Article
RUSSIA AND THE GLOBAL COMPETITION FOR AFRICA: THE MILITARY DIMENSION
The present paper focuses on the phenomenon of the growing military presence of foreign powers in Africa, which in effect is a precursor to the imminent new scramble for the political and economic influence on the continent, and on Russia's prospects for the use of hard power instruments on the African continent in light of this development. After the end of the Cold War, it seemed for some time that Africa would no longer remain a pawn on the global geopolitical chessboard but strive to pursue its own agenda. The advent of the African Union (AU) in 2001, the establishment of the African Standby Force in 2003, and the insistence of the AU on finding “African solutions to African problems” may have raised hopes for the minimization of foreign political and military influence on the continent. Yet since some years later, we have been witnessing rapid militarization by traditional and emerging external powers of Africa's strategic regions, first and foremost of the Horn of Africa, but others as well. Among the countries that have particularly raised their military profile on the continent in recent years are the United States, France, China, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey. The reasons for this phenomenon include not only the ongoing intensification of geopolitical competition on the global and regional scales, but also the inevitable increase in the importance of Africa's resource, human and economic potential within the emerging model of global development. Under the circumstances, with Russia once again laying a claim to be a weighty player on the world stage, it cannot but try to gain a foothold on the continent to augment its global influence, which invites research on the accompanying political, military and economic implications.
The problems of identity are no new theme in the research in African politics. In the foreground of interest of political scientists, historians, philosophers, sociologists and experts in African studies the identity appears in particular in connection with the for¬mation of African nations, the existence of nationalities and ethnics, which have direct influence on the operation of the African political system, especially its institutions. The scholars use a great many different approaches, which suggest the importance of these issues in the research in African integration processes and especially the process of development of modern African nations.
This article is about the life of Dmitry Bystroliotov (1901-1975), a Soviet intelligence officer, about his adventures in the Sahara desert and the Congo in the 1930s. Some information about Bystroliotov and about his trip emerged many years after his death, in the 1990s. But even today much of the story remains mysterious. Bystroliotovs first publications although a mystery too appeared in our journal in 1963. We continue the story on the basis of what has come to light since then.
journalism x
the Soviet intelligence x
Africa x
Congo x
Katanga x
Africa can engage with BRICS to achieve trade and sustainable development goals.
Abstract Most studies have shown that when men have higher levels of education they are less likely to beat their wives. Some have also shown that consumption of alcohol tends to be a negative catalyst in provoking inebriated males to commit domestic violence against their intimate partners. Thus, understanding the likely causes and/or associated factors of intimate partner violence with ever more concentrated studies is imperative. Studies in the past have not examined four possible categories of husbands to determine a correlation to intimate partner violence: those that are educated and tend to be alcoholics, those that are educated and tend not to drink alcohol, less-educated individuals who tend to be alcoholics, or those that are less educated and tend to not to be alcoholics. Employing the Demographic and Health Survey data for Nigeria, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, this study has shown the likelihood of each category of husband to perpetrate domestic violence on intimate female parnters in Nigeria, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan using the multivariate logistic regression at a 95% confidence interval. From the research it has been found that a husband’s educational level in and of itself offers no significant correlation to IPV perpetration in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, whereas in Nigeria, educated men were a little more likely to perpetrate IPV compared to men with less education as seen in the following: AOR 1.14, CI 1.02- 1.27; p-value < 0.001. In all, alcoholic men were at least 3 times more likely to commit IPV than nonalcoholic men as suggested in the formula of: CI 3.08-5.56; p-value < 0.001. In Nigeria, men with little or no education, who lived in rural areas and were non-alcoholics were less likely to perpetrate IPV compared to their counterparts in urban areas as suggested by AOR 0.75, CI 0.61-0.93; p-value < 0.01, while alcoholic men with little or no education, who lived in rural areas, showed the strongest proclivity to beat their wives as suggested in AOR 4.37, CI 3.5-5.42; p-value < 0.001. Alcohol seems to outweight the effects of education as an instigator of domestic violence. Its introduction consistently increases the likelihood of IPV and strengthens its statistical significance across sites.
Keywords: Intimate partner violence; husband; education; alcohol; Nigeria; Kyrgyzstan; Tajikistan
The authors discuss why conflicts emerge and how they are settled in different African regions and countries. Prospects for their peaceful resolution are studied. Basing on case studies, the authors propose theoretical approaches to conflicts.
HIV first appeared in West-Central Africa, then spread to the South, East and West and, at the same time, practically did not reach North Africa. A possible explanation of this pattern could be in the role of Islam which pays particular attention to the prevention of extramarital sexual relations. In addition, one can mention that circumcised men suffer from HIV significantly less frequently than non-circumcised. Against such background, we had certain grounds to expect that Islamic societies would have lower levels of HIV prevalence than non-Islamic. Our cross-cultural tests have supported this hypothesis. The data have been analyzed with power-law regression. We have found a significant (p < .001) and really strong (r = -.747) negative power-law correlation between percentage of Muslims and the HIV prevalence in African countries. Of course, one should take into account that the stigma attached to HIV is also much higher among Muslims and so, Muslims tend to be tested, identified and monitored at lower numbers than those from other religious and cultural backgrounds, which implies that further in-depth research is necessary in order to detect the real relationship between variables in question.
The article deals with the processes of building the information society and security in the CIS in accordance with modern conditions. The main objective is to review existing mechanisms for the formation of a common information space in the Eurasian region, regarded as one of the essential aspects of international integration. The theoretical significance of the work is to determine the main controls of the regional information infrastructure, improved by the development of communication features in a rapid process.The practical component consists in determining the future policies of the region under consideration in building the information society. The study authors used historical-descriptive approach and factual analysis of events having to do with drawing the contours of today's global information society in the regional refraction.
The main result is the fact that the development of information and communication technologies, and network resources leads to increased threats of destabilization of the socio-political situation in view of the emergence of multiple centers that generate the ideological and psychological background. Keeping focused information policy can not be conceived without the collective participation of States in the first place, members of the group leaders of integration - Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. Currently, only produced a comprehensive approach to security in the information field in the Eurasian region, but the events in the world, largely thanks to modern technology, make the search for an exit strategy with a much higher speed. The article contributes to the science of international relations, engaging in interdisciplinary thinking that is associated with a transition period in the development of society. A study of current conditions in their relation to the current socio-political patterns of the authors leads to conclusions about the need for cooperation with the network centers of power in the modern information environment, the formation of alternative models of networking, especially in innovation and scientific and technical areas of information policy, and expanding the integration of the field in this region on the information content.
This special publication for the 2012 New Delhi Summit is a collection of articles by government officials from BRICS countries, representatives of international organizations, businessmen and leading researchers.
The list of Russian contributors includes Sergei Lavrov, Foreign Minister of Russia, Maxim Medvedkov, Director of the Trade Negotiations Department of the Russian Ministry of Economic Development, Vladimir Dmitriev, Vnesheconombank Chairman, Alexander Bedritsky, advisor to the Russian President, VadimLukov, Ambassador-at-large of the Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry, and representatives of the academic community.
The publication also features articles by the President of Kazakhstan NursultanNazarbayev and internationally respected economist Jim O’Neil, who coined the term “BRIC”. In his article Jim O’Neil speculates about the future of the BRICS countries and the institution as a whole.
The publication addresses important issues of the global agenda, the priorities of BRICS and the Indian Presidency, the policies and competitive advantages of the participants, as well as BRICS institutionalization, enhancing efficiency and accountability of the forum.