Сurrent Trends in the Interaction Between the Black Sea Littoral States

The paper deals with the сurrent peculiarities of the relations between the Black Sea littoral states (Russia, Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria, Georgia and Turkey) with the consideration of the coronavirus pandemic that to some extent has changed the ways of the external interaction. The author analyses the role of the Black Sea region in the political discourse of each littoral state and defines the trends of the economic and military-political interaction between the Black Sea states. It is shown that the pandemic has not led to the alleviation of the confrontation between the littoral states amidst the new common challenge. Neither has it stimulated them to reassess the current challenges and threats to maritime security. On the contrary, during the fight against the pandemic the conflicting nature of their interaction exacerbated under the conditions of the absence of the united strategic basis developed by the littoral states for their policy in the Black Sea region since the collapse of the USSR in 1991. The aspiration of Ukraine and Georgia to obtain military-political advantages in the Black Sea area prevailed with the support of the non-regional actors ‒ the United States, NATO and the EU.

Political Learning through a Social Media Network

This study tries to fill the knowledge theory gap on the impact of social media use in political discourse. This research examines social media's performance in political learning where it does not exist as part of classroom learning. Social media is differentiated between activities that do not involve political interaction directly and discussion with other users. This study develops a cross-sectional survey on undergraduate college students' representatives of the five biggest campuses in Bandung, Indonesia. A total of 977 students filled questionnaires. The results show political discussion through social media networks providing students' political learning. The more students discuss related politics through social media, the higher their level of political awareness becomes. Social media activities do not impact political learning, where these activities do not involve discussion with other users. This study shows that students obtain political learning through political discussion through their networks, not just through social media activities. Political learning through social media requires discussion related to politics. Besides, sex, age, and expenditure also affect students' political knowledge acquisition. The results have implications for conducting studies on specific platforms to confirm social media activities' impact according to each platform's characteristics.

Dialogic Basis of the Categories of “Openness” and “Tolerance” to the “Other” in Modern Political Discourse – Martin Buber and Gabriel Marcel

The article analyzes the dialogical nature of the concepts of “tolerance”, “freedom”, “openness”. The interpretation of the dialogical relationship and the appearance of “Other” in it as opposed to “I” through the prism of the concepts of M. Buber and G. Marcel are analyzed. The impact of philosophers of dialogue on the formation of the modern meaning of the concepts “tolerance”, “other”, “openness” is substantiated. The dialogical methodology of interpersonal communications as one of the options for political interaction is considered. The relation “I-You” and the relation “I-It” as principles of construction of mass communication and interpersonal interaction are investigated. The rise in understanding the “Other” in the context of the type of interaction with it is illustrated. The need for mutual openness to enable tolerance is established. Tolerance is seen as the mutual acceptance of two equal freedoms without a dichotomous division into primary and secondary. On the example of dialogic concepts of M. Buber and G. Marcel, the types of dialogical interaction with the “Other” and the possible interpretation of the “Other”, including its typology, are demonstrated. The influence of dialogic interpretation of intersubjective connection on the formation of modern European values is determined.

Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s development within the Greater Eurasian Partnership – Russian viewpoint

The author analyses new directions of development of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), examines the geopolitical reasons of their emergence, and identifies the role and place of the Organisation in the framework of the Greater Eurasian Partnership (GEP).The author also presents the Development Strategy of the SCO until 2025 and identifies the areas of common interests with the GEP’s development ideas, which are focused on the economic and trade-related measures along with the issues of political interaction and cooperation in the field of social security. In conclusion the author claims, that SCO countries are acting as “drivers” of regional development and making a concerted effort to create the necessary conditions for ensuring sustainable social and economic development. The new development directions of the SCO demonstrate that the Organisation is able to adapt to new conditions of the changing world, while its participation in new formats of interaction is in demand among the countries of the Eurasian continent

Political Economy of Protection

The political economy of protection is a field within economics, but it has significant overlap with its sister discipline, political science. For a political economy of protection, one needs at a minimum two types of economic agents: political decision makers who provide protection, and economic agents who are protected or even actively seek protection. The typical political economy scenario leads to an economic outcome that is not Pareto-optimal: From a general welfare perspective, the political interaction is not desirable. An important task of political economy research is to explain why and how political interaction takes place. For the first part of the question, it appears clear that if protection is actively sought, the protection seeker intends to benefit from his activities. However, if the policymakers were truly interested in Pareto optimality and welfare maximization, they would refuse to protect. Hence a crucial assumption in the political economy literature is that the politicians’ objective function differs from the general welfare function. For the second part of the question, theoretical political economy models consider either the election campaign phase when politicians are eager to win a majority of votes (preelection models) or the phase when the politicians have been elected and may benefit from the spoils associated with holding office (postelection models). Whereas in the election phase, politicians have an incentive to cater to the interests of that part of the electorate that is considered pivotal for the election outcome, in the postelection phase they may be open to, for example, special interest group (SIG) influences from which they derive utility. A first wave of theoretical political economy models originates from the 1980s. Building on these early advances, more elaborate models have been proposed. The most prominent one is the Grossman–Helpman protection for sale (PfS) model. It delivers a postelection general equilibrium framework of trade policy determination. In this common agency model, industry interest groups act as principals and offer the government a menu of contracts of campaign contributions in exchange for trade policy. The PfS model predicts that industries that lobby for protection will obtain trade protection in equilibrium, whereas nonlobbying industries will face import subsidies. Numerous papers have evaluated the PfS model empirically and found that the implied weight on contributions in the governmental welfare function and the implied share of the population represented by lobbies are both very high. Remedies for this surprising result exist, but it has also been argued that the found empirical regularities may be spurious. At the beginning of the 21st century, the majority of political economy literature is still theoretical, but better data availability increasingly offers the opportunity to empirically test theoretical results. A number of challenges remain for the political economy literature, however. In particular, more work is required to better understand policymaker interests. Moreover, an incorporation of political economy aspects into the new trade theory models that allow for intra-industry trade and firm diversity appears to be a promising avenue for future research.

FEATURES OF THE MILITARY-POLITICAL INTERACTION OF THE USSR AND YUGOSLAVIA IN CONNECTION WITH THE PREPARATION FOR THE MEETING ON SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE (1973–1975)

The article examines the problems of the Soviet-Yugoslav military-political interaction on security and cooperation in Europe. The positions and contradictions between the Soviet and Yugoslav parties on issues of cooperation and security in Europe are analyzed. The essence of Belgrade’s position on this issue was in interpreting particularly sensitive issues for it: equal responsibility of countries united in opposing military-political blocs for security in Europe, the need to respect the interests of countries outside these blocs, as well as the presence of other powers’ armed forces near the borders of these countries. Contradictions between Moscow and Belgrade have emerged on the issues of cooperation and security in Europe. Moscow insisted on mainstreaming security problems in the Central Europe, as a possible theater of military operations between NATO and the Warsaw Pact bloc in the future. Yugoslavia, proceeding from its national and military-political interests, advocated the inclusion of security problems in the Southern Europe and the Mediterranean in the agenda of the conference. Another issue on which there was a discrepancy in the views of the Soviet and Yugoslav leadership was understanding the thesis of peaceful coexistence of states and the scope of its application to various subjects of international relations. Moscow extended this concept to the nature of relations between the West and the East, and the Yugoslavs equated this provision in relation to the right of their way of building socialism in the country, as well as guarantees of national sovereignty in case of attempts to interfere from outside in order to adjust the principles of state and social development of their state. The desire of Yugoslavia on the eve of the European conference to plot a vector in its conduct in a favorable aspect for it worried Moscow and focused on careful study and timely response to Belgrade’s initiatives. In the context of the problem of Soviet-Yugoslav cooperation on security issues and cooperation in Europe, the urgent need of Belgrade for Moscow’s help in resolving the crisis in the public and political life of the country is shown as well.

The Armenian Apostolic Church in the Politics of the Russian Empire: the Search for an Administrative Optimum

The article analyzes governmental debates on the functions, rights and privileges of the Armenian Catholicoi in the context of inter-institutional controversies. The author attempts to identify and analyze the most influential programmes for solving the “Echmiadzin issue” and their origins presenting at the same time certain aspects of political interaction between the Russian Empire and the Armenian Church as overlapping processes and related events. The history of relationships between Russian state and Armenian Church in XIX–XX centuries shows that different actors of the imperial politics had different ideas about the optimal model of cooperation with Echmiadzin. The divisions took place not only between the various departments (the Ministry of Internal Affairs versus the Ministry of Foreign Affairs), but also within them, where individual officials could hold “anti-departmental” views in each particular case. All this hindered administrative consolidation, slowed down the empire's response to important political challenges and dragged the imperial structures into protracted service-hierarchical confrontations. The “Etchmiadzin Question” and the governmental discussions around it show in part the administrative paralysis of the autocracy and the decompensation of the system of power in the Russian Empire in the early 20th century. The article employs a rich documentary base of archival materials from the collections of the Russian State Historical Archive. These materials are introduced into the scholarly discourse for the first time ever.

Spectatorship, Control, and Collective Groups

It is axiomatic that the Roman emperor attempted to control the city populace through an ideology of ‘bread and circuses’ (free grain and public entertainment). Yet a riot during a food crisis in 189 ce, which began in the circus and spread to the streets, shows that spectators could be the agents of political interaction at public spectacles rather than merely passive participants, that public spectacles could be organizing events for the non-elite population. It has been argued that crowds in order to form require a ‘notion of legitimation’. Indeed, the crowd at this riot was engendered in part through the long-standing conventions of spectatorship at Roman public spectacles, including 1) public spectacles as venues for popular protest and interactions with the emperor; 2) the custom of arranged seating, including claques, factions, and trade guilds (collegia); 3) common forms of spectator response, such as acclamations.

Sustainability of the state system in the context of digital transformation

The digital transformation of the structural components of the state system forms new socio-organizational forms and practices of political interaction. The transformation process is based on the dialectical overcoming of existing elements of the old order, the development of new goals and the formation of new specific ways to achieve them. As a result of the digital transformation of the structural components of the state system, new socio-organizational forms and practices of political interaction are being formed. Before our eyes, the transition of initially networked social formations into political offline processes is unfolding, new power resources and mechanisms of influence on the political organization as a whole are emerging in society. These processes relate to social self-organization and are characteristic of the adaptive algorithm of social changes. At the same time, changes in system parameters do not violate the contours of the existing state system. However, in the conditions of deliberate stimulation by the authorities of the digital transformation of all spheres of society’s life, the limited ability of the political system and the state to ensure the manageability of social and political processes is more clearly manifested.The article considers the process of deformation of the state system caused by the digitalization of public relations, analyses changes in theoretical models of explaining social reality and related changes in the organization of the political system and political practices.The multi-component nature of the impact of the global ICT paradigm on the sphere of public administration of a particular state is noted. In the era of the diversity of broadcast information, the dominance of the mass media and social networks, the public becomes a mass / crowd and an object of manipulation. The impact of information and communication technologies on the functioning of society is manifested in maintaining the gap between formal and informal institutions, intensive introduction of innovations, launching new mechanisms of social inequality, and the like, as a result, the integrity of the social system is violated. The risk of loss of manageability of social processes increases due to the fact that the recommendations for authorities on digital transformation, as well as most scientific publications on the topic of digitalization of public administration do not contain a critical assessment of the ICT paradigm itself and the concepts, concepts and practices formed on its basis.

Assessing the Effectiveness of Social and Political Innovations in the Development of Interaction between the Authorities and the Population during COVID-19: The Implication of Open Innovation

Open innovations combine the interaction of the authorities and the population in regions of Russia. Social and political interaction of Russian network users demonstrates new open forms of political participation, mobilization practices (initiative appeals, petitions), the use of expert systems data, and remote access technologies. The increasing number of initiatives and the growth of online communities involved in the discussion and adjustment of the results of innovation activities require the use of a big data format. The demand for open innovation based on the principles of transparency of social and political interactions is being updated during COVID-19. This study aims to assess the effectiveness of open innovations in social and political interactions during COVID-19. The innovative practices of communication between the population and authorities were studied using DataMining tools based on digital platforms: “Russian Public Initiative”, “Change.org” and “GoogleTrends”. Users’ social graphs represent the visualization in terms of thematic and territorial groupings. The results obtained allow for a conclusion about the dependence of the regional innovation activities on the openness of their communications and their location relative to authoritative and other types of resources. The physical location of the region (center–border region–periphery) and dependence on implementation at the federal, regional or municipal levels are circumstances influencing the effectiveness of social and political innovations.