On the Fringes of Urban Justice: Violence and Environmental Risks in Guatemala City

Living in the city’s ravines is the common destiny of thousands of poor urban dwellers in Guatemala City, as is too often the case elsewhere in the Global South. The ravines surrounding the city represent one of the most visible and unjust urban spaces in the nation’s capital. At the same time, Guatemala City has been among the most violent cities in the world and is highly vulnerable to climate change. Employing a critical spatial perspective and drawing on interviews in two at‐risk communities—Arzú and 5 de Noviembre—this article examines the social production of such peripheral spaces. The levels of exclusion and inequalities are analysed by focusing on the multiple manifestations (visible and invisible) of violence and environmental risks, and deciphering the complex dynamics of both issues, which in turn generate more unequal and harmful conditions for residents. This article draws on the theoretical ideas elaborated by Edward Soja, Mustafa Dikeç, and Teresa Caldeira on the contextualisation of spatial injustice and peripheral urbanisation to study the specific conditions of urban life and analyse the collective struggles of people in both communities to improve their current living conditions and mitigate the risk and the precariousness of their existence. The article underlines the need to make the processes of urban exclusion and extreme inequality visible to better understand how they have been socially and politically constructed. The research argues for more socially and ecologically inclusive cities within the process of unequal urbanisation.

Culture, Law and War: On the Feasibility of the Project of «Eternal Peace», or on Some Methodological Issues of the Philosophy of Law

The aim of the article is to continue the study of law as a cultural phenomenon, in this case as an introduction to the problems of the XXVIII World Congress on the Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy “Peace Based on Human Rights”. It is offered as an opportunity for additional substantiation of the idea of eternal peace (I. Kant) from the position of a culturological approach as one of the methodological tools of the philosophy of law. The concept developed by the author makes it possible to appeal to the ideal structures of consciousness not only in a purely epistemological aspect and phenomenological context, but also based on the ontological foundations of moral and legal culture. Thus, it becomes obvious and necessary to distinguish between anthropological and culturological approaches to substantiate the removal of the very concept of war beyond the boundaries of culture into the sphere of the unacceptable, what qualifies as a crime. Such a process of human development as a cultural development is natural in the sense of acquiring proper human qualities – it is overcoming the animal component of man (Aristotle and others). The philosophical and ideological foundations of this direction of development are the concepts that have received legal formalization primarily in the concept of human rights. The cultural form of overcoming the animal (in the cultural sense – criminal) principle in a person is play, which has found embodiment in various forms of agonal interaction, primarily in sports, as well as in art. Law as a formulation of the rules of cultural interaction becomes a necessary condition for survival, and the extension of this (culturological) principle to humanity (as a common destiny) makes the anthropological approach, in the form in which it is interpreted in modern (domestic) jurisprudence, limited and partial not only in a logical, but also in a humanitarian sense. The necessity of understanding the logical correlation of the concepts of “privilege” and “social parasitism” with the concept of “war” is shown. The transfer of “war” (regardless of interpretations and definitions) beyond the boundaries of culture (or truly human relationships) becomes necessary, as well as understanding the role of law in ensuring such a state of humanity.

CICA AND ASIAN COOPERATION ORGANIZATIONS (SCO, ASEAN, OIC): COOPERATION POTENTIAL AND PROSPECTS

The article contains an overview of the activities of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA), a structure aimed at creating a comprehensive mechanism for developing and reconciling the positions of Asian countries on key security issues. The CICA is a forum that many regional states have joined as permanent participants. Eight countries and five international organizations, including the U.N., currently have an observer status at the CICA, which cooperates with existing regional organizations such as SCO, ASEAN, and OIC in a number of specific areas. The current concept of CICA’s work is aligned with five main spheres: military and political collaboration; the fight against new challenges and threats, including terrorism; drug trafficking; transnational crime and human trafficking; as well as the economic, environmental and human dimensions. Cooperation with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, whose members (including the observer countries) are all also members of the Conference, will be of great importance for the further development of CICA. The presence of both resource-producing countries and large oil and gas importers in the organization creates the preconditions for the formation of an energy block within its framework, which will increase the energy security of its member states. The authors note that the interaction between ASEAN and the CICA can be based on five points required for building a “community of common destiny,” which were set forth by President of the People’s Republic of China Xi Jinping in Jakarta: (1) adhere to the principle of trust and strive for good neighborliness; (2) adhere to the principle of cooperation and mutual benefit; (3) constantly provide mutual assistance; (4) adhere to the principle of “living in perfect harmony”; (5) adhere to the principle of openness and tolerance. The authors note that the problem of Afghanistan can become a point of contact and development of joint approaches and strategies of the CICA and the OIC in the context of international and regional security. The author concludes that the transformation of the CICA into the Organization for Security and Development of Asia, proposed by Kazakhstan, would mean an expansion of the conference format and a turn towards solving new problems. In addition, the urgent task of the CICA at present is the transition to qualitatively new levels of cooperation—preventive diplomacy and conflict prevention.

The Сoncept of Сyber Sovereignty of the People’s Republic of China: Development History and Essence

The transformation of cyber sovereignty into an independent concept is a recent phenomenon, and thus its development and distribution is currently underway, which indicates the relevance of studying this topic. Being one of the most influential actors of contemporary international politics, China uses the concept of cyber sovereignty to promote its national interests and is able to shape the rules in the highly volatile field of international cyberspace. The study is based on quantitative and qualitative content analysis of legal acts and concept of Chinas cyber sovereignty. The author defines a concept of cyber sovereignty and identifies its place in the system of international law and in the architecture of international information security. Chinas concept of cyber sovereignty does not imply the division of a common cyberspace into separate segments but contributes to the creation of a cyber community of a common destiny, in which states can exercise their rights to govern the Internet on the principles of equality, justice, cooperation, peace and rule of law. It is concluded that this concept can be used as the basis for the formation of an international legal framework that regulates relations between states in the field of cyberspace.

About Impossibility of Forgetting

В статье исследуется следующий парадокс: если индивидуальная память основана исключительно на внутренних ресурсах сознания, без принципиальной связи с внеш-ним положением дел, то мир, оказавшись непричастным к ней, становится местом взаимного равнодушия и полного одиночества. Без осознания всеобщей связи и усво-ения общей судьбы, в т.ч. через страдание как средства выхода за пределы инстинктивности страха, замкнутость на себя была бы непреодолимой. Цель проводимого сравнительного анализа с помощью примеров из художественной и исторической областей состояла в том, чтобы показать процесс погружения человека в измерение тотальной рассогласованности как с собой, так и с миром. В результате было продемонстрировано, что и катализатором, и действенным условием выхода из данного процесса является по-разному настраиваемый механизм культуры как памяти. Эти примеры свидетельствуют, что в жизненных исканиях, надеждах и через саму память происходитвозвращение к такому прошлому, которое, задавая рутину жизни, откры-вается в качестве искомого источника основы. В ходе анализа выясняется и то, что разрыв нарастающих цепей автоматических отношений, хоть и обнаруживает себя как трудноразрешимая задача, вместе с тем является реализуемым опытом, который прекращает раздвоение, т.е. прекращается такое состояние, когда растягиваемое «па-мятливое забвение» превращается во вторую натуру человеческого «я». Разбор филь-ма А. Паркера «Сердца Ангела» позволяет прийти к заключению, что обратная сторона удержания памяти бытия-лишь-при-себе имеет отношение к повседневности совместного бытия, с его частными отражениями в личном опыте, не только духовно-душевном, но и телесном. Через этот опыт и начинает формироваться онтология памяти не как автоматического существования (дления), а как усилия трансцендирующей мысли, благодаря чему изменяется отношение к повторению того же самого. The problem of individual memory is analyzed in this article. The following paradox is put forward: if the basis of individual memory is its own internal resources and they are not related to the external state of affairs, the world is a place of mutual indifference and complete loneliness. When a common destiny does not exist, it is impossible to overcome isolation. The purpose of the comparative analysis based on examples from art and historical studies was to show the process of putting a person in a state of disconnection from both himself and the world. As a result, it has been demonstrated that the mechanism of culture as memory is a condition for leaving this process. These examples show that in life searches, hopes and through memory itself there is a return to such a past, which, setting the routine of life, opens up as a sought-after source of foundation. Consequently breaking the automatism of connections is the termination of bifurcation. As a result forgettingceases to be the second kind of human “self”. The bodily factor is of fundamental importance here. An analysis of A. Parker 's “Angel's Hearts” confirms this. Here, memory experience is shown.

Community of Common Future in Cyberspace

This chapter begins with an account of the current state of China’s digitization and cybersecurity. Benefitting from the rapid development of information and communication technology (ICT), China achieved a rapid evolution from a semi-industrial country to a digitized nation. Besides these immense advantages, ICT has acted as a powerful catalyst, bringing huge benefits to every aspect of Chinese society. Yet cyberspace has also created a new dimension of insecurity and disarray due to the increasing dependence on a brand-new interconnected ecosystem. The chapter then examines the meaning of, and the necessity for, a ‘community of common destiny’ in cyberspace, before continuing to illuminate what China can do at the domestic and international levels to pursue this aim. It also analyses the implications of China’s approach for the stability and security of international cyberspace.

On the Female Images in Feng Menglong's "Three Volumes of Stories"

Feng Menglong’s "Three Volumes of Stories" involves many female images. "Being bought and sold at arbitrarily" was the common destiny of women in that period; "cheating for love" was a new love choice made by women under the influence of the Enlightenment in the late Ming Dynasty; "getting married" can be said to be the resistance of women who were forced to fall in the past dynasties to their fate.

China-Venezuela Relations: China Dilemmatic Options towards Venezuela Crisis and the Role of China Community of Common Destiny Principles in Maintaining Cooperation

Oil prices directly impact Venezuela's circumstance due to 95% of their revenue come from oil export. Since 2013, oil prices drop significantly compared to the previous year. Thus, the crisis hits Venezuela severely. The impacts not only feel in domestic level but also in international level. China is Venezuela's bilateral partner that was impacted by the Venezuela crisis. Venezuela failed to fulfill their oil export to China to pay their loan in the oil-for-loan diplomacy scheme. Thus, their cooperation failed to fulfill the economic gain. However, China still shows the action that favorable Venezuela. Backing up non-intervention toward Venezuela in the UN, provide new loan and adjust the payment of the previous loan also diversify their investment in Venezuela. This paper argues that this action is no more for merely material gain. But it is the action that is based on the newly ideational aspect of China's foreign policy, which is the China Community of Common Destiny. Thus, this research will analyze how this rhetoric idea involves China's action towards Venezuela. Also, this research will address their relations and China's diplomatic option toward their relations with Venezuela in crisis circumstances.

THE CONCEPT OF THE “COMMUNITY OF COMMON DESTINY FOR MANKIND” AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF CHINA’S FOREIGN POLICY

The "community of common destiny for mankind" is a new concept in Chinese diplomacy, which has been increasingly used in the reports of the Chairman of the Communist Party of China Xi Jinping in the past five years. Given the small number of domestic academic studies dedicated to this concept, the relevance of considering its meaning, motives and implications is increased. Although the fundamental goal and task of the «community of common destiny for mankind» is not clear, and in the system of China's international relations it is considered as an important part of the long-term plan for reforming the global governance system, establishing China as a responsible power and using the period of "strategic opportunities" in the second and third decades of the XXI century. During the escalation of international conflicts, and ongoing financial and economic crisis, the proposed concept has attracted the interest of an international audience, but there are contradictions in its perception among developing countries, also the world’s leading actors. After examining the materials of researchers in the field of China studies and international relations, it is necessary to comprehensively consider the connection of the «community of common destiny for mankind» with other concepts under the foreign policy paradigm of China, also in the context of the transformation of China’s foreign affairs.