Vol 12, No 2 (2020)

After World War II, Great Britain's loss of power in the international system had a great impact on the start of the decolonization process (the beginning of the independence movements in colonial geographies and the acquisition of peoples' independence) and expansion of it. India, one of the most important colonies of the British Empire which is known as the empire on which the sun never sets, was also the most important representative and perhaps even the trigger of this process. The Republic of India (hereafter referred to as India) which gained independence from Britain in 1947, also witnessed the birth of another state from its territory. The newly established state of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan (hereinafter referred to as Pakistan) has maintained a high-tension relationship with India since the foundation. The main cause of this tension has been the dispute over the Jammu and Kashmir region. The controversial region has again become a conflictual geography with the decision of the Indian Parliament on the 5th of August 2019. By this, the autonomous status of the J&K was abolished and Pakistan and India came to the edge of confrontation. The measures and precautions of the Indian government regarding the region has increased the tension not only in J&K but also in India and in Pakistan. This study tries to analyze the Kashmir dispute in line with the recent developments and how the issue effects the regional political dynamics. In the first part of the paper; there will be a short history of the dispute, the claims of the parties, and the place of this dispute in the international system. In the second part, the current situation will be tried to investigate from the foreign policy and regional policies aspect. The general conclusion of the author is that the recent decision on autonomy of Kashmir will have cumulative negative impacts on the stability of the region in coming years.

The article covers the period of the development of public diplomacy of the United States of America in the Republic of Cyprus. The chronological framework is determined by the process of historical formation of the US public policy and the beginning of the active implementation of public diplomacy programs on the island as a means of fulfilling foreign policy tasks. The author points out that the political course of the leadership of the United States from the second half of the 20th century was focused on more active inclusion of the country in international politics and the rejection of isolationism, which was primarily reflected in the departure from the postulates of the Monroe Doctrine and the entry of the United States into the First World War. This, in turn, had a great influence on the development of public diplomacy in the United States as a tool to promote the interests of the country, the creation of the necessary information support for foreign policy actions of the state, as well as a favorable image of the United States in other countries. For a long time, the USA did not consider Cyprus as one of the priorities of its foreign policy in the Eastern Mediterranean. This was largely due to the fact that Cyprus was part of traditional interests of Great Britain. Washington’s involvement in Cyprus occurred after the events of 1974 and the following Cyprus crisis. The United States focused on the Cyprus problem in the face of growing destabilization of the Middle East, showing interest in the logistics and transport infrastructure, a kind of natural “outpost” on the southeastern borders of NATO.

The article is devoted to the political views, circumstances and consequences of the tragic death of Jorge Eliécer Gaitán (1903-1948) - the most prominent political figure of Colombia in the XX century. The aim of the publication is to analyze on the basis of new sources and materials the ideology and policy of «gaitanismo», the international and regional context of the events of 1948, the beginning of the Cold war in the Western hemisphere, connected with the decisions of the IX Panamerican conference in Bogotá, the attitude of the US authorities towards Gaitan, the investigation of the murder of the prominent Colombian politician. The author comes to the conclusion that in the situation of the Cold war the USA was the main interested party in the Gaitán’s elimination. Truman's administration was determined to suppress not only the Socialist and Communist parties in Latin America, but also the liberalism, focused on national and social goals.

The legislative acts, adopted by the Oirad in the middle of the XVII - the middle of the XVIII centuries, proceeded from the real external and internal political situation, depended on the influence of religious and social conditions. Laws of 1640 should be recognized as the most universally recognized and authoritative ones, since they were supposed to strengthen the relations of the Oirad with the Eastern Mongols, the unity (mutual assistance and interaction) of the Oirad in the conditions of the collapse of their former (Middle) Confederation. But it was precisely the consequences of the disintegration that necessitated the development of new, more “local” versions of laws, that have been adopted in Jungar (Decrees of Galdan Boshogtu-khan), Qoshut (“Mongolian code” of Gushi-khan, “Basic code of Kukunor chuulgan”), and later in Kalmyk (“Togtol”) khanates. Despite the fact that the Buddhist factor is reflected in pointed legislative acts quite clearly, religion is represented on a larger scale especially in Qoshut ones, which should be explained by the proximity of Tibetan sacred authorities to Qoshut people (Kukunor region) and the role of Qoshut “kings” (rgyal po). “Togtol” laws, adopted by the Kalmyk ruler Donduk-Dashi, also supplemented Laws of 1640, and marked the formation of a special community grouped around certain sacred texts.