Western Values in International Relations

This essay presents the three main traditions of thinking about international relations in Western societies since the sixteenth century, with particular attention to the ‘middle ground’ between extremes. These extremes are typified by thinkers such as Machiavelli and Hobbes at one pole, and Kant and Wilson at the other. The via media is associated with the development of constitutional government and the rule of law, as represented by thinkers such as Grotius and Gladstone. The essay illustrates the differences among these three traditions by analysing their distinct positions concerning international society, the maintenance of order, intervention, and international morality. ‘Western values’ are most effectively supported by thinkers and leaders who neither deny the existence of international society nor exaggerate its foreseeable prospects for gaining greater cohesion and strength. The middle course—the mainstream of the ‘Western values’ tradition—respects moral standards and sees moral challenges as complex, instead of regarding them as simple or nonexistent.

International Relations and Political Philosophy

This book collects Martin Wight’s works on the theory and philosophy of international politics. It includes classic works, such as “Why Is There No International Theory?” and “Western Values in International Relations,” as well as previously unpublished works such as “The Communist Theory of International Relations” and “Gain, Fear and Glory: Reflections on the Nature of International Politics.” These works encompass four categories: (a) traditions of thinking about international politics since the sixteenth century, (b) the causes and functions of war, (c) international and regime legitimacy, and (d) fortune and irony in international politics. Wight identifies and analyzes three major traditions of thinking about international politics in the West since the sixteenth century: Realism, Rationalism, and Revolutionism, also known as the Machiavellian, Grotian, and Kantian approaches. Wight examines the causes of war highlighted by Thucydides and Hobbes (material interest, fear, and reputation), and considers the functions of war in international politics (such as winning and retaining national independence and upholding the balance of power). Wight reviews the history of dynastic and popular legitimacy as well as post-1945 concepts of international and domestic legitimacy. Finally, Wight considers fortune and irony, including the decision-maker’s frequent rediscovery of the recalcitrance of events. Unintended, unexpected, and ironical consequences abound in international politics. This volume also features eight book reviews by Wight, including his assessments of works by Raymond Aron, E. H. Carr, Friedrich Meinecke, and Hans Morgenthau.

Russia’s Soft Power

Russia has always been a country seeking the Great Power status. Even though it lost its importance after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the desire to return to the role of the creator of international order force it to introduce new strategy that will implement soft power resources. This represents a certain obstacle for Russia, which traditionally is accustomed to hard power resources like economic pressure or the use of armed forces. Culture is Russia’s soft power resource that is significant. Values can be more problematic for Russia, because in Moscow’s intentions they should be different from the Western values. Russia is trying to create an alternative soft power project, competitive to that of the West. Russia is trying to make good use of its diplomacy, including digital diplomacy, in order to show the use of its hard power to be seen as soft.

Resettling Afghan and Iraqi interpreters employed by Western armies: The Contradictions of the Migration–Security Nexus

This article develops a novel analytical framework for capturing the multiple, competing configurations that the migration-security nexus invokes in discourse and practice, combining insights from critical migration and security scholarship. The framework’s application is illustrated with an empirical case study of the protection and relocation of Afghan and Iraqi former local interpreters and other locally employed civilians working for Western armies. The analysis demonstrates that locally employed civilians (LECs) are simultaneously considered security actors in the East and security risks in the West, the ‘best and brightest’ causing brain drain and potential terrorists when crossing borders, both ‘model migrants’ and threats to western values. By uncovering the nexus’s multiple configurations and its contradictions, the framework supports the project of denaturalizing the migration-security nexus, while also showing that the discourses and practices justified through its various configurations include the legitimation of border violence and the denial of protection to migrants.

Role of society marginalization in spreading crime

The relevance of a problem of marginalization for the current state of crisis in Ukraine is considered in the article. Such social phenomena as violation of the principle of equality, sharp social delimitation, unemployment, inflation, corruption, poverty are the determining factors nowadays; they contribute to the marginalization of society. The special type of the personality with a crisis or catastrophic consciousness has already formed. The origin of the term "marginal man" is studied. The essence of marginalization and its causes, among which the main place is taken by transformational processes in society, which are always accompanied by an increase of negative phenomena in the spheres of economy, politics and spiritual life is characterized. In particular, marginalization of society promotes the imposition of Western values, which are not always acceptable to the mentality of Ukrainians. It leads to the alienation of citizens, their apathy and cynicism, mistrust of power. Such factors as the poorly thought-out national and migration policy of the state, the expansion of cultural ties between peoples, the availability of information through the Internet can contribute to the formation of the phenomenon of marginal person. Migrants, unattended minors, persons engaged in vagrancy or begging, persons without a definite place of residence, persons who do not have a permanent place of employment, prisoners, persons who were convicted, sentenced, released from prison and did not try to make some lifestyle changes, persons involved in prostitution, chronic alcoholics, drug addicts; toxicants and others belong to the category of people who have the marginal lifestyle. A characteristic feature of the marginal personality is legal nihilism. A typical form of manifestation of the legal nihilism of marginalized groups can be called a deliberate violation of current legal acts, massive non-compliance with legal requirements. The lack of norms generates a total criminalization of social relations. It is grounded that the marginal situation can be a serious crime-causing factor. Marginal persons are often the victims of various crimes or criminals. The marginal lifestyle usually precedes the commission of crimes, and the deepening and spreading of marginalization processes negatively affects the quantitative and qualitative state of crime.

MONETARY IDENTIFICATION OF A PERSON AS A PRODUCT OF DISSEMINATION OF VALUES OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION

The article is devoted to the problem of monetary identity, which needs a detailed study in the context of the transformation processes of the modern world. The relevance of the study is that the identity of modern man is becoming unsteady. In seeking guidance for constructing one’s own “Self”, a person finds himself at a crossroads. They lose the identity they had from birth as members of traditional society and are forced to build it independently. The article reveals the preconditions for the emergence of an identity crisis in the context of the development of capitalism and the formation of the economic man. The purpose of the article is to determine the peculiarities of the formation of monetary identity, which has become essentially a by-product of the spread of Western values. To achieve this goal, a structural-functional analysis of social interactions of the subjects of identification has been conducted, as well as general scientific methods of synthesis and generalization of materials, analysis, comparison, deductive and inductive methods, etc. have been used. The main features of monetary identity are that a person begins to be guided by one’s own selfish principles, and money becomes the main value for such a person, appearing as a universal value that is equivalent to all other material values. In the modern world, monetary identity appears as a global and unstable one, it is formed artificially and serves the modern market for profit within the consumer society. It is concluded that in the modern world, money not only serves to improve the objective circumstances of life, but also becomes a means of achieving public recognition. The problem of monetary identity is especially relevant for Ukraine as a country that focuses on the Western type of management with its achievements, values and at the same time problems, and therefore requires further research.

Saladin, The Latin Crusaders, and Palestine: David Eldridge's Holy Warriors and the ‘Clash of Civilisations’ Propaganda

This article explores representations of the Third Crusade in David Eldridge's play Holy Warriors: A Fantasia on the Third Crusade and History of Violent Struggle in the Holy Lands (2014). It argues that Eldridge tries in some instances to present the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a legacy of European imperialism in the Middle East and warns against contemporary Western involvement in the region. However, on other occasions, he suggests that Islamic cultures are incompatible with Western values of secular democracy and therefore the two-state solution is more applicable a solution that the one-state settlement. Ultimately, Eldridge shares some of the ideas behind Huntington's theory of the ‘Clash of Civilisations’ and supports Western military action in Muslim-majority countries.

Russian repression grows despite regime stability

Significance 'Foreign agent', 'undesirable organisation' and 'extremist' designations have become the standard mechanisms for squeezing investigative journalists, independent media and other government critics. They are also an attack on Western values as they stigmatise contact with the world outside Russia as subservience to malign external influence. Impacts Repressive laws are used to justify Moscow's aversion to the West and liberal values. Legislation has multiplier effects since 'untainted' media can break the rules by quoting a designated organisation. The ongoing crackdown on domestic critics will be damaging for Russia's economic and investment attractiveness.