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Lomonosov World Politics Journal

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Vol 11, No 4 (2019)
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MEMORABLE DATES IN THE HISTORY OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

3-38 2041
Abstract
In 2019 the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC) celebrates its 30th anniversary. APEC emerged at a turning point in international relations history as the break-up of the socialist camp ruled out the alternative to capitalism model of social and political development and created new opportunities for internationalization of production. However, those new opportunities were yet to be realized. The 30th anniversary of APEC provides a good opportunity to revisit the history of the forum and to highlight complex negotiations between the countries of the Asia-Pacific region at the end of the Cold War. The paper examines both the structural factors that shaped global and regional contexts of the negotiation process and the role of those politicians and diplomats who had decisively contributed to the success of the negotiations. Special focus is made on the role of the United States, Australia, and Japan. The author examines their views on a wide range of issues related to the development of economic and political cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region, including its aims and scope, institutional arrangements, potential participants, and prospects for cooperation with regional organizations (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) — in particular) and mechanisms of global trade management (primarily — the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)). As for the ASEAN member states, the author emphasizes that they were particularly concerned that a new forum would place itself centrally in the regional economic cooperation and would overshadow the Association. In addition, they sought to ensure that APEC won’t be dominated by larger, stronger states, notably by the United States and Japan. Under these conditions, Australia decided to take the initiative. It managed to dispel major fears of the ASEAN member states and convinced them to join the new regional alliance, and ultimately it was Australia who played the central role in founding of APEC. At the same time the author notes that the forum has gone far beyond the initial expectations of its creators: it is not merely an effective tool for further trade liberalization in the Asia-Pacific region, but a unique platform for consultation, negotiation, and decision-making process suited for needs and capacities of each individual member state. As a result, economic cooperation among countries of the Pacific has reached a fundamentally new level.

POLITICS OF HISTORY

39-67 281
Abstract
Historical research has always, to one degree or another, been used for political expediency, during the periods of war and intense social and political upheaval transforming into the ‘heavy artillery’ of the state propaganda. In recent years, this trend has received a powerful impetus, prompting scholars to critically reassess the role of historical memory in the formation of collective identities and political myths. These studies have already turned into a full-fledged independent research area, focused on politics of history and memory and the use of the past for political purposes in general. This paper examines the key features and content of the historical policy of the Republic of Croatia regarding its ‘inconvenient past’ of the World War II. While the experience of the recent Serbo-Croatian conflict is often glossed over, the landmark events of the 1940s are constantly invoked in the public rhetoric of the country’s leaders, turning into a ‘past that does not pass’. In the countries of the former Yugoslavia competing narratives are constructed around certain historical events and personalities: if Serbia concentrates on such topics as Jasenovac and anti-fascism, Croatia invokes the memories of the so-called Bleiburg massacre of 1945, the ‘Way of the Cross’ and the victims of communism. Jasenovac and Bleiburg are counterposed to each other as ‘places of remembrance’, which provide political opponents with yet another opportunity to challenge each other over differences in the interpretation of both the events of World War II and the contemporary bilateral relations. The author considers Serbo-Croatian dispute over historical events from the standpoint of the theory of stigmatization by E. Goffman. Within this theoretical framework, the author attempts to conceptualize the events of World War II as a special ‘stigma’ of Croatia. Such extrapolation is perfectly defensible on the grounds of the Erving Goffman’s classic theory. It allows for the identification of the type of strategy to promote the country’s reputation, chosen by the Republic of Croatia from those available to states with a ‘tarnished’ national identity. Building on the E. Goffman’s theory the author concludes that Croatia adopts the strategy of ‘selective amnesia’, preferring to conceal the controversial episodes of its history. The paper identifies methods of historical self-legitimation of the Republic of Croatia, as well as their foreign policy implications.

FOREIGN ASSISTANCE

68-113 206
Abstract
This paper identifies and explains the most characteristic substantial and procedural features of the U.S. foreign assistance allocation under Donald Trump. The research covers a 3-year period from the inauguration of the 45th President of the United States to the Ukrainegate — the first scandal in the U.S. history provoqued by the submission of an anonymous whistleblower’s report pointing at the President’s illegal manipulation of the foreign aid resources to achieve personal political goals, which paved the way to his impeachment. The first section examines the particularities of the Trump and his administration’s conceptual approach to the utilization of foreign assistance tools for political purposes. The second section depicts the process of instrumentalization of these concepts, as well as a confrontation between the White House and the Capitol Hill over foreign aid budgets and their implementation. The final section identifies common and unique features of three exemplary cases of aid suspension — towards Pakistan, the Northern Triangle countries (Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador) and Ukraine. The conclusion is drawn that from the very beginning Donald Trump had promoted an extremely pragmatic, transactionalist approach to foreign assistance with aid allocation regarded as a mutually beneficial transaction meant to bring concrete and often short-term dividends. Adherence to this approach manifested itself in various forms — in the Predisent’s public statements, in the rhetoric of his administration’s key doctrinal documents and budget proposals, and also in the White House’s regular attempts (futile though) to cut aid to countries which did not provide anything in return, and to prepare the ground for rescinding the unobligated aid funds appropriated by the Congress. The most quintessential element of transactionalism in foreign aid policies was a wide use of aid suspension tools which provided the United States with a costless method to coerce its counterparts to make concessions. The Ukrainian case is, undoubtedly, totally different from the cases of suspension of aid to either Pakistan or the Northern Triangle countries but illegal actions attributed to Trump, as well as his political opponents’ treatment of these actions followed the logic of his presidency and exemplified an unprecedented politization of foreign aid allocation process. The latter trend should be interpreted in the context of a traditional confrontation of the White House and the Congress over the limits of presidential authority in foreign policy and budget implementation. Foreign assistance has become the domain where these two dimensions overlapped generating a cumulative effect of an extreme scale manifested by the Ukrainegate and its aftermath.
114-136 228
Abstract
The paper examines activities of ‘traditional’ donors of official development assistance (ODA) in the information and communication technologies (ICTs) sector. The author assesses the major quantitative parameters of aid flows and their dynamics for the past two decades, examines the distribution of aid across donor and recipient countries, as well as considers the issues of tied aid and conditionality. The research is based on the OECD DAC data at the project level for the period 1995–2007. The author identifies three major donors: Japan, the Republic of Korea, and the United States. For Japan and the Republic of Korea the key partners and recipients in the ICTs sector include their closest neighbours — the Southeast Asian countries (Vietnam, Sri Lanka, etc.) As for the United States development assistance, it is primarily distributed to those states where the US and its allies have imposed regime change (Iraq and Afghanistan) or, to a lesser extent, to their strategic partners, such as Egypt. The author notes that the overall trend towards further untying of aid is unlikely to have a significant impact on the ICTs sector. The author also emphasizes that traditional donors, with the exception of Japan and the Republic of Korea, tend to favour funding assistance through multilateral channels, such as various European Union institutions and the World Bank. This trend may be explained by the ineffectiveness of many ICTs development assistance projects, which forces donors to diversify risks by shifting the responsibility for possible failures on the international organizations. However, the author concludes that the emergence of non-traditional donors, especially China, the use of tied aid as a means to capture new markets, as well as the constant desire to influence the domestic policies of recipient countries, may draw attention of the traditional donors back to the ICTs sector, especially considering the increasing competition in the 5G marketplace.

CHALLENGES OF POST-CONFLICT RECONSTRUCTION

137-171 329
Abstract
In recent years the issues of peaceful resolution of internal armed conflicts and post-conflict reconstruction have increasingly attracted attention of both the leading states and international organizations and the academic community. Researchers agree that it is the identification and elimination of the underlying causes and triggers of conflict that represent one of the major challenges to the states emerging from the internal armed conflicts. The challenge is all the more complex when the internal conflict is internationalized and involves some external actors. In that regard the case of Colombia is of special interest. The paper covers a relatively long period — from mid-1960s to the end of 2000s — and examines the key stages and areas of the United States-Colombia cooperation aimed at the cessation of hostilities in the latter. The paper identifies the underlying causes of the armed conflict in Colombia, its key participants and their goals. The author shows that the forms and the scope of the U.S. assistance to the Colombian government were strongly linked to the evolution of both the situation in that country and the strategic priorities of the US foreign policy in general. While initially the US assistance was determined by the desire to counter the growing influence of the leftist parties and movements in the region, the prioritization of the fight against drug trafficking in the national security strategy in the 1980s resulted in the re-orientation of the US regional policies to the war on drugs. The adoption of the Plan Colombia served as a milestone in the development of the bilateral relations. The paper examines in detail the consequences and results of implementation of this plan. The beginning of the 2000s was yet another pivotal point in the development of bilateral interaction aimed at cessation of hostilities, marked by the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the failure of negotiations between the Colombian government and the opposition, and the implementation of a ‘democratic security’ policy. All this contributed to the convergence of the two governments’ views on security issues and conflict resolution. A new modus vivendi emerged as bilateral partnership was transforming into strategic alliance. However, the author emphasizes, that implications of these new developments on the peace process were yet to be discovered.
172-195 241
Abstract
The all-inclusive interparty negotiations on a national basis aimed at ending an internal conflict, overcoming its consequences and securing conditions for a peaceful development of the society are not by themselves a new phenomenon. At the same time this format, generally referred to as a ‘national dialogue’, has recently gained a new impetus, particularly in the Asian and African countries, affected by the Arab Awakening. Despite this fact the very definition of a ‘national dialogue’ remains vague, both scholars and policy practitioners still lack an adequate and precise understanding of its aims, mechanisms and implications. In order to provide a better understanding of the concept of a ‘national dialogue’, the author summarizes the most widely accepted definitions and considers them by reference to a concrete country case. As such, the author examines the national dialogue initiated by Bahrain’s authorities in the face of the Arab Awakening. The author concludes that in its most general sense the national dialogue implies an attempt to unify the efforts of all conflicting parties and actors (both state and non-state) to promote a national consensus on the key issues of reconciliation. In that context both the key task of and the major challenge to the national dialogue is to ensure maximal inclusiveness. In order to do so a few methodological, as well as purely practical questions need to be addressed: interests of what political forces (groups) must be considered, who is to elaborate the criteria and methods of selecting actual participants of the negotiations, how to assess their real representativeness and legitimacy and so on. It is from this perspective that the paper assesses Bahrain’s experience in organizing the national dialogue. The paper describes in detail a preparatory process for negotiations, their key participants, and their progress. The author concludes that though experts traditionally refer to Bahrain’s national dialogue as, at best, unsuccessful, its more detailed examination allows to reevaluate some of its aspects. The modest success of negotiations is explained by both subjective (the position of the ruling elites and their political opponents) and objective factors (a highly polarized and conflictual nature of the society). Nevertheless, the dialogue managed to reduce the level of political tension in the country and this experience could prove very useful.

REVIEW ESSAYS AND BOOK REVIEWS

196-218 153
Abstract
The International Likhachev Scientific Readings is a unique phenomenon not only for the Russian but for the universal academic and social thought as well. The review examines a fundamental work by A.S.Zapesotsky, a Rector of St. Petersburg University of the Humanities and Social Sciences– one of the initiators of the International Likhachev Scientific Readings. The book contains selected papers of the participants of the Likhachev Readings throughout their history, organized thematically. The reviewer provides a detailed description of all sections of the book, which cover a wide range of issues of contemporary world politics, from globalization, promotion of the dialogue between cultures and civilizations, to the emergence of the postindustrial culture and the new world order. The reviewer emphasizes that the book places a special focus on the role of Russia in the globalized world. Addressing the current trends in the development of the Western, especially European, society, A.S. Zapesotsky highlights a growing civilizational crisis of capitalism and outlines the contours of the new, post-capitalist world order. The book under review also contains proceedings of several round-tables, held during the Likhachev Readings, which addressed the issues of nations and nationalism, conflict of cultures and international terrorism. The reviewer concludes that this book allows for a better understanding of the phenomenon of the Likhachev Readings as a unique moulding of ideas and views of the leading Russian and foreign experts on the key issues of the world politics, globalization and inter-civilizational interaction.


ISSN 2076-7404 (Print)