编号 1 (2023)

The article addresses the reforms of border security, migration and asylum policies in times of recent crises in the European Union. The author turns to the analysis of the refugee crisis and closing borders during pandemic in the framework of the «failing forward» approach, which combines the ideas of both liberal intergovernmentalism and neofunctionalism. Describing the process of reforming the Schengen Border Code and the Dublin Regulation, the article demonstrates how the Commission’s ambitious initiatives to promote communitarian method of governance were reduced in the Council to a minimum common denominator. These decisions contributed to the temporary settlement of migration and border security problems, which were aggravated by crisis. They promoted the process of European integration to a certain extent, but did not guarantee from future events of force majeure. The cases of refugee crisis and pandemic allow to prove the author’s argument that a new Schengen reform was required to legitimize restrictions of citizens' trips. Concentrating on the analysis of this new reform, the author comes to conclusion that the EU's choice of an intergovernmental way of Schengen governance does not ensure success in case of a new crisis. Thereby the logic of “failing forward” will be reproduced with a high probability.

The article traces the development of the Arctic strategy of the Federal Republic of Germany in order to identify the evolution of its priorities and main factors. In the understanding of the Arctic strategy, two opposite approaches were formed among German official circles: pragmatic, aimed at maximum extracting economic benefits with rather modest claims for international legal regulation of the Arctic regime and ecocentric which proceeds from the environmental protection priority of the Arctic region and insists on more active international positioning of Germany to solve these problems. Each approach was represented by certain political forces, groups of interests and even ministries. During the 2010s, the pragmatic approach was gradually being replaced by the ecocentric. On the other hand, Germany was more and more skeptical about the possibility of preventing a geopolitical race in the Arctic and therefore systematically expanded its military presence in the region. German Arctic policy is based on current international law and institutions, as well as focuses on the aspiration to bring more strict environmental and technical standards to them, and wide financial support of Arctic research and the assertion of its freedom; synchronization with the Arctic policy of the EU; consideration for the interests of the indigenous population; technological export; active prevention of global warming and expansion of marine protected areas in the Arctic.

The article analyses the evolutionary changes that the EU Economic and Monetary Union is undergoing under the influence of the development of its main economic contradiction. The latter, according to the authors, lies in the use, on the one hand, of a single, centralized economic policy, and on the other hand, in the functioning of relatively independent national financial systems, the power of which is determined by the efficiency of the national economy. In practice, the contradiction lies in the fact that the general economic policy in most of its elements does not take into account the peculiarities of the economic development of individual countries, which makes it financially unprofitable for some of them to participate in a regional association, and stimulates the emergence of disintegration trends. The problem of diverging interests is exacerbated by many factors. One of them is competition, which under the conditions of a common market and the use of a single currency is unlimited. Other factors are related to the shocks that the EU economy is experiencing: financial crises, the COVID-19, the sanctions imposed by Western countries on Russia. The evolution of the EMU is taking place as a result of the EU's desire to mitigate the negative impact of this contradiction through the adoption of strategic and emergency measures that alleviate the problem of divergence of interests.

Among the complex of issues dealt with by the theory of food security, the problems of the impact on food inflation, which especially grew in the Visegráld countries and Albania in the 2nd-3rd quarter of 2022, are being studied. The focus of the paper is on researching the possibilities of increasing the product supply due to imports. The countries selected for the study demonstrated a common strategy to use the problems with the export sales of grain experienced by Russia and Ukraine in 2022 in the interests of developing their own infrastructure and increasing the security of national grain markets, as well as to strengthen the ruling political forces. However, due to multiple differences between the countries (the level of self-sufficiency in grain crops, the degree of geographical proximity to Ukraine, the availability of financial resources, etc.), they chose different tactical models: the Visegrad countries and Romania, despite the rhetoric of solidarity with countries with a high level of food insecurity, are aimed at obtaining additional financial dividends from their role as transit countries for Ukrainian grain; Albania, due to its geographical remoteness from Ukraine, the closure of Ukrainian ports before the start of a grain deal and small financial reserves, is forced to focus on other available sources of grain.

In 2019, the attention of the world community to Greenland increased significantly after US President Donald Trump offered to buy the island. Although the proposal was immediately rejected, it caused a rethinking of Greenland’s importance in the Arctic international relations system. Greenland’s government also felt the growth of attention, which took a sharper course towards independence from Denmark. The author intends to explore whether Greenland has the economic basis for being an independent state. Thus, the current state of the key export sectors of its economy (fishing, mining and tourism) was analyzed. As is shown, having a negative trade balance Greenland is deeply dependent on Danish financial support which equals 78% of export revenues, up to 50% of the local budget and 20% of GDP. Moreover, Denmark is the main trade partner of Greenland. The paper also considers the main factors pushing Greenlanders to gain independence from Denmark - resentment for the colonial period of their joint history and the economic advantages of free disposal of the island’s territory and its resources. The intent to become independent is largely fueled by U.S.-China competition for influence on Greenland, as both countries are attracted by the island’s geostrategic location and its resources, including rare earth minerals and uranium. The analysis of key export sectors development prospects demonstrates that by modernizing its seafood industry, putting into operation new tourism infrastructure and implementing ongoing mining projects Greenland could receive funds in an amount sufficient to replace Denmark’s financial support. However, this will require time, foreign investment and, most importantly, consistent policy for working with foreign companies, which Greenland lacks currently.

The study assesses the prospects of CSTO activity after the end of the peacekeeping operation in Kazakhstan. In 2022 important security processes were taking place in the geographical area of the CSTO (conflict between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, including aggravation of the situation on the borders of Armenia, the activation of NATO), which indicates the relevance of the topic. The aim of the study is to establish the pro-spects of the CSTO activity after the completion of the peacekeeping operation in Ka-zakhstan in conditions of rapid changes at the international and regional level. The methodological basis of the research consists of general scientific methods (analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction, comparison). The author believes that in the near fu-ture, even taking into account the special military operation of the Russian Federation in Ukraine, which affects the intensification of Russian-Belarusian defense coopera-tion, CSTO activity is unlikely to change. At the same time the activation of NATO will make certain adjustments in the practical work of the CSTO, for example, it will affect the practice of specific actions in the course of exercises. The article offers the prognostic possibilities in the study of different issues related to the analysis of CSTO activity in the future, including in the context of Russia's national interests.

The article analyses the changes in the state of affairs for the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) that occurred after the beginning of the Special Military Operation of the Russian Federation in Ukraine (February 2022). The leadership of the UOC has mainly agreed with the policy of Kiev, supporting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, as well as providing aid to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. This was evident in the statements of the UOC’s head, metropolitan Onufriy, and the declarations of the Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. However, despite the position of the UOC (and its peacemaking efforts), the state of affairs for this Church in Ukraine has generally deteriorated, including due to the rising pressure from the authorities (mainly in the western regions), the increase in the number of negative news in the media, and more frequent cases of seizure of churches, which were at times forcibly transferred to another jurisdiction (OCU). At the national level, the threats towards UOC were also present, with the registration of a bill in the Parliament, envisioning a complete ban of the Church (the consideration of this bill has been postponed). At the same time the decision to proclaim the autocephaly of the UOC, adopted at the council in Feofaniya in May 2022, did not lead to a fundamental improvement in the state of affairs for the Church.

The article focuses on the commemorative experience of Britain in the context of a systematic study of the policy of memory at the present stage of the country's development. The main purpose of the study is to analyse the forms and ways of representing the Battle of the Somme in modern Britain as a historical reality, highlighting the main features of the British experience of preserving the memory of this event and transmitting it for a mass audience. The author proposes an attempt to trace the development of ideas in scientific and popular science materials concerning the event as a collective trauma, the memory of which has been reflected in British historiography since its formation in 1916. The collective memory of the events of the First World War in Britain is often ambiguous and debatable, especially the Battle of the Somme, which changed people's perception of armed conflicts. As part of the study of the British politics of memory, it was revealed that the "historical narrative" of the battle is to glorify the exploits of the expeditionary forces on the Western Front and at the same time criticise the commanders of the armed forces responsible for massive combat losses.