Vestnik RUDN International Relations最新文献

{"title":"Non-Western Peacekeeping as a Factor of a Multipolar World: Outlines of Research Program","authors":"Yao N. Adu, Svetlana A. Bokeriya, Denis A. Degterev, Alexander B. Mezyaev, Pavel V. Shamarov","doi":"10.22363/2313-0660-2023-23-3-415-434","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22363/2313-0660-2023-23-3-415-434","url":null,"abstract":"This paper describes the contours of a research program on peacekeeping and peacebuilding, representing the interests of Non-Western countries (the world’s majority). The article is based on both individual developments of its expert authors in the theory and practice of peacekeeping, international law and development cooperation, as well as on generalized conclusions of eight international workshops on Non-Western peacekeeping, held by the Department of Theory and History of International Relations of the RUDN University in 2020-2021 with the participation of leading Russian and international experts. Particular attention is paid to the current moment in international peacekeeping associated with the “power transit” (from the United States to China, and more broadly, from the West to the Non-West) and the power vacuum observed in a number of regions. Conclusions are drawn about the crisis of humanitarian intervention and the system of liberal peacekeeping in general. At the same time, the remaining instruments of Western structural power in the field of peacekeeping are examined in detail, covering both personnel representation in the UN and the practice of ‘penholding,’ as well as the discursive hegemony of the “Collective West.” The main directions in the development of Non-Western academic discourse in the field of peacemaking and peacebuilding are explored in the context of building a multipolar world. Special attention is paid to the problems of regional human rights systems in the context of the protection of civilians and post-conflict peacebuilding. The study concludes that Non-Western countries have a significant influence on the formation of international norms in the field of peacekeeping (rule-changers), but so far do not act as norm-setting actors in world politics (rule-makers).","PeriodicalId":55752,"journal":{"name":"Vestnik RUDN International Relations","volume":"6 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136278045","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"US “Outposts” in Latin America: Military-Technical Cooperation, Military Bases and Joint Exercises","authors":"Andrei N. Piatakov, Magomed A.-M. Kodzoev","doi":"10.22363/2313-0660-2023-23-3-518-535","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22363/2313-0660-2023-23-3-518-535","url":null,"abstract":"The authors analyze the forms of interaction between the United States and Latin America in the military sphere. The relevance of studying this issue is due to the aggravation of relations between the collective West and Russia, as well as between the United States and China, within the framework of which Latin America acts as a zone of competition between the world powers. In this regard, the analysis of Latin American vector of US policy in the military aspect from the point of view of Russia’s strategic interests is particularly important. The lack of domestic scientific research on this problem greatly adds to its relevance. As for the novelty, based on the review of the world market of arms and military equipment (AME), this article determines the dynamics and the share of the American producer in the total volume of arms trade. In the context of military-technical cooperation (MTC), the authors also consider the peculiarities of the American military power projection on Latin America, which is a zone of exclusive interests of the United States. Among the key formats of interaction and projection of influence, the authors include the following: arms and military-technical supplies to the armies and security services of the states of the region; training of military personnel in Latin American countries; financing of armies and military units; cooperation programs to optimize the managerial and organizational functions of the Latin American armed forces, establishment and maintenance of various types of military bases, conducting joint military exercises. Using new factual material, we examine each of the listed forms and show the systematic and geostrategic nature of the US influence on the Latin American region in the military aspect. As for military trade, the authors identify the main partners of the United States in South America.","PeriodicalId":55752,"journal":{"name":"Vestnik RUDN International Relations","volume":"50 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136278048","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Great Powers Rivalry in the Indo-Pacific Region and Its Impact on Vietnam’s Strategy","authors":"Son T. Nguyen","doi":"10.22363/2313-0660-2023-23-3-562-574","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22363/2313-0660-2023-23-3-562-574","url":null,"abstract":"At the end of the 20th century, many researchers had envisioned a world where countries shift from political and military competition towards economic competition. However, the prospect of a world without conflict was short-lived, as the concerns about political tensions were revived in the early 21st century. Great powers such as the United States, China and Russia, have all shifted their focus to Asia, in particular the Indo-Pacific region. As a developing country in this region, Vietnam has its reasons to pay close attention to the competition among these great powers. Based on the theory of defensive realism, the author examines the reorientation of the US, Chinese and Russian foreign policy towards the Indo-Pacific region from Vietnam’s perspective. It shows that the US pivot to the region is set to challenge the rise of China and to maintain the US position as the leader of the world, China’s expanding influence is to reclaim its historical position in the region and Russia seeks to diversify its political and economic relations. In this context, Vietnam should maintain its multi-vector foreign policy, balancing the interests of several countries. In addition, Vietnam needs to strengthen its position in the global economy through participation in new-generation free trade agreements, expand the scope and forms of its diplomacy, and play a more active role in the global community. All these, in the author’s opinion, will enable Vietnam to strengthen its position in the global economy and boost its diplomatic activities.","PeriodicalId":55752,"journal":{"name":"Vestnik RUDN International Relations","volume":"67 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136277899","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Statebuilding and the Origins of the “American Empire”: Towards the Problem of Legitimizing Sovereign Inequality in the 21st Century","authors":"Alexey N. Bogdanov","doi":"10.22363/2313-0660-2023-23-3-506-517","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22363/2313-0660-2023-23-3-506-517","url":null,"abstract":"In recent decades, “statebuilding” policies in the Greater Middle East have been used by Washington as a tool for forging an “American empire” based on unequal relations between the U.S. and its dependent regimes in Afghanistan and Iraq. At the same time, current research focuses mainly on the instruments for implementing these policies and ensuring the acceptance of new political and economic institutions by the local population. Unlike the established approaches, the author examines Washington’s statebuilding efforts as a specific practice of legitimacy aimed at entrenching sovereign inequality and institutionalizing the US political control over “client-regimes.” The study draws on the theoretical legacy of the English school, which views “legitimacy” as a phenomenon inextricably linked with “international society,” comprising a group of states bound by common goals, institutions, and values. The legitimation strategies adopted by members of this society involve the performance of various international roles through which states acquire recognized statuses, rights and obligations. Focusing on the US roles such as “imperial power” and “patron,” the author concludes that Washington’s statebuilding efforts were aimed at linking the US interventionism in Afghanistan and Iraq with the collective goals of international society, and thus served to legitimize inequitable relations with “client-states” under the formal legal equality of members of international society. Therefore, the application of the proposed approach helps to shed light on the underexplored aspects of the legitimizing instruments of the US dominance and the means of institutionalizing sovereign inequality inherent in the “American empire” in the 21st century.","PeriodicalId":55752,"journal":{"name":"Vestnik RUDN International Relations","volume":"5 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136278033","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"OUIS and MINUSCA in the CAR: The Effectiveness of Realist and Liberal Peacekeeping Paradigms","authors":"Aleksandr L. Bovdunov","doi":"10.22363/2313-0660-2023-23-3-480-496","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22363/2313-0660-2023-23-3-480-496","url":null,"abstract":"The conflict in the Central African Republic (CAR) has attracted international attention since the early 2000s. The African Union, the United Nations (UN) and the French Republic have all been involved in trying to help resolve the conflict. Since 2018, Russia has been actively involved in resolving the conflict in the Central African Republic. The government and people of the CAR have repeatedly expressed their dissatisfaction with the functioning of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) contingent and, conversely, expressed their appreciation for the Russian military specialists stationed in the CAR. The author attempts to compare the effectiveness of the UN peacekeeping contingent (MINUSCA) and Russian military specialists operating under the auspices of the Officers Union for International Security (OUIS), based on the essential unity of purpose of these forces. Based on an analysis of data on state control in the CAR and violent incidents from 2014 to 2022, the author concludes that the Russian contingent is more effective in providing security and strengthening the state in the CAR (tasks also outlined in the MINUSCA mandate). The author also analyzes the problems in the functioning of the UN peacekeeping contingents, highlighting their systemic and structural shortcomings. The main shortcoming, however, in his view, is the UN’s commitment to a liberal approach that challenges the sovereignty of the host state. The Russian realist approach, by contrast, focuses on sovereignty and its power component. Thus, the actions of the Russians in the CAR can be studied within the paradigm of “illiberal” peacekeeping.","PeriodicalId":55752,"journal":{"name":"Vestnik RUDN International Relations","volume":"129 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136277884","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Role of Russian Peacekeeping in the Pridnestrovian Settlement Process","authors":"N. Shevchuk","doi":"10.22363/2313-0660-2023-23-2-228-240","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22363/2313-0660-2023-23-2-228-240","url":null,"abstract":"The study analyses the current situation of the peacekeeping operation in Pridnestrovie (Transnistria), carried out in conditions of a growing clash of interests between Russia and the West, the militarization of Moldova and its aspirations to join the EU and NATO, as well as the proximity of the security zone controlled by peacekeepers to the region of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine. The author summarizes the experience of Russia’s peacekeeping activities in the region of the Moldovan-Pridnestrovian conflict, highlights the key features of the Dniester peacekeeping operation and shows its importance for the negotiation process on the Pridnestrovian settlement at the political and diplomatic level. The article provides an overview of the international peacekeeping initiatives in the conflict region, assesses the status of the negotiation process and the related military component of the settlement, identifies the specific features of the peacekeeping format and its control mechanisms, and analyzes the legal status of Russian troops. The author concludes that the peacekeeping operation in Pridnestrovie is still in demand, fully functional and ready for combat. According to the author, in case of withdrawal from the operation of the Republic of Moldova, the Russian military formations stationed in Pridnestrovie may be forced to receive the mandate of a special guarantee military operation to protect the stocks of Russian weapons remaining from Soviet times in the conflict region, to prevent the resumption of armed conflict and to ensure guarantees of peace and security for the population of Pridnestrovie, at least one third of which are citizens of the Russian Federation.","PeriodicalId":55752,"journal":{"name":"Vestnik RUDN International Relations","volume":"33 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"77894788","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Book Review: Charbonneau, B., & Ricard, M. (Eds.). (2022). Routledge Handbook of African Peacebuilding. Routledge, 308 p.","authors":"C. Amuhaya","doi":"10.22363/2313-0660-2023-23-2-393-396","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22363/2313-0660-2023-23-2-393-396","url":null,"abstract":"<jats:p>-</jats:p>","PeriodicalId":55752,"journal":{"name":"Vestnik RUDN International Relations","volume":"45 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"86342615","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Regionalization of Peacekeeping in Africa: The Case of the African Union","authors":"A. Khudaykulova","doi":"10.22363/2313-0660-2023-23-2-339-357","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22363/2313-0660-2023-23-2-339-357","url":null,"abstract":"This study examines the peacekeeping experience of the African Union (AU), which claims to be the main security provider on the African continent. Based on the case study method, the principle of historicism and a chronological approach, the author proposes a classification and a comprehensive analysis of the AU operations, from the first to the current missions. The aim of the research is to provide a balanced characterisation of the AU in conflict resolution by describing both the missions and the external environment in which they have been deployed, and by abstracting from the deliberately negative connotations associated with assessments of the potential of regional security forces. It analyses the dynamics, legal frameworks, characteristics and outcomes of deployed peacekeeping operations, both under the auspices of the AU alone (in Burundi, Comoros, Sudan/Darfur, Somalia) and in cooperation with the UN and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) (in Darfur, Mali, Central African Republic, CAR). As a result of the study, the author describes the key parameters of established models of African conflict resolution. The experience and practice of the AU - UN interaction show that the AU is ready to quickly respond to emerging crises and to contain bloodshed, often in the absence of peace processes and well before the UN intervention. The current format of interaction between the two organizations demonstrates the readiness of the UN to deploy its own contingents once the “hot” phase of the conflict is over and conditions for political dialogue are formed. However, with the launch of the first and so far only hybrid UN - AU mission (UNAMID) a new model of cooperation is gradually emerging that complements the existing simple “division of labor.” The purely regional format of peacekeeping stems from the potential of regional actors. The African Union, as a continental regional organization, plays a crucial role in maintaining the regional security regime, while sub-regional organizations carry out operational functions on the basis of regional security arrangements. The author assesses the peacekeeping missions carried out and highlights the challenges faced by African peacekeepers in their work.","PeriodicalId":55752,"journal":{"name":"Vestnik RUDN International Relations","volume":"68 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"78867612","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Book Review: Salleh, A., & Idris, A. (2021). Malaysia’s United Nations Peacekeeping Operations (1960-2010). Springer, 231 p.","authors":"G. Honrada","doi":"10.22363/2313-0660-2023-23-2-401-403","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22363/2313-0660-2023-23-2-401-403","url":null,"abstract":"<jats:p>-</jats:p>","PeriodicalId":55752,"journal":{"name":"Vestnik RUDN International Relations","volume":"38 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"89523842","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Book Review: Markakis, J., Schlee, G., & Young, J. (2021). The Nation State: A Wrong Model for the Horn of Africa. Berlin: Max-Planck-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der Wissenschaften, 184 p.","authors":"E. Bayeh","doi":"10.22363/2313-0660-2023-23-2-404-407","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.22363/2313-0660-2023-23-2-404-407","url":null,"abstract":"<jats:p>-</jats:p>","PeriodicalId":55752,"journal":{"name":"Vestnik RUDN International Relations","volume":"48 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"89476020","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}