Black Sea Region Security, Cyber Warfare, and New Technologies

In the wake of technological advances, cyber-attacks are becoming more dangerous, becoming a part of everyday life and an element of all conventional warfare. For Black Sea countries as well as the rest of the world, security is paramount. In discussing the issue, we must analyse the opportunities that the countries of the Black Sea basin have, first of all, the threats posed by Russia. This unpredictable state is carrying out the occupation of territories, military aggression, and large-scale cyber-attacks in this region, which is not a guarantee of peace and security. Russia is trying to influence almost the whole world and especially the Black Sea region – Ukraine, Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey, Georgia with large-scale cyber-hacking attacks and continuous disinformation fake news. Against the background of cyberattacks and misinformation propaganda, it is difficult to determine what kind of safe environment can be created in this region. This requires new research, recommendations, scientific papers, defence strategies. Cooperation with the EU and NATO needs to be strengthened. Following the Warsaw Summit, the Euro-Atlantic Alliance enacted Article 5 of the Washington Treaty, that is, the principle of ‘collective defence’ in terms of cyber warfare, cyber-attacks, and cyberterrorism. The topic discusses the cybersecurity issues and defence mechanisms of the countries of the Black Sea region, as well as the ongoing processes in the field of cybersecurity in this region. The paper discusses the threats and risks posed by Russia in the field of cybersecurity, as well as its impact on world politics.

An Assessment of Special Military Operations in Internal Security Management in Nigeria (1966-2019)

This article identifies different operational codenames adopted by the Nigerian military in special domestic operations from 1966-2019 and examined whether the operations were executed in line with the codenames. In Nigeria, the military has an established tradition of codenaming special operations, in both internal and foreign missions. Since 1966, the Nigerian military has been involved in internal security management and codenamed all the operations using both English and local language names. The aftermath of the first military coup d'état on 15th January 1966, was the beginning of military involvement in domestic security operations in addition to their constitutional responsibility of defending the territorial integrity of the country. The Effect Perspective (TEP) is adopted as the theoretical framework which gives proper nuance to the study. Methodologically, data were elicited through in-depth interviews. The findings explain why several military operations have failed to achieve the objectives of their codenames. It concludes that there is no correlation between the operational codenames and their outcomes of special military operations in Nigeria because the desired results of restoring peace have not been achieved within the specific time frame given when they were launched. The paper concludes that the majority of special military operations launched in Nigeria failed below expectations and unable to restore peace in their country in line with the operational codenames as a result of factors identified in the study.

The Role of the UN Security Council in COVID-19 Crisis Management

Currently, we experience a conditional reality imposed by the COVID19 pandemic, with both immediate and long-lasting repercussions on the international system and the behavior of each state. For this reason and because the new virus has a dynamic evolution in time and space, research of the impact of the new virus is needed not only from a biogenetic perspective but also in the context of other fields, including the international relations realm. The events we are witnessing at the present challenge to keep up with transformations taking place in the international arena, especially those in the field of virology. As epidemics over time, viruses that cause them to change and occur constantly remain only the fact that they will always influence not only interpersonal relations but impose conditions for new realities in the system of international relations. This article aims to highlight the main gaps in the work of the institution responsible for maintaining peace and security in the international arena, especially in the context of the COVID-19 crisis.

Influence of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty Termination on the Regional Security of Central Asia

In recent years, we have seen an aggravation of relations between the leading nuclear powers. These relations have entered a phase of irreconcilable contradictions and political problems. This paper is devoted to the problem of preserving the nuclear-free status of Central Asian countries. The study of this issue is very relevant in the context of the intensified global geopolitical struggle between Russia, China, the United States, and Iran. The authors used the method of expert survey and scenario approach to study the stated issues. Based on the data obtained, scenarios for the development of the geopolitical situation in the region under consideration were developed.

Religion and Demography: Causality or Correlation?

The article is focused on finding out whether religion and demography is causality, correlation, or anything at all, since the last decades we can see enormous regional disparities considering demographic patterns in different parts of the world governed (to a certain extent) by different religions. In the first part is the article oriented towards the relation between religion and demography and what attitudes different religions hold towards matters of sexuality, births, and fertility stimulation as these aspects are essential for issues regarding demography. In the second part of the article, we apply the theoretical approach from the first part to the contemporary religious landscape and prognoses by using quantitative, comparative, and deductive methods.

Russia’s Weapon of Words in Numbers. Evolution of Russian Assertive (Dis)Information Actions: Comparative Analysis of the Cases of RussoGeorgian War 2008 & Annexation of Crimea 2014 .

Russian assertive actions over the last decade have led some observers to think that the Kremlin is employing fundamentally new concepts of an armed conflict. Subsequently, the scholars of the field came up with several buzzwords and ill-defined concepts such as ‘hybrid warfare’ and ‘Gerasimov Doctrine’. This paper claims that the novelty of Russian actions is not in terms of its military transformations per se, but rather the specific way the military had been integrated with other instruments—mostly state-run and coordinated information operations. Thus, the study puts a novel emphasis on information operations and asserts that, while in certain cases Moscow still uses the conventional military, the Kremlin's new plan is to achieve goals through information online in the first place. Thus, the paper focuses on analysing the evolution of Russian information strategy. In doing so, quantitative content analysis is deployed to examine narratives built by RIA Novosti and Russia Today/RT during the Russo-Georgian War of 2008 and annexation of Crimea in 2014. The comparative analysis of the two successive cases demonstrates the gradual progression of Russian information strategy insofar as by 2014, in contrast to 2008, pro-Kremlin media exploited some contested areas of international law in a more sophisticated manner to depict compatibility of the Russian actions with the democratic procedures and standards of international law.

NATO Regional Approaches to Missile Defense – in the Context of Black Sea Security

In modern times, the security of the Black Sea region is given great attention in international politics. This is an important area of interest for the EuroAtlantic Alliance, as evidenced by the European Parliament's Strategy for the Black Sea, adopted in 2011. NATO's close attention at the 2016 Warsaw Summit and the Parliamentary Assembly in Bucharest in 2017 shows its interest in this issue, as well as at the 2019 Washington Ministerial meeting, which approved a package of security actions The Black Sea. After the annexation of Crimea by Russia, we can safely say that the region is included in the sphere of interests of global players. The Black Sea is simultaneously a confrontation line between global powers, where the interests of Russia and NATO, Russia and the European Union, on the one hand, and Turkey, Russia, and the United States, on the other, diverge. The article discusses the importance and role of the Black Sea in the context of global security. The policy of modernization and development of missile defense systems and strategic strike weapons in the Black Sea region is also being discussed. The main approaches and characteristics of NATO's regional security policy in the Black Sea are discussed.