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Libraries play an essential role in fostering sustainable development by providing equal access to information. Since the beginning of the 1990s, libraries have engaged in various activities designed to reduce their environmental impact; these libraries are referred to as "green libraries. During the Covid Pandemic, authors are discussing establishing a green library in the Rajagiri Business School (RBS). This is a novel concept in a business school setting, because not much has been published in this area yet and will contribute to our commitment to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal initiative. In this paper, an attempt has been made to discuss the proposal and model for designing a green library with respect to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal. RBS should pioneer in implementing green initiatives in business school libraries and serve as a model for other libraries in India and abroad. Researchers believe that this model will be an insightful document for decision-makers in setting a greener and more aesthetic library for the academic community.

In international cooperation on taxation, countries strive to achieve equality in international taxation and, thus, create the basis for a fair international tax system. Justice exists in an international system of taxation only when states allocate taxing powers among themselves in a manner consistent with dominant views of justice internationally. A fair international tax system will not exist until there is some international consensus on how countries should allocate axing powers among themselves. International cooperation allows countries to improve the coordination of tax policy at the international level. We can talk about several types of coordination. For example, one type aims to make a country's tax system more similar to others - in other words, to harmonize taxes. Other types aim to establish minimum or maximum tax rates to avoid double taxation of cross-border income streams, prevent transfer pricing, coordinate arrangements with competent authorities and limit harmful tax competition. The current official agreements mean business activities through a permanent establishment and give the source country the primary right to tax profits from this operation. The country of residence is obliged to exempt these profits from tax, at least to the extent that they were taxed by the country of source. A tax treaty also often provides for an exemption from taxation of the employee's income from personal services provided the employee is in the country for no more than a specified period of time and the compensation is received by a non-resident employer without a permanent establishment. The treaty usually reduces or eliminates withholding tax on at least some items of investment-type income, such as interest, dividends, rents and royalties, that are not attributable to business carried on through a permanent establishment. The tax treaty also provides that the country of residence can tax capital gains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Purpose: This study aims to identify the main challenges to achieving humanitarian logistics in the context of United Nations peace missions in sub-Saharan Africa and to present suggestions for overcoming the logistical gaps encountered. Design/methodology/approach: The methodological approach of the work focuses on the comparative case study of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan, the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in the Central African Republic and The United Nations Organisation Stabilisation Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo from 2014 to 2021. The approach combined a systematic literature review with the authors' empirical experience as participant observers in each mission, combining theory and practice. Findings: As a result, six common challenges were identified for carrying out humanitarian logistics in the three peace missions. Each challenge revealed a logistical gap for which an appropriate solution was suggested based on the best practices found in the case study of each mission. Research limitations/implications: This paper presents limitations when addressing the logistical analysis based on only three countries under the UN mission as a case study, as well as conceiving that certain flaws in the system, in the observed period, are already in the process of correction with the adoption of the 2016–2021 strategy by the UN Global Logistic Cluster. The authors suggest that further studies can be carried out by expanding the number of cases or using countries where other bodies (AU, NATO or EU) work. Originality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, this study is the first comparative case study of humanitarian logistics on the three principal missions of the UN conducted by academics and practitioners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Election declarations constitute the clear, systematic and official basic documents of the promises of political parties, which are indispensable institutions of democracy, to the society in elections. As of the first quarter of the 21st century, the two strongest parties that are candidates to gain political power and determine public policies in Turkey are the AK Party and the CHP. The starting point of this study was to analyze to what extent the two parties focused on the environment in the context of the UN sustainable development goals covering the periods 2001-2015 and 2015-2030. The study is a temporal and comparative examination of the period in which the AK Party was in power in Turkish political life. The relevant data were created through the MAXQDA data program by applying classification and coding processes. All codings were based on the UN development goals regarding environmental sustainability covering the period 2001-2030. The relevant codings were distributed within the environmental issues classified under a total of seven categories. These categories are; "nature and natural resources", "environmental management and cities", "energy and industry", "pollution and waste management", "water management", "climate" and "biodiversity". The findings obtained in the study showed that both parties reflected environmental sustainability, which they basically accepted as an understanding in their party programs, in their election manifestos. At this point, the convergence in terms of promise and emphasis has become significantly evident, especially in the headings of "nature and natural resources", "energy and industry" and "environmental management and cities". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article I analyze the tikmũ,ũn recent history through their sacrificial practices and the relationship they establish with the yãmĩyxop (group of singing spirits). As I analyze historically the process of "whitening" the tikmũ,ũn land, which consists of its desertification and reterritorialization through extensive livestock, I observe that there are different territories crossing indigenous and non-indigenous bodies. The article develops two arguments. The first one is that sacrifice mobilizes a construction of the body of the tikmũ,ũn person, which places it on other paths, different from the reterritorialization in agriculture and cattle raising. The second is that if whites and tikmũ,ũn people mobilize different territories in their bodies, this allows me to say that if the point of view is in the body, then possibly it is historical and territorial and, in front of the land, the variable factor is less a culture than a nature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, I argue the following: mediation can operate as an arena in which identities are reconstructed while the very occurrence of mediation can trigger and fuel processes of identity reconstruction. More precisely, the norms promoted through mediation can serve to reconstruct the identities of the conflict parties. I will make this claim by examining two contemporary instances of mediation in Syria and Yemen, cases which diverge in the third-party peacemaking approach taken. I investigate these cases by gathering and thematically analyzing an original qualitative dataset comprising 74 semi-structured interviews, 50 press conferences, and 110 official documents. My analysis challenges existing literature concerning the intertwinement of norms, identity, and mediation; contributes to our understanding of how identities in Syria and Yemen were transformed following the revolutions of 2011; and interrogates traditional understandings of the purpose and effects of mediation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article relies on the intellectual framework of "national role conceptions" to explain Nigeria's wide‐ranging international obligations. Although Nigeria has a rich foreign policy literature, this framework is rarely directly employed in analyzing the country's many external engagements and the motives behind them. Nigeria has always assumed international roles that are in tandem with its fundamental foreign policy objectives. These roles are inspired by the identities that the country has constructed and projected for itself overtime and the expectations of peers (or other actors). Nigeria's constructive external engagements and role performance notwithstanding, there have been some misalignments. These include the sorry state of Nigeria's foreign missions, domestic contradictions, and the fact that Nigeria has sometimes behaved sluggishly in its role performance. This work recommends that Nigeria's diplomatic missions must be adequately financed, the domestic contradictions leading to disputation over foreign policy roles must be addressed, and Nigeria must overcome its occasional complacencies in Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the work conducted with a Nexus-centred network of scholars and practitioners (HDP LAB SYNEX4 Future), an overview is offered of the literature on regime complexity to analyse origins and evolution of the Triple Nexus multilateral approach to the governance of compound humanitarian-development-security crises. The identification of the main institutional features of the UN-orchestrated Nexus policy concept highlights its potential as an innovative attempt at global experimentalist governance. This analysis of the nexus-based approach of the United Nations (UN), the European Union (EU) and the World Bank Group (WBG) in three pilot countries – Cameroon, Myanmar and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) – demonstrates that, while coordination has increased, the agency of local communities remains limited and major impediments hinder the inclusion of the peace dimension, an area where separate initiatives by non-Western regional organisations have also stalled. Progress will necessarily depend on the ability of Nexus actors to develop its bottom-up and participatory components, and to improve coordination within the group of like-minded donors who share a clear commitment to a human rights-based, inclusive and prosperous future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Is earth a bono fide alternative to concrete? Sasha Cisar believes in some cases it is. A trained architect who leads sustainability research at radicant, Switzerland's first digital sustainability bank, he shows us some recently constructed examples. The synthesis of digital technologies with these types of materiality and integrated construction techniques, and their full adoption in the building industry, could reap huge rewards and contribute to climate action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global events of recent years indicate that it is the turn of the Developing World to take the lead in international relations. China, which positions itself as the «largest developing country», a «member of the Global South», but at the same time a «responsible world power», cannot stay away from this trend. The article examines the reasons for the recent rise of the Developing World to the forefront of international life, which include: the cumulative economic growth of the South, the increase in its political importance in the balance of power on the world stage, the growth of self-esteem of the South, whose stance, being consonant with the interests of the East, contributes to the loss of the West's ability in dictating conditions to the world majority, etc. In addition, the author considers important to determine the semantic content of the terms «Global South», «third world», «developing world» for a better understanding of the essence of the great global phenomenon that these definitions have denoted at different times. It seems that these definitions not only reflect the realities of the times that gave birth to them, but also undergo internal upgrade, becoming not just a «signboard», but also a characteristic of the phenomenon they designate. The main burden of the article falls on the analysis of the Chinese factor in the modern evolution of the Global South. It is characterized through the prism of why the importance of the South for China is growing and how Beijing is trying to provide relations with «southern» countries with additional qualitative support. The article also attempts to identify new challenges facing China in the processes of its further «rooting» in the Developing World. The article ends with a number of conclusions, among which is the author's opinion on whether the reformatting of relations between China and the Global South is taking place as a reaction to an increase in its global weight, or whether they are «simply» undergoing a stage of timely optimization.

The issue of providing legal protection to minorities and enabling them to exercise their human rights remains one of the most important issues for research and study, especially since the most countries in the world today are multi-ethnic and nationalities, which include various minorities: religious, linguistic, racial, Distinguishing them from problems that are not only of interest to States but also of the international community as a whole, especially in their international, global and regional organizations.

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This study examines the development of international debates about the perception of nutrients, particularly protein, with a focus on the “Protein Debate” of the late 20th century. The nutritional obsession with protein has been ongoing since the early 19th century, when scientific nutrition was established, and has been at the center of debates surrounding food, agriculture, healthcare, and the environment, changing in shape and form over time. In addition to being a nutrient necessary for optimal physical and mental performance, protein has been a marker of poverty and discrimination at the international level and explains differences in individual living standards. Kwashiorkor, also known as protein calorie disorder, medicalized the problem of poverty in the Third World or underdeveloped countries. By the 1970s, the nutritional discussion of protein had undergone a radical transformation, with implications for the entire development discourse, including poverty and human rights. This study of the historical discourse on protein deficiency goes beyond the scientific focus on nutritional status, food, and dietary health to identify the social, economic, and cultural implications of nutrition.

One of the priorities of global importance is to reduce reoffending. The article examines the issues of the development and implementation of the United Nations standards on crime prevention and criminal justice in the Russian legal system, in general, and the UN model strategies on reducing reoffending, in particular as a universal model adapted to national conditions. The purpose of the paper is to identify the fundamental features of the UN strategies and their implementation in Russian legislation at the present stage. The methodological basis of the research consists of the provisions of the dialectical method of cognition. The methods of formal legal and logical analysis, deduction and induction are also used. Results: the study reveals that the model strategies recognize individualization at each stage of criminal proceedings as the main condition for reducing reoffending. The strategies call for the effective implementation of noncustodial measures, including the replacement of criminal liability with other types of corrective measures designed to exclude offenders from the criminal justice system and provide an alternative to detention. The strategies address the functioning of rehabilitation programs aimed at reducing reoffending, which are based on the needs of specific individuals. The author concludes that the pace of development of Russian legislation and law enforcement practice complies with the most up-todate UN standards in the field of crime prevention.

Uranium metal and alloys can be easily oxidized by the O-containing species such as O2 and H2O, etc. in atmosphere. Furthermore, the existence of H2 may also accelerates the oxidation of uranium metal. To prevent the corrosion of these materials, many techniques, such as alloying, coating, surface recrystallization, surface modification, etc. were developed to prevent this material from oxidation. In the surface modification processes, such as ion implantation, plasma nitriding and pulsed laser nitriding, UNx(U2N3+x or UN) layers are always formed on the metal surfaces to prevent the contact of the metal surfaces with the surrounding atmospheres. Thus the compatibilities of the as-prepared UNx layers with the surrounding atmospheres, especially O2, H2O and H2 molecules there, can play important role on the corrosion resistance of the modified layers, and thus are important topics in the nuclear industry. Here the compatibilities of UNx with O2, H2O and H2 molecules are reviewed, respectively. From the previous results, it seems that the as-prepared UNx, neither U2N3+x nor UN layers can directly prevent the diffusion of O2 into the solid phase. Instead, the surface of the modified layers can be easily oxidized to form UO2 or UO2Nx layers. For a UNx layer in which x is smaller than 1, it can be oxidized to a final product of UO2. However, under environmental temperature, for a layer in which x is no less than 1, only a thin layer(about several tens of nm) of UO2 can be formed on the layer surface. Moreover, a gradient layer in which the O content gradually decreases while the N content gradually increases from the surface to the deeper layer may effectively prevent the continuous diffusion of O into the substrate, and thus the modified layer presents excellent anticorrosion property against O2. However, the modified layers can not effectively prevent the diffusion of O2 under high temperature. For the hydrolysis process, the surface UO2 layers may restrain the hydrolysis of UNx under environmental temperature. However, the hydrolysis process of UNx can be effectively accelerated under high temperature, and the gaseous products during hydrolysis vary greatly with temperature and more research are needed on this topic. A very interesting phenomena during both the oxidation and hydrolysis processes is that N-rich layers can be always found under the oxide layers after oxidation or hydrolysis, and more research is needed to uncover the mechanism of this phenomena. For the compatibility of UNx with H2, it’s concluded that H2 has little effect on the layers. However, When there are defects in the layers, H2 can easily diffuses to the interface of the modified layers and the substrates and destroy the integrity of the layers. Thus, the uniformity and integrality of the modified layers are very important for the long-term storage of uranium metal.

The subject of the article is the means of international law to eliminate corruption threats to national security. The research methodology involved the use of logical, historical and legal, systemic, natural law, formal and dogmatic, hermeneutical, economic and legal (analysis, comparison), axiological, statistical and economic methods. The purpose of the article is to reveal the means of international law to eliminate corruption threats to national security. Carrying out the study made it possible to draw the following conclusions. It was found that most countries of the world have implemented international anti-corruption norms into their national legal frameworks and have the support of international organisations specialising in the fight against corruption. The resources of foreign legal doctrine become an important source of support for domestic scientists to convince of the correctness of their scientific conclusions regarding successful anti-corruption measures. An extensive system of international anti-corruption assistance allows to minimise the costs of own relevant infrastructure. On this basis and against the background of access to powerful anti-corruption resources at the European and world level, there is essentially sabotage of anti-corruption policy in Ukraine, which has critically affected the security of the Ukrainian nation. It was emphasised that military threats from the outside are an exceptional danger for corrupt countries. At the same time, even the stabilising effect of microcorruption becomes dangerous for them in today's unstable development environment. All the positive effects of corruption in the form of improved communication through small gifts that comply with legal customs disappear when top corruption spreads in a country. Then this level of corruption multiplies a series of official crimes, treason and other crimes that destroy the foundations of national security. Already after the point of no return – the beginning of military aggression from outside against the background of prolonged high-level corruption inside the country – external support for anti-corruption reforms becomes a condition for the survival of the nation, the reduction of human losses in the war, and so forth. The need to neutralise these two challenges to national security becomes urgent after years of procrastination on accountability and other dimensions of integrity in public positions. In these cases, the national legal standard falls under the critical conditions of ultra-fast transformation, according to the successful anti-corruption models of countries that saved their nation from war and high-level corruption. It is noted that the standards set for Ukraine are quite close. These are EU standards, which are achieved through the adoption and implementation of those legal norms that reflect the current state of ensuring human opportunities. It is stressed that the specification of anti-corruption norms and the structural units of their implementation in legal reality are nativemorphic. They always differ in the degree of unification within the contexts common to nations, namely, legal traditions, mentality, historical conditions, economy, etc. Transnational anti-corruption assistance in the mutual enrichment of some nations through the possibility of using the experience of other nations. The author concludes that knowledge about the practices of building virtuous relations is the capital of the nation that possesses it. Conscious disregard of this knowledge by the recipient should be remedied by charging a fee for it. It is proposed to establish an International Organisation for Integrity Development, which would include the top 20 countries in terms of corruption and rule of law perception indices.

Several preliminary conceptual designs of nuclear thermal rocket reactor cores are presented that use tin-bonded monolithic ceramic [mononitride (UN), monocarbide (UC), and uranium dioxide (UO2)] fuel plates or pins with molybdenum-tungsten alloy clad. Neutron moderation is provided by a block of Be metal or composite materials using metal hydrides such as ZrH1.6 or YH1.6 with different matrices (MgO or Be). Mainly high-assay low-enriched uranium is considered, but highly enriched uranium is also assessed for a few configurations. Nominal core thermal power is 300 MW corresponding to about 66 kN (15 klbf) of thrust, and with minimal modifications, 500 MW may be possible (25 klbf of thrust). Depending on the configurations, the amount of 235U needed for criticality is 30 to 90 kg, and reactor weight is 2.5 to 3.8 tonnes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article studies norm translation of the Women, Peace and Security agenda by interrogating the ways in which external support can contribute to gendering the security sector in conflict-affected countries. Through a case study of a Norwegian-led Specialized Police Team which provided capacity building in crime scene management to Malian Security Forces as part of the UN mission in Mali, it analyses how different understandings of gender inform gender mainstreaming practice. The analysis shows that while the Norwegian officers worked actively to promote gender equality and women's participation, the possibilities for capacity building to contribute to a gendering of the security sector are limited by the lack of more transformative understandings of gender to inform practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article offers an ethnographic account of ongoing border conflicts in south Lebanon between members of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and residents in a south Lebanese border village. It emphasizes the specific experiences of this border population with foreign intervention and land expropriations. It places UNIFIL's current intervention in a long history of Western imperialism in the region. It underlines how UNIFIL weakens the Lebanese state by taking over the sovereign functions a state typically performs. It examines current border contestations in a context of Israeli settler colonialism and its long-term role in shaping the livelihoods in south Lebanese border villages. It argues for the importance of understanding border conflicts and the work of international interventions in their specific local and historical contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Aim. To study the features of strategic planning and practical implementation of the concept of sustainable development of the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union, taking into account the Sustainable Development Goals in the context of the formation of a new architecture of the world structure and a change in the current world order.Tasks. Consider the essence and principles of the SDG implementation; identify the specifics of the integration of the SDGs into the national strategies of individual states of the post-Soviet space; analyze the features of the localization of SDGs at the regional level using the example of Eurasian integration; determine the role of the EAEU in the context of the formation of a multipolar world system and strengthening the its position as a macro-regional center of the power; justify the priorities for achieving the SDGs in the context of sustainable development of the EAEU.Methods. To achieve the set goals the following methodological approaches were used in the article. The constructivist approach makes it possible to determine the essence of sustainable development, its significance for society and the economy, as well as to analyze the regulatory and legal framework of the EAEU countries in this area. Comparative analysis made it possible to determine the relationship of SDGs with changed world architectures in retrospect and the current conditions. Empirical analysis makes it possible to assess the practical steps and efforts of the EAEU countries to achieve the SDGs, including the implementation of innovative projects and the rational use of the resource base.Results. Understanding and regulation of sustainable development in the EAEU is justified. The study made it possible to establish that the countries of the Union attach importance to sustainable development, but at the legislative level there remains a problem of insufficient consistency of regulatory legal acts on this topic. This highlights the need for a clearer and more concrete regulatory framework for sustainable development. The study allowed to analyze the impact of globalization on the world and regional structure. It is argued, that the EAEU, as a regional association, has a unique opportunity to gain a foothold as one of the macro-regions in the multipolar world system. This provides strategic advantages in the context of a change in the world order on the way to multipolarity.Conclusions. The study identified a number of priority tasks contributing to the achievement of the SDGs in the context of the sustainable development of the EAEU. The most important factors in this context are: food independence, energy sustainability, strengthening economic integration, infrastructure development, focus on hard innovation and digitalization.

The entire atmosphere created by the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and its presence in the world played one of the responsible roles, since after the US bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, nuclear weapons were never used in a military situation (unless, of course, you take into account that the nuclear powers conducted more than 2,000 nuclear explosions at their test sites). It can be said that this is the result of a broad consensus reached by the international community on the prevention of the proliferation of nuclear weapons and other types of weapons of mass destruction, as well as the result of the actual operation of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons during its more than 50 years of existence. Currently, no bilateral or multilateral meeting on international security issues, including at the highest level, is held without a mention of nuclear non-proliferation, and it is often at the top of the agenda. The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons is an international legal and ethical norm that has entered the minds of millions of people. Many countries have developed and adopted national legislation establishing export control rules for materials used in the production of weapons of mass destruction, as well as other laws (customs, etc.) to help ensure the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Extensive training of young experts in basic knowledge to support the international non-proliferation regime of nuclear weapons is ongoing. In the field of technology, scientists and experts in reactor engineering are working in many countries to build nuclear power plants that will not produce materials used to create weapons of mass destruction. Many scientists are working to prevent the construction of reactors that threaten the proliferation of technologies and nuclear materials capable of producing nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction. The conclusion of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and the establishment of an international non-proliferation regime contributed to a fundamental change in the world’s attitude to nuclear weapons. From the first impression in the eyes of the world public that nuclear weapons are a «genius» discovery, the latter is increasingly perceived as a mortal danger that threatens human existence, and this idea penetrates deeper and deeper into the consciousness of millions of people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of soil quality (SQ) is defined as the soil's capacity to function, which is commonly assessed at the field scale. Soil quality is composed of inherent (soil suitability) and dynamic (soil health, SH) SQ, which can also be analyzed using geospatial tools as a SQ continuum (SQC). This study proposes an innovative spatiotemporal analysis of SQ degradation and emissions from land developments using the state of Iowa (IA) in the United States of America (USA) as a case study. The SQ degradation was linked to anthropogenic soil (SD) and land degradation (LD) in the state. More than 88% of land in IA experienced anthropogenic LD primarily due to agriculture (93%). All six soil orders were subject to various degrees of anthropogenic LD: Entisols (75%), Inceptisols (94%), Histosols (59%), Alfisols (79%), Mollisols (93%), and Vertisols (98%). Soil and LD have primarily increased between 2001 and 2016. In addition to agricultural LD, there was also SD/LD caused by an increase in developments often through urbanization. All land developments in IA can be linked to damages to SQ, with 8385.9 km2 of developed area, causing midpoint total soil carbon (TSC) losses of 1.7 × 1011 kg of C and an associated midpoint of social cost of carbon dioxide emissions (SC-CO2) of $28.8B (where B = billion = 109, USD). More recently developed land area (398.5 km2) between 2001 and 2016 likely caused the midpoint loss of 8.0 × 109 kg of C and a corresponding midpoint of $1.3B in SC-CO2. New developments are often located near urban areas, for example, near the capital city of Des Moines, and other cities (Sioux City, Dubuque). Results of this study reveal several different kinds of SQ damage from developments: loss of potential for future C sequestration in soils, soil C loss, and "realized" soil C social costs (SC-CO2). The state of IA has very limited potential land (2.0% of the total state area) for nature-based solutions (NBS) to compensate for SD and LD. The results of this study can be used to support pending soil health-related legislation in IA and monitoring towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) developed by the United Nations (UN) by providing a landscape-level perspective on LD to focus field-level initiatives to reduce soil loss and improve SQ. Future technological innovations will provide higher spatial and temporal remote sensing data that can be fused with field-level direct sensing to track SH and SQ changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Bulletin of The L N Gumilyov Eurasian National University Political Science Regional Studies Oriental Studies Turkology Series is the property of L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University 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.)

Copyright of Bulletin of Ablai Khan KazUIRandWL: Series 'International Relations & Regional Studies' is the property of Kazakh Ablai Khan University of International Relations & World Languages 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.)

Between 2017 and 2020, the UN Special Rapporteur (SR) Dainius Puras published three reports that called for significant changes to organisation, funding and service provision in mental health care in ways that emphasise inclusive, rights‐oriented, democratic and sustainable community health services. This article aims to examine formal organisational responses to the UN mental health reports and consider the underlying arguments that either support or delegitimise the SR stance on the need for a paradigmatic shift towards a human rights‐based approach to mental health. By combining several different search strategies to identify organisational responses across the web, a total of 13 organisational responses were included in the analysis. Given the political nature of the responses, concepts from discourse theory were used to analyse the responses. The analysis showed how the responses articulated two binary positions and contesting articulations of good mental health care, which formed a backdrop for rejecting the SR reports in defence of psychiatry. The discussion elucidates how the responses tend to resemble previous ways in which critique has been dealt with mainly by 'biological psychiatry', but that the counter‐critical nature of the medical and psychiatric organisational responses remains in contrast to the broader reception within the UN community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ascendance of India as an economic power is well documented. This rising India has also focused on increasing its soft power and influence in international politics, especially through the dissemination of its values of ancient cultural heritage such as Buddhism, yoga and engagement with the diaspora. In the field of human rights as well, as a founding member of the United Nations (UN), India has participated in the framing of the Universal Declaration on the Human Rights and has signed various UN Human Rights Treaties and Conventions over the years. However, in the particular case of addressing caste discrimination, India has shied away from the international recognition of Dalit rights as human rights. Indian diplomats have continually opposed any internationalisation of caste-based discrimination and its linkage to racial discrimination at the global level, especially in the UN. In this scenario, how does the international community view India's ascendance with respect to this issue? This article argues that India must play a leadership role in defending the rights of discriminated caste groups if it seeks to enhance its soft power credentials of being the largest democracy and demonstrate itself as a responsible power at the global level with respect to human rights issues. Furthermore, the norm that UN has tried to create of categorising caste discrimination as a form of racial discrimination cannot be strengthened without India's support as India happens to be the most relevant state actor in this case. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The responses of African countries to the Hamas attack and the war in Gaza shed light on Israel's strengths and weaknesses on the African continent. Analyzing the characteristics of their responses shows that it is both plausible and beneficial for Israel to strengthen its alliances with certain countries in Africa. Stepping up Israel's diplomatic efforts on the continent in the short and long term could be useful in aiding security concerns (primarily around the Red Sea), preserving and extending the accomplishments of the Abraham Accords, and improving the balance of African votes at the UN in Israel's favor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Section II describes the “regulatory competition” between (1) Europe’s multilevel ordoliberal economic constitutionalism, (2) the neoliberal business regulation dominating the Bretton Woods and GATT/WTO agreements, and (3) the power monopolies distorting competition and suppressing human and democratic rights in authoritarian countries like China and Russia. Section III explains how the related geopolitical rivalries and market distortions are undermining worldwide United Nations and World Trade Organization agreements and their sustainable development goals. Section IV illustrates how the realities of “constitutional pluralism” increasingly prompt like-minded governments to conclude plurilateral alliances (e.g., for free trade agreements, environmental clubs, security alliances) prioritizing diverse values (like normative and methodological individualism in Europe, business-driven neoliberalism in Anglo-Saxon democracies, power monopolies in authoritarian states) with mutually conflicting industrial policies. Democratic constitutionalism explains why citizens must insist on “public-private partnerships” for collectively protecting the sustainable development goals with due respect for human rights (e.g., access to food, protection of public health and the environment); yet, the ordoliberal goal of promoting democratic input-legitimacy and republican output-legitimacy of multilevel governance of public goods by constitutional constraints on governance failures (e.g., to prevent the “Anthropocene”) remains opposed by authoritarian rulers and neoliberal societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Subject. The variety of international financial institutions (IFIs) that regulate international monetary, credit and financial relations (IMCFR) raises the question of assessing the effectiveness of their activities and the degree of influence on financial stability in the global financial market. Objectives. Based on the categorization of MFIs and a systematic approach to assessing the degree of their mutual influence on the IMCFO system and the global economic system, develop criteria for assessing the effectiveness of MFIs in terms of achieving their statutory goals and ensuring financial stability. Methods. Dialectical methods, the method of system analysis, the method of analysis and synthesis, and the didactic method were used. Results. MFIs are divided into 3 groups according to the taxonomy of influence on ensuring financial stability; within the framework of a systems approach, direct and reverse channels of influence of MFIs of 3 groups on each other and on the IMCFO system and the world economy, the economy as a whole, are analyzed. The criteria for assessing the effectiveness of IFIs are substantiated, including: assessing the degree of influence of IFIs on the composition of economic relations in the IMF; the relationship between the international competence of the institution in regulating the International Monetary Fund and the availability of the necessary powers and financial resources to solve the assigned tasks; simplicity and ease of procedure for allocating the necessary resources to mitigate financial shocks in the IMF and solve short-term problems with the balance of payments. Conclusions. Based on reasonable efficiency criteria, the growing importance of type 2 and type 3 MFIs is recorded, with a certain degradation of “classical” type 1 MFIs and segmentation of regulatory contours to the level of regional associations and professional communities.

The general state of the energy supply of the EU member states, the reasons and objec- tives of the intensification of the EU’s efforts to develop alternative energy. A brief overview of the discussions about the possibilities of humanity to influence the physics of the atmosphere, the eco- system of the Earth and the climate of the planet. The importance of the problem of «ozone holes» in the approval of the anthropogenic concept of global climate change. The role of political technolo- gists in the emergence of the anthropogenic concept of climate change and the reasons for its adop- tion by the EU. Natural phenomena that affect the climate of the planet, in comparison with anthro- pogenic theory. The main stages of the international dissemination of the anthropogenic concept and a review of political, economic, financial, propaganda, scientific and technological measures aimed at displacing fossil energy sources and attracting commercial investors in the field of alternative energy. Coverage of the political technologies used to assert the dominant position of anthropogenic theory in the practical activities of States and many international intergovernmental and non-gover- nmental organizations. Estimates of the volume of investments in the creation of a carbon-free eco- nomy in 2050 and its profitability. Practical steps to form a new technological order in the Europe- an energy sector and their propaganda cover. The European «green deal» in modern EU politics.

The political and economic results of 2023 are a further increase in the uncertainty and multivariability of world development. At the same time, in 2023, the impossibility of returning to the “brave old world” became obvious. The obstacle to this was not Russia or China, but the entire objectively established set of international relations, including in the economic sphere. The authors deliberately do not touch upon the problems of SVO, as they proceed from the fact that this is not the reason, but the result of accumulated contradictions of a global scale.

This article focuses on the topicality of the concept of dialogue as an essential factor for peacekeeping, in the light of a resolution proposed by 68 states at the UN General Assembly and adopted by consensus on 6 December 2022. The text examines in detail the rich content of the resolution, paying particular attention to specific elements relating to how it will be implemented by member states of the world organisation. It also highlights the relevance of the 2016 UN Declaration on the Right to Peace and the crucial role of the younger generation in implementing its provisions in a world characterised by vulnerabilities, perplexities and global discontinuities. The few events marking the 2023 International Year of Dialogue for Peace are highlighted, while noting that this diplomatic initiative has not received the attention it deserves in view of the generous concepts that inspired it. The article suggests some ideas for the future, which UNESCO should be responsible for implementing. This specialised UN institution has a significant role to play in promoting peace education, both in accordance with the mandate enshrined in its Constitution and in the light of the recommendations endorsed at the 42nd session of the General Conference in November 2023.

Collective instruments, such as UN peacekeeping or mediation, are a lens through which we can examine broader normative fault lines in the international order. They hold both practical and symbolic value. In the post-Cold War moment, these instruments started reflecting liberal values. They became concerned with balancing the rights of individuals and state sovereignty. These advances around "human protection" are now in question, with contestation perceived as emerging from non-Western powers. I contribute to the debates on the "pragmatic turn" within collective responses but contend that while the focus in current debates about the normative shift has become global fragmentation, the momentum for the de-prioritization of human protection within collective instruments comes from within the liberal order itself. Human protection is now a broadly shared and firmly entrenched norm, but to shield the norm from abuse, the collective international community progressively restricted any use of force to advance the norm within the instrument of UN peacekeeping. The co-optation of UN peacekeeping into counter-terrorism efforts and the introduction of stabilization mandates undermined the principled nature and moral authority of the instrument of peacekeeping itself. This, in turn, compromised the implementation of human protection. This development is now accelerated and exposed due to global fragmentation, influencing not just peacekeeping but also other adjacent activities, such as mediation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: This research offers a longitudinal view of the coverage, as well as the main characteristics of the discourse on the SDGs and the United Nations 2030 Agenda, after analysing the ten digital newspapers with the highest readership in Spain. Methodology: A quantitative and descriptive approach of the news items that mention this topic was carried out, followed by an interpretative analysis of the content of the full texts and, finally, a semantic analysis and text mining. Results: It is observed that the number of news items mentioning this issue has increased by more than 1000%, setting 2020 as a turning point from which the coverage of this issue has become generalised in the media agenda. Despite this increase, news content featuring the SDGs and the 2030 Agenda has been decreasing to minimum levels. In terms of discourse, the results reveal that the terms most associated with 'SDG_2030Agenda' are 'UN', 'government', 'policies' and 'country'. The first three also appear in the associative analysis. In addition, four thematic groups are identified with terms that relate to: 'Global issues', 'UN', 'Institutional' and 'SDG Goals and Targets'. Discussion: The data show that, despite the increase in the number of news items, the prominence of this initiative has been inversely proportional. Conclusions: Content about the UN plan gives greater prominence to compliance by governments and institutions than to the content of the goals themselves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The conflicts between minority groups and the central government are considered to be one of the current threats to international peace and security. Employing the descriptive-analytical method and studying three cases of Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Nagorno-Karabakh and Kosovo, this paper seeks to analyze the performance of UN in settling the identity-based territorial conflicts. The authors believe that the reason behind the failure of UN in settlement of Cyprus and Karabakh crises is that the Security Council has always supported the rights of Cyprus and Azerbaijan to maintain their territorial integrity without mentioning the possibility of the realization of right to remedial secession. In fact, the Council has always given an unconditional guarantee to central governments and thereby has lost its pressure tool on these states to grant appropriate privileges to secessionist groups in order to persuade them to abandon their secessionist demands. On the contrary, through implicit recognition of remedial secession as the last resort and after the deadlock of negotiations, this organization has had a relatively successful performance in Kosovo problem and impeded the continuation of an endless crisis. It appears that the report-card of this Organization in this regard is neither black nor white; it is grey and this leaves us in a world of fears and hopes [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Of all the threats posed by weapons of mass destruction of all types, the threats posed by nuclear weapons are the most devastating and far-reaching in their effects, because even limited use of such weapons anywhere in the world would have devastating economic, ecological and societal consequences in overall consequences. Addressing this danger requires a multifaceted approach. It was under this circumstance that the international Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) became global and approached universality in terms of the number of participating countries. Regarding the issue of balance between the consensus model of decision-making and the institutional hierarchical structure of decisionmaking within the framework of the nuclear nonproliferation system, opponents and supporters of the concept of multilateralism in international relations believe that the nature of the nuclear non-proliferation system should be considered from opposite positions. The first perspective is based on the theory and practice of the Westphalian system of interaction between sovereign states, each of which seeks to survive or maximize its power in a world in which interstate relations are anarchic. From this perspective, nuclear nonproliferation is a purely national policy with its own goals, including disarmament. Therefore, the NPT is nothing more than a combination of political will and government commitments aimed at preventing or hindering the possibility of obtaining nuclear weapons by other states. However, the global nature of the threat of nuclear proliferation forces opponents of the concept of multilateralism to recognize the need for limited cooperation between states, mainly within the framework of non-binding agreements that only partially define national policy and often do not contain any provisions for collective enforcement measures. Therefore, for opponents of the concept of multilateralism, the NPT is a tool for promoting national interests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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