Nº 3 (117) (2023)
Articles
The impact of the EU enlargement on the speed of decision-making
Resumo
This paper presents a quantitative empirical study of the impact of the EU enlargements in 1995 and 2004 on the speed of the decision-making process (legislative process). The research is based on two methods: interrupted time series analysis and survival analysis (Cox model). The use of these methods increases the validity of the present study. The empirical data consists of the EU secondary law directives and regulations. The methodology and research design allow to distinguish between the impact of enlargement and the impact of changes of the institutional parameters of the decision-making process. The findings demonstrate that the legislative process significantly accelerated at the time of the 2004 enlargement. Most likely this was because 1) the preferences of the new member states were generally within the range of preferences of the old members and a new axis of conflict (Western versus Eastern member states) emerged only in a limited number of EU areas of activity; 2) the Council adopted new Rules of Procedure immediately before the entry of new members, which significantly increased the effectiveness of the Council. As for the 1995 enlargement, due to the low reliability of estimations, it can only be cautiously concluded that it did not have a visible slowing effect on the decision-making process. The conclusion that the 2004 enlargement did not entail a slowdown of the EU legislative process is of fundamental importance for understanding the specifics of the functioning of the EU.
Contemporary Europe. 2023;(3 (117)):5-19
5-19
EU travel restrictions for russian citizens: political and legal issues
Resumo
2022 is a period of significant deterioration in relations between Russia and the EU. Apart from introduction of additional restrictive measures provided by the European Union law, for the first time the EU has taken measures aimed at travel ban of citizens of the Russian Federation, thus extending sanctions to ordinary citizens. Such actions can be qualified as attempts to create adverse environment for the Russian Federation. Measures taken at the national and union level to restrict entry are solely due to the citizenship of the foreigner. For the EU countries, this is certainly a new phenomenon in political and legal practice that needs adequate analysis. The purpose of this article is to comprehensively analyse measures to restrict the entry of Russian citizens into the EU in order to identify their key characteristics, possible consequences, as well as their compliance with the basic principles of a modern democratic society. The author comes to the conclusion that measures on travel ban for Russian citizens, with the exception of the suspension of the Agreement between the European Community and the Russian Federation on the facilitation of the issuance of visas to the citizens of the European Union and the Russian Federation, do not comply with either the EU law or current international law. The most controversial and illegal are the national measures to ban the entry of Russian citizens into the territory of a certain EU countries bordering the Russian Federation. The author believes that these measures are inherently counterproductive, since they harm ordinary citizens and do not bring any political or economic benefit to the countries that introduce them.
Contemporary Europe. 2023;(3 (117)):20-32
20-32
"Strategic sovereignty" and "Strategic autonomy" in the EU’s official discourse: a morphological analysis of ideology
Resumo
The article focuses on the two concepts that have become increasingly common in the official discourse of the EU in recent years - “strategic sovereignty” and “strategic autonomy”. Top public officials, politicians and bodies of the European Union and of member states refer to each of these terms, depending on the circumstances or the established tradition of using the concept in a particular area of the EU's policy. However, there is still no clear understanding in the academic and expert community of how they relate at the semantic level - in other words, whether these terms are interchangeable with regard to their meaning, adjacent ones or they differ radically from each other. The author uses the morphological analysis of ideology by M. Freeden with the special emphasis on the process of decontestation as a theoretical and methodological framework of the study in order to compare these two concepts and discover their semantic content. The empirical evidence of the article includes speeches of EU’s top public officials, politicians, as well as key documents of the EU during the period of active dissemination of concepts in the discourse of Brussels. The analysis reveals that the two concepts occupy related semantic positions, but they are not completely synonymous. It is difficult to predict the further evolution of the concepts within the EU’s semantic system, but they have already taken an important place in the foreign policy discourse of Brussels that will inevitably affect all the EU counterparties, including Russia.
Contemporary Europe. 2023;(3 (117)):33-44
33-44
Russia in public discourse and public opinion of citizens of the Italian Republic
Resumo
The authors examine the social grounds for the formation of a positive image of Russia in the public opinion of Italy. The purpose of the study is to measure how the attitude of the Italians towards Russia has changed after 2022. The research is based on a secondary analysis of the representative results of sociological surveys of EU citizens and also on the authors’ analysis of political public discourse, where the source was the Italian media and the statements of political actors. The stability of the positive image of Russia in Italian public opinion is determined by the stable economic, political and cultural ties between Italy and Russia. The results of the discourse analysis of an extensive database of documents - election programs, materials from the leading social and political media in Italy and statements by Italian politicians - demonstrated a high level of interest of members of the Italian political elite in maintaining stable relations with Russia in various fields. They are representatives of the Italian populist parties among opinion makers and leaders, who influence the formation of a positive image of Russia. The attitude towards the Russian Federation in Italian public opinion has remained positive for a long period of time. The special military operation has significantly changed the perception of Russia, but the Italians still remain its sympathizers compared to citizens of other EU countries.
Contemporary Europe. 2023;(3 (117)):45-56
45-56
The Kosovo problem: Serbia faces a decisive choice
Resumo
The article concentrates on the agreements between Belgrade and Pristina reached on February 27, 2023 in Brussels, and on March 18, 2023 in Ohrid through mediation of the EU and the USA. It also traces the chronology of the process that led to the current result and discusses “The Agreement on the Path to Normalisation of Relations between Kosovo and Serbia” and the “Implementation Annex”. The analysis indicates the perception of the documents by society and political forces both in Kosovo and Serbia. Based on sociological surveys the study examines the attitude towards various ways of resolving the “Kosovo problem”, towards the EU, NATO, and Russia. It also draws attention to the change in the position of the influential Serbian Orthodox Church, and speculates on the reasons for this turn. The article makes an assumption regarding the future course of behavior of the leaders of Kosovo and Serbia along with representatives of the EU and the United States. Whether Serbia joins the anti-Russian sanctions is an open question. The choice should be made between interests and emotions, national mythology and material goods, tradition and the future. The Western push to further promote accession of Serbia to the EU in exchange for recognition of Kosovo's independence means essential revision of the national Serbian national identity. It is about a historical choice, which will require a corresponding response from Russia.
Contemporary Europe. 2023;(3 (117)):57-67
57-67
The EU assistance in solving the problem of scientific and technological development of Jordan
Resumo
The peculiarities of the policy of contemporary Jordan in light of shortages of natural resources and problems of a socio-economic nature include stimulation of the research and development sector, as well as the creation of an effective innovation system. The purpose of the article is to conceptualize the priorities, main directions, forms and results of the European Union's assistance to scientific, technological and innovative development of Jordan since 2010s. The study reveals the synergy of EU assistance in the implementation of Jordan's policy to strengthen its competitiveness in the field of science, technology and innovation in the form of programs and projects at the multilateral and bilateral level. The article substantiates the conclusion about the contradictory nature of the results of this assistance. While it increases the research potential of Jordan, the EU is not interested in integrating the country into global value chains. This leads to a slowdown in its economic development and simultaneously to a slowdown in the development of the national innovation system due to the lack of effective commercialisation of knowledge and technologies in the national and international markets. Jordan's integration into the European Research Area involves solving a number of problems, for example, participation in the process of establishing priorities for regional cooperation in science and technology.
Contemporary Europe. 2023;(3 (117)):68-81
68-81
The support of small and medium enterprises for sustainable development in the EU
Resumo
The article examines the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) support measures for sustainable development in the European Union (EU). The study focuses on the theoretical approaches to the concept of sustainable development that is the basis for the development of sustainability programs in the EU in which small and medium-sized companies take part. The article scrutinizes the aim of the European countries to decrease the ecological footprint by taking collective action in the EU and introducing measures to make the production process greener in the EU member countries. The authors underline the role of SMEs in the realization of 17 Sustainable development goals (SDGs) developed by the United Nations. They outline the support measures for sustainable development which number has increased considerably in EU-27 member states in the last three years and that include the support measures for improving regulation of the SMEs activity, their access to resources in accordance with the SME Strategy for sustainable and digital Europe, measures to introduce innovations in ecological and social spheres; technologies of the circular economy and wasteless production that can be implemented in Russia. The study is based on the data of international organizations, international agencies and documents of the European Commission.
Contemporary Europe. 2023;(3 (117)):82-94
82-94
Spanish economy on the trajectory of the modernisation process
Resumo
The experience of Spain indicates that in the actual conditions of decomposition of global and European economic growth, the promotion of modernisation processes involves reforming and structural rebooting of the economy, highlighting and systemic support for high-tech sectors of the economy. These and other problems of modernization are solved on the basis of the existing scientific and technical potential and international competitive advantages of Spanish business leaders in certain sectors of the world economy. As an example, the article demonstrates that in the changing European environment Madrid has tried to seize the initiative in the critical energy field. In this regard, the Spanish authorities predictably focused on relations with neighboring countries: Portugal and France, the creation of an energy system's interconnectivity, which has become one of the main tasks of the reform. Among other key areas are reindustrialisation, innovatisation programme digitalisation of small and medium-sized enterprises, creating conditions for the growth of technological unicorn startups. With the assistance of scientific methods of systemic, comparative, historical, content and statistical analysis, case study, the article reveals the concept of Spanish modernisation and gives its periodisation, defines the goals, tools, risks and challenges of the current stage of modernisation.
Contemporary Europe. 2023;(3 (117)):95-106
95-106
Accelerated universities: European and Asian experience
Resumo
Using socio-cultural methodology, as well as comparative analysis and data from the most authoritative agencies in the field of global university rankings, the article scrutinises examples of the successful creation of some newly founded universities in Europe, Asia and Russia. The main purpose of the study is, firstly, to outline the socio-cultural background, and, secondly, to compare the features of the entry of relatively recently emerged universities among the world leaders. The article reveals that along with the traditional resource sources of university efficiency, such socio-cultural dominant idea of modernity as the ubiquitous “acceleration of time“ characteristic of the global era of the knowledge economy begins to play an equally important role in achieving the latter. It is established that young universities appear as an up-to-date version of the response to the challenges of modern culture as a marker of acceleration of social time. Accelerated university is defined as a university that has reached a world-class level in several decades, often with uncertain future prospects. It is argued that of all the examples considered in the article, it is the University of Skoltech that currently proves to be almost completely confirming this definition. The evolution of a young university is considered as the result of a risky innovation, the success of which is not a foregone conclusion, and is also subject to constant changes.
Contemporary Europe. 2023;(3 (117)):107-117
107-117
State and civil society: peculiarities of the german approach
Resumo
The article is dedicated to the interaction between the German state and civil society (CS). Germany is known as a developed democratic state with a strong CS in which non-governmental organizations play an active role. They also help the German government to implement its foreign policy vision and maintain its image abroad. The article addresses the question whether German NGOs are equal partners of the state and to what extent they are independent in reality. The author analyses the legal status and financing features of German NGOs, examines the concepts of interaction between the state and CSOs and highlights their underlying principles. The study makes a clear distinction between the academic approach and the state/government approach. For this purpose, the author examines theoretical papers by German academics and analyses conducted by the Bundestag, especially the "Ethics Commissions" of 2002, and compares the German approach to NGOs with other international practices. The article reveals the main points of interaction between the state and CSOs during the chancellorship of G. Schroeder and A. Merkel. The red-green coalition model is analyzed in more detail, as it has become the basis of the modern "social contract". The author concludes that there is no civil society in the classical scientific sense in the FRG. The German state not only actively supports its NGOs financially, but also defines the rules of engagement by clearly identifying organizations that seek political influence.
Contemporary Europe. 2023;(3 (117)):118-130
118-130
Political mediageography: consumption of feminism in Northern Europe
Resumo
The article presents the results of a multidisciplinary analysis of such political constant (political sense) as “feminism”. New aspects of the reaction of societies to the practice of exercising political power in different regions and countries are revealed. The analysis was carried out on the basis of political media geography - a new discipline in political science. The author considers feminism as a political sense that fits well into the framework of “big” ideologies: communism, socialism, capitalism. The author uses the concept of a mental landscape, which can be considered as a way of thinking, attitude to any socially significant phenomena and processes of residents of a certain area, territory. The research is based on big data obtained from Google for the period 2010-2023 - the dynamics of Internet users’ requests in Nordic countries, according to topics that mark the meaning of “feminism”. The study concentrates on a new understanding of Internet bibliometrics, which takes into account the massive interest of users in various topics, expressed in the number of requests for certain keywords or phrases in a certain period of time. The author focuses on the phenomenon of anisotropy of mental landscapes especially in Sweden and Finland. Despite the fact that feminism still remains politically attractive, available empirical data indicate an increasing anisotropy of the mental landscapes of all countries in the region. Popularity of feminism fell below its peak. It is possible to predict the degradation of the ideology, the decline of its role as a factor and instrument of political struggle.
Contemporary Europe. 2023;(3 (117)):131-142
131-142
Theology and politics. political attempts to subordinate the Church
Resumo
The article reviews a cultural hybrid, which is defined as religious political science or “theopolitics”. Within the framework of this phenomenon, according to the author, the language of church mission and catechetical practices is subordinated to the discourse of political activists. Among the examples of such subordination are the so-called “maidan theology”, the Declaration on the “Russian World” Teaching, Polish political Catholicism, the accession of the Hrodna episcopate clergy to the “zmagar” political opposition in 2020, etc. Religious political science tends to consider politics itself as a religious practice; political theology, on the contrary, looks at political issues as something that should be brought in accordance with a theological canon. The goals of theopolitics are reached with the close application of modernist theology. The latter seeks to transform the Christian canon according to the secularism, in particular, to sacralize specific events in secular history - this principle is characteristic of concepts from the category of the so-called “theology after” (after Auschwitz, after 9/11, after the global pandemic, etc.) According to the author, the field of church mission is thus taken under control, preaching is reinterpreted in line with the political propaganda, the church is represented as a subsystem of a “civil society”. The author emphasizes the importance of the motives of the “weak Church” and “weak God” for creating a “theological” justification of the ideas of religious political science and concludes that theopolitics is one of the manifestations of the “new Reformation” (otherwise: secular reformation) aimed at secularisation of church institutions.
Contemporary Europe. 2023;(3 (117)):143-151
143-151
Migration and islamic fundamentalism in the context of discourse of postmodernism
Resumo
The article analyses the reasons for the choice of radical Islam by young Muslims in the European countries. Islam became a Western religion as a result of the migration of millions of Muslims. The authors provide a number of indications of the formation of a new global religious system. The new religious cross-border communities constitute a globalised network. Their dynamic nature and partial virtualisation of their activities weaken the state control. The activities of “parallel societies” are associated with Muslim immigrants. Their parallel system of leadership and law creates real competition for the state governance structures. The fundamentalist version of Islam becomes attractive to Muslims who have endured its de-territorialisation. Their religious identity is formed under the influence of new interactions, media resources and participation in a global network of like-minded people. Islamic fundamentalism does not naturally emerge from Islam. This is the result of the secularisation of Islam, when the priority of politics over religion uses the latter as a resource for legitimising its social and political protest. It is also a reaction to the search for an identity that is relevant in a new environment. The attitudes inherent in fundamentalism, such as distrust of the values of European civilisation, the call for radical measures in their denial, the construction of a private version of the tradition and its idealisation, are based on modern problems. This represents fundamentalism as a postmodern phenomenon.
Contemporary Europe. 2023;(3 (117)):152-163
152-163
Europeans in Japan: from trade to knowledge
Resumo
The Dutch trading posts, first at Hirado and later at Deshima in northwest Kyushu, existed from 1609 to 1855. These almost two and a half centuries can be roughly divided in two parts. In the XVII th and the beginning of the XVIII th century the relations between the Dutch and the Japanese were marked by the mutual interest in trade and by the readiness of the Dutch to unconditionally obey the strict rules of their presence in Japan. The second half of Dutch presence at Desima is characterized by decline of trade and increase of mutual interest. Trade began to decline after the Shogunate prohibited the export of gold and silver in 1668. In 1743 for the first time trade with Japan became unprofitable. In 1799 the Dutch East India Company (VOC) ceased to exist. This was due both to the loss of its markets in Persia, India, and Europe and to increased competition with England and France for colonial markets. Another reason for the company's bankruptcy was the managerial errors of its management - the company was paying dividends to shareholders in Holland that exceeded its profits. Despite the economic losses, both sides were in no hurry to end the relationship. For Japan, Deshima remained a small window to Europe, through which they learned about the outside world and its scientific and technological achievements. The emergence of qualified translators from the Dutch language in Japan coincided with the Shogunate's interest in the development of science, opened up a source of knowledge for the country and the emergence of a new branch of science, Rangaku, which means «Dutch science». The Netherlands, maintaining its trading post in Japan, proceeded not only from the desire to maintain its status as a global empire, but also got a chance to study and appreciate the rather unique intellectual and cultural potential of the Japanese, becoming a unique source of knowledge about this country for Europe. Last 15 years of Tokugawa period is called Bakumatsu (what means the «end of Tokugawa period»), which was followed by Meiji restoration, and development of intensive contacts between Europe and Japan.
Contemporary Europe. 2023;(3 (117)):164-177
164-177
Geopolitics’ past and future: negation of the negation
Resumo
In a radically changed world, geopolitical costs and errors as a result of underestimation or, conversely, overestimation of increasingly non-linear hybrid processes, conflicting trends and often spontaneous events acquire increased practical and political significance. Under these conditions, the focus of research attention could not but be on the recently published work of French researchers and international experts under the catchy and meaningful title “The world will never be the same”. In the focus of the analysis is the updated context of modern crisis geopolitics. The conceptual and analytical basis of the text is formed by extensive introductory and at the same time generalizing sections that systematize two dozen chapters on a variety of international topics and problems. They were written by the co-leaders of the team of authors, well-known French international political researchers Bertrand Bady and Dominique Vidal. A new approach is put at the forefront, which is not predetermined in advance, but is created on the basis of life practice as a result and under the influence of historical surprises, unforeseen and even previously unimaginable events. An attempt was made to consider the problems of the future world order through the prism of great-power contradictions, the confrontation of various value orientations and development models with an emphasis on the competition of democracies and autocracies. On the example of the United States, the concept of world domination is rethought. The book reflects new features of the expert-analytical work of French international researchers. The authors are aware that the confrontational severity of the crisis situation in Ukraine and its internationalization in a variety of hybridized forms have sharply “shaken” the more or less established balance of power not only in the European region, but throughout the global space. In general, they agree that optimistic options for a new world order are at stake. In separate sections of the book, the chaos of world politics and international relations is linked to the overstrain of the US hyperpower, which is approaching a critical point.
Contemporary Europe. 2023;(3 (117)):178-187
178-187
Russian view on the political landscape of Latin America
Resumo
The article analyses the collective monograph “Latin America: political landscape against the backdrop of turbulence”, published at the Institute of Latin America of the Russian Academy of Sciences, edited by Doctor of Political Sciences Z.V. Ivanovsky. The monograph attempts to answer the questions, what path of development the countries of Latin America will take and how they will build their relations with the outside world in the new geopolitical reality. The answers are of great importance for predicting the nature of future relations between the countries of Latin America and the European Union. The author gives an assessment of the alignment of political forces in the face of new challenges both in individual countries and in the region as a whole. Particular emphasis is placed on the results of the latest election campaigns that are shaping a new political landscape in Latin America. The author notes that there are chances for solving deep social problems in Latin America, overcoming interstate contradictions and intensifying integration processes.
Contemporary Europe. 2023;(3 (117)):188-197
188-197
Portrayal of Russian Foreign Policy towards Georgia in 2008 and Ukraine in 2014 in the Western and Russian Academia
Resumo
This study examines how the Russo-Georgian War in 2008 and the Ukraine Crisis in 2014 were discussed in Western and Russian academic circles. The findings show that historical accounts as well as various theoretical frameworks were used to explain the Russian foreign policy (RFP) regarding these conflicts. In comparison, although mono-theoretical models were utilized in both cases, they are more dominant in the works of Western scholars. On the other hand, inductive historical explanations were used more in the works of Russian scholars. Another important point is that in the latter studies, alternative accounts to the Western unilateralism are more popular. These accounts reveal themselves with concepts such as “multipolar world” or “Eurasianism”. As for the mono theoretical accounts, realist approaches seem to be the dominant framework in both cases. Realist frameworks emphasize the improved material capabilities of Russia and external pressures in its sphere of influence. The later component of the realist approach is stressed more by scholars from both academic circles. Moreover, even the studies that utilize different approaches, such as ideational explanations, domestic political factors, decision-maker related approaches, or the ones that highlight the regional competition, emphasize the role of the strategic or geopolitical imperatives as a factor that cannot be ignored regarding how RFP is formed and implemented.
Contemporary Europe. 2023;(3 (117)):198-209
198-209
Pages of the Struggle of Soviet Diplomacy for the Membershipof the Ukrainian SSR and the BSSR in the UN
Contemporary Europe. 2023;(3 (117)):210-213
210-213