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The prominence of America's 'Pacific turn' has not been reduced despite conflicts have conflagrated in the elsewhere regions. The US rebalance towards Asia policy has been in the limelight since its proclamation under Obama administration. This policy has been based upon forging alliances, especially with the countries of Asia Pacific. Though successive US administration brought few changes in policy, yet, none have downgraded the notion of China as challenging US preponderance. The realists argue that a state either balances with power or against threat, albeit bandwagon on occasions. The South China Sea dispute exist as territorial conflict between China and the littorals states, presents an ideal situation for the later states to form an alliance with USA. However, these littoral states have instead opted hedging behavior towards greater powers. This article measures this behavior deducing the fact that complex interdependence among states and associated threats effect the traditional alliance patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The purpose of the study is to develop the main ontological provisions of the developed theory of soft foreign policy power of the state. Achieving this goal involves solving the following tasks: clarifying the content of the concept, classification of forms and corresponding types of social mechanism and arsenals of the main instruments for exercising the foreign policy influence of a sovereign state at the current historical stage of evolution of the social sphere of life; to clarify the content of the concept and classification of forms of the phenomenon of the foreign policy power of the state, as well as adequate mechanisms and instruments to ensure their functioning; clarifying the content of the concept and the mechanism of existence of the phenomenon of the foreign policy power of the state, the classification of forms of the phenomenon, as well as the composition of resources to ensure their existence. The following general scientific methodological tools were used in the study: historical analysis, comparative analysis, the principle of unity of historical and logical, hypothetical and deductive, cause and effect, generalization, and systematization. The developed system of theoretical provisions differs substantially from the relevant provisions of the “soft power” concept. In this regard, it is proposed to define the system of the research results as a “theory of soft foreign policy power of the state”. The concepts of the complex interdependence of states, foreign policy influence of the state, foreign policy power of the state, foreign policy strength of the state, and resources of foreign policy strength of the state are defined as the basic system-forming categories for the development of a developed theory; its structural elements-complex interdependence of states, soft foreign policy power of the state, soft foreign policy influence of the state, soft foreign policy power of the state. Although the developed knowledge system has ontological, epistemological, and axiological features, it should be recognized as incomplete in the praxeological aspect. In particular, the theoretical issues of assessing the level of soft foreign policy power of the state; assessing the scale of implementation, intensity, and effectiveness of the process of soft foreign policy influence of the state; assessing the scale of coverage and point of soft foreign policy power of the state remain unresolved. These issues should be the subject of further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present research study encapsulates Pakistan's geopolitical standing vis-à-vis the US and China with the commencement of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). It also reflects upon the multi-dimensional aspects of the Pakistan's geo-strategic importance for both, by primarily focusing on security, economics and politics. Parallel to this, Pakistan's strategic perspective regarding the onset of CPEC and its initiatives to further solidify its relationship with China is highlighted. The impact of the initiation of CPEC upon the US - Pak equation is also deliberated. Theoretical prism of 'Complex Interdependence' put forth by Robert Koehane and Joseph Nye is employed to explain, how economic and social interactions pave way for the mutual security stakes across the board. One of the key inference is, overlapping and interconnectedness of the geopolitical, geo-economic and geostrategic theoretical ideas and practices are relevant at the global and regional level equally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyzes Joseph S. Nye’s concept of «soft power». About the comprehensive analysis and evaluation of the concept as a system of scientific knowledge, there is every reason to assert that there is no expert evaluation at the level of the second reflection. Therefore, the problem of studying the main provisions of the concept of “soft power” at the theoretical level of scientific knowledge should be considered urgent. The study aims to determine the perfection of methodological support and ontological value of the main theoretical provisions of the concept of “soft power” as a system of scientific knowledge. The achievement of this goal involves solving the following tasks: to analyze the methodological support and the main theoretical provisions of the concept; to assess the level of perfection of the methodological support for the development of the concept; to assess the level of ontological completeness of the main theoretical provisions of the concept as a system of scientific knowledge. The following general scientific methodological tools were used in the study: historical analysis, comparative analysis, categorical analysis, comprehensive analysis, the principle of unity of historical and logical, hypothetical and deductive, cause and effect, generalization, and systematization. The results of the analysis of the main theoretical provisions of the concept of “soft power” made it possible to draw the following conclusions: the concept is characterized by methodological imperfection, ontological incompleteness, terminological uncertainty, and a compilation unsystematized architectonic structure of the content presentation, which causes ambiguity in the perception of its fundamental theoretical provisions; in their totality, the assessments made give grounds to attribute this system of scientific knowledge to such a form of theoretical knowledge as phenomenological theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper is dedicated to the key methodological problems of international and regional studies and the prospects for the formation of a unifi ed, «seamless» methodology. The author's refl ections are illustrated by examples from the collective monograph, ed. by Alexei D. Voskressenski “The Logic of the New World Architectonics and the Strategies of the Powers” (2021). At the fi rst stage, the question of the levels of analysis in international studies is investigated with a special emphasis on the systemic level, as well as the practical diffi culties of decomposition of international political situations, taking into account the high density of social ties. The applied value of network analysis and event analysis is shown. The phenomenon of transregionalism, which is of great importance for international economic relations, is considered from a network point of view. Methodological tools for the analysis of trans-regional institutions are presented as well. Much attention is paid to the organismic concept of the general theory of the system and its adaptation to the IR system. The practical use of this concept in organizing situational analyzes of international processes is shown. The regional level of analysis and the place of the “middle-level powers” in the world system are revealed through the prism of an agent-structural “matryoshka” (nested model) – agent-structural problem at different levels ofanalysis. The limits and possibilities of application of the complexity theory in the analysis of IR are explored. Special attention is paid to the concept of complex interdependence of R. Keohane and J. Nye, which, according to the author, adequately refl ects modern IR and is the key to understanding the formation of zones of infl uence of great powers in world politics. Finally, the work reveals the normative component of IR theory and shows an increasing popularity of non-Western IR theories in the last few years. The normativity in regional studies is explored as well and particular cases of the application of non-Western approaches in regional studies are shown. The necessity of integration of non-Western approaches to IR theory and regional research is declared.

The geographical proximity between Indonesia and Australia leads to harmonious relations between these two countries, especially in security. The development of information technology is one of the areas becoming the focus of Indonesia and Australia in maintaining regional security. Security cooperation has been established between Indonesia and Australia. This development can have an impact on a dispute between Indonesia and Australia, particularly in the 2013 cyberwar conflict. An Australian cyber-attack on Indonesia by tapping President Yudhoyono’s communication network caused the cyberwar incident. However, the post-cyberwar between Indonesia and Australia did not cause tension in the relations between the two countries. Indonesia approved the MOU of Cybersecurity Cooperation with Australia in 2018. This study aims to analyze the causes of Indonesia and Australia’s choice to continue their cybersecurity cooperation after the Indonesia-Australia cyberwar in 2013. This research utilized the theory of complex interdependence and domestic politics and qualitative analysis methods. The results revealed that Australia’s soft power resources, Australia’s political credibility, the advantages of Indonesia and Australia as democratic countries, and the political survival of individual leaders caused both countries to continue their cybersecurity cooperation after the Indonesia-Australia cyberwar in 2013.

The purpose of this paper is to observe how China’s exercise of economic statecraft changed with the growth of its economic power. While there is a widely accepted consensus that the distribution of economic capabilities has changed in favor of China over the recent decades, it still needs to be examined what effect this has had on China’s actual bargaining behavior within that new power structure. The analysis is built on the framework of complex interdependence, arguing that the expansion of China’s economic capabilities has led to greater levels of interdependence with other countries and has also tilted the power asymmetries in favor of China. The analysis operationalizes the change in China’s exercise of economic statecraft, i.e., the use of economic tools in pursuit of national objectives abroad, as a foreign policy change and observes the quantitative change (how intensively the same economic tools were utilized), the qualitative change (what means specifically were employed) and the change in goals (what national objectives these economic means were aimed at achieving). The analysis demonstrates that China used the same economic tools more intensively as a result of higher capacity. Also, it turned to unilateral economic sanctions more often since 2007. Further, China embraced multilateralism in the exercise of its economic statecraft under the current leadership. The paper concludes that in the interdependent world, a very inertial process of power asymmetry shift to China’s favor has started and China is likely to be increasingly able to translate its economic power into actual influence.

The peaceful rise of China, recurrence of Russia and rising Indian stature with reasonably well settled economic outlook and huge market of over 1 billion population are real facts of current century, which is transforming the prevailing norms of international order by way of cooperative engagement, economic collaboration, common development and creating shared destiny by way of win win cooperation. The BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) has assumed great significance as it is trans- regional organization based on economic integration. The biggest advantage of such organization is that it does not believe in power politics, major power competition avoiding zero-sum in the conduct of relations as well as economic collaboration. This research articles highlights the potential challenges and opportunities and suggests way forward for Pakistan for optimizing the gains promised through this economic bloc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Even though Sino-American relations of the Donald Trump era were perceived as predominately confrontational, with a symbolic trade war between the two, the scale of economic interdependencies between the United States and China results in either a need for collaboration or in serious losses on both sides in the case of lack of cooperation. The paper aims at analyzing economic relations between the United States of America and the People's Republic of China at the time of the Trump presidency. Analysis is based on the complex interdependence theory of Robert Keohane and Joseph Nye. The main hypothesis analyzed in the paper states: Asymmetric interdependence between the People's Republic of China and the United States of America limits the scope, intensity and length of a trade war. For the sake of the paper, economic interdependence will be analyzed. Apart from the reference to the state of the art, the document analysis and descriptive statistics are to be applied in the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic has globally amplified and brought to the surface the difficulties of vulnerable groups, including women engaged in rural activities. Even before the outbreak of the pandemic, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region was strongly affected by a significantly high unemployment rate (42.8%) among young people aged 15 to 24. The fact that 61.8% of the female labour force in Morocco and 70% of it in Tunisia are involved in the agricultural sector serves as an additional obstacle to realizing gender equality. Besides the application of statistical indicators, the article also works with qualitative data collected from interviews that were conducted with four representatives or members of local Tunisian NGOs and four activists of Moroccan women’s rights organizations. On one hand, it cannot be denied that international relations themselves are strongly strongly dominated by men. On the other hand, taking into consideration the complex interdependence of the international political order and its effects on decision-makers and sub-state actors alike, the analysis states that despite the political, historical, economic, and cultural characteristics of Morocco and Tunisia, the pandemic can serve as a catalyst for women’s rights organizations to act for the improvement of women’s conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International Relations scholars have long recognized the need to study the complex interdependencies of the international economy in order to understand the economic sources of national power and influence. Renewed interest in the patterns of international economic interdependencies and the structure of globalization has led scholars to a better, more empirically grounded understanding of the significance of complex interdependence for the evolution of international power. This paper examines the effect of one important and persistent characteristic of complex interdependence, American centrality within the international banking system, and argues that changes in the US financial cycle drive international financial volatility and crisis. These dynamics comprise the underbelly of American financial hegemony and pose a fundamental challenge to US leadership in the contemporary liberal international order. Financial stability is key to economic growth, which in turn perpetuates liberal political norms and institutions. Financial instability, on the other hand, breeds political discontent, which may take the form of populism or nationalism. The ability and willingness of the United States to reign in its own financial system may be key to ensuring that the liberal international system it established 75 years ago survives and thrives in the coming decades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Fronteira: Revista de Iniciacao Cientifica em Relacoes Internacionais is the property of Instituto de Ciencias Sociais, Departmento de Relacoes Internacionais, PUC Minas and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article examines issues and concerns around climate change in the renewed United Nations (UN) and African Union (AU) partnership. It establishes its theoretical foundation on the rapport between complex interdependence and political ecology. At another level, it relies on data from a range of purposely selected secondary sources as reference points. It argues the case for deeper cooperation in the area of climate change between the two multilateral partners, which is long overdue and of strategic importance to the global (multilateral) climate action. It raises some concerns which if not addressed could potentially limit the capabilities of the UN and the AU to jointly work together in tackling climate change. These include lack of a common position and unified approach, misaligned agenda, and a general mistrust of the UN as a "big-brother" supranational authority and, therefore, a higher-ranking partner in the UN-AU multilateral arrangement. Aside from providing an insight into the climate change issues in the renewed partnership involving the UN and the AU, the article underscores the need for a more dedicated approach and regional inputs/buy-in as an important strategy to facilitate effective, mutually beneficial, and sustainable solutions to Africa's climate change challenges. It calls for a review of the AU-UN Framework on Implementation of Agenda 2063 and Agenda 2030 such that more focus is given to climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Having fought its third war and staring at food shortages, independent India needed to get its act together both militarily and economically by the mid-1960s. With the United States revoking its military assistance and delaying its food aid despite New Delhi's devaluation of the rupee, India's newly elected Indira Gandhi government turned to deepen its ties with the Soviet Union in 1966 with the aim of balancing the United States internally through a rearmament campaign and externally through a formal alliance with Moscow. The US formation of a triumvirate with Pakistan and China in India's neighbourhood only bolstered its intent. Yet India consciously limited the extent of both its balancing strategies and allowed adequate space to simultaneously adopt the contradictory sustenance of its complex interdependence with the United States economically. Did this contrasting choice of strategies constitute India's recourse to hedging after 1966 until 1971, when it liberated Bangladesh by militarily defeating a US-aligned Pakistan? Utilising a historical-evaluative study of archival data and the contents of a few Bollywood films from the period, this paper seeks to address the question by empirically establishing the extents of India's balancing of, and complex interdependence with, the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the wake of the 9/11 'war against terrorism‘, Bush‘s vision of 'Pax Americana‘ and 'Axis of Evil‘ played a crucial role in shaping the global interactions among states. It resulted in the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, led by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) coalition forces, against transnational terrorism. However, almost two decades later, they neither could eradicate terrorism from the global map nor are anywhere close to achieving the Pax Americana. An analytical study in this paper shows that their exit from Afghanistan, even if it is not a complete exit, will not be an easy task without losing a strong geostrategic foothold in this sensitive region where Russia, China, and India are already looking for opportunities to develop their dominance for regional power aspirations. The theoretical model — comprising the theory of complex interdependence and the regional security complex theory — aptly explains the complexity of Afghanistan‘s situation. With regards, this paper focuses on the different facets of conflict resolution in Afghanistan, focusing on Pakistan and China‘s interests and other regional players. China has also emerged as one of the noteworthy players in this context since a peaceful Afghanistan has a long-term impact on the smooth progress of the Belt and Road Initiative. This complex interdependence of multiple players in the Afghanistan peace process has turned it as one of the most thin-skinned and almost unattainable goals. Nevertheless, with various geostrategic and economic interests at stake, we must recognize the efforts being made to bring the peace process to finality.

The purpose of this paper is to observe how China's exercise of economic statecraft changed with the growth of its economic power. While there is a widely accepted consensus that the distribution of economic capabilities has changed in favor of China over the recent decades, it still needs to be examined what effect this has had on China's actual bargaining behavior within that new power structure. The analysis is built on the framework of complex interdependence, arguing that the expansion of China's economic capabilities has led to greater levels of interdependence with other countries and has also tilted the power asymmetries in favor of China. The analysis operationalizes the change in China's exercise of economic statecraft, i.e., the use of economic tools in pursuit of national objectives abroad, as a foreign policy change and observes the quantitative change (how intensively the same economic tools were utilized), the qualitative change (what means specifically were employed) and the change in goals (what national objectives these economic means were aimed at achieving). The analysis demonstrates that China used the same economic tools more intensively as a result of higher capacity. Also, it turned to unilateral economic sanctions more often since 2007. Further, China embraced multilateralism in the exercise of its economic statecraft under the current leadership. The paper concludes that in the interdependent world, a very inertial process of power asymmetry shift to China's favor has started and China is likely to be increasingly able to translate its economic power into actual influence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Relying on complex interdependence as a theoretical approach, this paper investigates the hypothetical damage that the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Agreement could represent for Africa in terms of climate finance. In June 2017, President Donald Trump publicly declared the U.S. intention to withdraw from further participating in the multilateral Paris Agreement. To keen followers and analysts of the U.S. climate policy beyond its borders, such unilateral action was never a surprise. Rather, it is nostalgic of the experience of the Kyoto Protocol, particularly how more or less similar move unduly prolonged the global climate negotiations up till late 2015 when the Paris Agreement came about. Although the Paris Agreement is remarkable as it represents the first states-wide climate deal, it however left a number of issues unresolved. Notable among which is climate finance which has remained the most contentious and of critical concern to developing countries, particularly in Africa. Pitted against the fact that Africa contributes less to climate change and, ironically, the hardest-hit by the phenomenon, the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Agreement aggravates concerns around climate finance and, indeed, portends additional burdens for a continent that is still struggling to cope with the untoward fallout of climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the United States (US) is leading the fight against transnational terrorism, and the United Nations (UN) has strongly encouraged an interdependent approach, the US still lacks guidance for a coherent US Deradicalization Program. This is of critical concern given that the US recently received its first publicly known US Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant defector, but currently lacks a policy or program to handle this population, outside of standard incarceration. Moreover, this population, along with homegrown extremists and returning fighters from Syria pose the most likely continued jihadi presence in the US. The purpose of this paper is to review successful program options, and establish a basis on which to develop an effective US program. This paper outlines the known triggers for deradicalization, the known characteristics of the US jihadi population and analyzes the most useful deradicalization program components based on successful international models. Using a qualitative, cross-national content analysis of former jihadi personal narratives, international deradicalization program structure evaluations and major research findings, this paper concludes that a standardized UN sponsored program, with comprehensive services which include credible ideological and psychological support, and amnesty incentives tailored to the US jihadi population, would be the most effective way to address former jihadi population needs while enhancing US national security objectives. Key Middle Eastern stakeholders and Western states must cooperatively develop best methodologies for target populations, by leveraging each other’s competencies and capabilities.

In this article the author examines the European Union (EU) and the United States (US) counter-terrorism cooperation in the case of the Passenger Name Record. The aim of this article is to find the obstacles and enablers of EU-US counter-terrorism cooperation and offer suggestions to make the cooperation more efficient. In addition, the author determines the distribution of resources in this security relationship to make more accurate suggestions. Previous studies suggest that the primary obstacle to counter-terrorism cooperation in the PNR case is uncertainty caused by different data protection standards on either side of the Atlantic Ocean. The author used the process tracing method and conducted interviews to determine the obstacles and enablers of transAtlantic security cooperation. Although uncertainty was identified as the primary obstacle, it was not caused purely by data protection standards, but also by the fact that the EU was not entirely sure how PNR data would be used after it has been forwarded to Customs and Border Protection by the air carrier. The primary enabler of counter-terrorism cooperation in the PNR case was the more accommodating approach of the US - which led to an agreement. Nevertheless, experts and security strategies suggested that EU-US counter-terrorism cooperation works well and there have been no major problems regarding PNR data exchange. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globalism and globalisation are concepts that continue to generate mixed feelings in the 21st century. While some are of the view that it is the end of history, some see it as the beginning of history because Africa is, at best, left behind in the area of sustainable development. What the continent is experiencing now is what Samir Amin describes as mal-development. For total control of means of production, the West and some Asian states have been moving to Africa to grab land in the form of leasing and total buying out for production of foods, feeds and inputs for bio-fuel. Some embark of forestry through questionable debt equity conversion strategy. Therefore, the concept that land in Africa is meant for the living, the death and the unborn has been subjected to questioning. Going by complex interdependence theory, this paper intends to look into the crises of globalization where the forces of demand and supply determines what to produce, how to produce and when to produce goods and services. Going by the basic tenets of international trade and subjection of Africa to agrarian society, Africa and Africans should be left with their arable land for the production of food for the rest of the world, but only to receive technological inputs from the West for precision agricultural practice. The paper concludes that Africa can remain a basket of food for the global system provided relevant inputs are available to the continent from the West. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Space activities and infrastructure today are critical to international security and the global economy. The space domain is not, however, subject to sovereign control by international law. Like other shared domains, such as the high seas, the polar regions, and arguably cyberspace, space is a domain in which State and non-State actors interact beyond national borders. Given global dependence on space-derived information and an increase in potential adversary threats to space assets, States have taken a number of steps in recent years to protect their national interests in space. Despite its importance and increasing global attention, international cooperation and competition in space is a relatively under theorized topic in international relations. Conversely, international relations theories are not widely used in the development of United States (U.S.) national space policy and the practice of space diplomacy, from a U.S. perspective. The intent of this article is to address this rift between theory and policy by briefly describing major theories of international relations and where they can shed light on how and why States engage in cooperation and competition in space. The article addresses the major schools of realism, liberalism, and constructivism, with applications to space activity. No single theory fully describes the U.S. policy approach to international space activities. Different theories, applied to the same situation, can, however, provide useful perspectives to both theorists and policy-makers. This suggests the use of a mixed, pragmatic approach, referred to as "eclectic theorizing" in international relations literature, as a promising avenue for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article contributes the insight that during an international crisis, a pre-existing state of complex interdependence can help to preserve cooperation. It derives the insight from a case study on the International Relations of the Arctic before and after the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea. The case study is examined through the lens of Robert Keohane and Joseph Nye’s concept of ‘complex interdependence’, as developed in their 1977 book Power and Interdependence – a concept which provides the analytical breadth necessary for a multifactorial situation of regional cooperation and conflict. It finds that Arctic international relations had achieved a state of complex interdependence by 2014, and that some important elements of interdependence then disappeared after the annexation of Crimea. But while most military and economic cooperation between Russia and Western states was suspended, many aspects of regional cooperation continued, including on search and rescue, fisheries, continental shelves, navigation and in the Arctic Council. The question is, why has Arctic cooperation continued in some issue areas while breaking down in others? Why have Russian–Western relations in that region been insulated, to some degree, from developments elsewhere? The concept of complex interdependence provides some answers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Modernity consists of many confl icting aspects: It brings many empty promises, yet has resulted in new institutions that create bridges between the values and interests of millions of people who seek freedom, prosperity, quality of life, strengthened democracy and social justice. In this paper I attempt to a gain and loss account against modernity, because institutional rules are not only conducive to cooperative interactions, but to hostile interactions as well. People are not always guided by moral commitment, but rather more often driven by cold calculation or coercion.Methodology: Modernity has at least three defi nitions. The fi rst defi nition is based on ideas that took over the imagination of the era. The second defi nition is based on an analysis of the behavior of people who respond to reason as well as emotion and believe that they act more rationally than their ancestors or the traditional “others”. The third defi nition is the one closest to my heart, consisting of the use of institutional categories. Institutions offer practical ways of connecting ideas and people. The challenge for them is the result of deepening local and national interdependencies, but increasingly often also regional (e.g. European) and global. Interdependencies are the result of the scientifi c and technological revolution, global markets, global governance mechanisms, the emergence of new social forces and cultural confl icts (against the background of reconciling identity and differences).Conclusions: The most important task is to identify the mechanisms of complex systems so that people know how to act under conditions of uncertainty, risk and crisis. Hence, the expectations toward institutions often exceed their abilities. Even though new institutions are being created and old ones are being fixed, we are witnessing and participating in, institutional paralysis and the decay (e.g. corruption). In this situation, it is imperative not only to improve control methods (e.g. legal), b