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The arms control regime consists of several documents, and the United States of America and the Russian Federation as the State-Parties ensured the implementation and effectiveness of them mostly. However, the growing conflict between these States due to Russia's numerous violations of international law and obligations under international agreements has also harmed arms control. The withdrawal of both states from strategically important documents, which were tools for maintaining transparency and mutual control, is a result of the decline in trust and the lack of a constructive dialogue between Washington and Moscow. The Open Skies Treaty is one of these documents. The article examines the United States' reasons for the withdrawal from the Treaty and reveals the consequences of such a decision by the administration of President Trump. It is noted that the agreement, the idea of ​​which belonged to the United States, was signed immediately after the end of the Cold War and was to help build trust and openness in the new environment. It is noted that the Treaty ensures international stability through the ability of each party to openly collect information on the armed forces, activities, and operations of another party through coordinated flights of reconnaissance aircraft over the territory of the member states. However, problems are gradually accumulating due to Russia's actions to restrict flight zones in violation of the provisions of the Open Sky Treaty, which has become especially acute since 2014. That made the United States think about the meaning of participating in an agreement where one of the parties violates its provisions. The authors outline the consequences of the U.S. decision to leave the agreement; in particular, the focus is on the reactions of the U.S. European partners and Ukraine. They also examined applications and countermeasures by Russia that has also announced its withdrawal from the agreement. Reflecting on the prospects for international security and arms control, the preconditions for the potential return of the United States and Russia to the Open Sky Treaty are outlined.

We study the effects of the Open Skies Agreement (OSA) of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). This treaty was meant to promote competition among member-state carriers, leading to an increase in the volume of passengers. In this study, we estimate the impact of the OSA on the number of international air passengers and on the number of operating airlines; moreover, we disaggregate these effects into effects on low-cost carriers (LCCs) and full-service carriers (FSCs). Using data from the Official Airline Guide, we estimate the impact of the OSA by three methods: fixed effects, difference-in-differences with propensity score matching, and distance matching. Our results show that OSA has boosted the recent surge of all LCCs and FSCs to and from the ASEAN region. However, the OSA has decreased the number of FSC flights within the region, with a resulting negative net effect on the number of airlines.

Signed March 24, 1992, the Open Skies Treaty permits each state-party to conduct short-notice, unarmed, reconnaissance flights over the others' entire territories to collect data on military forces and activities. Observation aircraft equipped with sensors shall enable the observing party to identify significant military equipment. The Open Skies Treaty agreed on an observation of 30cm GSD. Based on 8 mid-format cameras for 3 flight levels, a system was adjusted to comply with the regulations. However, the overall aim was to also use the system for mapping purposes in Romania, specifically the medium altitude configuration. From this medium altitude configuration, one specific combination raised our interest. The designed wide corridor mapping system, using two RGB tilted cameras and one RGB nadir camera generates a certain range of resolution of the sideward looking tilted cameras and a non-homogenous distribution of the GSD in the overlapping areas. While a reduction of the GSD in the remote parts of the tilted cameras is a well-known and accepted fact, the effect in the overlap of the tilted cameras with the nadir one is the opposite mathematically. In some cases, such an effect can cause a better GSD in these areas than expected.

In addition to being the world's largest economy, the United States (US) has been the foremost driver of consumer spending, free trade and open skies policies. Trade-driven economic growth and air freight markets have been commonly linked in air transport research. Despite increased security after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, international air imports to the US has continued to grow at a rate faster than consumer spending. This paper aims to evaluate whether gravity models are robust enough to forecast and accurately account for substantial economic shocks such as the Global Financial Crisis (GFC). Our research suggests that US demand for air freight is highly sensitive to transport costs, competition from sea freight and consumer spending patterns of perishable, low value and high value commodities across the 19 commodity groups examined, rather than manufacturing income or factors associated with product origin, which is all the more interesting in the context of the recent protectionist rhetoric of the US administration., Highlights • Developing gravity models for forecasting air cargo demand. • Fitness of model for short to medium term planning. • Combination of commodity and regional analysis. • Our models accurately account for external shocks such as the GFC. • US air cargo demand highly sensitive to consumer spending.

The article analyzes the dynamics, causes and implications of the collapse of the Open Skies Treaty in the broader context of gradual dismantlement of the network of arms control and confidence building regimes created at the end of the Cold War. The central focus is on the explanation of the declining U.S. support for the treaty since the 2010s and the eventual withdrawal addressed against the background of the evolution of the U.S. approach to arms control during the first two decades of the 21st century. While policies changed from one president to another, a sequence of U.S. administrations shared growing loss of interest in arms control and unwillingness to invest in generating domestic support for existing and new agreements. The weakening of arms control became preferable to limitations on the U.S.’ own programs and forces, in line with the belief that the United States was sufficiently advanced to remain ahead of any possible competitors, including Russia. While arms control issues are more effectively addressed through detailed, difficult negotiations and compromises, the evolving U.S. approach to perceived treaty violations by Russia amounted to an ultimatum to Moscow to admit violations and fix them the way the U.S. wants them to be fixed. Russia’s decision to follow suit by withdrawing from the treaty, while not immediate or preordained, is explained as driven both by political motives and, in cost-benefit terms, by concerns that the United States would keep access to data on Russia collected under the treaty through the U.S. NATO allies. The prospects for modest upgrade of the arms control agenda under the Biden administration are also addressed. Выход США из Договора по открытому небу В статье анализируются динамика, причины и последствия развала Договора по открытому небу на фоне постепенного демонтажа системы режимов по контролю над вооружениями и укреплению доверия, созданной на исходе «холодной войны». Центральное внимание уделено объяснению выхода США из договора в контексте эволюции американских подходов к контролю над вооружениями в течение первых двух десятилетий XXI в. Хотя конкретная политика в этой сфере варьировалась от одного президента к другому, череду администраций США объединяла постепенная потеря интереса к вопросам контроля над вооружениями и нежелание инвестировать в создание внутриполитической поддержки как действующих, так и новых договоренностей. В силу веры в то, что военно-технологическое превосходство США позволяет им оставить позади любых конкурентов, включая Россию, для Вашингтона ослабление контроля над вооружением стало предпочтительней любых ограничений американских национальных программ и сил. Хотя вопросы контроля над вооружениями наиболее эффективно решаются путем детальных, трудных переговоров и компромиссов, подход США к предполагаемым ими нарушениям договора со стороны России свелся к ультимативному требованию к ней безоговорочно признать и исправить их именно так, как предписано Вашингтоном. Решение России вслед за США также выйти из договора, которые было принято не сразу и не было предопределено, автор объясняет как политическими мотивами, так и, в частности, российской обеспокоенностью тем, что США через своих союзников по НАТО сохранят доступ к информации, собранной о России в рамках инспекционных полетов по договору. В статье также оцениваются перспективы некоторого оживления повестки дня в сфере контроля над вооружениями при администрации Дж.Байдена.

Sektor transportasi udara merupakan salah satu faktor penting dalam mendukung kegiatan perekonomian di suatu negara. untuk mencapai hal tersebut negara-negara yang tergabung di dalam ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nation) sepakat untuk menjalankan kebijakan liberalisasi transportasi udara atau lebih dikenal dengan ASEAN Single Aviation Market (ASAM) atau ASEAN Open Skies. Tujuan dari kebijakan tersebut adalah meliberalisasi akses pasar dengan mengendurkan hambatan kebebasan transportasi udara (freedom of air) yang ke-3, ke-4 dan ke-5 antar negara-negara anggota ASEAN. Studi ini secara spesifik bertujuan untuk menghitung akibat dari kesepakatan ASEAN Single Aviation Market terhadap volume penumpang internasional dan maskapai penerbangan (low-cost carrier/LCC dan full-service carrier/FSC). Studi ini menggunakan data lalu lintas penumpang dan pesawat yang diperoleh dari OAG (official airline guide) yaitu data lalu lintas udara dengan rute kedatangan dan keberangkatan 30 bandara utama internasional di Asia Timur dan Asia Tenggara, pada periode waktu tahun 2010, 2015 dan 2017). Metode penelitian yang digunakan pada studi ini menggunakan DID (Difference in Differences) fixed effects, dengan jumlah observasi sebanyak 232,437 OD city pair (Origin-destination city pair). Hasil dari studi menunjukkan bahwa kesepakatan ASEAN Open Skies berdampak positif terhadap lalu lintas penumpang dan pesawat, yaitu total penumpang internasional, penumpang LCC, maskapai LCC, dan maskapai FSC pada rute antar-kota di Asia Tenggara, baik rute kedatangan maupun keberangkatan. Hasil dari penelitian ini diharapkan dapat menambah literatur yang terkait dengan industri penerbangan khususnya tentang liberalisasi transportasi udara.

Стаття розглядає режим нерозповсюдження ядерної зброї та контролю над озброєннями як комплексне середовище Євроатлантичної безпекової системи, її надсистему та міжнародне поле взаємодії з іншими акторами. Розглядається фундаментальна роль Договору про нерозповсюдження ядерної зброї (ДНЯЗ) як системоутворюючого договору та вплив сучасної міжнародної динаміки на розгойдування основ контролю над озброєнням. Особлива увага приділяється причинно- наслідковим зв’язками у процесах, що відбуваються у двох системах та яке відображення вони знаходять одна в іншій. Говорячи про систему нерозповсюдження підкреслюється роль НАТО та США та оглядаються пов’язані з цим контроверсійні питання. Проаналізовано внесок Заходу у досягнення без’ядерного світу та стримуючі фактори на даному етапі. Окремо відзначається, що наразі ядерна гонка озброєнь проявляється не у кількісному, а в якісному вимірі в контексті масштабних модернізаційних проектів ядерних держав. Разом з тим виокремлено деструктивний вплив виходу США із ряду міжнародних договорів як Договір про ракети середньої та меншої дальності та інших, які президент Трамп оцінив як неефективні у відповідності до його переважно двосторонньої політики, на відміну від багатосторонньої дипломатії Обами. Схожа доля спіткала і Договір про відкрите небо і все ще може спіткати Новий СНВ не зважаючи на обрання Дж. Байден новим президентом. Звертається увага брак підтримки Договору про заборону ядерної зброї на Заході та загрози, що він становить не лише для режиму ДНЯЗ, а й для Євроатлантичної системи. Згадується, що досі не вступив в силу і Договір про всебічну заборону ядерних випробувань та можливі наслідки взаємних звинувачень США і РФ в цьому контексті. Загалом робиться висновок про тісний зв’язок між режимом нерозповсюдження та Євроатлантичною безпекою, двосторонній вплив рішень та подій що відбуваються в тій чи іншій системі. Також акцентується увага на тому, що збереження системи нерозповсюдження і контролю над озброєннями є і інтересах усіх міжнародних акторів задля збереження стратегічної стабільності та передбачуваності розвитку міжнародної ситуації.

Airline carriage has became a more preferred way of transportation day by day. That is why the airline companies, regarding on one hand to develop their flight network and realize more profits on the other, started to cooperate with each other. Such cooperation was intensified with code sharing practice. Although code sharing seems good practice for airline companies, there is a reality that it has some difficulties problematic issues besides its advantages. In our study we will examine code sharing and Open State Agreement’ specialties in consideration of air carrier’s civil responsibility. We will analyze the possible legal problem that may be concluded from the code-sharing in conjunction with the OSA. In other words, we will examine the problems that occur when these two terms conflicts.

For almost two decades, discussion in the literature has continued regarding the viability of the long-haul low-cost carrier (LHLCC) business model in the North Atlantic market. From 2015 onward, LHLCC operations gained some steam, mainly due to the expansion of Norwegian's North Atlantic network. A detailed analysis of the traffic developments on the North Atlantic shows that LHLCCs have a tendency to operate on parallel routes while serving an aggregate North Atlantic network that is less seasonal than that of full-service network carriers (FSNCs). In addition, analysis of passenger flows shows that Norwegian's North Atlantic flights from its Scandinavian bases and, to a lesser extent, from London Gatwick carry substantial shares of transfer passengers. Furthermore, both in the North Atlantic market as a whole and in specific individual city pair markets there are signs that the entry of LHLCCs has a positive impact in terms of competition. Strategic responses by FSNC incumbents can be detected as well. For example, British Airways shows a larger increase in traffic (both in seats offered and in flight frequency) on routes contested by Norwegian than on North Atlantic routes not contested by Norwegian. Next to that, the British flag carrier is able to substantially undercut Norwegian's air fares on most of its contested routes. All in all, after more than a decade of EU-US and EU-Canada Open Skies agreements LHLCC operations on the North Atlantic are dominated by a single airline in financial dire straits. As a result, the long-term viability of the LHLCC business model on the North Atlantic is not a fait accompli yet.

Despite significant growth of the domestic airline industry, Indonesia was hesitant to ratify the ASEAN Open Skies Policy (OSP) until 2016. One of the recent findings exposed the increasing concern over foreign–domestic airline competition with too little attention in exploring airline aspirations and the potential interplay between the airline preferences and the state interest. This study empirically investigates the dynamics of domestic resistance to the implementation of OSP, and to what extent the interplay of Indonesian airlines’ business preferences, ASEAN contexts and state interests have contributed to the OSP ratification postponement. Taking some lessons from the OSP ratification, we argue that the efforts towards advancing ASEAN economic integration through the open skies are contested domestically when business preferences showed mixed reactions. There has been little agreement on how the OSP could benefit the domestic airlines following their own business strategy. In the meantime, state principles indicated certain priorities for domestic interests, while ASEAN contexts allowed a member state to practice a negotiated move. The study was conducted using a qualitative method, with semi-structured interviews involving three Indonesian airlines (state and privately owned, full service and budget airlines), government officials, a civil society element and the Indonesian national air carriers association. JEL Classification: F0, F5

In this paper we deal with, in terms of traductology and lexical semantics, analysis of legal terminology translation of the Multilateral Agreement between the European Community and its Member States, the Republic of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Republic of Bulgaria, the Republic of Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, the Republic of Iceland, TheKingdom of Norway, Romania, the Republic of Serbia and the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo on the establishment of a common European aviation area as well as its accompanying legal acts in the form of implementation of the European regulations contained in Annex I of the aforementioned agreement into domestic legislation from French to Serbian in order to resolve all problems that an interpreter faces and offer solutions for overcoming them. As Serbia is in process of joining the EU, it is extremely important to harmonize legal regulations with its legislation, where language, as basic legal instrument, plays a crucial role in it. Therefore, the success of application and standardization of legal norms and regulations when concluding bilateral or multilateral agreements depends on correct translation. Starting from thes ituational (denotative) theoretical translation model and the principle of functional equivalence, we will pay special attention to types of semantic relations (monosemy, polysemy, synonymy) between French and Serbian legal terms.

Open skies policy is a concept of free market of airline industry. It eliminates single government’s influence in regulation and management of aviation industry. As implemented by the ASEAN Single Aviation Market (ASEAN-SAM) per 2015, the open skies policy aims to increase regional connectivity and regional economic growth by permitting airline industries from each ASEAN member states to fly above the Southeast Asian region without any barriers or restrictions. This policy has raised pros and cons from each ASEAN member state. Indonesia and some other states are still reluctant to adopt the open skies policy. By entering into commercial agreement to open their airspace, each member states will challenge their state sovereignty over the airspace above a state’s territory. This study argues that regional open skies policy provides greater economic advantages for the consumers of airline industry. However, this policy does not parallel to the basic principles of ASEAN. State sovereignty must be preserved in the liberalization that open skies represents. ASEAN Way, though inflexible, assigns member states with full sovereignty, which does not limit open skies policy implementation. This study, then, proposed legal framework through model of regional agreement to compromise between the state sovereignty principles and the regional open skies policy. Tantangan dan Peluang dalam Pembentukan Kebijakan Ruang Udara Terbuka ASEAN Abstrak Kebijakan Udara Terbuka adalah konsep pasar bebas untuk industri penerbangan. Kebijakan ini menghilangkan pengaruh pemerintah dalam mengatur dan mengelola industri penerbangan. Seperti yang diterapkan oleh Pasar Penerbangan Tunggal ASEAN (ASEAN-SAM) pada 2015, Kebijakan Udara Terbuka ditujukan untuk meningkatkan konektivitas regional dan ekonomi regional dengan mengizinkan industri penerbangan dari anggota ASEAN untuk terbang bebas di kawasan Asia tenggara tanpa hambatan. Kebijakan ini telah menimbulkan pro dan kontra dari masing-masing negara anggota ASEAN di mana Indonesia dan beberapa negara masih enggan untuk sepenuhnya mengadopsi Kebijakan Udara Terbuka. Dengan mengadakan perjanjian komersial untuk membuka wilayah udara mereka, setiap negara anggota akan menyerahkan kedaulatan di wilayah udara mereka. Studi ini berpendapat bahwa Kebijakan Udara Terbuka regional memberikan keuntungan ekonomi khususnya bagi konsumen industri penerbangan. Namun, kebijakan ini tidak sejalan dengan prinsip dasar ASEAN. Selain itu, berkurangnya kedaulatan di wilayah udara demi liberalisasi akan merugikan negara. ASEAN Way, meskipun tidak fleksibel, memberikan kedaulatan penuh kepada negara anggota untuk menguasai wilayahnya sehingga tidak memberikan peluang sekecil apa pun untuk mengimplementasikan Kebijakan Udara Terbuka regional. Studi ini mengusulkan suatu kerangka hukum melalui model perjanjian untuk mencari titik temu antara prinsip kedaulatan negara dengan Kebijakan Udara Terbuka. Kata kunci : ASEAN, Kebijakan Udara Terbuka, Kedaulatan Negara . DOI: https://doi.org/10.22304/pjih.v6n3.a3

In the era of the modern information age and the digital network and its social sites, the individual and collective digital games…etc., globalization is competing with the local identity of the countries, where the data turn into figures and symbols that jump over all the barriers, privacy and, social identities. Globalization is supported by great capitals and companies, but the studies have shown that the development of education, care of families and children…etc., reduce the negative effects of the globalization and achieve stability for the societies. In the Arab world, there are different physical toys and digital games, which have values and beliefs contrary to those by the Arab countries (like Western dolls Barbie, Sandy and other forms of weapons …etc.,) while the digital games such as the Blue Whale, Momo…etc., are violent games. and even harm children to the point where some of them died. So this research deals with the damages caused by the spread of both foreign physical toys and digital games in the Arab world and the interactive relationship between them. It also examines the sources of local heritage, which carries the Arab Identity as a substitute and a renewed source of inspiration for Arab designers and companies which are producing children's toys and digital games, where various ideas can be developed and re-launched in the form of physical toys and digital games of an Arab identity that protect our children from the conflicts of globalization and open skies and their various damages. Objectives: Emphasize the harmful effects of foreign children's physical toys and digital games that carry the values ​​of violence and destruction in Arab Societies and also putting the Arab Heritage on top of the designers' priorities as a source of inspiration in their ideas. Hypothesis: The physical toys and digital games that are contrary to Arab customs and beliefs and cause violence, achieve the same destructive results in Arab Societies. Methodology the descriptive and analytical approach. Results: - The foreign physical toys and digital games, which encourage children to make violence and commit murder, have the same destructive effects in Arab Societies. - Arab Heritage carries many topics that can be a source of renewed inspirations and considerations for the Arab designers in the design of various children's toys and games.

In this paper, we measure the effects of Open Skies Air Services Agreement (OSA) on bilateral passenger flow and service export and import trades for a country. Our service trade data includes ‘commercial’, ‘transportation’, ‘travel’, and ‘government’ services. Using the Canadian data, a reduced-form gravity-type difference-in-differences (DID) regression is conducted to test the Canada's OSA and the US OSA on Canada's bilateral passenger flow and service trade. A two-stage regression DID regression is conducted to show that OSA affects service trade through its direct effect on bilateral passenger flow. Our estimations strongly suggest that Canada's OSA has positive effect on bilateral passenger flow and service export and import trades, especially for the commercial service trade, while the US OSA has the negative effect. The two-stage regression also suggests bilateral passenger flow contributes to larger service trade volume. OSA has clear lag effects on bilateral passenger flow and service trade. The positive effect of Canada's OSA and negative effect of US OSA all increase over time after the signing.

We examine the relationship between ‘Open Skies’ agreements (OSAs) signed between the USA and various countries or regions and the existence of subsidies and other forms of protection that advantage one nation's airlines over those of co-signatories to an OSA. We argue that under an oligopoly market structure, strategic competition brought about by OSAs creates incentives to subsidize and/or protect domestic airlines. Such incentives are maintained or amplified by political lobbying efforts that bias civil aviation policies towards producer interests over wider measures of economic welfare. We report on financial aid and policies which have advantaged US airlines during the OSA period and which suggest that unlevel playing fields have been made more unlevel during the era of OSAs.

The concept of open skies policy is an international policy concept which aims to liberalize of rules and regulations on international commercial aviation industry. For developed countries, by allowing air carriers unlimited market access to its partners’ markets and the right to fly to all intermediate and beyond points, open skies agreements provide maximum operational flexibility for airline alliances. They may have the best opportunities, as they will be able and in the best position to offer the best product to the better part of the air traffic market. On the contrary, for developing countries, open skies policy may cause more harm to the interests of airlines than bring economic gains to the countries. Further, it will lead to a domination of the international air transportation market by the biggest and most developed countries that finally it will return the situation to monopolistic system. To take care of emerging needs, it would be more appropriate to periodically renegotiate the existing bilateral agreements.

Space is governed by bilateral treaties that belong to the Cold War era. The withdrawal by the Trump Administration from two major treaties such as the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces and Open Skies , blaming Russia for the decision, jeopardizes the space neutrality. U.S. President Biden took the decision to seek a five-year extension of New START, until Feb. 5, 2026, and Russia agreed. Nevertheless, the unilateral withdrawal from the Outer Space Treaty by one of the major space powers is likely. Space control is essential, given the heavy reliance on space systems and the rapidly increasing proliferation of missile technology and counterspace systems. Emerging disruptive technologies are game-changing and will determine the conflicts and the geopolitical scenario of next decades. Hypersonic weapons are changing the character of war, will play a huge role in the global power balance by undermining core pillars of geopolitics such as geography and technological power. Like a time machine, global defense and security concerns take us back to the time of the Strategic Defense Initiative - known as "Star Wars Program" - the satellites and space-based missile system established by the U.S. on the eve of the end of the Cold War, intended to protect the country from attack by Soviet ballistic strategic nuclear weapons. This missile shield programme was designed to render nuclear weapons obsolete, but it appears to have failed. Space has been elevated by the U.S. and NATO to warfighting domain and has already been militarized by Russia and raising China. So far, the international community failed to reach a solution to prevent an arms race in outer space. Space war is no more a science-fiction scenario; it’s an emerging reality. This presentation aims to shed light on the hazard of an outer space which is not governed by any rules and tackles the challenges coming from the militarization of this operational domain. The question is how to avoid a star war in Outer Space and to prevent a conflict on Earth from the above?, The author gratefully acknowledges the European Social Fund (ESF) and the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT), Portugal, for supporting this study through grant SFRH/BD/136170/2018.

This chapter summarizes the overarching implications of consumer drones as mobile media and the merits of the interdisciplinary perspective. Based on the book’s findings, I discuss what the technology enhances, obsolesces, retrieves from the past, and reverses into when pushed to an extreme. In this context, I point to avenues for future research regarding drone media, mobility, communication, and culture. With attention to plans and visions of unmanned traffic management specifically in the U. S. airspace, I make the case for a well-regulated but accessible “air commons.” An individual “right to fly remotely” means accommodating an educational hobby that combines technology, aviation, and science with communication, creativity, and the environment. To complement our understanding of the risks and dangers of consumer drones, I conclude with a call for acknowledging the social, cultural, recreational, artistic, and educational potentials of such aerial play.

A number of corrections were unfortunately missed during the proofing and correction process. The version supplied here has been updated.

The rise of “the rest,” especially China, has triggered an inevitable transformation of the so-called liberal international order. Rising powers have started to both challenge and push for the reform of existing multilateral institutions, such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and to create new ones, such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). The United States under the Trump administration, on the other hand, has retreated from the international institutions that the country once led or helped to create, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP); the Paris Agreement; the Iran nuclear deal; the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty; the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO); and the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC). The United States has also paralyzed the ability of the World Trade Organization (WTO) to settle trade disputes by blocking the appointment of judges to its appellate body. Moreover, in May 2020, President Trump announced his decision to quit the Open Skies Treaty, an arms control regime designed to promote transparency among its members regarding military activities. During the past decade or so, both Russia and the United States have been dismantling multilateral arms control treaties one by one while engaging in new nuclear buildups at home.

The future, fully emerging into Cosmic awareness, calls us simultaneously to reclaim our local and intimate environment. The world has become so wide open that we are lost within it. This leads to terror and violence as people panic and retreats into earlier fundamentalisms. Better a cage of dogma, the prophets say, than the wide open skies! To find our way back to the earth and ourselves requires we take both the Cosmos and the Local and express them as a practical spiritual practice of self-other-actualisation. This may sound strange but in world where the new is strange and both exciting and terrifying we will find practical spirituality expressed in the creative actions of people redefining their humanity through small acts of inclusion and pragmatic love.

The countries of Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) have agreed to the formation of open skies within the region. Member countries differ widely in terms of their GDP per capita, their size, aviation policies and the strength of their aviation industries. Granted these differences, several possibilities for facilitating the move are examined. These include taking an economic approach to aviation negotiations, liberalising within sub-regional groupings, a staged framework of liberalisation, and increasing the scope for low-cost carriers to compete, possibly through development of secondary markets. Moves will also necessitate attention being given to complementary issues, such as competition and subsidy policies and ownership.

The author analyses the consequences of withdrawal of the USA from the Open Skies Treaty for stability and security of Europe. The main provisions of the Treaty concerning functioning of the treaty and its importance for stability and security in Europe. The reaction of the EU and its leading states to the destruction of the Treaty and global system of arms control and their ideas how to retain the treaty in the interest of the European security have been studied. Special attention is devoted to convening a special session of parties to the treaty for reviewing the situation and defining further steps to maintain the treaty. Some measures on cooperation of the Russian Federation and European partners aimed on saving the treaty have been proposed. The article draws attention to the problem of studying possibilities of modernization of the global system of arms control with participation of all leading states which poses important potential of modern arms.

The objective of this study is to predict the direction of change in China's airline policy in the next decade. This is done by (a) reviewing performance of Chinese mega airlines and predicting their changing global role which will have strong influence on Chinese air policy; (b) changing role of airline industry in the modern economy; and (c) impacts of South East Asian LCCs' penetration into a large number of Chinese major cities enabled by the recent China-ASEAN Open Skies Agreement, and its anticipated impacts on China's LCC policy. Our analysis led us to conclude that if China's air policy makers encourage 80 + major cities to initiate made-in-China LCCs, it would solve the looming short-term policy disaster (losing the majority of China-ASEAN markets to SE Asian LCCs); help solve an important medium-term policy goal of inducing Chinese mega carriers to get more efficient vs. competing foreign carriers; and the long-term need for preparing China's mega carriers to claim the global leadership roles such as setting standards on the global civil air transport sector. Such policy will also better serve both consumers and the Chinese economy as a whole as the more efficient and convenient air services would help tourism, international trade sectors that airlines need to support, in order to maximize its total contribution to the Chinese economy.

The dedicated all-cargo aircraft market is vital to the global economy. Freighter aircraft now carry around 56 per cent of world air cargo traffic. Using an in-depth case study research design, this study examined the Qantas Freight Boeing B747-400 and B767-300 freighter aircraft route network design during the 2017/2018 Northern Winter Flight schedule period, which was in effect from the 29th October 2017 to March 24th, 2018. The qualitative data were examined by document analysis. The study found that Qantas Freight deploy their leased B747-400 freighter aircraft on a route network that originates in Sydney and incorporates key markets in Thailand and China with major markets in the United States. The Boeing B767-300 freighter aircraft operated 5 services per week on a Sydney/Auckland/Christchurch/Sydney routing as a well as a weekly Sydney/Hong Kong/Sydney service. The Boeing B747-400 freighter services could generate 114,755,020 available freight tonne kilometres (AFTKs) over the schedule period. The Boeing B767-300 freighter aircraft could generate 46,974,1440 AFTKs. The Qantas Freight route network and freighter fleet is underpinned by Australia’s liberalized freighter aircraft policy, the “Open Skies” agreement between Australia and China – which permits the onward carriage of cargo traffic across the trans-Pacific – and the liberalized “open skies” agreement with New Zealand.

Since 1997, the Kyl-Bingaman Amendment (KBA) to the 1997 U.S. National Defense Authorization Act has limited the availability of high-resolution satellite imagery over Israel and Palestine. Although this law only applies to the United States of America, as this country dominates the commercial market for satellite imagery, its impact is global. Since 2012, the KBA has become increasingly anachronistic as non-U.S. satellite firms, utilising increasingly sophisticated satellite technologies, have begun retailing high-resolution imagery of Israel and Palestine. This major shift has, however, largely gone unrecognised because the application of the KBA has become institutionalised in the commercial satellite imagery market. Nevertheless, the removal of these practical restrictions offers a major opportunity for all forms of scientific remote sensing analysis, whether for archaeological research as undertaken by the authors of this article, as well as for geographers, humanitarian organisations or others interested in landscape and settlement change across Israel and Palestine.

This paper investigates route entry patterns of carriers in the context of the EU-US open skies agreement (OSA). A carrier’s dominance in market share and existing presence at both endpoint airports have positive impacts on route entry. Competitors’ presence at both endpoint airports and route concentration are two significant deterrents of entry. The role of London Heathrow and the establishment of joint ventures within international alliances also show significant impacts, although the effects vary across different markets. Separating transatlantic markets into “new” versus “existing” markets helps disentangling the complex relationships between the OSA and route entry.