GOING BLUE FROM RED – CHINESE ENGAGEMENT IN THE UN PEACEKEEPING OPERATIONS

This paper shall explore the reasons that triggered China to boost its security and economic influence within the United Nations Peacekeeping Operations (UNPKO) as a tool for embracing international challenges. By doing so, China is not just sharing the burden of providing international stability and achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals, but exerting its influence in the process. Analysing the proposed subject, it will be demonstrated that China faces numerous obstacles whilst trying to insert the “Chinese characteristics” within the geopolitical order, geo-economics distribution of wealth and international security architecture. Instead of being perceived as a responsible stakeholder, China`s ambitious initiatives can, additionally, stir the China Threat Theory in the international community. This paper shall be consisted of two parts. The first part will tackle China`s growing footprint within the UNPKO from the end of the Cold War onward. The second part will explore the reasons that triggered China to swift its role within the UNPKO. Both global and domestic reasons will be analysed too.

US WITHDRAWAL FROM THE OPEN SKIES TREATY: CONSEQUENCES FOR INTERNATIONAL SECURITY AND STABILITY

The arms control regime consists of several documents, and the United States of America and the Russian Federation as the State-Parties ensured the implementation and effectiveness of them mostly. However, the growing conflict between these States due to Russia's numerous violations of international law and obligations under international agreements has also harmed arms control. The withdrawal of both states from strategically important documents, which were tools for maintaining transparency and mutual control, is a result of the decline in trust and the lack of a constructive dialogue between Washington and Moscow. The Open Skies Treaty is one of these documents. The article examines the United States' reasons for the withdrawal from the Treaty and reveals the consequences of such a decision by the administration of President Trump. It is noted that the agreement, the idea of ​​which belonged to the United States, was signed immediately after the end of the Cold War and was to help build trust and openness in the new environment. It is noted that the Treaty ensures international stability through the ability of each party to openly collect information on the armed forces, activities, and operations of another party through coordinated flights of reconnaissance aircraft over the territory of the member states. However, problems are gradually accumulating due to Russia's actions to restrict flight zones in violation of the provisions of the Open Sky Treaty, which has become especially acute since 2014. That made the United States think about the meaning of participating in an agreement where one of the parties violates its provisions. The authors outline the consequences of the U.S. decision to leave the agreement; in particular, the focus is on the reactions of the U.S. European partners and Ukraine. They also examined applications and countermeasures by Russia that has also announced its withdrawal from the agreement. Reflecting on the prospects for international security and arms control, the preconditions for the potential return of the United States and Russia to the Open Sky Treaty are outlined.

North Korean Cyber Attacks and Policy Responses: An Interdisciplinary Theoretical Framework

Study conducts a qualitative analysis of the objectives, forms, current trends, and characteristics of North Korean cyber terror attacks and suggests a way to ensure further progress towards a successful international policy response. Despite the capricious changes that have recently occurred within the international political atmosphere, North Korea continues to constitute a threat to international stability through its ongoing advancement of nuclear weapons and long-range ballistic missiles. The difficulty of attribution and the relatively low costs associated with launching cyber offensives make cyber terrorism an attractive option for North Korea. In an effort to direct attention to these circumstances, this study aims to share explicit experts’ perspectives in the field of cyberterrorism in South Korea. Consequently, the study purports to contribute to existing academic discussion and practices on cyber terror and cybercrime. Furthermore, this study adopts perspectives from criminological theoretical frameworks and the network theory of world politics to substantiate a more comprehensive view of North Korea’s cyberterrorism which considers the multifaceted and asymmetrical nature of cyberterrorism within the context of postmodern international politicsfections.

State support for food security: a kazakhstan case study

The article presents a study of assessing the effectiveness of individual instruments of state support to ensure food security in Kazakhstan, based on the indicators of the implementation of state programs. Information is provided on the implementation of strategic goals and the achievement of target indicators in conjunction with budgetary funds for the formation of this article.Purpose of the study. Based on the information provided on the implementation of strategic goals and the achievement of target indicators in conjunction with budgetary funds, it is necessary to analyze statistical data on the implementation of state programs related to ensuring the country's food security.Research methodology. The work uses a systematic approach to data selection, methods of quantitative and qualitative research of reality, methods of economic, statistical and comparative analysis as a methodological tool for solving problems.The analytical part of the work is based on offi cial statistics on agriculture published on the website of the Ministry of National Economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan.Originality of research. The problem of food security of the country is a key priority in the strategy of economic policy of each country, and its effectiveness depends on the social, political and international stability of society. The article provides an overview of the effectiveness of the implementation of state programs aimed at ensuring food security, on the basis of which a set of measures is proposed to improve state regulation of food security.Research results. The authors described the achievement of target indicators in relation to budgetary funds and the study of the role of state regulation of food security in the Republic of Kazakhstan.

From World War II to Cold War Catholicism

The wartime struggle of Pius XII against totalitarianism focuses the identity of the Church on the defense of rights and the important connection between internal national developments and international stability. The American bishops’ adoption of the papal program moves the description of public Catholic identity in ambivalent directions. On the one hand, anti-communism shapes an organic presentation of the Judeo-Christian tradition united to the American way of life as the opposite of an atheistic and totalitarian “system of belief.” The sovereignty of God, obedience to lawfully constituted authority, and the unity between divine, natural, and positive law become dominant characteristics of the faith. On the other hand, this same rapprochement with American political values emphasizes equality, democratic participation, and individual rights. These ambivalences manifest themselves in different ways in the Catholic approach to family life and nuclear warfare.

Approaching the national security of the Republic of Moldova from the perspective of foreign and defense policy

The European Union is a stabilizing factor, important for the national security system that is why the Republic of Moldova is working to advance the European integration process. Accession to the European Union will strengthen the country’s security, with the Republic of Moldova becoming a beneficiary and a source of stability and security. In this regard a special place in the security context is also Moldova’s participation in global, regional and subregional efforts to promote international stability and security through cooperation within the UN, the OSCE, as well as NATO. The defense is a fundamental and distinct area of national security, which is in a relationship of interdependence with the processes of state development. Since the proclamation of independence, the Republic of Moldova has undergone a comprehensive process of strengthening the institutional capacities of the national defense system, a process that continues so far. Generalizing, this scientific research is intended to identify, strengthen and combine the efforts of institutions with their powers in the implementation of security and defense policies, as well as to effectively coordinate their actions.

Japanese Naval Power

The chapter develops for the first time in the Japanese context a framework to comprehend the role of naval power as a tool of statecraft and why it matters to Japan’s foreign and security policy. The chapter employs a strategic studies methodology to overcome the explanatory limits of mainstream perspectives narrowly focused on debating the nature of Japanese military power from a normative perspective. In so doing, it aims to make three distinctive contributions. First, the chapter argues that Japan’s military posture is not the result of a constrained legal framework. As a liberal democracy with an export-oriented economy, the shape of Japanese military power is consistent with the model of a “seapower state.” Second, the chapter argues that the most significant changes in Japanese naval power do not concern the expansion of capabilities or renewed commitment to the US-Japan alliance. They concerned the empowerment of Japanese foreign policy with the option to actively “shape” international stability. Third, the chapter explores how Prime Minister Abe’s impact on the use of naval power has not negated constitutional constraints. Rather, he focused naval power’s shaping potential to underpin and reinforce his signature Free and Open Indo-Pacific initiative.

Foulweather Friends: Violence and Third Party Support in Self-Determination Conflicts

This paper investigates how violence in self-determination conflicts influences bilateral foreign policy. I argue that a general preference for international stability causes third parties to support self-determination groups when violence reaches high levels, when they gain territorial control, and when major powers officially recognize. In these conditions, third parties perceive a stable new status quo to be nigh: unrecognized statehood. Ongoing instability encourages foreign policy that encourages the development of the de facto state, even when third parties have no intention of recognizing them as states. Importantly, I also show that targeting civilians erodes third-party support of the perpetrating side. I demonstrate these relationships using a latent variable model of international sovereignty of aspiring states, built on bilateral military, diplomatic, and economic exchange data. My model and tests provide new insight into how aspiring state actors become increasingly eligible for recognition through the tacit support of third-party states.