Vol 17, No 2 (2025)

The study undertakes a rigorous examination of the process of shaping the image of the caliphate and caliphal institutions in the central and peripheral regions of Islamic world in the late 19th century and the first third of the 20th century. To this end, it provides a look at specific examples of creative and political thought, drawing upon the works of prominent Muslim intellectuals and ideologists - Abd al-Rahman al-Kawakibi (1855-1902), Abd al-Aziz Javish (1876-1929) and Abul Kalam Azad (1888-1958). The Ottoman Empire decline accompanied by successful colonization of Muslim lands by Europeans compelled Arab, Turkish, and Indian thinkers to refer to the Ottomans’ experience in the caliphal capacity. Discussions around the duties of the Caliph and conditions for his legitimacy raised a wide range of political, cultural, and philosophical issues. They revealed contradictions in the interpretation of unity within Muslim community (umma), on the question on whether the caliphate and the secular model of social development could coexist, and on the prospects of overcoming the dependence of Muslim peoples on foreign colonial powers. The study sheds light on generational and regional features in the way Muslim intellectual elite regarded the tasks and legitimacy of the rule of the last Ottoman sultans. It reveals historical arguments and ideological attitudes of those who supported and opposed the concept of the ‘Arab caliphate’ (‘caliphate of the Quraysh’), while the concept itself is evaluated in the light of geopolitical change that followed the Young Turk revolution of 1908-1909 and the Ottoman decline after the First World War. This study makes it possible to question the widespread view of caliphatism as a comparatively systematic, logically sound and non-evolving worldview system.

The relevance of the research topic is due to the increasing interest of the PRC in Arctic issues. Despite the fact that China is not one of the Arctic and sub-Arctic states, it plays an active role among non-Arctic players in the issue of internationalization of Arctic governance, seeking to strengthen its voice in Arctic affairs. The purpose of the research is to study the ambitions of Chinese policy in the region. The range of tasks includes issues of the historical, regulatory and legal framework of China’s Arctic policy, discourse in the Chinese scientific community. Based on the results of the study, it was concluded that the Chinese side will actively promote the narrative of the need to transform the Arctic into an important artery of international logistics through the implementation of the Polar Silk Road project, and will focus on the need to internationalize the Arctic region and also expand opportunities for access to natural resources as an attractive asset in the Arctic. In view of the increasing fragmentation of international relations and the “blocking” of the Russian Federation’s activities during its chairmanship of the Arctic Council, the Chinese side is gaining greater opportunities to be involved in the Arctic agenda due to expanded cooperation with the largest Arctic power - Russia.

This research analyzes the readings and interpretations produced by an Argentine political organization, the Partido Revolucionario de los Trabajadores - Ejército Revolucionario del Pueblo (PRT-ERP), regarding the construction of socialism in countries such as the Soviet Union, China, and various locations in Eastern Europe during the 1960s and 1970s. Our objective is to trace the impact produced by these experiences on the revolutionary horizon adopted by the party, examining how they were incorporated into its intervention platform over time. We observe how everyday life, development projects, and different political, diplomatic, and cultural initiatives led by countries associated with the “real socialism” universe were represented in the PRT-ERP’s periodicals, Estrella Roja and El Combatiente, and debated in its internal documentation. The analysis of documentary sources indicates that, despite being associated with the universe of the so-called “new lefts”, which emerged globally throughout the second half of the 20th century, the PRT-ERP was particularly interested in understanding what it called “the construction of socialism” in Eastern countries. This finding allows for a review of some definitions about the expectations that guided the actions of young people, women, and workers involved in Southern Cone (Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay) revolutionary organizations during the 1960s and 1970s. Far from being an exception, the PRTERP was one of the most notable expressions of the phenomenon of political radicalization that crossed the regional landscape during that period.

The opening of Korea (Chosŏn) for modern diplomacy in the late XIX century not only had a signifi impact on the geopolitical balance of power in the Northeast Asian region, but also largely determined the future of the Korean Peninsula. Chosŏn’s immediate neighbors, China, Japan, and the Russian Empire, played a particularly important role in the regional rivalry surrounding the Korean peninsula in the late XIX and early XX centuries. First two powers had a long history of traditional diplomatic communications with Chosŏn and the states that preceded it. However, the Russian Empire, which expanded its territory in the Far East in the mid-19th century, was a new force in the region. Its diplomatic line followed Western, rather than Sinocentric, standards. It was precisely this unique position of the Russian Empire that determined its key role for Korea in establishing its diplomatic representation in Europe. This study describes several attempts by the Chosŏn government to establish its permanent diplomatic representation in Europe (headquartered in St. Petersburg) in the mid-1880s to late 1890s. These episodes in the history of Russian-Korean relations still remain poorly understood. The author focuses on the balance of power surrounding the Korean Peninsula during these events and analyzes the reasons for the failure of mentioned Korean government’s initiatives in the context of the geopolitical situation of that time. Despite the negative outcome, these early attempts to establish a Korean diplomatic representation in Europe (and Russia) had a signifi impact not only on the dynamics of domestic political processes in Chosŏn, but also on the balance of power surrounding it at the end of the XIX century.

In order to compile an objective picture of the features of the spread of Egyptian cults in the territory of Rome and Italy (as far as possible from surviving sources), it is necessary to understand how the Romans adapted their knowledge of Egypt to form their own religious models. It should be taken into account that consideration of the characteristics of Egyptian religious practice on the territory of Italy should occur through the prism of the social context, as well as taking into account the specifics of the integration of these beliefs into the Roman cultural and religious environment. Rejecting traditions that were unacceptable to them, the Romans, nevertheless, willingly accepted those that had already been adapted by the Greeks. However, if we proceed from the postulate that the history of cultures is a history of borrowings, then we must admit that the readiness to introduce something new in Roman culture was by no means absolute, and Egyptian religious and cultural characteristics became the subject of appropriation only to the extent that this was necessary (and acceptable) for the Romans themselves.