Machiavelli’s Political Thought and Its Inspiration—Text Analysis Based on the Prince

Machiavelli is one of the founders of modern bourgeois political theory. The birth of his masterpiece The Prince creates a new pattern of western political thought, which marks the first time that political science has escaped from the bondage of religion and ethics. At the same time, Machiavelli is also named “Machiavelliism”. The so-called “no means to achieve the purpose” has become the greatest misunderstanding of Machiavelli. Based on the prince analysis of Machiavelli’s political thought, around his national unity of Italy launched the national regime, military, monarchy and other aspects of thinking.

Barking at the Wrong Tree: Articles 31-31bis TRIPs Revisited in Light of COVID-19 Lessons

The COVID-19 reality challenged the assumption underlying Articles31-31bisof the TRIPS agreement. It illustrated that the major obstacle to access of developing countries and LDCs to medicines and/or vaccines in cases of broad-scale, global pandemics is global production capacity and distribution priorities, namely: availability, rather than price. This article examines the future implications of this understanding.

A Study on Robert Keohane’s Idea of “Power”

Robert Keohane is a leading contemporary international relations scholar. His ideas and doctrines are important parts of neoliberal institutionalism. In his books Power and Interdependence, and After Hegemony: Cooperation and Discord in the World Political Economy, he has a unique perspective on power, a core concept of international relations, that differs from realism and constructivism. This paper uses documentary analysis to distill and summarize the discussion of power in Robert Keohane’s work, which helps to systematically study the neoliberal institutionalist view of power and to make the classic theory show its charm beyond its time.

The Effect of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict on the Palestinian labor Market and Human Capital Accumulation

This paper summarizes recent literature that discusses the economic costs of several conflict measures, e.g., “time and geographical variation in fatalities and other conflict incidents, days under curfews, checkpoints, movement restrictions, and Palestinian substitution labor by foreigner workers on the Palestinian labor market and human capital”. Earnings and unemployment are the main labor market indicators, while human capital was assessed by educational attainment. Also, this essay sheds light on the wage differential in the Palestinian labor market due to geographical and employment sector factors as a consequence of the ongoing conflict.

Chinese Diplomacy Discourse in the Prism of the Relations with the Sub-Saharan Region

Chinese economic reforms initiated by Deng Xiaoping have given China the necessary push for the development and growth of the domestic economy. The People’s Republic of China (PRC) under Xi Jinping claims, that the originally planned transformation is completed, and China is ready for achieving new goals, such as first peripherical and, later, global dominance, leadership in manufacturing and technology and probably even the moral benchmark. The PRC presents a new model of global order with its active position as the super nation.Chinese current behaviour on the international stage is the direct illustration of the political thought of Xi Jinping. To understand the main principles and the vision of the PRC under Xi, his principles of diplomacy have been analysed.This paper claims, that the rhetoric of Xi Jinping and his administration is a neo-pragmatic approach, which includes nativism, anti-traditionalism and pragmatism within.The article takes as a case study for the implementation of the Chinese foreign policy the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) member states.Contrarily to the American dominance, China suggests guidance, collaboration with mutual benefits and growth, which involves both sides. “Shift in space” stresses the concrete steps for achieving the “China’s dream” of rejuvenation.

A Study on Robert Keohane’s Idea of “Power”

Robert Keohane is a leading contemporary international relations scholar. His ideas and doctrines are important parts of neoliberal institutionalism. In his books Power and Interdependence, and After Hegemony: Cooperation and Discord in the World Political Economy, he has a unique perspective on power, a core concept of international relations, that differs from realism and constructivism. This paper uses documentary analysis to distill and summarize the discussion of power in Robert Keohane’s work, which helps to systematically study the neoliberal institutionalist view of power and to make the classic theory show its charm beyond its time.

Popular Uprisings in Sudan: Revolutionary Processes Intercepted

This article tries to go beyond the general features of the Sudanese three popular Uprisings of 1964, 1985 and 2018/19, to explore their root causes. It argues that the revolutionary processes in the Sudan have been impeded by such factors as: (1) lack of visionary leaders; (2) inter-elites dissensions; (3) intra-party schisms and inter-party conflicts (over interests); and (4) absence of coherent programmatic and mass political parties. Since independence in 1956, the Sudan has been trapped in a vicious circle—oscillating between democratic and military rules. So: “why does democracy fail in Sudan? It compares the different settings that differentiate the Uprising (of 2018/19) from the previous two, with especial emphasis on the latest one—one of the most successful non-violent civil resistances. The article explains that those uprisings could have escalated into full-fledged revolution but were let down by the civil elites who disappointed any prospects for revolutionary achievement”. Hence, the article rests on the hypothesis that “the political elite are responsible for the failure of the popular uprisings in Sudan”. The article provides empirical explanations for this hypothesis and suggests adoption of consociationalism which is more likely to suit the highly diversified Sudanese society with deep ethno-political polarization.

The Effect of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict on the Palestinian labor Market and Human Capital Accumulation

This paper summarizes recent literature that discusses the economic costs of several conflict measures, e.g., “time and geographical variation in fatalities and other conflict incidents, days under curfews, checkpoints, movement restrictions, and Palestinian substitution labor by foreigner workers on the Palestinian labor market and human capital”. Earnings and unemployment are the main labor market indicators, while human capital was assessed by educational attainment. Also, this essay sheds light on the wage differential in the Palestinian labor market due to geographical and employment sector factors as a consequence of the ongoing conflict.

Chinese Diplomacy Discourse in the Prism of the Relations with the Sub-Saharan Region

Chinese economic reforms initiated by Deng Xiaoping have given China the necessary push for the development and growth of the domestic economy. The People’s Republic of China (PRC) under Xi Jinping claims, that the originally planned transformation is completed, and China is ready for achieving new goals, such as first peripherical and, later, global dominance, leadership in manufacturing and technology and probably even the moral benchmark. The PRC presents a new model of global order with its active position as the super nation.Chinese current behaviour on the international stage is the direct illustration of the political thought of Xi Jinping. To understand the main principles and the vision of the PRC under Xi, his principles of diplomacy have been analysed.This paper claims, that the rhetoric of Xi Jinping and his administration is a neo-pragmatic approach, which includes nativism, anti-traditionalism and pragmatism within.The article takes as a case study for the implementation of the Chinese foreign policy the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) member states.Contrarily to the American dominance, China suggests guidance, collaboration with mutual benefits and growth, which involves both sides. “Shift in space” stresses the concrete steps for achieving the “China’s dream” of rejuvenation.

Making Astrology Look Respectable: On the Extraordinary Abuse of Economic Models in the EU Referendum Debate

In June 2016, I released an article entitled: “Measurement without Theory: On the extraordinary abuse of economic models in the EU Referendum debate” in advance of the referendum on 23 June 2016 on whether the UK should leave the European Union. That article heavily criticised two reports that had been released by the UK Treasury on the consequences of Brexit, calling them “dodgy dossiers” for “grossly exaggerating the impact of the economic consequences of Brexit and providing no analysis of the risks from remaining in the EU”. This article reproduces the 2016 article and also provides an update on the state of the UK economy five years after the publication of the reports. It confirms that the only purpose the two Treasury reports was to make astrology look respectable.