Suchergebnisse

With the processes of the global order transformations currently unfolding and new rising powers gaining influence in the international arena, the issue of possible contours of a new architecture of the world system is becoming more urgent. The three Gulf monarchies – Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar – in recent years have been re-evaluating their relations with world powers, re-establishing their international positioning, and strengthening their capabilities in active engagement in the process of a new world order shaping as their foreign policies and national interests have been increasingly stretching far beyond the Gulf and the MENA region. They have gained confidence in asserting and defending their interests and standing up to pressure, willing to seize the initiative in forming the regional security system and strongly participate in the shaping of the global world order, which they see as polycentric and "non-polar". After the decade of intraregional confrontations and rivalries in the 2010s, they have come to realize that in order for their ambitious socioeconomic development strategies to succeed, they require a "stable and prosperous" Middle East based on cooperation between all the key regional players with none of them dominating but counterbalancing each other, while external actors are considered important partners for cooperation on the agenda set by the regional powers provided that they counterbalance each other's influence and do not try to exert their dominance. The three Gulf monarchies see Russia as an influential center of power in the shaping polycentric world order as well as a partner with whom they need to coordinate to ensure stability in the region and cement their global influence in the world oil markets. The Ukrainian crisis has not had any negative effect on the monarchies' approaches towards relations with Russia and even strengthened their conviction in the correctness of their regional and global policy course.

Foreign policy of Qatar, a dwarf emirate with considerable geographic and demographic limitations, demands special attention. Not only has this small Gulf monarchy succeeded in overcoming its smallness, but also managed to establish itself as an influential actor, both regionally and internationally, in the shortest possible time, breaking and revolutionizing conventional perceptions of capabilities and opportunities of small states in world politics. The paper aims to explore various characteristics of Qatar's foreign policy, its main principals and goals, instruments and paths of their implementation, as well as its achievements. The author also intends to determine the essence of Qatari foreign political identity and its components, arguing that it was the key to the small Gulf emirate's global success. Through formulation and assertion of its exceptionalism, skilled promotion of its image as a modern and progressive state, useful military and political partner, reliable supplier of fuel, sought-after international mediator and donor of humanitarian assistance, powerful investor, a transport, cultural, educational, financial hub and a tourist destination in combination with efficient balancing strategy, Doha was able to carve a distinguished niche for itself and cement its position as an important global actor. Despite of a number of setbacks in foreign policy tactics and reputational losses that followed, regardless of speculations about the unrepairable damage to all the previous achievements, the young emir has proven his commitment to the resonant foreign political identity his predecessor had shaped. Its core elements include demonstrative independence and self-sufficiency, exceptionalism distinguishing the emirate form other Gulf monarchies, refusal to accept the bounds of conventional perceptions of "friends" and "foes", combination of traditions and modernity, as well as vision and proactivity.

Since their formation, the parties of political Islam that exist today in Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia were traditionally seen as the "voice of people" in authoritarian states, the means and the vanguard of social movement for a better life. In an attempt to enter political arena, while adapting to different challenges posed by their regimes as well as jihadi Islamism both domestically and regionally, these Islamist parties have undergone a number of transformations both in their ideology and relations with the regime. However, the crucial point of these transformations was becoming a part of the state that they had been aiming to change. After their short-lived electoral success, they find themselves in crisis. First, they are no longer perceived as a sociopolitical force that strives to voice concerns of the oppressed and to fight for their interests against the unjust regimes. Instead, they are now deeply associated with the "old guard", no less corrupt than the governments and the political elites, against whom people protest. Second, while they were trying to adapt democratic ideas to their narratives, they were moving further away from their Islamist identity. Third, they have learnt the constraints of their political capabilities: in order to preserve their legal status, they have to coopt with the regimes, but when they do they lose their public support, and when they resent this cooptation, the regimes force them to weakness and internal divisions, yet again causing loss of social base.

The history of scientific development in Algeria, which has not been long, represents a series of continual rises and falls. The Algerian leadership and researchers have been making efforts to create Algeria's national science through protection from the western scientific tradition, which is reminiscent of the colonial period of the country, and at the same time adoption of scientific knowledge and scientific institutions functioning principles from abroad, with no organizational or scientific experience of their own. Since the time the independent Algerian state was established, its scientific development has been inevitably coupled with active support of European countries, especially France, and other western and non-western states. Today the Algerian leadership is highly devoted to the modernization of the national scientific and research potential in strong cooperation with its foreign partners. The article concentrates on examining the present period (the 2000s) of the scientific development in Algeria. The main conclusion is that there still is a number of problems - for Algeria until now lacks an integral scientific community with the state preserving its dominating role in science and research activities. Despite these difficulties, the Algerian science has made an outstanding progress. The efficiently built organizational scientific structure, the growing science and technology cooperation with foreign countries as well as the increasing state expenses in science allow to hope for further success of the Algerian scientific development.

The Palestinian issue remains one of the most persistent and intractable contemporary conflicts. While it retains its special importance for regional players, new conflicts and challenges, along with the changing regional balance of power, have gradually pushed the Palestinian issue into the background on the common Arab agenda. Under these circumstances, the problem has been undergoing transformation, with controversial implications. On the one hand, the struggle of Palestinians for their political rights and for improving their socio-economic conditions comes to the forefront of the Palestinian internal political agenda. There are emerging trends of horizontal social mobilization while the legitimacy of the Palestinian leadership is declining. On the other hand, the absence of positive developments contributes to the increased potential for radicalization and enhances probability of new military clashes.