Vestnik RUDN. International Relations

The article presents the findings of a study examining the implementation of the Kazakh historical policy in the socio-cultural space of the southern Russian borderland. Methodology of the study is based on concepts of the symbolic politics and the commemorative landscape of the borderlands. In the period from 1991 to 2020, the Kazakh authorities conducted an active historical policy in the Astrakhan region, which was reflected in several commemorative actions that received a loud public response. The analysis of the evolution of the Kazakh historical discourse in the period from the 1990s to the 2020s made it possible to reveal the multifaceted symbolic content of the historical policy of the Kazakh authorities projected on the Russian territory. The most significant action undertaken as part of this policy was the construction of the Bukey Khan mausoleum in Maly Aral, Astrakhan region, in 2011. The study revealed a number of symbolic objectives associated with this action: perpetuating the memory of Bukey Khan as one of the key heroes of the Kazakh pantheon of historical figures; hidden symbolic marking of that part of the Russian territory where the Bukey Khanate existed in the 19th century as Kazakh territory; symbolic confirmation of the legitimacy of the transfer to the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR) in the 1920s of part of the lands that were part of the Bukey Khanate; strengthening of the Kazakh identity among Kazakhs, Russian citizens living in the Astrakhan region; symbolic reformatting of the sacred space of the Karagash-Nogai people, formed around the grave of Saint Seid Baba, into the Kazakh historical and political memorial space. The ‘Kazakhization’ of this sacral complex became part of the historical policy pursued by the Kazakh authorities, which targeted the Russian Nogais. The history and culture of the Nogai people were of interest to the Kazakh authorities in the context of the struggle for the Golden Horde heritage. The symbolic “appropriation” of the Nogai historical and cultural heritage would allow closing the chronological, spatial and cultural gap in the historical and ideological construct of the “origin” of the Kazakh Khanate from the Golden Horde, since it was the Nogai Horde that was the only direct heir of the Golden Horde. Nogais also left behind a rich literary heritage in the form of epic tales, which later became widespread among Kazakhs. For symbolic “appropriation” of the Nogai heritage, a myth was created about the existence of a special period in Kazakh history, when in the Golden Horde there was allegedly a “Nogailin” (from the word “Nogaily” - Nogaian) ethnic community, which later disintegrated into the Nogai, Kazakhs and Karakalpaks. Currently, this myth is being actively replicated within the framework of the historical policy pursued by the Kazakh authorities.

The Islamic Republic of Iran and the Republic of Türkiye, two historical rivals in the South Caucasus and the Middle East, pay special attention to relations with the Republic of Azerbaijan. This is primarily due to ethnolinguistic, religious-ideological, and geopolitical factors. The aim of the paper is to identify the distinctive characteristics of the Iranian and Turkish crescents, as well as Azerbaijan’s place in the clash of these two foreign policy strategies. The Iranian crescent refers to Iran’s influence and/or presence in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, and Yemen. The author introduces the term ‘Turkish crescent’ as Türkiye’s foreign policy strategy, the main aim of which is to strengthen the country’s position in the South Caucasus and the Middle East by building up military forces and expanding trade and economic ties, as well as to contain Iranian influence in the region. The Turkish crescent means Türkiye’s influence and/or presence in Libya, Cyprus, Syria, Iraq, Azerbaijan, Qatar, and Somalia. The term ‘geopolitical new moon’ refers to the new geopolitical realities that emerged after the Second Karabakh War in the South Caucasus and have an impact on the regional security architecture, including the policies of Iran and Türkiye in this region. The article analyzes the peculiarities of the Iranian and Turkish crescents and the use of the Azerbaijani factor by Iran and Türkiye in implementing their strategies against each other. This paper is based on constructive realism, as religious, ideological, and ethnic factors play a special role in the rivalry between Iran and Türkiye in the South Caucasus and the Middle East, along with military, political, and economic factors. The author employs a descriptive-analytical approach, gathering necessary information from documents, scientific papers, media materials, and comparative analysis to assess the impact of the rivalry between Türkiye and Iran on Azerbaijan’s foreign policy orientation. It can be concluded that Iran lost to Türkiye in the Azerbaijani segment of the clash of two ‘crescents.’

In the context of the evolving international relations system, small states are vulnerable to changes and transformations due to their limited capacity to adapt to the new operational environment of foreign and security policy risks and challenges. Given the increasing global geopolitical instability, including in the Indo-Pacific region in the wake of the United States’ Asia Pivot, this article seeks to address how a small state attempts to navigate the opportunities and risks while pursuing its national interest. The growing geopolitical confrontation between the U.S. and China is creating dilemmas for small states. New Zealand is used as a case study with the use of content analysis of text-based narratives from the annual reports of the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The analysis reveals the important role played by various domestic and external factors in shaping New Zealand’s approach as it seeks to leverage the best outcome for its aims and goals. Among these factors, the liberal values and norms projected to the outside world and the national brand of the country as a peace-loving power occupy an important place. The foreign policy narrative has thus far employed ambiguity, favouring economic relations with China and political and military relations with the United States to maximise opportunities and spread risks. However, this window is gradually closing with the increased tensions between the U.S. and China, as tensions between the US and China rise, forcing lesser powers to ‘choose sides.’ In this geopolitical climate, New Zealand’s ability to maintain its distinct foreign policy identity is becoming increasingly constrained and the country is losing its subjectivity.

The articulation of the concepts of strategic sovereignty and strategic autonomy in the official discourse of the European Union (EU) is indicative of its geopolitical turn. In this context, the purpose of this article is to clarify how the EU politically redefines the Central Asian space as part of its connectivity strategy (EU Strategy for Connecting Europe and Asia). The theoretical framework of the study is based on critical geopolitics, which, through a discourse analysis approach, makes it possible to identify the changes that EU representatives make in the spatial representation of Central Asia and the dynamics of the significance of this region in the EU’s connectivity strategy. First, critical geopolitics will be operationalized with an emphasis on analytical categories such as discourse, hegemony, identity and ontological security. Thereafter, drawing upon the long-standing academic tradition of considering the EU as a geopolitical actor, the paper clarifies how, under the sway of the ongoing debate on strategic sovereignty (autonomy), the EU deploys the logic of inclusion and exclusion in its relations with third countries. Subsequently, the European connectivity concept will be outlined and the transformation of Central Asia’s role within the framework of the EU’s connectivity strategy will be revealed. The study found that, in the EU’s official discourse, connectivity, which is characterized by both normativity and securitization, is a tool for achieving resilience for the EU and its partners in Central Asia, a means of protecting them from third countries’ attempts to politically and economically weaponize interdependence, a way of preserving the so-called rules-based order as a resource of the EU’s global normative influence, and a way of achieving strategic autonomy that the EU is willing to export as a model. The inclusion of Central Asia in the concept of EU connectivity and the exclusion of other actors promoting their own models of governance and connectivity in this region can turn Central Asia into one of the most important areas of normative confrontation between the EU and the proponents of an alternative world order.

The article investigates the impact of Jair Bolsonaro’s foreign policy on Latin American integration during the mandate of his first chancellor, Ernesto Araujo, from January, 2019 to March, 2021. The research posits that the deterioration of Brazil’s bilateral relations with Argentina and Venezuela during this period was the main obstacle to the further development of Latin American integration, in accordance with the axis theory of regional integration proposed by Brazilian scholars Raquel Patricio and Amado Cervo. The focus of Araujo’s foreign policy on isolating Venezuela from regional initiatives was the main driver behind the decline of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC). Brazil’s approach to the Venezuelan issue determined its engagement with the Forum for the Progress and Integration of South America (PROSUR), an institution that ultimately failed to deliver concrete results in democracy promotion and regional policy coordination. Brazil’s relations with the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR) will be scrutinized in greater detail, given the organization’s institutional complexity and importance for Brasilia’s regional engagement. Furthermore, the research will attest to the deterioration of Brazil’s regional leadership and the strengthening of the role of countries such as Chile, Colombia and Peru. The author concludes that Ernesto Araujo’s policies have contributed to Latin American disintegration, for by the end of his term at the Brazilian Minister of Foreign Affairs, no institution at the Latin American level had the necessary instruments to promote economic, social or political coordination among the countries of the region.

The relevance of the research topic stems from the need to examine the role and place of Rwanda in the internal political conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to further improve the effectiveness of peacekeeping efforts in resource and ethnic conflicts. The article aims to identify Rwanda’s role in the ongoing conflict in the DRC and to evaluate the extent to which its actions have impeded the effectiveness of peacekeeping efforts in the country. The study examines the strategies used by Rwanda in the DRC, including support for armed rebel groups, illegal mining of natural resources, and their impact on the dynamics of the conflict. The authors conclude by emphasizing the need for international intervention and cooperation to address the complex conflict dynamics in the DRC, as well as to help boost peacekeeping efforts of the various parties. Despite the implementation of numerous peacekeeping initiatives since the Second Congolese War to improve relations between the DRC and Rwanda, tensions continue to rise. The principal findings of the study are that Rwanda is involved in the DRC’s continued conflict and exploiting the latter’s internal political instability to plunder Congolese resources, as well as acting as a conduit for the smuggling of the DRC resources destined for Asian, Middle Eastern and Western countries. In conclusion, the authors posit that the conflict should be resolved through diplomatic methods involving the great powers and the African Union (AU). The paper employs a comprehensive approach to the processes and phenomena under consideration and uses the principle of critical evaluation of information. The theoretical and methodological basis of the research is offensive realism, which takes into account the desire of states to solve their national security issues first and foremost, even at the expense of their partnership relations with other international actors.

The conflict in Ukraine escalated in 2022 and the West’s radical political, military and economic response to it was but the coup de grâce of a decadent post-World War II western-centric order. However, the escalation of geopolitical tensions around the world in the wake its violent crackup is symptomatic of something more fundamental: the epochal crisis of global capitalism. The crisis is multidimensional, and its varied dimensions are interconnected. It is a structural crisis of overaccumulation, a political crisis of state legitimacy and capitalist hegemony, a social crisis of global social reproduction, a geopolitical crisis of escalating international conflict, and an environmental crisis that threatens the collapse of the planetary ecosystem. Unlike earlier crises of world capitalism (four crises are traditionally distinguished), we are reaching the historical exhaustion of the conditions for capitalist renewal. Capitalist reactivation may be possible in the coming years through redistributive and regulatory policies and through the application of new digital technologies, but such reactivation could not in the long run resolve the underlying contradictions of a decadent global capitalism. The author concludes that modern society is very far from a revolution against global capitalism, due to the underdevelopment of subjective and organizational conditions. The paper applies a comprehensive approach to the processes and phenomena under consideration, using the principles of comparative data analysis and critical assessment of information. The relevance of the topic of research is due to both the increase in political instability in the world, and the noticeable growth of rivalry and confrontation in global economic processes.

The article examines the development of the scientific and technical strategic partnership between the Russian Federation and the Republic of India in the first decade of the 21st century. It analyses the main directions, goals and already achieved results of this partnership, as well as prospects for its future. The authors use official documents and materials pertaining to bilateral relations, international Russian-Indian acts, and declarations on scientific, technological cooperation various fields, including exact sciences, biology, biotechnology, oceanography, environmentally friendly technologies, pharmaceuticals, military-technical production, space exploration, and meteorology. They illustrate a diverse array of forms of Russian-Indian cooperation aimed at mutual understanding and progress of both states and peoples. The article is a part of a research project on Soviet-Indian cooperation in the field of science and technology as a resource of the so-called “soft power.” The article’s primary focus is on the distinctive characteristics of the prospects of bilateral cooperation between Russia and India, which commenced in the 20th century, within the context of the cultural and civilizational aspects of international relations system. From a historical perspective, the authors examine the problems of enhancing the effectiveness of cooperation between the two countries at the present stage, given the need for interaction in the scientific, technological, innovative and educational spheres. This is to enable the countries to collectively address the emerging challenges associated with human-induced, climatic and socio-cultural threats, as well as terrorism and religious extremism. The subject is an analysis of the legal framework and content of Russian-Indian cooperation in scientific and technological fields. The constructivist approach is used to study the social processes, which reveal the connection between society and politics, and the influence of international cooperation on the institutionalization and development of scientific and educational cooperation between the USSR/Russia and India at the intergovernmental and interinstitutional levels. When considering the cultural and civilizational specifics of Russia and India, the civilizational and modernization approaches are employed. The authors conclude that the consolidation of the two countries not only strengthens the economic position of Russia and India, but also increases their authority in the international arena. This cooperation between Russia and India is an illustrative example of interstate understanding and friendship in the context of modern geopolitical processes, meeting the national interests of both powers and their respective societies.

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