US-Russian relations have always been mutable and attracting attention of international community: US hostile foreign policy towards Russia was accompanied by periods of warming, and vice versa. When the presidency of B. Obama began, not always positive US rhetoric towards Russia (that was typical feature of G. W. Bush administration) was changed into the stressing the need to engage Russia into cooperation – ie engagement strategy. Therefore, experts of international relations started talking about a new phase in US-Russian relations. However, it would be incorrect to say that Russia's engagement strategy is the invention of B. Obama's administration. So the purpose of the article is to analyse Russia's engagement strategy in US foreign policy not only during the presidency of B. Obama and to compare its implementation during the presidency of different US presidents. In article there are given the theoretical basics of engagement strategy, there is introduced implementation of Russia's engagement strategy during the presidency of B. Clinton, G. W. Bush and B. Obama stressing the main instruments of engagement strategy, there is compared strategy's place in US foreign policy and its instruments during the presidency of B. Clinton, G. W. Bush and B. Obama.
US-Russian relations have always been mutable and attracting attention of international community: US hostile foreign policy towards Russia was accompanied by periods of warming, and vice versa. When the presidency of B. Obama began, not always positive US rhetoric towards Russia (that was typical feature of G. W. Bush administration) was changed into the stressing the need to engage Russia into cooperation – ie engagement strategy. Therefore, experts of international relations started talking about a new phase in US-Russian relations. However, it would be incorrect to say that Russia's engagement strategy is the invention of B. Obama's administration. So the purpose of the article is to analyse Russia's engagement strategy in US foreign policy not only during the presidency of B. Obama and to compare its implementation during the presidency of different US presidents. In article there are given the theoretical basics of engagement strategy, there is introduced implementation of Russia's engagement strategy during the presidency of B. Clinton, G. W. Bush and B. Obama stressing the main instruments of engagement strategy, there is compared strategy's place in US foreign policy and its instruments during the presidency of B. Clinton, G. W. Bush and B. Obama.
US-Russian relations have always been mutable and attracting attention of international community: US hostile foreign policy towards Russia was accompanied by periods of warming, and vice versa. When the presidency of B. Obama began, not always positive US rhetoric towards Russia (that was typical feature of G. W. Bush administration) was changed into the stressing the need to engage Russia into cooperation – ie engagement strategy. Therefore, experts of international relations started talking about a new phase in US-Russian relations. However, it would be incorrect to say that Russia's engagement strategy is the invention of B. Obama's administration. So the purpose of the article is to analyse Russia's engagement strategy in US foreign policy not only during the presidency of B. Obama and to compare its implementation during the presidency of different US presidents. In article there are given the theoretical basics of engagement strategy, there is introduced implementation of Russia's engagement strategy during the presidency of B. Clinton, G. W. Bush and B. Obama stressing the main instruments of engagement strategy, there is compared strategy's place in US foreign policy and its instruments during the presidency of B. Clinton, G. W. Bush and B. Obama.
The paper deals with democratization of Iraq which was started to implement by the United States and its allies in March, 2003. The military operation was designed to find and destroy Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, overthrow the authoritarian regime of S. Hussein and install democratic institutions. Neoconservatives who were the authors and advocates of the idea of democratic Iraq believed that with the start in Iraq democracy gradually will spill over to the whole Middle East. And this process would guarantee the security of the United States and the whole world what is its' national interest. Although Iraq has conducted free and fair elections and has established the main democratic institutions, today five years since the outset of the operation it is still not considered a stable democratic country. So the discrepancy between the factual and institutional democracy in Iraq is the main problem of this paper. This problem raises the principal research question: what causes the failure of democratization in Iraq? So according to the theoretical-methodological research concept the main question sounds as such: where the advocates of the intervention in Iraq have made the crucial mistake: whether the democratization of Iraq is theoretically impossible (ideological analysis level), maybe the failure of the project was determined by unsuitable democratization methods (especially the quick democratization) or maybe the misfortune lies in the domestic features of Iraq (practical analysis level). So the research method is the case study and the object – democracy in Iraq in institutional and social level. The analysis is divided into two levels: ideological and practical. The ideological level involves the analysis of neoconservatism (to reveal the genesis of the democratization idea) and the overview of the Muslim societies' political experience and their attitude to the principles of democracy (to answer the question, whether Iraq democratization is theoretically possible). Practical level involves the investigation of the process of political system transformation, the evaluation of the current situation and the analysis whether and why Iraq matches the consolidated democracy criteria indicated by J. Linz and A. Stepan and suits the democratization conditions indicated by S. M. Lipset. This will help to find out what determines the failure of democracy in Iraq. The analysis of intervention in Iraq and its' democratization process is quite a popular field of academic research and publications nowadays. Despite this, it should be noticed that the majority of investigations concentrates on the practical analysis of coalition forces actions and concrete problems of Iraq usually in order to give recommendations to G. W. Bush administration. This paper looks at the issue differently – from the perspective of democratization theories. Thus, the investigation results revealed that the failure to install a stable democratic political system in Iraq lies in practical level. The process is blocked by the domestic features of the country (it is fractured, antagonistic, based on "primordial allegiances", has no national leaders, no future visions and overall is not prepared to govern itself independently) and unsuitable democratization methods (the process was initiated and conducted by foreign powers, without an adequate plan and preparation of the society). So the simple installation of democratic institutions does not guarantee a stable democracy. Whereas the ideological level (the influence of Islam) was not the main force which complicated the democratization, because Muslim societies in principle could live in states which are ruled by democratically. Moreover, according to the research results, the democratization of Iraq as the main reason for military intervention is also questionable. So other reasons for intervention which were not officially declared by US could be the topic of further studies.
The paper deals with democratization of Iraq which was started to implement by the United States and its allies in March, 2003. The military operation was designed to find and destroy Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, overthrow the authoritarian regime of S. Hussein and install democratic institutions. Neoconservatives who were the authors and advocates of the idea of democratic Iraq believed that with the start in Iraq democracy gradually will spill over to the whole Middle East. And this process would guarantee the security of the United States and the whole world what is its' national interest. Although Iraq has conducted free and fair elections and has established the main democratic institutions, today five years since the outset of the operation it is still not considered a stable democratic country. So the discrepancy between the factual and institutional democracy in Iraq is the main problem of this paper. This problem raises the principal research question: what causes the failure of democratization in Iraq? So according to the theoretical-methodological research concept the main question sounds as such: where the advocates of the intervention in Iraq have made the crucial mistake: whether the democratization of Iraq is theoretically impossible (ideological analysis level), maybe the failure of the project was determined by unsuitable democratization methods (especially the quick democratization) or maybe the misfortune lies in the domestic features of Iraq (practical analysis level). So the research method is the case study and the object – democracy in Iraq in institutional and social level. The analysis is divided into two levels: ideological and practical. The ideological level involves the analysis of neoconservatism (to reveal the genesis of the democratization idea) and the overview of the Muslim societies' political experience and their attitude to the principles of democracy (to answer the question, whether Iraq democratization is theoretically possible). Practical level involves the investigation of the process of political system transformation, the evaluation of the current situation and the analysis whether and why Iraq matches the consolidated democracy criteria indicated by J. Linz and A. Stepan and suits the democratization conditions indicated by S. M. Lipset. This will help to find out what determines the failure of democracy in Iraq. The analysis of intervention in Iraq and its' democratization process is quite a popular field of academic research and publications nowadays. Despite this, it should be noticed that the majority of investigations concentrates on the practical analysis of coalition forces actions and concrete problems of Iraq usually in order to give recommendations to G. W. Bush administration. This paper looks at the issue differently – from the perspective of democratization theories. Thus, the investigation results revealed that the failure to install a stable democratic political system in Iraq lies in practical level. The process is blocked by the domestic features of the country (it is fractured, antagonistic, based on "primordial allegiances", has no national leaders, no future visions and overall is not prepared to govern itself independently) and unsuitable democratization methods (the process was initiated and conducted by foreign powers, without an adequate plan and preparation of the society). So the simple installation of democratic institutions does not guarantee a stable democracy. Whereas the ideological level (the influence of Islam) was not the main force which complicated the democratization, because Muslim societies in principle could live in states which are ruled by democratically. Moreover, according to the research results, the democratization of Iraq as the main reason for military intervention is also questionable. So other reasons for intervention which were not officially declared by US could be the topic of further studies.
This article analyses – both in theory and in practice – the role of soft power in terms of traditional power-maximizing foreign policy of states. The keynote of this analysis is that the soft power theory established by J. S. Nye bears an impact on the traditional notion of international power structure as described by the neorealist school of international relations theory, though this impact is yet to be conceptualised. The empirical evidence of this is nearly 20 years of the U.S. hegemony after the Cold War, strongly based on American soft power, which serves as a suitable subject-matter for a case study. The article provides an overview of American public diplomacy and some practical recommendations on how to improve it. In the future the importance of soft power is expected to increase as a result of the worldwide Information Revolution of the 21st century and public diplomacy, being the key instrument in soft power politics, will have to adjust to this new context of international politics.
This article analyses – both in theory and in practice – the role of soft power in terms of traditional power-maximizing foreign policy of states. The keynote of this analysis is that the soft power theory established by J. S. Nye bears an impact on the traditional notion of international power structure as described by the neorealist school of international relations theory, though this impact is yet to be conceptualised. The empirical evidence of this is nearly 20 years of the U.S. hegemony after the Cold War, strongly based on American soft power, which serves as a suitable subject-matter for a case study. The article provides an overview of American public diplomacy and some practical recommendations on how to improve it. In the future the importance of soft power is expected to increase as a result of the worldwide Information Revolution of the 21st century and public diplomacy, being the key instrument in soft power politics, will have to adjust to this new context of international politics.
This article analyses – both in theory and in practice – the role of soft power in terms of traditional power-maximizing foreign policy of states. The keynote of this analysis is that the soft power theory established by J. S. Nye bears an impact on the traditional notion of international power structure as described by the neorealist school of international relations theory, though this impact is yet to be conceptualised. The empirical evidence of this is nearly 20 years of the U.S. hegemony after the Cold War, strongly based on American soft power, which serves as a suitable subject-matter for a case study. The article provides an overview of American public diplomacy and some practical recommendations on how to improve it. In the future the importance of soft power is expected to increase as a result of the worldwide Information Revolution of the 21st century and public diplomacy, being the key instrument in soft power politics, will have to adjust to this new context of international politics.
The thesis explores the history of the Knights of Lithuania (K of L) in the USA from the time of their establishment in 1913 to the end of the 1950's. The K of L is unique among Lithuanian-American organizations in that it consciously articulated a dual identity and can also be related to the American tradition of fraternalism. The study covers the organization's history starting at the time of its establishment, when the Lithuanian and Catholic dimensions of their identity were firmly defined, to the end of the 1950's, when the American element was being fully articulated. The manifestation of dual identity in ritual form is analyzed, relating this particular tradition with the phenomenon of American fraternalism. Certain influential phenomena dating back to the XIX century are also evaluated. The main purpose of this study is to analyze the historical development of identity and its forms of expression among the K of L, with particular emphasis on the influence of American cultural and social environment. The thesis is formulated by analyzing the following historical issues: the role of religion as an integral dimension of identity in the context of the K of L's creation, the influence of the American cultural environment on the operational strategies adopted by the K of L, the changing role of language as an element of identity and conscious reflection on this process, the growth of American patriotism and the development of a dual identity among the K of L, the expression of dual identity in the social and political spheres, the synthesis of compound identity in the form of ritual, the relation of ritual to the American fraternal tradition, and features of the K of L in the context of other fraternal organizations in the US. On the basis of this study it can be claimed that the ideological incongruities in the Lithuanian-American community cemented the Catholic position of the K of L, and their desire to compete with ideologically incompatible organizations. Internal as well as external strategies of social activism were adopted from contemporary organizations, including fraternal orders. Eventually, the transformation of identity ensued. The K of L came to terms with the waning role of the Lithuanian language and managed to justify their ethnic identity by basing it on ideological allegiance. The Second World War served as a catalyst for the adoption of an American identity and subsequently, the conscious articulation of a dual identity. Post-bellum, American civic consciousness was appropriated for the political defense of Lithuanian interests. The K of L ritual served as a means of expressing dual identity internally. The system of degrees and the ritual form can be traced to the American fraternal tradition. In comparison and contrast of the K of L with other fraternal orders, it is possible to explain the adoption of ritual traditions in particular by the K of L giving priority to symbolically coneyable ideals and values.
The thesis explores the history of the Knights of Lithuania (K of L) in the USA from the time of their establishment in 1913 to the end of the 1950's. The K of L is unique among Lithuanian-American organizations in that it consciously articulated a dual identity and can also be related to the American tradition of fraternalism. The study covers the organization's history starting at the time of its establishment, when the Lithuanian and Catholic dimensions of their identity were firmly defined, to the end of the 1950's, when the American element was being fully articulated. The manifestation of dual identity in ritual form is analyzed, relating this particular tradition with the phenomenon of American fraternalism. Certain influential phenomena dating back to the XIX century are also evaluated. The main purpose of this study is to analyze the historical development of identity and its forms of expression among the K of L, with particular emphasis on the influence of American cultural and social environment. The thesis is formulated by analyzing the following historical issues: the role of religion as an integral dimension of identity in the context of the K of L's creation, the influence of the American cultural environment on the operational strategies adopted by the K of L, the changing role of language as an element of identity and conscious reflection on this process, the growth of American patriotism and the development of a dual identity among the K of L, the expression of dual identity in the social and political spheres, the synthesis of compound identity in the form of ritual, the relation of ritual to the American fraternal tradition, and features of the K of L in the context of other fraternal organizations in the US. On the basis of this study it can be claimed that the ideological incongruities in the Lithuanian-American community cemented the Catholic position of the K of L, and their desire to compete with ideologically incompatible organizations. Internal as well as external strategies of social activism were adopted from contemporary organizations, including fraternal orders. Eventually, the transformation of identity ensued. The K of L came to terms with the waning role of the Lithuanian language and managed to justify their ethnic identity by basing it on ideological allegiance. The Second World War served as a catalyst for the adoption of an American identity and subsequently, the conscious articulation of a dual identity. Post-bellum, American civic consciousness was appropriated for the political defense of Lithuanian interests. The K of L ritual served as a means of expressing dual identity internally. The system of degrees and the ritual form can be traced to the American fraternal tradition. In comparison and contrast of the K of L with other fraternal orders, it is possible to explain the adoption of ritual traditions in particular by the K of L giving priority to symbolically coneyable ideals and values.
