Transforming the Global Plastics Economy: The Role of Economic Policies in the Global Governance of Plastic Pollution

International policy discussions on plastic pollution are entering a new phase, with more than 100 governments calling for the launch of negotiations for a new global plastics agreement in 2022. This article aims to contribute to efforts to identify effective international policy levers to address plastic pollution. It takes stock of the evolution of views and perceptions on this complex and multi-faceted topic—from concerns about marine pollution and waste management towards new strategic directions that involve the entire plastics life-cycle and include climate and health impacts associated with the proliferation of plastics. It also traces the progressive development of responses—from voluntary approaches invovling multiple stakeholders to national and international approaches focused on regulation. The paper is informed by desk research, a literature review and participation by the authors in informal and formal global governance processes on plastic pollution, the environment and development in the United Nations and World Trade Organization between 2019 and 2021. It also draws on empirical findings from a novel and original database on the life-cycle of plastic trade created by the authors. The paper argues that the important focus on downstream dimensions of plastic pollution—and strategies to address them—needs to be complemented by a broad life-cycle and “upstream” perspective that addresses plastic pollution at its source. It highlights the political economy tensions and inconsistencies at hand, observing that while some countries are taking concerted efforts to reduce pollution (including through bans on certain kinds of plastic and plastic products); to promote more circular plastic economies; and to reduce the carbon footprint of plastics (as part of a wider effort to decarbonize their economies), trade and investment in the plastic industry continues to rise. The paper argues that to reduce plastic pollution, emerging global governance efforts must integrate international environmental law and cooperation with a complementary and enabling global framework that addresses the economic, financial, industrial and trade policies needed to drive the necessary transformation of the plastics sector.

Special Tribunal for Lebanon and progressive development of international criminal law

The subject. The article analyses the practice of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and its Judgement of 18 August 2020, rendered against those found guilty of a terrorist act and the impact on the progressive development of international criminal law.The purpose. This article seeks to define what goal the international community pursued in establishing the Special Tribunal for Lebanon from the perspective of international security law, international criminal justice, and counter-terrorism cooperation. The legal nature of the terrorist attack of 14 October 2005 is essential in this regard: is the crime is comparable in its gravity and consequences to the crimes of genocide or war crimes in the territory of the former Yugoslavia or Rwanda, which predetermined the subsequent establishment of ad hoc international criminal tribunals? Further, was the establishment of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon an attempt to make the crimes of terrorism an international crime in practice? Finally, was the establishment of the Tribunal an attempt to lay the groundwork for a new type of international judicial bodies with jurisdiction over crimes of terrorism? The methodology. The authors use such general theoretical and specific scientific methods as comparative analysis, generalization, interpretation and classification as well as systemic analysis and formal logical methods.The main results. The legal qualification and analysis of the circumstances of the terrorist attack do not enable the conclusion that the bomb explosion in Beirut was comparable in danger and consequences to any international crimes or was a threat to international peace and security. In its turn, the involvement of the Security Council in the establishment of the Tribunal does not unequivocally evidence its alleged attempt to create a purely international criminal structure.The choice of applicable law granted to Lebanon and the fact that the crime committed solely affected the interests of that State would qualify the Tribunal as an internationalized judicial body, whose work would focus on defining the crime of terrorism through a broader lens of interpreting national legislation. In other words, the impetus for development has been given not to international but national criminal law.The Tribunal was created neither to progressively develop international criminal law with regard to defining terrorism as an international crime nor to advance the international criminal justice system. Rather, it was an attempt to address Lebanon’s specific political and legal challenges.Conclusions. The outcome of the Tribunal’s work could have a rather negative impact on the development of international criminal law, discrediting the very idea of enabling “peace through justice” and uniform, consistent application and interpretation of international criminal law.

INFLUENCE OF WIRE-EDM PARAMETERS ON SURFACE CHARACTERISTICS OF SUPERALLOY MONEL 400

Progressive development in the industrial field leads to the increasing demand for superalloys with enhanced mechanical properties, such as toughness, hardness, ductility, damping strength, tensile strength and improved surface finish. Monel 400, one of such superalloys, with the majority of its application in aerospace and marine fields demands a good super finish. There arises the need for some nonconventional processes like WEDM. This process is more effective to obtain complex shapes to close tolerance. This research focuses on clear understanding of the machining strategies with proper parametric combinations to achieve an improved surface finish, subsequently reducing the time and expense involved in the superfinishing procedure. The surface qualities of the selected samples are validated with the help of roughness profile and topography images. This study has proven that the increasing input current and wire feed rate (WFR) consistently decreases the surface roughness (SR; [Formula: see text] of the specimen. This paper also explains the effect of topographic parameters and microstructure over the resulting SR. In addition, the consistent contribution of WFR and input current toward the lower SR is established. The relationship between morphological behavior and parametric deviations is evaluated. A significant correlation found to exist between the rate of wire feed and the height parameters of SR such as [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], etc.

Generation of heterozygous PKD1 mutant pigs exhibiting early-onset renal cyst formation

Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is the most common inherited kidney disease, manifesting as the progressive development of fluid-filled renal cysts. In approximately half of all patients with ADPKD, end-stage renal disease results in decreased renal function. In this study, we used CRISPR-Cas9 and somatic cell cloning to produce pigs with the unique mutation c.152_153insG (PKD1insG/+). Pathological analysis of founder cloned animals and progeny revealed that PKD1insG/+ pigs developed many pathological conditions similar to those of patients with heterozygous mutations in PKD1. Pathological similarities included the formation of macroscopic renal cysts at the neonatal stage, number and cystogenic dynamics of the renal cysts formed, interstitial fibrosis of the renal tissue, and presence of a premature asymptomatic stage. Our findings demonstrate that PKD1insG/+ pigs recapitulate the characteristic symptoms of ADPKD.

Formation of university graduates employment culture

Introduction. Successful employment of university graduates is necessary for the productive solution of socio-economic problems of modern society. It is a particularly urgent task in the context of the global economic crisis and the significant changes of labor and employment area caused by it. Many students are not able to get a job, which means a significant lack of qualified specialists with higher education, who are strategic resources for the progressive development of society. This article aims to develop and give scientific justification for the extracurricular program of the Formation of University Graduates Employment Culture based on a modular approach. Materials and methods. The study involved 564 senior students of Russian universities (bachelor’s degree, master’s degree). Online survey was conducted to identify problem areas and prospects for employment. The parameters and characteristics of the formation of student’s employment culture are diagnosed using a set of valid diagnostic techniques. The reliability of the data obtained was checked using the Pearson’s chi-squared (χ2) test. Results. The author’s program for the formation of university graduates' employment culture was developed in the course of the study. The essence of the program is the development of students’ skills of job search, self-presentation, self-promotion, self-image, CV writing, effective communication, teamwork, creative problem solving, forecasting the trajectory of employment after graduation. A significant increase in the formation of student’s employment culture level was recorded as a result of the program implementation in the experimental group (χ2emp = 26.554) compared with the students of the control group who did not show positive dynamics in the level of the measured personal characteristics (χ2emp = 0.334) during the experimental work. Discussion and conclusion. The study has resulted that the effectiveness of the formation of university graduates' employment culture increases with the use of modular structuring for extracurricular programs (communicative, facilitation, socio-legal, administrative, psychological and pedagogical, project, information and interactive modules).

UK–Zimbabwean Relations: the Past and the Present

The author traces the stages of development of British–Zimbabwean relations over the past four decades. The work analyzes not only the history, but also the current state of relations between Great Britain and Zimbabwe and assesses the prospects for their development. The author set the task of showing how political cooperation between the former metropolis and its colony developed, the importance of the change of governments and the personality of the heads of state. A special attention is paid to the first president of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, who ruled the country for 37 years. An attempt has been made to identify the causes of the crisis in bilateral relations and to assess the attempts to overcome and to move in a progressive development. In addition, the author considers the problem of how the context of the colonial past, economic development, the land issue and the internal policy of Zimbabwe influenced the official London’s position in relation to Harare. Zimbabwe is one of the key states in southeast Africa, traditionally viewed by the UK as a sphere of its interests. Using itsexample, certain conclusions can be drawn about London's foreign policy approach to African countries, as well as the contradictions which become obstacles to the relations’ normalization.

On the Reasons of Chinas Stable Economic Development in the XX - XXI Centuries

As is well known, the global economy is a flexible system of relationships between its key actors, and it is directly subject to the constant impact of both internal and external factors. Among the latter are the processes of globalization, integration, liberalization, transnationalization and others. They fundamentally change the rules of organization and conduct of international economic relations. Those countries that were able to duly assess the scale of imminent changes and flexibly respond to them by adjusting national macroeconomic policies were able to take leading positions in the structure of the modern world order. A striking example of such a state is China, which, despite its catching-up type of development, has reached the level of developed countries in a number of indicators and has become one of the significant poles in the structure of the modern world order. The study conducted by the authors of the article showed that the PRC managed to achieve such a result due to the competent reforms initiated in the 1970s by Deng Xiaoping and still ongoing taking into account best world practices. The country’s leadership’s choice of the IT sector as a flagship for further progressive development of the country’s economy has already brought China significant benefits of a strategic nature.

A study of contemporary concepts of Jesus' human knowledge

The question of the knowledge of Jesus is one of the most vividly debated issues in Christology today. The dynamics of this debate is caused by the lack of dogmatic declarations, the modern discoveries of human sciences and critical approach to the concept of omniscience resulting from the beatific vision (visio beatifica) of Jesus, which for many centuries was adopted almost on a par with dogma. The article compares contemporary theories of Jesus' knowledge cross-sectional, points to theologians' mutual inspirations, and analyses the strengths and weaknesses of the most important concepts. The primary role in the article is played by the historical-critical method, which makes it possible to show and analyse the changes in the ideas of Jesus' knowledge, which gradually abandoned the attribution of omniscience to Him. The theologians of the Reformed Churches, who were the first to recognise the paradoxes of Christ's omniscience as part of kenotic considerations, had a particular share in these developments. They wondered why, if the Incarnate God renounces His divine attributes, He would not also relinquish omniscience. Their reflections and the progressive development of the human sciences were an inspiration for many Catholic theologians, who in the 20th century also gradually began to notice the limitations of Thomas Aquinas' theory ascribing omniscience to Jesus. They have developed new ideas drawing on recent anthropology, philosophy, psychology and the human sciences. The most interesting of the theories are the hypotheses based on the mystical experiences of Jesus, which, without undermining the dogmas of His fully human nature, try to explain how He was able to contact the Father and gain knowledge of His mission. The development of new theories of Christ's knowledge by Catholic theologians, on the one hand, made it possible to approximate positions on this issue with the theologians of the Reformed Churches. On the other hand, it paradoxically opens up prospects for dialogue with some defenders of the visio beatifica concept, who allow its reinterpretation through the category of mystical experience.

ЕЛЕКТРОННИ ПРАВИТЕЛСТВА В СТРАНИТЕ ОТ ЧЕРНОМОРСКИЯ РЕГИОН – ФАКТОР ЗА ПРОЗРАЧНОСТ И ОПТИМАЛНА КОМУНИКАЦИЯ

The progressive development of societies and economies is marked increasingly by the growing role of digital knowledge and information technologies. With the creation of a global information space, the digitization of society and the wider use of internet technologies through traditional and electronic media, the development of e-Government is becoming increasingly popular and functional. Nowadays, the organization of public administration on the basis of electronic means of processing, transmitting and disseminating information, providing services to public authorities, businesses and citizens electronically, the information interaction of public authorities and society using information telecommunications technologies, and ensuring free access for citizens to the relevant state information, are the main components of a comprehensive transformation of governance into the e-government format.

The international legal basis for implementation of judgments of the european court of human rights into the domestic legal system

An analysis of the international legal bases of implementation of decisions of the European Court of Human Rights to the national legislations of the member states of the Council of Europe is carried out. Such implementation takes various forms, and in general there is no single implementation mechanism. At the same time, the importance of implementing decisions of the European Court of Human Rights lies in the state's fulfillment of its obligations both to the world community of states and to its own citizens. Forms and methods that ensure the progressive development of national law, taking into account the practice of international courts, are considered. The synthetic research method determines the impact of ECtHR decisions on the structure of national law, which stimulates the transformation of its entire branches. It is demonstrated, how the ECtHR promotes the formation of progressive legal institutions in legal systems, exerting organizational and civilizational influence on the legal systems of states. It is emphasized, that the principle of legal certainty, by which the international court assesses vague and insufficiently clear provisions of national law, is fundamental for the implementation of the case law of the ECtHR into national laws. With this influence, the ECtHR determines the nature of lawmaking and law enforcement in a country. As a result, it is concluded, that the most effective mechanism for implementing the principle of legal certainty in a state is the adoption of general measures, contained in the pilot decisions of the ECtHR. The second important mechanism is the application of the rules of law by national courts, taking into account the case law of the ECtHR, which ensures the interpretation of human rights rules in a way that is most acceptable to the national legal system