The Survival Strategy in The International System: South Africa's Leading Role during the Lesotho Political Tensions Intervention

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 43-60
Author(s):  
Lucid Chirozva
Author(s):  
E. V. Romanova

The article provides a critical analysis of the interpretations of the Concert of Europe by British and American historians of the XXth century. The interest in the study of this phenomenon is rooted in its relation to the problems of the maintenance of international order and stability. It is not only academic, being partly determined by the fact that throughout the XX century first Britain and then the USA was at the top of the world hierarchy, and accordingly played a leading role in the construction and maintenance of the European order. Current international environment, the experience of the two World Wars of the XXth century determined the angle from which the phenomenon of the Concert of Europe was studied. Whereas in the second half of the 1910s - early 1920s historians pointed to the deficiencies of the international system of the preceding century (and in particular, the institution of the Concert of Europe), the students of the Vienna system working after the Second World War regarded the period of 1815-1914 as relatively stable, compared to the short interwar interlude. The Concert of Europe was named as one of the factors contributing to stability and peace. Certain logic can be discerned in the development of the historiography of the problem, which to some degree reflected the evolution of ideas about international relations management. At the same time, the differences in the interpretations of the Concert of Europe derive from the fact that this very concept in the XIXth century was not fixed and static. Great Powers' readiness to cooperation did not mean that there were no conflicts of interests. They struggled for leadership within the Concert and sought to impart to it their own interpretation.


Author(s):  
Andrii Subotin

The random and indeterminate nature of the current unipolar world is marked by a condition of increasing entropy. This claim is maintained by two assumptions. First, relative capability advantages under unipolarity do not translate as easily as they once did into power and influence over others. Second, systemic constraint is a property that limits actors’ freedom of action by imposing costs and benefits on certain kinds of actions. Unlike past multipolar and bipolar systems, the current unipolar system exerts only weak, systemic constraints on the unipolar power and all other actors as well. Thus, polarity has become a largely meaningless concept. Today, system process rather than structure best explains international politics, and this process is one of entropy. Finally, the author suggests two pathways from unipolarity to a more balanced international system: one is fairly consistent with standard balance-of-power realism; the other restores equilibrium by means of entropy. This current unipolar moment may become transcendent when the most powerful international actor, - the United States of America, - would choose to adapt to and to harness the social power of numerous nonstate international actors that are due take over the leading role in the future world’s politics.


Author(s):  
Irina V. Gordeeva

The article is devoted to an important and topical issue - the advancement by the new American administration of an offensive strategy in the Asia-Pacific region (APR), aimed at ensuring the leading role in the region of the United States and its allies and applying, if necessary, the use of force. This strategy has led to a serious shift in the overall situation in the region and to rising tensions. The main target of this strategy is China, which is claimed to be "the only competitor capable of presenting a real challenge to a stable and open international system". On the one hand, China in recent years has become an important economical partner to the countries of the APR, but its rapid growth and “assertive policy undermining existing status-quo” raised, as it stated by Washington and Tokyo,great anxiety.  A special role in the U.S. policy is given to Japan, which has taken a course towards further strengthening the Japanese-American alliance and enhancing its role in the affairs inthe region and on the world stage. The concept of a "Free and Open Indo-Pacific region" (FOIP) has been put forward by Washington and Tokyo, as their central strategic doctrine. An important component of this policy is a significant build-up of military efforts by these countries in the APR - in the context of the confrontation with Beijing. Although the situation is reallydangerous and the parties will have to reckon with new circumstances, carefully calibrating their actions, however, each of them, as expected, will try to avoid a direct armed clash that could have unpredictable consequences.


Author(s):  
Zohreh Ghadbeigy ◽  
Masoumeh Ahangaran

To achieve national objectives and interests, different countries adopt specific orientations and strategies according to their domestic needs and geopolitical conditions, and based on the structure of the international system. In this regard, Iran's national power components, including strong national government, geopolitical position, and ideological elements, provides this country with a leading role in regional issues. Iran's strategic and geopolitical position, attained through its connection to some issues in the Middle East, provides it a context for serving the role of a regional player. This focus of Iran's foreign policy on regionalism safeguards the country's national interests in the long run. Thus, the Islamic Republic of Iran not only acts as a major player in the Middle East, but also upholds decisions to strengthen its position and to promote its national interests. At present, Iraq crisis is one of the central issues of Iran's foreign policy decisions in the region. In this study, we intended to discover the performance of Iran's foreign policy in Iraq crisis based on the components of its national interests. The investigated hypothesis is developed based on a realistic logic from the perspective of Iran's national interests including political-strategic and economic-commercial interests, as well as development model of Iran-Iraq cooperation.


1994 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 249-277 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Ned Lebow

Three of the more important international developments of the last half century are the “long peace” between the superpowers, the Soviet Union's renunciation of its empire and leading role as a superpower, and the post-cold war transformation of the international system. Realist theories at the international level address the first and third of these developments, and realist theories at the unit level have made an ex post facto attempt to account for the second. The conceptual and empirical weaknesses of these explanations raise serious problems for existing realist theories. Realists contend that the anarchy of the international system shapes interstate behavior. Postwar international relations indicates that international structure is not determining. Fear of anarchy and its consequences encouraged key international actors to modify their behavior with the avowed goal of changing that structure. The pluralist security community that has developed among the democratic industrial powers is in part the result of this process. This community and the end of the cold war provide evidence that states can escape from the security dilemma.


Author(s):  
Kemining W. Yeh ◽  
Richard S. Muller ◽  
Wei-Kuo Wu ◽  
Jack Washburn

Considerable and continuing interest has been shown in the thin film transducer fabrication for surface acoustic waves (SAW) in the past few years. Due to the high degree of miniaturization, compatibility with silicon integrated circuit technology, simplicity and ease of design, this new technology has played an important role in the design of new devices for communications and signal processing. Among the commonly used piezoelectric thin films, ZnO generally yields superior electromechanical properties and is expected to play a leading role in the development of SAW devices.


2020 ◽  
pp. 26-32
Author(s):  
M. I. Kalinin ◽  
L. K. Isaev ◽  
F. V. Bulygin

The situation that has developed in the International System of Units (SI) as a result of adopting the recommendation of the International Committee of Weights and Measures (CIPM) in 1980, which proposed to consider plane and solid angles as dimensionless derived quantities, is analyzed. It is shown that the basis for such a solution was a misunderstanding of the mathematical formula relating the arc length of a circle with its radius and corresponding central angle, as well as of the expansions of trigonometric functions in series. From the analysis presented in the article, it follows that a plane angle does not depend on any of the SI quantities and should be assigned to the base quantities, and its unit, the radian, should be added to the base SI units. A solid angle, in this case, turns out to be a derived quantity of a plane angle. Its unit, the steradian, is a coherent derived unit equal to the square radian.


2019 ◽  
pp. 22-29
Author(s):  
Н. В. Фрадкіна

The purpose and tasks of the work are to analyze the contemporary Ukrainian mass culture in terms of its value and humanistic components, as well as the importance of cultural studies and Ukrainian studies in educational disciplines for the formation of a holistic worldview of modern youth.Analysis of research and publications. Scientists repeatedly turned to the problems of the role of spirituality in the formation of society and its culture. This problem is highlighted in the publications by O. Losev, V. Lytvyn, D. Likhachev, S. Avierintsev, M. Zakovych, I. Stepanenko and E. Kostyshyn.Experts see the main negative impact of mass culture on the quality approach, which determines mass culture through the market, because mass culture, from our point of view, is everything that is sold and used in mass demand.One of the most interesting studies on this issue was the work by the representatives of Frankfurt School M. Horkheimer and T. Adorno «Dialectics of Enlightenment» (1947), devoted to a detailed analysis of mass culture. Propaganda at all socio-cultural levels in the form is similar in both totalitarian and democratic countries. It is connected, according to the authors, with the direction of European enlightenment. The tendency to unify people is a manifestation of the influence of mass culture, from cinema to pop. Mass culture is a phenomenon whose existence is associated with commerce (accumulation in any form – this is the main feature of education), in general, the fact that it exists in this form is related to the direction of the history of civilization.Modern mass culture, with its externally attractive and easily assimilated ideas and symbols, appealing to the trends of modern fashion, becomes a standard of prestigious consumption, does not require intense reflection, allows you to relax, distract, not teach, but entertains, preaches hedonism as the main spiritual value. And as a consequence, there are socio-cultural risks: an active rejection of other people, which leads to the formation of indifference; cruelty as a character trait; increase of violent and mercenary crime; increase in the number of alcohol and drug addicts; anti-patriotism; indifference to the values of the family and as a result of social orphanhood and prostitution.Conclusions, perspectives of research. Thus, we can conclude that modern Ukrainian education is predominantly formed by the values of mass culture. Namely, according to the «Dialectic» by Horkheimer and Adorno, «semi-enlightenment becomes an objective spirit» of our modern society.It is concluded that only high-quality education can create the opposite of the onset of mass culture and the destruction of spirituality in our society. It is proved that only by realizing the importance of cultivating disciplines in the educational process and the spiritual upbringing of the nation, through educational reforms, humanitarian knowledge will gradually return to student audiences.Formation of youth occurs under the influence of social environment, culture, education and self-education. The optimal combination of these factors determines both the process of socialization itself and how successful it will be. In this context, one can see the leading role of education and upbringing. It turns out that the main task of modern education is to spread its influence on the development of spiritual culture of the individual, which eventually becomes a solid foundation for the formation of the individual. Such a subject requires both philosophical and humanitarian approaches in further integrated interdisciplinary research, since the availability of such research will provide the theoretical foundation for truly modern educational and personal development.


1991 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 333-362 ◽  
Author(s):  
MADELEINE LY-TIO-FANE

SUMMARY The recent extensive literature on exploration and the resulting scientific advances has failed to highlight the contribution of Austrian enterprise to the study of natural history. The leading role of Joseph II among the neutral powers which assumed the carrying trade of the belligerents during the American War of Independence, furthered the development of collections for the Schönbrunn Park and Gardens which had been set up on scientific principles by his parents. On the conclusion of peace, Joseph entrusted to Professor Maerter a world-encompassing mission in the course of which the Chief Gardener Franz Boos and his assistant Georg Scholl travelled to South Africa to collect plants and animals. Boos pursued the mission to Isle de France and Bourbon (Mauritius and Reunion), conveyed by the then unknown Nicolas Baudin. He worked at the Jardin du Roi, Pamplemousses, with Nicolas Cere, or at Palma with Joseph Francois Charpentier de Cossigny. The linkage of Austrian and French horticultural expertise created a situation fraught with opportunities which were to lead Baudin to the forefront of exploration and scientific research as the century closed in the upheaval of the Revolutionary Wars.


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