Dal Chiefdom allo Stato: Evoluzione delle élite militari nel Caucaso meridionale nel II e I millennio a.C.

This paper aims at highlighting the political process which began in the Caucasus toward the end of second millennium, characterized by the emergence of several interrelated cultures and the subsequent rise of numerous local political entities. This process took strength during the first half of the first millennium and reached its apex with the advent of the Urartian Kingdom and its state organization. This process was characterized by a progressive militarization of the local communities. It involves many interrelated aspects that encompass all levels of society, strongly affecting its organization and economy.

1970s Drought, State Crisis, and Opportunities for Transnational River Development in the Senegal Basin

During the early 1970s, the Sahel suffered from drought and famine. Previous research has emphasized how these factors weakened West African states. The drought, however, provided an opportunity for a transnational river organization in the Senegal River basin (the OMVS) to obtain financing for an integrated development program. Wall shows how the OMVS leveraged concern about famine to obtain funding. She uses digital text analysis to demonstrate institutional priorities shifting to focus on agriculture. This combination of document analysis with digital methods demonstrates how famine strengthened a multi-state organization, requiring a revision of how this event affected African political capacity.

"From confederation to federation: transformation of the USA state structure between 1777 – 1789 "

The study examines the ideological foundations and prerequisites for the independence of the British colonies in North America. We examine the construction of the state system, first passing through the confederate model of state organization, which is the closest to the traditions of the colonial period. However, it failed due to some "defects" of the Articles of Confederation of 1777, the main one being the lack of financial security to pursue union politics. In 1787, the Constitutional Convention drafted a constitution for the United States, with centralism and unitarism prevailing in the discussions, abandoning some of the principles that prompted the Americans to begin the struggle for independence. The Constitution of 1787 and the Declaration of Rights, adopted two years later, put into practice the ideas of the European Enlightenment, supplemented by English parliamentary theory and practice. This creates a solid foundation for the development of the United States and the prosperity of the young "nation."

DEVELOPMENT OF LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT IN SERBIA

Local self government, as a phenomenon, was established before the emergence of a modern state. Its role and significance has remained unsurpassed in nowadays world generally, and especially in modern states. The position that self-government has today is derived from the functions that this institution has in a modern state system. Namely, local self-government represents the basis of the state system in a narrower functional sense because it performs tasks that are important for the local community. However, it has a broader political and organizational significance, because, without that level of state organization, it would be almost impossible to reach numerous democratic achievements such as: citizen participation in public affairs, sharing power, decentralization (i.e. devolution of power), the exercise of certain rights and freedom, activities of civil society, etc. The importance of local self-government in Serbia is reflected in its historical role, inherited from tradition, which has outgrown and taken on a certain state-building, institutional and national character. It should also be emphasized that Serbian historiography, as well as other social sciences, to which this topic is related, has not paid enough attention to local self-government as a phenomenon in the context of its significance for the modern Serbian state and society as a whole. Therefore, it would be extremely important to look at this topic in a multidisciplinary manner and to offer scientific answers and facts about the historical, legal, political, and sociological role of local self-government. This work will try to synthesize its historical, political, institutional and national significance, by analyzing the emergence of self-government, that is, its development, which makes it one of the pillars of the Serbian state.

BELARUS AND UKRAINE IN THE POST-SOVIET PERIOD – TWO DIFFERENT MODELS OF ORGANIZATION AND POSITIONING OF THE STATE

After the disappearance of the USSR, Belarus and Ukraine have mostly different models of state organization at the domestic level: Belarus opted for state capitalism with a social image, close to the neo-Keynesian concept with elements of socialism-social justice. Ukraine had a number of changes in that direction, but after the February coup in 2014, it fully accepted the neoliberal model, which led to additional stratification of the population, pauperization and a serious economic crisis. In the geopolitical direction, Belarus has always been firmly connected with Russia and the integration processes in the post-Soviet space led by Moscow. Ukrai-ne is internally divided on that issue, so it had a moderated participation in the inte-gration processes in the post-Soviet space. However, after February 2014 and the conflicts that followed, Ukraine turned to the western centers of power. Belarus has very little opposition in the electorate to the existing geopolitical and pro-Russian identity issue, while Ukraine remains a divided country on a number of major issues. Western centers of power, and especially Atlanticist ones, generally support every form of distance from Russia and pro-Russian identity that exists among the popula-tion and elite in Ukraine and that appears on the border in Belarus. In Ukraine, until February 2014, pluralism influenced them to channel them-selves through elections for the institutions of the system of differences of identity and interests of the regions, so the pro-Russian and Western Ukrainian options changed in power. Since 2014, the secession of Crimea, the secession of Donetsk and Lugansk, the western Ukrainian option has an advantage. Since then, the gov-ernment in Kiev has been threatening the identity survival of the pro-Russian part of the population of Ukraine, the majority in the Southeast, in an authoritarian and un-democratic way. Official relations between Ukraine and Russia are tense.

State security as a result of systemic action

The state is an organization that functions in a systemic way. It is the function of the state to ensure its security. It is ensured by collective actions of the constituent elements of the state. The main elements of the state ensuring its security are public administration entities. It is they who, as part of efficient collective actions, create conditions for the undisturbed development of the state organization.

GRAMMATICAL TRANSFORMATIONS OF THE FRENCH LANGUAGE UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF THE IDEOLOGY OF ABSOLUTISM

The article is devoted to the study of the development of the grammatical system of the French language in the XVII century, during the golden age of the absolute monarchy. The analysis of the influence of the socio-political system on the changes in the French grammar of that time is carried out. In this century of authoritarian and centralized state organization, it was the grammars who shaped the language to their mind. The reign of Louis XIV created more than a hundred professional grammatical censors, thanks to whom the French language survived the era of "distinction" and consolidation. It is noted that participants of salons and court linguists such as Malherbe, Vaugelas, Chifflet, Maupas, Arnauld and Lancelot and others were engaged in organizing the French language. Each grammarian offers his own vision of the motives that must precede the adoption of a rule. It was found that in the era that is considered classic, two tendencies of grammatical transformations coexisted: the development of correct practical grammar, which contributed to the development of the social elite, and the development of analytical grammar, which drew its material from philosophy and logic. Grammarians mostly pursue the idea of perfect grammar with uniform and absolute rules.

Influence of Capital Markets, Inflation, and Demographics on the Growth of Pension Fund Assets in the State Organization of Islamic Cooperation

The percentage of pension receipts that is still low is experienced by many developing countries in the continent of Asia and Africa in terms of providing pension funds for their citizens. This study seeks to analyze the effect of growth in pension fund assets in OIC member countries. The measurement of the growth of pension fund assets is viewed through the aspects of the number of stock traded, the equity index, the inflation rate, male labor force participation, female labor force participation, the working age, and the retirement age. In addition, this study uses a panel data regression analysis method with the period 2010 to 2019. The results show that there are variables of male labor force participation, female labor force participation, working-age, and retirement age that have a significant effect. Male labor force participation, working-age, and retirement age have a positive effect on the growth of pension fund assets, while female labor force participation has a negative effect on pension fund assets. It can be said that the demographic aspects can influence the growth of pension fund assets in OIC member countries in the period 2010 to 2019.

THE NEW KINGDOM OF EGYPT AND THE EARLY STATE ORGANIZATIONS OF THE ARMENIAN HIGHLAND IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE II MILLENNIUM BC (BASED ON HISTORICAL SOURCES AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE)

The Ancient Near Eastern powerful states in the mid II millennium BC were not only directing and supervising the military-political, trading-economic, and sociocultural processes, but were also trying to obtain their dominance and control in the region. This was the reason that two conflicting groups gradually polarized in the region, where each state, despite its interests concerning the redistribution of spheres of influence in the ancient Near East, had to ally a more convenient political formation, given the current political situation and its capacities. As a result, the Hittite New Kingdom, Arzawa and Wilusa appeared to be in one of the groups, and the New Kingdom of Egypt, Kassite Babylonia and Mitanni were in the other one. The inter-state relations of these powers included both military-political and diplomatic rivalry, and a controlled system of well-organized transit trading and cultural relations. At the same time, each of the groups sought to urge other small early state organizations and tribal unions of the region to get involved in the alliance, contributing to the realization of prospective political plans with their capacities of raw materials, production of specific items and human resources. This was the situation also with the part of the early state organization of the Armenian Highland. Meanwhile, both the written sources and the archaeological excavations in general, testify the anti-Hittite orientation of the early state organizations of the Armenian Highland and their tending towards Egypt-Mitanni-Kassite Babylonia alliance.

RATIONALITY AND RESPONSIBILITY: BENCHMARKS TO RE-EVALUATE THE LAW IN THE CONTEXT OF THE PANDEMIC CRISIS

Human and social vulnerability in the face of the pandemic once again raises the question of knowledge and of the two key dimensions of the individual (rationality and responsibility) framed in the various relationships they establish (with nature, with other individuals, with state institutions etc.). These become relationships of knowledge and awareness concerning the facts and laws of social-state organization. Being aware that the pandemic crisis left its mark on all areas of life, changing the nature of human relations, affecting the benchmarks of values, and requiring a review of the foundations of social organization, we believe it necessary to assess the current situation through a systemic approach aimed at identifying the benchmarks of the balance between individuality and sociality. Thanks to the assessment of the interdependencies between the individual and the social, the following objectives were addressed: to define the changes caused by the pandemic and analyze the social processes; to validate the decisions taken by the authorities from a logical, praxeological and axiological point of view; to emphasize the importance of norms and principles in the social organization; to determine the role of social actors in overcoming the crisis, and to assess how social relations have evolved under pandemic conditions. Therefore, the present article, applying an interdisciplinary methodology to the pandemic crisis, aims to evaluate, understand and raise awareness of the situation and its impact on the social and human situation, where solidarity, rationality, and human responsibility are being reassessed.