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Many books, both scholarly and popular, consider how wars begin. There has also been a large number written on the question of limiting war in general and creating peace. Yet the question of how specific wars end has received far less attention. Except for memoirs and historical accounts of final battles and peace negotiations, it is difficult to find more than a handful of general works on war deescalation and termination.

This article explores the phenomenon of culture wars in the post-Soviet space. It provides an introduction to this special issue by addressing a series of themes which deepen and more importantly complicate our understanding of culture wars in the post-Soviet space, but also more generally. The paper analyses: the multifaceted nature of culture wars, illustrating the way in which these normative-based conflicts are more complicated than the typical binary reading of the phenomenon suggest; the religious dimension to such cultural conflicts; the multiple causal explanations for culture wars and the varied levels of agency and agents involved; the perceptibly dominant role of Russia in the region's ideological and cultural conflicts; and finally, the under-conceptualisation of culture wars. Overall, the paper unpacks how the concept of culture war can be used analytically to comprehend tensions and conflict over competing interpretations of the moral ordering of the post-Soviet public space.

An Introduction to Civil Wars takes an empirical and thematic approach to the study of civil wars. Since World War II, by far most of the wars that have been fought are civil wars--wars between groups within states, like Darfur, Somalia, Congo, Kosovo, and Chechnya--and not wars between sovereign states. The book is organized thematically to address major topics and findings on civil wars, including causes, duration, recurrence, termination, intervention, post-conflict problems, civilian victimization/terrorism, and resource-related issues. Cases at the end of chapters spotlight specific civil wars

Young women are combatants in contemporary African wars. They also participate in a whole array of different roles. However, by and large, they remain invisible to us. In fact, our "northern" hackneyed views on women's innate non-participation in war prevent us from seeing specific needs for young women during and in the aftermath of wars. For instance, disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programmes often fail to address appropriate needs for young women and in a variety of ways "prevent" them from partaking. Issues of stigma, safe demobilisation, individual concerns for post-war marriage, health and education, need to be addresed in both a more gendered way, but also with an apposite understanding of young women's agency in both peace and war. In this Policy note it is argued that to improve policy and programming efforts it is necessary to broaden the understanding of young women's roles and participation in armed conflict in Africa historically and today.

Young women are combatants in contemporary African wars. They also participate in a whole array of different roles. However, by and large, they remain invisible to us. In fact, our "northern" hackneyed views on women's innate non-participation in war prevent us from seeing specific needs for young women during and in the aftermath of wars. For instance, disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programmes often fail to address appropriate needs for young women and in a variety of ways "prevent" them from partaking. Issues of stigma, safe demobilisation, individual concerns for post-war marriage, health and education, need to be addresed in both a more gendered way, but also with an apposite understanding of young women's agency in both peace and war. In this Policy note it is argued that to improve policy and programming efforts it is necessary to broaden the understanding of young women's roles and participation in armed conflict in Africa historically and today.

The presented material is an attempt at analyzing the specific legal position of peace treaties. The author argues with the opinion which is put forward (not too often, though), maintaining that such treaties – due to their not expressing the will of states in a classical way – cannot be considered to be agreements as such. He presents the basic similarities and – first of all – differences, especially concerning the so-called final provisions, with reference to both typical international agreements and peace treaties, respectively. In the study, he formulates the thesis of a special role, significance and evolution of peace treaties, despite frequent disrespect for the resolutions they contain. Instances of peace treaties which were concluded in the past are recalled and analyzed, and juxtaposed with ones made in the 20th century, particularly those following the First and the Second World Wars.

Chronology of Wars, Revised Edition discusses the 13 wars examined in the other America at War titles from a chronological perspective. The chronology includes an introduction that calls attention to relevant themes that persist throughout America's wartime past and looks from a different perspective at many of the same subjects covered in the war-specific editions. The historical conflicts of the United States are illuminated in this valuable resource for students, librarians, teachers, and young adults who are interested in American history and military history

This introduction to the special section on Poland's wars of symbols analyzes the symbolic contestation that has characterized the country in recent years, studying a range of phenomena including nation, gender, memory, and religious symbolism within the overall framework of political conflict. In doing so, it offers a multidisciplinary view on political fractures that have resonated throughout Europe and the "West." Overall, the four case studies in this section study ways in which national symbols, topoi, and narratives have been deployed as tools in drawing and redrawing boundaries within society, polarizing and mobilizing the political camps as well as contesting and resisting power. These studies enable us to situate recent political events in a historical perspective, mapping the rise of populism in Poland against the background of legacies specific to the East-Central European region.

In both general humanitarian studies, as well as political studies, the concept of language has a large importance. However, considering any language could be stripped down to a (seemingly more basic) notion of code, actual studies of code as an important aspect of international political communication are scarce, despite it is rather obvious that they have much potential in terms of both practical use and theoretical dwelling. In specific case of this article (and, in wider sense, preceding research by authors) the problem to dwell upon is how such codes could be translated.Translations developed to a quite high level over thousands of years and now appear quickly and conveniently, of certain texts and in needed languages. Level of knowledge of the foreign languages among world's population is also progressing, as well. And yet, even in such conditions language barrier, whether it gets thicker or thinner at some places, diverse in its shapes and forms, remains. But there is an idea of a language which is understandable anywhere in the world: analogue of a text, in which at least some key elements would be understood by anyone, won't be lost in translation, no matter which language was it written in. As we mentioned, operating at a level of sub-text, it could be really more adequately referred to as a universal code, but within the practice of audiovisual media it is indeed often called a language.Audiovisual media, fixation of images on film or videotape and digital images as well is what we mostly talk about in this scientific work, because with civilization evolving we become more and more dependent on what was said in that language, spend more time not only searching for new ways, but developing old, as well. Audiovisual media, in that regard, is produced in almost every possible language, including fictional ones. Internet Movie Database (IMDb) divides languages which are specified as used in different listed audio-visual works into common languages and less-common languages, effectively avoiding the notion of non-common and emphasizing that regardless of how common language is, importance of it in the audiovisual media is entirely a decision of creators.Political studies are, to some point, is a glue, that bonds together different aspects of developing and classifies them accordingly to some wide-spread political doctrines. Knowing how such doctrines inspire certain concepts in the everyday life of the state, how they transform in society's conscience and eventually inspire nation-wide processes is what political studies should concentrate upon and that also might include inspiring the needed and very welcome change in what is known as technology-enhanced language learning (TELL). Studying universal code of audio-visual media in the contexts of International political communication should be taken into consideration in TELL and research thereof, as nowadays people tend to be much more politically involved with the use of Internet and social networks as instruments of political influence, discussion and education – wider then ever and yet also much more restricted then before. Correlation between audio-visual media and new media social platforms, such as Reddit seem to be overlooked and under-researched. Present-day learners are represented mostly by the members of the Facebook/YouTube generation which is more visually developed than whichever of the previous generations. For this generation, online communication via exchanging static and moving images is just as important as face-to-face interaction, often offering knowledge-exchange opportunities. Their expectations strongly influence the modern teaching style by demanding more and more visual aids (first of all films) especially in teaching foreign languages.For political studies in the international relations, audiovisual media, while not exactly being terra incognita, is a place of only a certain level familiarity, which could and should be enriched by further research, as security of the situation pretty much depends on intricate processes of international communication witnessed in a conglomerate of social media and audiovisual media. Already, a situation of hybrid war forming within our own country dictates the need of closer filtration of information provided to us through the social networks, which nowadays, primarily, tend to use audiovisual format to stay fast and relevant. Relevancy of audiovisual media, its whole survival through the years and even decades (centuries are certainly out of question as audiovisual media is much younger then printed one) depended on being fluid, adaptive and developing a very transformative and unique system of approaching the unsuspecting audience from every corner. That resulted in supposed simple entertainment becoming not just one, but several multibillion industries, which intervene in unexpected way when it comes to presenting actual events and then distorting the accounts in latter, fictionalized attempts. ; У статті розглянуто окремий випадок аудіовізуального медіа у зростаючому сегменті політичної науки, який вивчає міжнародну політичну комунікацію. Спеціальна увага приділяється такому інструменту комунікації, як коди та їх універсальність, включно з вивченням інтерпретацій аудіовізуального медіа в контексті політичної комунікації.

In both general humanitarian studies, as well as political studies, the concept of language has a large importance. However, considering any language could be stripped down to a (seemingly more basic) notion of code, actual studies of code as an important aspect of international political communication are scarce, despite it is rather obvious that they have much potential in terms of both practical use and theoretical dwelling. In specific case of this article (and, in wider sense, preceding research by authors) the problem to dwell upon is how such codes could be translated.Translations developed to a quite high level over thousands of years and now appear quickly and conveniently, of certain texts and in needed languages. Level of knowledge of the foreign languages among world's population is also progressing, as well. And yet, even in such conditions language barrier, whether it gets thicker or thinner at some places, diverse in its shapes and forms, remains. But there is an idea of a language which is understandable anywhere in the world: analogue of a text, in which at least some key elements would be understood by anyone, won't be lost in translation, no matter which language was it written in. As we mentioned, operating at a level of sub-text, it could be really more adequately referred to as a universal code, but within the practice of audiovisual media it is indeed often called a language.Audiovisual media, fixation of images on film or videotape and digital images as well is what we mostly talk about in this scientific work, because with civilization evolving we become more and more dependent on what was said in that language, spend more time not only searching for new ways, but developing old, as well. Audiovisual media, in that regard, is produced in almost every possible language, including fictional ones. Internet Movie Database (IMDb) divides languages which are specified as used in different listed audio-visual works into common languages and less-common languages, effectively avoiding the notion of non-common and emphasizing that regardless of how common language is, importance of it in the audiovisual media is entirely a decision of creators.Political studies are, to some point, is a glue, that bonds together different aspects of developing and classifies them accordingly to some wide-spread political doctrines. Knowing how such doctrines inspire certain concepts in the everyday life of the state, how they transform in society's conscience and eventually inspire nation-wide processes is what political studies should concentrate upon and that also might include inspiring the needed and very welcome change in what is known as technology-enhanced language learning (TELL). Studying universal code of audio-visual media in the contexts of International political communication should be taken into consideration in TELL and research thereof, as nowadays people tend to be much more politically involved with the use of Internet and social networks as instruments of political influence, discussion and education – wider then ever and yet also much more restricted then before. Correlation between audio-visual media and new media social platforms, such as Reddit seem to be overlooked and under-researched. Present-day learners are represented mostly by the members of the Facebook/YouTube generation which is more visually developed than whichever of the previous generations. For this generation, online communication via exchanging static and moving images is just as important as face-to-face interaction, often offering knowledge-exchange opportunities. Their expectations strongly influence the modern teaching style by demanding more and more visual aids (first of all films) especially in teaching foreign languages.For political studies in the international relations, audiovisual media, while not exactly being terra incognita, is a place of only a certain level familiarity, which could and should be enriched by further research, as security of the situation pretty much depends on intricate processes of international communication witnessed in a conglomerate of social media and audiovisual media. Already, a situation of hybrid war forming within our own country dictates the need of closer filtration of information provided to us through the social networks, which nowadays, primarily, tend to use audiovisual format to stay fast and relevant. Relevancy of audiovisual media, its whole survival through the years and even decades (centuries are certainly out of question as audiovisual media is much younger then printed one) depended on being fluid, adaptive and developing a very transformative and unique system of approaching the unsuspecting audience from every corner. That resulted in supposed simple entertainment becoming not just one, but several multibillion industries, which intervene in unexpected way when it comes to presenting actual events and then distorting the accounts in latter, fictionalized attempts. ; У статті розглянуто окремий випадок аудіовізуального медіа у зростаючому сегменті політичної науки, який вивчає міжнародну політичну комунікацію. Спеціальна увага приділяється такому інструменту комунікації, як коди та їх універсальність, включно з вивченням інтерпретацій аудіовізуального медіа в контексті політичної комунікації.

Civil wars have a tendency to spread across borders. In several instances of conflict diffusion, however, conflicts spread well after their cessation at home. Whereas existing diffusion research has not attached much importance to this observation, I argue that these conflicts are instances of a broader pattern of postconflict diffusion. Wars are particularly prone to spread after termination because the end of fighting generates a surplus of weapons, combatants, and rebel leaders whose fortunes are tied to the continuation of violence. Some of these resources circulate throughout the region via the small arms trade and through transnational rebel networks, making this a time at which it should be easier for nonstate groups in the neighborhood to build a capable rebel army. The results from two complementary statistical tests on global conflict data provide strong support for such a postconflict diffusion effect.

Civil wars have a tendency to spread across borders. In several instances of conflict diffusion, however, conflicts spread well after their cessation at home. Whereas existing diffusion research has not attached much importance to this observation, I argue that these conflicts are instances of a broader pattern of postconflict diffusion. Wars are particularly prone to spread after termination because the end of fighting generates a surplus of weapons, combatants, and rebel leaders whose fortunes are tied to the continuation of violence. Some of these resources circulate throughout the region via the small arms trade and through transnational rebel networks, making this a time at which it should be easier for nonstate groups in the neighborhood to build a capable rebel army. The results from two complementary statistical tests on global conflict data provide strong support for such a postconflict diffusion effect.