensified in France; the split between society and the elites has acquired unprecedented proportions. To these trends and phenomena, the coronavirus pandemic has been added, which poses a huge number of problems for the country's authorities to solve.

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 28-44
Author(s):  
A. P. Tsygankov

The article discusses the modern stage of international relations as a transition from the US-centric to another, polycentric world order. America has many opportunities to infl uence the formation of the future world order, which it uses for maintaining a dominant role in the world. However, America also has severe weaknesses for making the global transition; the main one considers the psychological unpreparedness of the country’s establishment for a change in the global role of the United States. The country’s transitional situation gives rise to an identity crisis, accompanied by the most heated debates in the political class regarding the development of foreign policy and strategy. In the variety of positions and narratives of the American strategy, one can distinguish (1) proponents of the liberal globalization and maintaining America’s dominant position, (2) advocates of superpower status and resource dominance by coercion and (3) realists or those who call for building a new global balance of power and coordinating the US interests with other powers. This identity crisis is associated with the globally changing position of the country that has been at the center of the international system for the past 75 years. The American political class was never monolithic before and even during the Cold War, representing a range of diff erent foreign policy ideas and positions. However, foreign policy disagreements previously did not question the national identity and fundamental value of the country. For America, these values were associated with a global role in promoting the ideals of freedom and liberal democracy, previously underpinned by confrontation with the USSR. The disappearance of the Soviet power strengthened the position of liberal globalists and enhanced the strategic narrative of the global promotion of American values. The diff erence of the contemporary period is that nationalists and realists no longer accept the arguments of liberal globalists, resulting in a deepening of ideological polarization in the political class and society. The domestic ideational and political crisis splits the elites, delays the transition to a new world order, and makes it impossible to pursue a sound international strategy. Such a strategy will be the result of both an internal political struggle and a response of the country’s leadership to the processes of pluralization and polycentrism developing in the world.


Author(s):  
D. V., Petrosyan

The Contemporary Federal Republic of Germany is the leader of the European Union, on which the development of the European Union and European-transatlantic relations largely depends. The Federal Republic of Germany determines the main content and direction of the EU policy towards the Russian Federation. Russian-German relations have a significant impact on the solution of many world problems. The unification of two states at the end of the 20th century – the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic — became one of the greatest and most significant events in the history of Germany and world politics. The creation of a unified German state contributed to the change of both the economic and political situation of Germany in Europe and in international relations. They are one of the determining factors of global politics and directly related to the European world order, therefore, the study of the philosophy and nature of German foreign policy in the postbipolar world is a topic and important task for specialists. The article considers the internal and external conditions and factors affecting the foreign policy of Germany in the postbipolar world.


2020 ◽  
Vol 76 (1) ◽  
pp. 8-23
Author(s):  
Veena Kukreja

India has a middle power status and a rising power mindset. The emerging multipolar world manifests opportunities as well as challenges to India’s foreign policy. The newness quotient is Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘economy first’ approach rooted in his desire to create external conditions necessary to ensure domestic economic progress. He has displayed dynamism while engaging all major powers, promoting and reintegrating India with the global economy, promoting greater cooperation with South Asian neighbours and renewing strategic connections in the Indian Ocean, the Middle East, Central Asia and Africa. Pragmatism in India’s foreign policy is seen in Indo–US relations reaching a new level or in cooperation with China on climate change while opposing its territorial claims in the South China Sea and One Belt One Road Project. To counter China, India has sought close strategic partnerships with the USA and its allies and main partners in Asia-Pacific while retaining its strategic autonomy. A major challenge to India’s foreign policy is the downward spiral of relations with Pakistan.


Upravlenie ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 116-122
Author(s):  
Sadeghi Elham Mir Mohammad ◽  
Ahmad Vakhshitekh

The article considers and analyses the basic principles and directions of Russian foreign policy activities during the presidency of V.V. Putin from the moment of his assumption of the post of head of state to the current presidential term. The authors determine the basic principles of Russia's foreign policy in the specified period and make the assessment to them. The study uses materials from publications of both Russian and foreign authors, experts in the field of political science, history and international relations, as well as documents regulating the foreign policy activities of the highest state authorities. The paper considers the process of forming the priorities of Russia's foreign policy both from the point of view of accumulated historical experience and continuity of the internal order, and in parallel with the processes of transformation of the entire system of international relations and the world order. The article notes the multi-vector nature of Russia's foreign policy strategy aimed at developing multilateral interstate relations, achieving peace and security in the interstate arena, actively countering modern challenges and threats to interstate security, as well as the formation of a multipolar world. The authors conclude that at present, Russia's foreign policy activity is aimed at strengthening Russia's prestige, supporting economic growth and competitiveness, ensuring security and implementing national interests. Internal political reforms contribute to strengthening the political power of the President of the Russian Federation and increasing the efficiency of foreign policy decision-making.


Author(s):  
Gregorio Bettiza

Since the end of the Cold War, religion has been systematically brought to the fore of American foreign policy. US foreign policymakers have been increasingly tasked with promoting religious freedom globally, delivering humanitarian and development aid abroad through faith-based channels, pacifying Muslim politics and reforming Islamic theologies in the context of fighting terrorism, and engaging religious actors to solve multiple conflicts and crises around the world. Across a range of different domains, religion has progressively become an explicit and organized subject and object of US foreign policy in ways that were unimaginable just a few decades ago. If God was supposed to be vanquished by the forces of modernity and secularization, why has the United States increasingly sought to understand and manage religion abroad? In what ways have the boundaries between faith and state been redefined as religion has become operationalized in American foreign policy? What kind of world order is emerging in the twenty-first century as the most powerful state in the international system has come to intervene in sustained and systematic ways in sacred landscapes around the globe? This book addresses these questions by developing an original theoretical framework and drawing upon extensive empirical research and interviews. It argues that American foreign policy and religious forces have become ever more inextricably entangled in an age witnessing a global resurgence of religion and the emergence of a postsecular world society.


Author(s):  
Kenneth C. Shadlen

The concluding chapter reviews the main findings from the comparative case studies, synthesizes the main lessons, considers extensions of the book’s explanatory framework, and looks at emerging challenges that countries face in adjusting their development strategies to the new global economy marked by the private ownership of knowledge. Review of the key points of comparison from the case studies underscores the importance of social structure and coalitions for analyses of comparative and international political economy. Looking forward, this chapter supplements the book’s analysis of the political economy of pharmaceutical patents with discussion of additional ways that countries respond to the monumental changes that global politics of intellectual property have undergone since the 1980s. The broader focus underscores fundamental economic and political challenges that countries face in adjusting to the new world order of privately owned knowledge, and points to asymmetries in global politics that reinforce these challenges.


Author(s):  
Jennifer Pan ◽  
Zijie Shao ◽  
Yiqing Xu

Abstract Research shows that government-controlled media is an effective tool for authoritarian regimes to shape public opinion. Does government-controlled media remain effective when it is required to support changes in positions that autocrats take on issues? Existing theories do not provide a clear answer to this question, but we often observe authoritarian governments using government media to frame policies in new ways when significant changes in policy positions are required. By conducting an experiment that exposes respondents to government-controlled media—in the form of TV news segments—on issues where the regime substantially changed its policy positions, we find that by framing the same issue differently, government-controlled media moves respondents to adopt policy positions closer to the ones espoused by the regime regardless of individual predisposition. This result holds for domestic and foreign policy issues, for direct and composite measures of attitudes, and persists up to 48 hours after exposure.


2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-113
Author(s):  
Chantal Mak

While private corporations have become increasingly influential in the global economy, a comprehensive legal framework for their activities is missing. Although international and regional legal instruments may govern some aspects of, for instance, international investments and the supply of goods and services, there is no overarching structure for assessing the impact of large-scale private projects. In the absence of such a comprehensive framework, specific rules of private law allow profit-seeking companies to expand their activities on an economic basis, mostly without having to heed social concerns (Pistor, 2019). This is particularly problematic insofar as multinational companies have obtained power to set the rules for their engagement with states, organisations and individuals, for instance in the form of transnational investment contracts. Given the fragmented nature of the legal sphere in which such contracts are elaborated and performed, those who face the harmful consequences of such investments may not be able to participate in decision-making processes. The contracts remain in ‘wild zones’ of globalisation (Fraser, 2014, p. 150), where powerful private companies rule.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document