Journal articles on the topic 'Australian Russian relations'

The crisis of Australian-Russian relations after Russia’s annexation of Crimea in March 2014 and the set of factors that caused it have received little attention from scholars of international affairs. The article contributes to addressing this research lacuna. It examines the 2014–2015 crisis in bilateral relations from the point of view of both Moscow and of Canberra. The author analyses the evolution of these relations before 2014 to understand whether the Ukrainian crisis was the cause of their sharp deterioration in 2014–2015, or it only accelerated the process that began much earlier. He demonstrates that Australia had no close political and economic ties with Russia, and the two countries did not consider each other as priority partners. The article finds that in 2014–2015 the Kremlin did not take into account a number of factors, such as very limited interest of Australia in commercial exchanges with Russia, Canberra’s growing suspicions about Moscow’s foreign policy intentions and view of Russia as a revisionist power (especially after the 2008 Russia-Georgia war), a strong sense of solidarity with the West among Australia’s political elites, and Russia’s increasingly worsening public image in Australia, that negatively affected Canberra’s stance towards the Kremlin even before 2014, and which greatly contributed to the crisis in bilateral relations. As for future development, the author identifies two factors that may have a negative impact on Russian-Australian relations: 1) rising energy demand in China and India, making Russia and Australia potential competitors in Asia’s gas markets; 2) a too close rapprochement of Moscow with Beijing, fraughtwith the risk of embroiling Russia in a web of conflicts in the Western Pacific.

The article focuses on areas of Australian-Ukrainian cooperation. The author draws attention to Australia’s support for the territorial integrity of Ukraine as well as continuation of the sanctions regime against the Russian Federation. Australia has completely abandoned its activities on the Crimean peninsula, supported all the Ukrainian international initiatives on human rights protection in Crimea. As for the Donbas, Australia officially recognizes the conflict as a foreign invasion, not a civil war. The article deals with important areas of bilateral relations: restoration of the Australian-Ukrainian parliamentary friendship group in the Australian Parliament; the first-ever visit of the President of the Australian Senate to Ukraine; efforts to upgrade the level of Australian diplomatic representation in Ukraine; opening of the Honorary Consulate of Ukraine in Sydney; cooperation on the MH17 plane crash investigation, both bilateral and international; statement of the Australian Senate on the occasion of the 85th anniversary of the 1932-1933 Holodomor in Ukraine; finally, further expansion of areas of collaboration. Economic cooperation is being developed in the nuclear energy sphere. The establishment of the Australian Space Agency, development of energy cooperation as well as synergy in the Antarctic open new opportunities for Ukraine. The role of the Ukrainian diaspora in promoting the interests of Ukraine in Australia deserves particular attention. The author argues that despite geographical remoteness, Ukraine and Australia do share common values. In days of great global turmoil, this fact acquires particular significance. Keywords: Australia, Ukraine, international cooperation, Australia-Ukraine Parliamentary Friendship Group, Senate, international organizations, bilateral relations.

The subject of this research is the Australian federal and regional normative legal acts that regulate subsoil use. The object is public relations in the sphere of land turnover, subsurface and natural resource management in the Commonwealth of Australia. The author describes the system and structure of normative legal regulation, as well as subsoil use in Australia. The work contains a list of sources of the Australian natural resources law; analysis of their content is carried out. Special attention is given to the legal regime of exploitation of subsoil resources of the continental shelf of the Commonwealth of Australia, licensing of subsoil use, the role of British monarchy in exercising the right of ownership of land by its subjects, and the authority for subsoil management. The scientific novelty of this article consists in the disclosure of legal regime of subsoil use in the Commonwealth of Australia in the context of amendments to Australian natural resources legislation, constitutional and administrative reforms. This work reflects the economic interest of the Russian Federation and domestic organizations of the fuel and energy complex in the Oceania Region, which defines its relevance. The presented materials can be used within the framework of comparative jurisprudence, lawmaking, for educational and other purposes. The author concludes on the preservation of public legal regime of subsoil use in Australia, namely with regards to turnover of licenses and shares therein.

With Australia and Russia increasingly seeing their future in the Asia-Pacific, neither can reach its full economic potential except under the guidance of Beijing’s control of ports on its “Maritime Silk Road.” Cold War clichés of the “Yankee lapdog” and the big bad “Russian bear” continue to dominate how Canberra and Moscow view each other. Yet when it comes to the future of Australia-Russia-China relations, one must look beyond Moscow, Beijing, and Canberra, but rather at Vladivostok and Darwin, symbols of an as-yet unrealized goal to shift emphasis onto each country’s sparsely-populated regions bordering the Asia-Pacific. With the dawning of the “Asian Century,” how does the United States change the geopolitical dynamics of the region, and how do China, Russia, and Australia react to “America’s Pacific Century”? Rather than a capitulation to America’s aggressive posture in the Asia-Pacific, China and Russia have consolidated the integration of their economies and militaries to counter such penetration. This emerging rivalry creates a challenge for Australia to balance its military alliance with the United States and its economic reliance on China. The necessity of finetuning this balance should be Canberra’s primary foreign policy issue.

The article overviews the reports presented at the International Scientific & Practical Conference “Russian Geographical Names on the Maps of the South Pacific” that took place on February 12, 2021 in the form of an online conference. The conference was organized by the Center of the South Pacific Studies of the Center of Southeast Asia, Australia and Oceania of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences; Committee for External Relations of the city of St. Petersburg; and Miklouho-Maclay Foundation. The conference was attended by the scientists and representatives of practical organizations from Russia and Australia.

The article provides the results of studying the varieties of spring soft wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) of various ecological and geographical groups in the conditions of the Chuvash Republic for 2016-2019. The objects of the study were presented by 72 varieties and variety samples of spring soft wheat of Russian and foreign selection (Belarus, Canada, USA, Kazakhstan, Germany, Poland, Ukraine and Australia). The Simbircit variety zoned in the Volga-Vyatka region (Russia) was used as standard. Low adaptability of most of the studied varieties to the soil and climate conditions of the region due to the strong variability of yield was established. Two Russian varieties Arhat and Icarus with a relatively high coefficient of adaptability (0.71-0.72) exceeded the standard variety in yield by 0.68 and 0.67 t/ha or 18.2 and 18.0 %, respectively. By productive bushiness (53.8-61.5 % higher than the standard), Binni (Australia), Mercana and Omskaya 41 (Russia) were distinguished; by plant height (10.6-14.7 %) – Ekada 113, Mercana and Yulia (Russia); by ear length (13.4-22.0 %) – Mutant ostistyj (Belarus), Raduga and Mis (Russia); by the number of grains in the ear (25.3-34.3 %) – Icar, Ekaterina and Agata (Russia); by weight of grains in the ear (14.8 %) – Arhat and Ekada 113 (Russia); by weight of 1000 grains (4.5 % higher than the standard) – Margarita (Russia). Twelve varieties with strong relation between yield and elements of productivity (R ˃ 0.7) have been selected.

Since the successful conclusion of the Uruguay Round of trade negotiations in the early 1990s, regional trade agreements of various types, including bilateral free trade agreements (FTAs), have replaced internationally comprehensive agreements as the main driver for development of official trade relations. There is also a tendency for such agreements to extend beyond trade and cover security and other issues. Russia is a “resource-cursed” country like Australia, and there seems to be a prima facie case for China and Russia to conclude an FTA similar to the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement (ChAFTA). However, Russia intends to promote free trade with China via the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) because it views any FTA in quite narrow political and security terms, and its economic agenda is orientated toward new industrial development rather than trade development. In comparison, China prefers an FTA within the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) because it is, at the current stage, most interested in enhancing economic development and trade across the Central Asian and wider Eurasian regions. Russian resistance to the idea of an SCO-based FTA was one of the reasons for China’s initial development of the land part of the “One Belt, One Road (OBOR)” initiative. While China and Russia have recently agreed to work toward an FTA between China and the EAEU, it is not quite hopeful in the near future, and a ChAFTA-type FTA between China and Russia will be even more difficult to achieve mainly due to Russia’s lingering strategic considerations.

The present study analyzes four adult Russian-Australian 1.5ers, heritage bilinguals whose first language is Russian, and who immigrated to Australia or New Zealand during their primary school years. Semi-structured interviews conducted with the case-study participants examined their attitudes toward their Russian, their L1, and English, their L2. The interviews explored the participants’ schooling history, language use, perceived language proficiency, dominance and use, perceived L1 attrition, and feelings about their identity. The aim of the study was to understand the connections between language, particularly L1 attrition, and identity for this cohort of 1.5 generation speakers, as well as factors that may influence their identity perception. The results emerging from the study’s data reconfirm the role played by language in identity construction. At the same time, they suggest that for 1.5ers the relationship between language and identity also needs to be considered in relation to L1 attrition. This factor, in fact, might contribute to identity conflicts and trigger the desire to return to one’s roots.

The article provides a comparative characteristic of the concepts of labor relations in some foreign countries. The article analyzes the legal regulation of labor relations, dividing states into two groups. The first includes Russia, France, Germany and a number of other European states. In the second - the USA, Great Britain, Australia and other countries of the Anglo-Saxon legal system. The author denotes the similarities and differences in choosing one of the two models, namely: European (continental) and Anglo-Saxon (Anglo-American). The conclusion is drawn that the borrowing of the experience of the countries adhering to the Anglo-Saxon model is unacceptable for the Russian state, since in them the labor contract is presented not as a tool capable of guaranteeing the rights of workers, but as a legal way to create conditions that can infringe on their interests. In turn, at the moment these countries are moving towards the socialization of labor relations.

The main aim of this work is theoretical studies of trends in HR technologies based on foreign and Russian publications and practice. This article highlights the most obvious trends of working with talented employees supported by attitude to talented persons, the analysis of various types of attitudes to them is performed; it is mentioned that positive attitude at present is one of the most important properties demanded by employers, since quite often it adds positive properties to a working team. The data were collected, classified and generalized using theoretical analysis, content analysis, and analytical synthesis of more than 50 scientific publications by researchers and practitioners from Australia, Great Britain, Germany, Russia, and the USA. This article presents the most significant results of the study. The trends of shifting the focus from equality in the relation to employees to fairness and the importance of fitting the culture of relations into the corporate culture are characterized. Generalized typology of talented employees is presented. The reasons of talented employees for leaving the company are analyzed. The importance of evaluation of skills to communicate with people, to find compromise is described, as well as of skills required for execution of this or that activity. Necessity of long-term well-considered relations with people, who are at the top in their working area, is mentioned.

In the article there is revealed movement of financial capital components as a substance – the unity of diversity and the diversity of unity. Analysis of USD / RUB, RGBI, RTSI, SBER, IMOEX dynamics revealed speculative behavior of financial capital owners (IMOEX, USD / RUB, SBER) in relation to internal (RGBI) and external (RTSI) market. Analysis of importance of growth rates of GDP and its components revealed the state priority of GDP deflator regulation (Central Bank – inflation targeting) in the context of state revenues growth and, as a structural consequence, reduction of importance of growth rates of GDP and expenditures of households consumption against the background of increase of importance of commodities and services import. At the same time the quite high values of importance of growth rates of export of Russian commodities and services are identical to ones of such countries as Australia, Estonia and Columbia. Analysis of capital growth rates revealed fixation of interrelations between the Central Bank and financial corporations in the context of regulation of money supply and currency outside financial corporations and internal claims. These relations strengthen due to focusing of monetary and credit policy at “clear requirements to central government” and at inflation targeting. Research of the Russian financial capital components movement demonstrated corporate strengthening of interrelations between the Central Bank and the financial corporations and also defined the options for regulation of speculative behavior of financial capital owners.

The author explores the comparative advantages of the Russian economy and states that resource export orientation can be a strong factor of sustainable economic growth as for example in Australia. Economic relations with rapidly growing China are of extreme importance because the Chinese economy can provide a huge market for Russian commodities. The author warns that the rapid growth of rouble's real exchange rate can decelerate economic development but his forecasts for the nearest future are rather optimistic.

The deadly conflict on the Ladakh border in June 2020 will force India to re-evaluate its approach to foreign policy. This dangerous turn, despite decades of mutual restraint, border talks, agreements and recent bonhomie between the Indian and Chinese leaders, has intensified the strategically tense environment of the Indo-Pacific region. China’s assertiveness in the South China and East China seas and its technology and trade tensions with a number of neighbouring Asian and Western nations have already raised political temperatures in global politics. In that light, this article considers how the June 2020 border incident may influence India’s strategic rethink, especially in relation to two key nations of the Indo-Pacific, Japan and Australia. The article suggests that forcing a re-evaluation of the strategic challenge posed by China, the June 2020 border confrontation has inspired a more realist edge to India’s security thinking. India is continuing the strategic autonomy with a multi-alignment approach it has favoured, but with a keener sense of realpolitik it is pressing ahead to deepen its defence and strategic alignments with like-minded nations in the Indo-Pacific region. This means that India is not abandoning its relations with traditional partners such as Russia to instead pursue a more formal alliance with one or a group of other powers. Rather, India is further developing strategic partnerships with the United States and its allies, while continuing strong relations with Russia and other long-standing partners to ‘balance’ its national security position. This article identifies India’s approach as ‘hesitant realism’, an explanatory term to explore India’s moves to balance its external relations through growing ties with Japan and Australia—two US allies that are key Indo-Pacific nations.

After the Russian occupation of Crimea and a part of Donbas the political and geographical position of Ukraine as well as its positioning in the modern world significantly changed. Previously, Ukraine had placed greater focus on non-bloc status in the multipolar world and on development of mutually beneficial bilateral relations with all its partners. For this reason, it is very important to calculate the country priority rating for Ukraine. This rating contains two groups of indicators from all spheres of interstate relations. The first group shows the current level of interaction and the second group shows the importance of states in the modern world. From six priority groups of countries the top-priority for Ukraine is cooperation with Germany, the USA, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Italy, France, Canada, Spain and Switzerland. The second priority group includes most of European countries (such as the Czech Republic, Poland, Austria, Belgium, Sweden, Denmark, Portugal, Hungary, Romania, Norway, Iceland, Finland, Slovakia), Japan, Israel, Australia, South Korea, Turkey and Singapore. Contrary to popular belief of supporters of indispensable friendship with Russia this country is not so important for cooperation nowadays and, moreover, it is not a landmark for the future as it is only in the third priority group. This group also includes Bulgaria, Malaysia, China, New Zealand, Estonia, Greece, Latvia, Thailand, Brazil, etc.Cooperation with more prosperous countries will help to get rid of the negative moments of Russian colonization, to reach higher economic and socio-political standards. With certain modifications this rating can be used for calculation of cooperation priority ratings for any country in the world.

The emerging trend in Russia’s foreign policy is its reorientation from active interstate and socio-economic interaction with the states of the "collective West" to the countries that make up the Asian macroregion. The article presents the qualitative and quantitative assessment of the emerging relations between Russia and the countries of the East, namely the ASEAN countries, Northeast Asia and the Indo-Pacific region. Assuming that the prerequisites for the strengthening of such relationships between countries should be reflected in changes in trade relations, increased migration flows, and changes in policy in terms of countries' military spending, the study attempts to evaluate such changes econometrically. We use the method of constructing multiple linear regression, as well as indicators for assessing country-by-country correlation and cluster analysis. The object of the research is the countries of Northeast Asia (China, Japan, Republic of Korea); ASEAN countries (Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore); India; Australia and Oceania. The empirical base of the study is the official statistics of World Bank, SIPRI, FSGS. The findings indicate the emerging conditions for Russia's turn to the East. The analysis reveals a number of stable features indicating the possibility of modeling a reasonable predictive scenario. The proposed estimates can also be used for further study of the directions of interaction between Russia and the East, methodological and empirical clarification of the emerging relationships, determination of significant factors strengthening the noted interactions.

The article deals with the pivot to Asia started in the USA in 2011, now becoming a part of US military strategy. Asian-Pacific region will be playing increasingly important role in securing of political, economic and defence interests of the USA seeking to consolidate world order based on “American leadership from the position of strength” – which is the main principle of New National Security Strategy. Pivot to Asia is understood as modernization and reinforcement of traditional “security alliances”. The old policy of “deterrence” of China as main geopolitical competitor is still being pursued.Military presence of the USA on Japanese islands is used for rearmament of Japanese self-defence forces. New bilateral treaty is being prepared, thus creating the possibility of joint actions of armed forces of Japan and US on the territories in- and outside Pacific region. Threat for North Korea is used as a good pretext for build-up of US military forces and deployment of THAAD complexes on the territory of South Korea. China and Russia express same attitude in this respect regarding THAAD as an instrument for increase tension in the region. Defence co-operation between Australia and US has incentives for development as well as limitations: Australia is not sure US are able to fulfill its obligations in case of crisis and at the same time economic co-operation with Beijing is of crucial interest for Australia. The involvement of Philippines in the territorial dispute with China made possible for US to strengthen cooperation in the sphere of defence. After power shift in Thailand military cooperation with US stopped. Seeking new partners in the region, US is lifting embargo to supply of weapons to Vietnam and gradually unfreezing relations with Myanmar. US moves in SEA can be regarded as reaction to Chinese promotion of “Maritime silk route of the 21st century” concept. Relations with India are viewed in the USA as means of deterrence of China ambitions and competition with Russia in military co-operation.The article contains practical recommendations how Russia should act when purpose of increasing its influence in the region is on the agenda.

The article is based on the results of the examination of ten national training models for tourism. The author has analyzed the experience of vocational education in Austria, Australia, great Britain, Germany, Canada, Norway, Russia, Finland, France and Switzerland; the results of the analysis of some national models have been published previously [2]. The aim of this work is the generalization of the leading trends of education in tourism; identification of the most typical parameters of educational systems in situation specialized in foreign education which allow more clearly to represent the ratio of global and national in the Russian model of personnel training for tourism, and justify organizational and pedagogical conditions of functioning of a more effective, innovative model of industrial education in the field of tourism. Sustainable system of relations and common characteristics to all studied models of training personnel for tourism identified in the comparative international study are understood as the trends of educational development in the field of tourism. The article made the following conclusions: 1) the invariant of organizational and pedagogical conditions of development of structure and content possess national characteristics, expressed in the identity management and pedagogical technologies, organization and forms of operation; 2) current situation is characterized by the combination in each of the national model of personnel training for tourism biased and specific features that leads to summarizing an assumption about the value of constructive adaptation of the individual who discovered the bias, the mechanisms of formation of effective models in the Russian model of specialized tourism education.

The jurisdiction of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea to hear applications for the prompt release of vessels and crew was recently invoked by the Russian Federation against Australia in the Volga case. In determining whether the bonding arrangements set by Australia were ‘reasonable’ under Article 73(2) of UNCLOS, the Tribunal clarified several issues regarding prompt release applications, and most significantly, held that non-financial conditions and ‘good behaviour bonds’ were not permissible. In rendering its decision, the Tribunal adhered to the ‘guiding criterion’ of balancing the interests of the flag state and coastal state in determining the reasonableness of the bond. It is submitted that this test is inappropriate, and that this decision will create difficulties for coastal states seeking to control illegal fishing.

The article is devoted to the analysis of the 21st-century English-language historiography of the Communist International. Contemporary historians are showing increasing interest in the study of this international organization. Three available conceptual approaches to this topic (“traditionalist”, “revisionist”, and “post-revisionist”) are considered and characterized, the works of historians from Great Britain, the USA, Canada, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand are analyzed. The article demonstrates an increase in research interest in the Communist International. In a fairly large volume of studies, there are monographs and articles devoted to the organization both directly (the historiography of the Comintern, the activities of its sections around the world, etc.) and indirectly, i.e., to related issues such as the history of communism, in particular, and the left forces, in general, international relations of Soviet Russia, the communist movement in individual countries, etc. These studies touch on the period of the Comintern's activity from 1920 to the end of the 1930s, including several controversial issues: the impact on the policy of the national communist parties of the “The Twenty-one Conditions”, united front tactics, Bolshevization, Stalinization, and the Popular Front. The author believes that most of the studies (especially those published in the first decade of the 21st century) are based on studies published long before the 2000s, however, archival materials are being used in increasing volumes, which makes modern research more objective. This gives grounds for a conclusion about the revision of the historiographic tradition of the Comintern that existed in the 20th century: new approaches (“revisionist” and “post-revisionist”) entailed a change in emphasis and a revision of some established points of view. Authors adhering to these approaches rely mainly on modern literature (including Russian) and a wide source base represented by materials from both national archives and the Russian State Archives of Social-Political History.

The review summarizes the WHO materials and recommendations the latest editions of the official guidelines of the Ministries of Health Australia, Canada, Great Britain, Germany, Russia, USA, through the vaccination of viral hepatitis B. Special attention is paid to the immunization of persons belonging to the group of increased risk of the infection, the implementation of which is not fully defined in relation to native normative documents: the immunocompromise, hemodialyse, diabetic patients and healthscare personel.

The article analyzes the process of globalization and the role of the Russian Federation in this process. The relevance of considering the current stage of globalization is due to the strengthening of the inter-connectedness and interdependence of the world, which requires the improvement of interstate relations and mechanisms of global governance with the primacy of the economic aspect of the development of society in the conditions of the functioning of the global scale of production. The historiography presents the regulation of international relations from the Westphalian system (state-centrist model of the world) to the Vienna Congress and the attempt to create a system of collective security and regulation of international relations: to the League of Nations and the United Nations. The formation of global governance institutions is shown: the largest international intergovernmental organizations (UN, WTO, IMF, IBRD, G-8, G-20, etc.), the most important function of which is to determine the norms and rules of interstate interaction. The main idea of the authors of the article is to show the historical conditionality of the transition to a polycentric model of development, as it most fully meets the needs of society on a global scale. The main purpose of this work was to substantiate and confirm the characteristics of the role of Russia in the international arena at the present stage of development by empirical material obtained during international surveys of experts from sixteen APR countries (VIPs and decision-makers). Thus, among the current trends in global development, the authors highlight the dilemma globalism - sovereignty and the correlation of globalism - transregionalism, in particular, the concept of the Indian-Pacific region (Indo-Pacific) instead of the Asia-Pacific region, put forward by the United States, Japan, Australia and India and the concept of "One belt is one road ”, initiated by China. Another trans-regional structure, such as BRICS, remains largely insufficiently structured, institutionalized and little realized in the specific political and economic activities of the countries that gave the name to this abbreviation.

The article describes the culture of competition, primarily one of its most important aspect – antitrust legislation. The formation of this legislation is different in particular countries. It can be initiated “from the bottom” (United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, etc.) and “from above” (Russia). In these circumstances the main task of the governmental bodies is to find an equilibrium (“golden mean”) between antitrust and pro-competition activities.

Over the past 15 years, Japanese, Australian and Russian expeditions to Prydz Bay have collected about 30 000 km of bathymetric data, 6000 km of sidescan sonar data and more than 250 sediment grab and core samples. These data were used in the present study to compile surficial sediment, bathymetric, and geomorphological maps of the Prydz Bay region. Lithofacies distribution was determined by surficial sediment data analysis using sample matrix (Q-mode) and cluster analysis techniques based on data from 206 sites. Data included percentage biogenic silica (opal), calcium carbonate, gravel, mud, and relative abundance of two diatom species (Fragilariopsis curta and F. kerguelensis). Five lithofacies are identified from the available data: (1) slightly gravelly sandy mud (g)sM lithofacies, (2) siliceous mud and diatom ooze (SMO) lithofacies, (3) F. kerguelensis pelagic ooze lithofacies, (4) F. curta gravelly muddy sand gmS lithofacies and (5) calcareous gravel lithofacies. In many areas the lithofacies correlate to geomorphological provinces as defined by previous investigators using 3.5 kHz and sidescan sonar data. In some cases, Holocene SMO sediments are seen to drape over iceberg plough marks, implying that these are relict features. These five lithofacies are likely to dominate most of the East Antarctic shelf region and may be helpful in defining sedimentary successions resulting from ice-sheet advance and retreat over glacial-interglacial cycles.

Abstract A development trend of the North Atlantic Alliance aims to the establishment of a “global NATO” as a political and military support of the West and of democratic states worldwide. The political-military and humanitarian cooperation in the former Yugoslavia, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya supports the materialization of such a structure. Some reservations are manifested because of the fears of some Western countries that they might be faced with a new global “Cold War” or engaged in armed conflicts in “sensitive areas” in the vicinity of the Russian Federation or China. That is why, maybe, the project of such a “new NATO” seems to be better received in Japan, Australia, and even the Gulf states. This paper aims to underline American vision, as the most important NATO member state, concerning the South-Eastern Asian space and also to put in discussion the Sino-American relations regarding this area.

This survey of books in English on North Korea, 1997–2007, identifies nearly 240 titles—mostly by US authors but also by authors in Australia, Europe, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and Russia. The books fall into eleven categories: history and culture; the Korean War revisited; the DPRK regime and its leaders; human rights and humanitarian issues; the economy: Juche, Songun, collapse, or reform; DPRK military assets and programs; relations with the United States; arms control negotiations and outcomes; regional and world security; prospects for North-South unification; and North Korea's future. A final section includes useful websites. This survey points to a wide interest in North Korea and underscores the serious and ongoing efforts of many scholars and policy analysts to understand developments there.

The newly minted concept of the “Indo-Pacific Region” (IPR) is generally seen as a response by the United States and its allies to China’s growing influence in strategically important areas of the Pacific and Indian oceans. However, the view of IPR as a single (U.S.-led) anti-Beijing front is simplistic and misleading, obscuring a variety of approaches by the region’s states. New Delhi has a strong tradition of non-alignment, whereas Tokyo is more interested in rules that restrict unilateral actions not only by China but also by other regional players, including the United States. Australian business is very cautious about frictions in trade relations with China. Beijing views the growing military activity of the United States off its shores, including in the South China Sea, as a threat to regional stability. According to the authoritative Chinese sources, the Indo-Pacific strategy of Donald Trump is part of broader efforts to prevent China from becoming a dominant regional and global power. At the same time, the development of Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ (ASEAN) understanding of the Indo-Pacific region is less of a concern to Beijing, as the South-East Asian countries interested in balancing China and the United States are unlikely to fully join the fight against the “authoritarian threat.” As for Russia, it unequivocally rejects the military/power-based U.S. version of the IPR concept and is more amenable to flexible versions promoted by other players, such as Tokyo’s multilateral vision for the Indo-Pacific Region. In the end, the final response of Russia and China to IPR will thus be determined not only by U.S. actions but also by the behavior of other regional powers.

Subject. The article discusses financial capital issues. Objectives. The study determines the consistency of the dynamics of the Russian financial capital components. Methods. The study is based on the systems approach and methods of statistical, neural network and cluster analysis. Results. I analyze the dynamics of rates, such as USD/RUB, RGBI, RTSI, SBER, IMOEX, and discovered the speculative behavior of financial capital holders (IMOEX, USD/RUB, SBER) in the domestic (RGBI) and external (RTSI) market. Analyzing the importance of growth rates of GDP and its constituents, I found the State prioritized the regulation of the GDP deflator (The Central Bank – inflation targeting), considering a growth in governmental expenditures and the decreased importance of growth rates of GDP and households’ consumption expenditures, as the import of goods and services gets more important. The high importance of rates of growth in the export of goods and services is identical to Australia, Estonia and Columbia. Corporate relationships of the Central Bank and financial corporations focus on the regulation of money supply and currency outside financial corporations and internal claims. The relationships strengthen as the monetary policy get more concentrated on net claims to the central government and inflation targeting. Conclusions and Relevance. The scope of consistency of trends in the Russian financial capital components allows public authorities to regulate a growth in the corporate relations of the Central Bank and financial corporations in order to curb the speculative behavior of financial capital holders. The findings hereof contribute to the knowledge and competence of officials of the Russian Government and the Federal Antimonopoly Services with respect to systemic decisions on control over financial transactions.

This scientific article refers to the Consular Charter of the Republic of Kazakhstan of 2016 as the main source of consular law, as a regulator of consular relations between Kazakhstan and foreign countries. The provisions of the Kazakh Consular Charter are generally given a positive characteristic, but some shortcomings that should be corrected are noted. In the article the author suggests to alter, to supplement the relevant paragraphs of the other rules, based on experience of the legislative regulation of consular activities of such countries as USA, Russian Federation, UK, Australia, Singapore and on the standards of international law. Proposals are formulated to improve the text of the Consular Charter of the Republic of Kazakhstan on the questions of procedure for the appointment of consuls, the inviolability of consular premises and land plots, tax immunity of consuls, training of young specialists in consular institutions, consular fees, revocation of consular privileges and immunities.

AbstractHow do contemporary publics understand happiness? What makes them experience it? Do conceptions and sources of their happiness vary across culturally different societies? This paper addresses these questions, utilizing the 2008 round of the AsiaBarometer surveys conducted in six countries scattered over four different continents. Analyses of these surveys, conducted in Japan, China, and India from the East; and the United States, Russia, and Australia from the West, reveal a number of interesting cross-cultural differences and similarities in the way the people of the East and West understand and experience happiness. Specifically, the former are much less multidimensional than the latter in their conceptions of happiness. Yet, they are alike in that their sense of relative achievement or deprivation is the most pervasive and powerful influence on happiness.

AbstractThis article describes public attitudes toward government spending in Australia, China, India, Japan, Russia, and the United States, the six major economies of the Asia-Pacific region. An analysis of the 2008 AsiaBarometer Survey data shows that ordinary citizens of the sample countries favored increased, rather than reduced, government spending on a wide range of policy programs. It is also found that support for state activism was stronger in former state socialist countries than in market capitalist ones. Although economic interests, symbolic predispositions, and social positions influenced spending preferences to varying degrees, left–right ideology was particularly conspicuous in most countries surveyed. It is evident that the mass publics of the major economies of the Asia-Pacific region did not strongly endorse state contraction or retrenchment, even in the wake of economic globalization and the neoliberal reform movement.

The mercury content in the raw coal is one of the important basic data to estimate the mercury emission of the coal. The outcome of the test and analysis of the mercury content in the raw coal of the 9 mines in Huainan Coalfield has shown that the mercury content in the coal samples of Huainan, although higher than that in the coal of the United States，Russia，Germany，Australia，etc., is within the normal range, with no major differences from that of the coal in North China region. With a research into the content change of the mercury in the coal in the process of washing and in combination with the relevant analysis result of the relation between the mercury in the coal and sulfur, ash content, selenium, we have inferred that the mercury in the coal of Huainan is existing naturally in the minerals, but has come into combination with organic matter in some way or scattered in the organic groups in the form of particles.

After four military coups in 20 years, Fiji is poised to return to democracy in elections promised for 2014. An emergency decree placing censors in newsrooms was lifted in January 2012, but with domestic media gagged by lawsuits and Fiji Television threatened with closure for covering opposition figures, a pervasive climate of self-censorship imposed by government decrees is enforced by a government-appointed judiciary. As elections draw closer, the illusion of press freedom is framed by highly paid American ‘spin doctors’ from a prominent Washington DC public relations and lobbying firm. Paralysis in the newsroom is reflected at Fiji’s premier University of the South Pacific, once a leader in journalism education. The author taught television journalism at the university and trained reporters for Fiji TV in the 1990s, but returned to find Fiji’s media and higher education in a crisis reflecting the decline of Western influence in the Pacific. Student grievances over harassment and expulsion in retaliation for independent reporting echo the deceit and dysfunction unfolding on the national stage. As traditional allies Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom and the United States anguish over sanctions, unprecedented visits to the Fijian government by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and incoming Chinese Premier Xi Jinping portend diplomatic rivalry and raise the stakes for a fragile Pacific nation.

AbstractGlobalization has led to a redefinition of the functions and roles of the state. Based on data drawn from a cross-national social survey, this article examines the influences of globalization on the public's attitudes towards their state in Australia, China, India, Japan, Russia, and the United States, by focusing on satisfaction with government performance and demands on the government. The six countries differ extensively in their sociopolitical and technological situations, as well as in the experiences of their people with globalization in terms of the following aspects: connectivity with the world through personal ties and digital means, English language capacity, and support for the forces of globalization. There are also huge disparities in the public rankings of government performance and demands for expanding government spending in a wide range of policy areas. Our analysis reveals that, although both intra- and inter-country variations in the influences of globalization on public attitudes towards the state are not particularly prominent, those who support globalization not only are more inclined than others to be satisfied with the government's performance, but also demand more government intervention.

This paper has summarized the foundations of the author’s interdisciplinary concept of national cultures genocodes (NCG), which represents synthesis of of the Hegelian doctrine about national spirits (Volksgeist), the Jung’s theory of the collective unconscious, system of hexagrams of the Ancient Chinese Book of Changes and Girt Hofstede’s measurements of national cultures. There are generic genes (archetypes) and species ones in the national genocodes. Generic genes are the cornerstone of 6 cultural kingdoms, and specific genes — separate national cultures. All countries measured by Hofstede are divided into 6 cultural kingdoms. Kingdoms of Qian, Creative (USA, Canada, Australia, Poland and Scandinavia), Lee, Radiance (Western Europe) and Gen, Keeping Still (Japan) have an individualistic genocode. Kingdoms Zhen, Arousing (Russia, the Balkans, Greece, Turkey, Central Asia), Dui, Joyous (Africa, Latin America, Middle East) and Kun, Receptive (China, India and Southeast Asia) have a collectivist genocode. The basis of European civilization is the generic genes of the kingdoms of Lee, Qian and Zhen. The interaction between the generic and species genes of these kingdoms, their complementarity or conflict lies at the heart of alliances or wars between states. It has been shown that the greatest conflicts are observed between countries with individualistic and collectivist cultures, therefore the Balkan countries, Greece, Turkey and Russia throughout history were in a varying degree unfavorable relations with the Western European countries. But studying NCG will allow to minimize tension between countries, to understand a role and the place of each country in the World and in particular the European Cultural Space, to lay a way to the long-term union of peoples and states.

An annotated list of 104 cyanoprokaryota species belonging to 38 genera, 12 families, 5 orders, 3 subclasses found in the plankton of 66 water bodies (61 lakes and 5 ponds) of National Park «Valdaiskiy» in summer period 2012–2013 is given. The list is annotated by data on ecology and distribution. Taxonomic comments are provided for selected species. 14 species (marked with two asterisks — **) are recorded for the first time for Russia, 58 — for the Novgorod Region (marked with one asterisk — *), 86 — for the national park. Chroococcus minutus, Dolichospermum lemmermannii, Planktolyngbya limnetica, Snowella septentrionalis are the most widespread in the national park. Mass development was recorded for Dolichospermum lemmermannii, Microcystis viridis, M. wesenbergii, Woronichinia naegeliana. These species caused waterbloom in 14 lakes (the most abundant in lakes Korotsko, Svetloe, Plotishno, Nahodno). Planktonic species were the most frequent, but tychoplanktonic (32 %) and endophytic (8.6 %) ones also were found. In relation to salinity, freshwater (58 %) and freshwater-brackish (42 %) species were represented almost equally. With respect to the acidity most frequent were indifferent species (45 %), alkaliphilic ones were also common (35 %). Slightly more than half of species were cosmopolitan (52 %), accounted for a significant portion of Holarctic species (20 %). The name of a taxon in the list is followed by arabic numerals, referring to the lake, and indications of its abundance by Cyrillic abbreviations: м. — in mass, оч. ч. — very often, ч. — often, н. — not rare, р. — rare, ед. — single. We use the following abbreviations: кл. — cell, кол. — colonies, тр. — trichomes, гет. — heterocysts, акин. — akinets, пл. — planktonic, б. — benthic, энд. — endophytic, пр. — freshwater, пр.-сол. — in fresh and brackish waters, алк. — alkaliphilic, ац. — acidophilic, инд. — indifferent with respect to pH, к — cosmopolitan, бор. — boreal, бор.-альп. — boreal-alpine, бор.-австр. — boreal-Australian, бор.-тр. — boreal-tropical, бор.-неотроп. — Boreal neotropical, гол. — holarctic, гол.-австр. — Holarctic-Australian, гол.-новозел. — Holarctic-New Zealand, гол.-неотроп. — holarctic-neotropical, гол.-палеотроп. — holarctic-paleotropical, неясн. распр. — distribution unclear.

The article discusses the problems that have arisen during the implementation of the policy of multiculturalism in countries with a multinational population of Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand. In these states, there are successful cases of interaction between state institutions and ethnic minorities. The ethnopolitics of such multinational states is aimed at expanding the rights of ethnic minorities and their inclusion in the political process. Such a policy is based on the concept of multiculturalism and assumes the equality of ethnic minorities in the cultural environment of the dominant ethnic majority, realizes the idea of equality of people in all socio-political spheres. Multiculturalism is becoming the basis of public policy, as it integrates, adapts the minority and majority in a single community, while emphasizing and preserving ethnic, linguistic and religious identity. In the course of the multiculturalism policy, the prerequisites for the formation of the legal field of its development are created. The authors identify four key socio-political cases of multiculturalism: Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the countries of the Scandinavian Peninsula, which reflect the current results of multiculturalism policy. The article notes the fact that in relation to "indigenous peoples" the multiculturalism policy of these countries consolidates the official status of the ethnic minority and the language of indigenous peoples within the framework of the main state legislative acts. In the policy of multiculturalism, in the vast majority of countries represented in cases, the ethnic minority is given not only national-territorial, cultural autonomy, but also the opportunity to form ethnic representations included in state representative bodies of power. It is suggested that for multinational Russia, the model of multicultural development is the most appropriate.

AbstractAssessment of the quality of governance has so far relied on socioeconomic statistics and expert opinions, while largely neglecting citizens’ perceptions. Using AsiaBarometer 2008 data, this paper examines the factors affecting citizens’ satisfaction with their government in six Asian-Pacific countries: America, Australia, China, India, Japan, and Russia. I found citizen satisfaction with the public services they receive, such as education, healthcare, and public safety, matters most in their assessment of government performance. Individual satisfaction with income, job, and housing also matters. The respondent will disapprove government performance if he or she thinks corruption is serious in government, or elected officials stop caring about citizens once voting is finished. In terms of macro variables, economic condition of a country seems to matters significantly. Especially, if a country's economy is growing fast, citizens are much more likely to be satisfied with government performance. Large within-country variations exist in countries such as China and India, where citizens of different cities or regions may give rather different assessments of government, suggesting many contextual variables not captured by this study. Lastly, citizens’ satisfaction with government performance seems to be highly divergent from international organizations’ evaluation of governance quality, such as the World Bank Governance Index. This raises both methodological and normative issues regarding the proper approaches to measuring good governance.

The article studies the history and the current stage of Russia’s aggression to-wards countries with lower military potential. The collapse of the post-war system of international relations and collective security has become apparent: the aggression of Russia against Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine has testified to the fact that there are no longer any tools to protect countries subjected to discrimination from super powers. Today discrimination affects not only people or social groups, but also some countries. Such countries are not capable of pursuing an independent policy as to major centres of international power they have to deal with. Peculiar to these countries are uncompetitive economy, low quality of life and undeveloped civil society, they hence become a target for “vital interests”, namely bidding by so-called super powers. “Giants” are attracted by the geographical location of a possible “victim”, access to the sea, transit facilities, natural resources, especially energy, low-cost labour, etc. It is often that “discriminated” countries become grounds for ignition of burning or frozen conflicts provoked by powerful neighbours’ influence, or are exposed to open aggression and become subject to occupation or hybrid war. This has all started after the Second World War, when super powers of the USSR and China, on the one hand, and the United States, Great Britain, Australia, and others, on the other, have made Korea fall into two states. In addition, there was subsequently a division of Germany, the Caribbean crisis…However, such conflicts then were not that wide-ranging, since the post-war collective security system was quite effective. Things, though, have changed dramatically in recent decades. One of the largest global players − Russia – has decisively begun to create around itself a buffer zone formed of countries, where it fuels frozen conflicts and in such a way keeps them under the radar and hinders their integration into the Western world. Initially, Russia ignited a conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, supporting Armenia and assisting it to invade a considerable part of the territory in Azerbaijan, and then initiated the war in Transnistria by virtually occupying part of Moldova’s territory and asserting itself there on the pretext of deploying a peacekeeping mission. Later, there was a war in Abkhazia and then − in South Ossetia aiming to detach part of Georgia’s territory. And lastly, the turn of Ukraine has come… Regrettably, Ukraine is a typical and another example of a country that has fallen victim of multifaceted interests of the leading global players − Russia, the United States and the EU, and has faced all possible forms of discrimination. Keywords: war in eastern Ukraine, military aggression, geopolitics, conflicts, buffer zones.

Since mid 2007, we have seen one of the biggest crises ever to hit the financial markets—the so-called credit crisis. Initially banks bore the brunt of the credit crisis, but the ramifications were far deeper, affecting consumer households as well as debt and equity reliant organisations. This presentation will discuss the specific impacts of the crisis for the oil and gas industry, including: the fact that it is not just a credit crunch, but also an equity crunch; the fact that the issues in raising debt capital—the cost is now well beyond the global earnings yield; the fact that investors are now seeking alternate, less risky and less complicated investment options; and the fact that investment funds are shifting from private equity funds to oil-financed sovereign wealth funds. The crisis has had varying impacts on the oil and gas industry. Organisations reliant on debt and equity funding and those operating in new or start-up ventures are under increased pressure and scrutiny. On the other hand, well positioned oil and gas organisations can take advantage of current and emerging opportunities, particularly in relation to alternate energy sources. In the future, financial prosperity will be with organisations that operate in countries with guaranteed supplies of oil and gas (e.g. Australia, Brazil, Russia, India and China). A future focus for the oil and gas industry will be for organisations to maintain very disciplined and robust financial-risk management systems in order to manage their liquidity and financial risks in this changed environment.

By the prevalence in the earth’s crust, silicon occupies the second place after oxygen. In different quantities silicon always presents in water and food products.The average daily dietary intake of silicon in Western world is about 20-50 mg/day. The biological role of silicon in human organism is still not clear, but it assumed to be necessary for processes of bone mineralization, collagen synthesis, it has a positive effect on the state of skin, hair, and nails, contributes to the prevention of atherosclerosis and Alzheimer disease. A number of scientific research is devoted to biological effects of silicon in animals and human subjects under intake with food and water, and substantiation of silicon (maximum admissible concentrations (MAC) in drinking water. In Chuvashia there was investigated the regional (geographical) pathology, which may be related with an increased silicon intake in association with the sharp imbalances of trace and macro elements in drinking water. Some measures were implemented to identify the possible role of silicon in etiology of Balkan endemic nephropathy. Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report summarized materials for the experimental evaluation of the toxicity and harmless levels of silicon intake with food and water in animals. A series of studies was executed to simulate the development of silicon urolithiasis and for the elucidation of the role of macro- and microelements accompanying the intake of silicon into the body in stone formation. There are studied potential therapeutic effects of water soluble silicon compounds on human health. The standards of silicon in drinking water are regulated only in Russia and Australia. At the same time in our country there were formed two opposing points of view in relation to the hygienic standardization of silicon. The first is one - MAC of silicon in drinking water needs to be cancelled, the second - MAC of silicon in the water needs to be tightened. To resolve the contradictions it is advisable to use both the experience of harmonization of standards with international requirements, and the principle of silicon regional standardization, taking into consideration the biogeochemical characteristics of geographic areas. When searching the literature databases PubMed and CyberLeninka were used.

Cold rolled steel structures have been known since the mid-19th century in the United States and Great Britain. Despite the advances in the development of cold-rolled structures, the level of their use was lower than that of hot-rolled structures. A significant factor that influenced this imbalance in application was the fact that there were no regulations. Into different countries of the world have their own national regulations for the calculation of cold-rolled steel structures, which have many controversies. In the European group includes the norms of the countries of the European Union, Great Britain, Hong Kong, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan; American group - the United States of America, Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Chile, Egypt. The regulations of such large countries as China, India and Russia have their own characteristics. The article presents the results of a technical survey of the load-bearing structures of the canopy. The survey was carried out to determine the bearing capacity of the roof load-bearing structures in relation to the location of the solar panels on the roof of the building. The construction of buildings and their structural parts from light steel thin-walled structures (profiles) is carried out in the form of light frames, the frames of which are successively connected into spatial systems. A new lightweight roof covering made of profiled sheet and a frame structure made of cold-rolled P-profile and C-profile elements for roofing and installation of solar panels are proposed. Such a coating is the most industrialized, easily and quickly erected. The analysis of constructive options for the effective placement of the profile of cold-rolled elements and joints of the frame and reinforced concrete run of the coating is carried out. The design of the frame was carried out in the software package " Лира САПР 2013" . The results of the work carried out served to draw up recommendations for restoring the properties of the load-bearing structures of the canopy, the development of design estimates and implementations into construction practice during the reconstruction of the canopy.

This study makes the point that the 21st century is practicing non-kinetic warfare and nations vulnerable to it must overcome their weaknesses or be ready to get consumed. The world at large has witnessed a shift in the co-existence of relations among nations. Traditionally, an ally or the foe had a decisive place in the phenomenon of cooperation and competition, respectively. Realist tendencies and strategies to outcast the strengths of one’s enemy were straightforwardly applied. Military means including framing alliances were applied to squeeze the very possibility of response mechanism vested in the enemy’s defense lines. Contrary to this, those who fall in the vicinity of friendship orally, were to the best helped and taken along. This crafted the era of kineticism, where political affiliations with all its strengths and weaknesses were open and nations have clear manifestation to opt for the best side. This had been the case from First to Third Generations of warfare. Somehow, the Fourth Generation of warfare has faded away from the very distinction between an ally and foe. The discourse of ‘national interest’ in the 21st century has fed anxiety and distrust among nations. This study, therefore, is deductive in nature and has used the above analogy as a theoretical premise to decode the hypothetical assumption that there exists a context of non-kinetic warfare and both the US and Russia have entered into ‘maneuvered battlefield’. Secondary data with authors’ own reflections being a student of international politics has driven the analysis and findings.

The author turns to the study of individual preventive measures implemented abroad in order to combat negative factors that threaten the criminological security of the education sector. We are talking about the prevention of suicides of schoolchildren and students, extremism among students, drug addiction, substance abuse and alcoholism among participants in educational relations. The author analyzes the preventive experience of Australia, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Japan, Scotland, the USA and a large number of other countries. For example, special school prevention programs are being introduced to combat suicides among students studying abroad. Prevention of extremism among schoolchildren and students abroad is based on the introduction of special state directives and brochures into the educational process. Prevention of drug addiction and alcoholism among participants in educational relations is based on the interaction of law enforcement agencies with teachers. Based on the analysis, the author concludes that some positive foreign experience in combating negative social phenomena that exist in the educational environment should be tested in Russia.

Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience, above all liberties. —John Milton (1608-1674) Introduction The publication of 12 cartoons depicting images of Prophet Mohammed [Peace Be Upon Him] first in Denmark’s Jyllands-Posten on 30 September 2005, and later reprinted in European media and two New Zealand newspapers, sparked protests around the Muslim world. The Australian newspapers – with the exception of The Courier-Mail, which published one cartoon – refrained from reprinting the cartoons, acknowledging that depictions of the Prophet are regarded as “blasphemous by Muslims”. How is this apparent act of restraint to be assessed? Edward Said, in his book Covering Islam has acknowledged that there have been many Muslim provocations and troubling incidents by Islamic countries such as Iran, Libya, Sudan, and others in the 1980s. However, he contends that the use of the label “Islam” by non-Muslim commentators, either to explain or indiscriminately condemn “Islam”, ends up becoming a form of attack, which in turn provokes more hostility (xv-xvi). This article examines how two Australian newspapers – The Australian and The West Australian – handled the debate on the Prophet Muhammad cartoons and considers whether in the name of “free speech” it ended in “a form of attack” on Australian Muslims. It also considers the media’s treatment of Muslim Australians’ “free speech” on previous occasions. This article is drawn from the oral testimonies of Muslims of diverse ethnic background. Since 1998, as part of PhD and post-doctoral research on Muslims in Australia, the author conducted 130 face-to-face, in-depth, taped interviews of Muslims, aged 18-90, both male and female. While speaking about their settlement experience, several interviewees made unsolicited remarks about Western/Australian media, all of them making the point that Muslims were being demonised. Australian Muslims Many of Australia’s 281,578 Muslims — 1.5 per cent of the total population (Australian Bureau of Statistics) — believe that as a result of media bias, they are vilified in society as “terrorists”, and discriminated in the workplace (Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission; Dreher 13; Kabir 266-277). The ABS figures support their claim of discrimination in the workplace; in 1996 the unemployment rate for Muslim Australians was 25 per cent, compared to 9 per cent for the national total. In 2001, it was reduced to 18.5 per cent, compared to 6.8 per cent for the national total, but the ratio of underprivileged positions in the labour market remained almost three times higher than for the wider community. Instead of reflecting on Muslims’ labour market issues or highlighting the social issues confronting Muslims since 9/11, some Australian media, in the name of “free speech”, reinforce negative perceptions of Muslims through images, cartoons and headlines. In 2004, one Muslim informant offered their perceptions of Australian media: I think the Australian media are quite prejudiced, and they only do show one side of the story, which is quite pro-Bush, pro-Howard, pro-war. Probably the least prejudiced media would be ABC or SBS, but the most pro-Jewish, pro-America, would be Channel Seven, Channel Nine, Channel Ten. They only ever show things from one side of the story. This article considers the validity of the Muslim interviewee’s perception that Australian media representation is one-sided. On 26 October 2005, under the headline: “Draw a Cartoon about Mohammed and You Must Die”, The Australian warned its readers: ISLAM is no laughing matter. Danish newspaper, Jyllands-Posten, is being protected by security guards and several cartoonists have gone into hiding after the newspaper published a series of 12 cartoons about the prophet Mohammed. According to Islam, it is blasphemous to make images of the prophet. Muslim fundamentalists have threatened to bomb the paper’s offices and kill the cartoonists (17). Militant Muslims The most provocative cartoons appearing in the Danish media are probably those showing a Muhammad-like figure wearing a turban shaped as a bomb with a burning fuse coming out of it, or a queue of smoking suicide bombers on a cloud with an Islamic cleric saying, “Stop stop we have run out of virgins”. Another showed a blindfolded Muslim man with two veiled Muslim women standing behind him. These messages appeared to be concerned with Islam’s repression of women (Jyllands-Posten), and possibly with the American channel CBS airing an interview in August 2001 of a Palestinian Hamas activist, Muhammad Abu Wardeh, who recruited terrorists for suicide bombings in Israel. Abu Wardeh was quoted as saying: “I described to him [the suicide bomber] how God would compensate the martyr for sacrificing his life for his land. If you become a martyr, God will give you 70 virgins, 70 wives and everlasting happiness” (The Guardian). Perhaps to serve their goals, the militants have re-interpreted the verses of the Holy Quran (Sura 44:51-54; 55:56) where it is said that Muslims who perform good deeds will be blessed by the huris or “pure being” (Ali 1290-1291; 1404). However, since 9/11, it is also clear that the Muslim militant groups such as the Al-Qaeda have become the “new enemy” of the West. They have used religion to justify the terrorist acts and suicide bombings that have impacted on Western interests in New York, Washington, Bali, Madrid amongst other places. But it should be noted that there are Muslim critics, such as Pakistani-born writer, Irshad Manji, Bangladeshi-born writer Taslima Nasreen and Somalian-born Dutch parliamentarian Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who have been constant critics of Muslim men’s oppression of women and have urged reformation. However, their extremist fellow believers threatened them with a death sentence for their “free speech” (Chadwick). The non-Muslim Dutch film director, Theo van Gogh, also a critic of Islam and a supporter of Ayaan Hirsi Ali, advocated a reduction in immigration into Holland, especially by Muslims. Both van Gogh and Hirsi Ali – who co-scripted and co-produced the film Submission – received death threats from Muslim extremists because the film exhibited the verses of the Quran across the chest, stomach and thighs of an almost naked girl, and featured four women in see-through robes showing their breasts, with texts from the Quran daubed on their bodies, talking about the abuse they had suffered under Islam (Anon 25). Whereas there may be some justification for the claim made in the film, that some Muslim men interpret the Quran to oppress women (Doogue and Kirkwood 220), the writing of the Quranic verses on almost-naked women is surely offensive to all Muslims because the Quran teaches Muslim women to dress modestly (Sura 24: 30-31; Ali 873). On 4 November 2004, The West Australian reported that the Dutch director Theo van Gogh was murdered by a 26-year-old Dutch-Moroccan Muslim on 2 November 2004 (27). Hirsi Ali, the co-producer of the film was forced to go into hiding after van Gogh’s murder. In the face of a growing clamour from both the Dutch Muslims and the secular communities to silence her, Ayaan Hirsi Ali resigned from the Dutch Parliament in May 2006 and decided to re-settle in Washington (Jardine 2006). It should be noted that militant Muslims form a tiny but forceful minority of the 1.4 billion Muslims worldwide. The Muslim majority are moderate and peaceful (Doogue and Kirkwood 79-80). Some Muslim scholars argue that there is specific instruction in the Quran for people to apply their knowledge and arrive at whatever interpretation is of greatest benefit to the community. It may be that stricter practitioners would not agree with the moderate interpretation of the Quran and vice versa (Doogue and Kirkwood 232). Therefore, when the Western media makes a mockery of the Muslim religion or their Prophet in the name of “free speech”, or generalises all Muslims for the acts of a few through headlines or cartoons, it impacts on the Muslims residing in the West. Prophet Muhammad’s Cartoons With the above-mentioned publication of Prophet Muhammad’s cartoons in Denmark, Islamic critics charged that the cartoons were a deliberate provocation and insult to their religion, designed to incite hatred and polarise people of different faiths. In February 2006, regrettably, violent reactions took place in the Middle East, Europe and in Asia. Danish embassies were attacked and, in some instances, were set on fire. The demonstrators chanted, “With our blood and souls we defend you, O Prophet of God!”. Some replaced the Danish flag with a green one printed with the first pillar of Islam (Kalima): “There is no god but God and Mohammed is the messenger of God”. Some considered the cartoons “an unforgivable insult” that merited punishment by death (The Age). A debate on “free speech” soon emerged in newspapers throughout the world. On 7 February 2006 the editorial in The West Australian, “World Has Had Enough of Muslim Fanatics”, stated that the newspaper would not publish cartoons of Mohammad that have drawn protests from Muslims around the world. The newspaper acknowledged that depictions of the prophet are regarded as “blasphemous by Muslims” (18). However, the editorial was juxtaposed with another article “Can Liberty Survive a Clash of Cultures?”, with an image of bearded men wearing Muslim head coverings, holding Arabic placards and chanting slogans, implying the violent nature of Islam. And in the letters page of this newspaper, published on the same day, appeared the following headlines (20): Another Excuse for Muslims to Threaten Us Islam Attacked Cartoon Rage: Greatest Threat to World Peace We’re Living in Dangerous Times Why Treat Embassies with Contempt? Muslim Religion Is Not So Soft Civilised World Is Threatened The West Australian is a state-based newspaper that tends to side with the conservative Liberal party, and is designed to appeal to the “man in the street”. The West Australian did not republish the Prophet Muhammad cartoon, but for 8 days from 7 to 15 February 2006 the letters to the editor and opinion columns consistently criticised Islam and upheld “superior” Western secular values. During this period, the newspaper did publish a few letters that condemned the Danish cartoonist, including the author’s letter, which also condemned the Muslims’ attack on the embassies. But the overall message was that Western secular values were superior to Islamic values. In other words, the newspaper adopted a jingoistic posture and asserted the cultural superiority of mainstream Australians. The Danish cartoons also sparked a debate on “free speech” in Australia’s leading newspaper, The Australian, which is a national newspaper that also tends to reflect the values of the ruling national government – also the conservative Liberal party. And it followed a similar pattern of debate as The West Australian. On 14 February 2006, The Australian (13) published a reader’s criticism of The Australian for not republishing the cartoons. The author questioned whether the Muslims deserved any tolerance because their Holy Book teaches intolerance. The Koran [Quran] (22:19) says: Garments of fire have been prepared for the unbelievers. Scalding water shall be poured upon their heads, melting their skins and that which is in their bellies. Perhaps this reader did not find the three cartoons published in The Australian a few days earlier to be ‘offensive’ to the Australian Muslims. In the first, on 6 February 2006, the cartoonist Bill Leak showed that his head was chopped off by some masked people (8), implying that Muslim militants, such as the Hamas, would commit such a brutal act. The Palestinian Hamas group often appear in masks before the media. In this context, it is important to note that Israel is an ally of Australia and the United States, whereas the Hamas is Israel’s enemy whose political ideology goes against Israel’s national interest. On 25 January 2006, the Hamas won a landslide victory in the Palestine elections but Israel refused to recognise this government because Hamas has not abandoned its militant ideology (Page 13). The cartoon, therefore, probably means that the cartoonist or perhaps The Australian has taken sides on behalf of Australia’s ally Israel. In the second cartoon, on 7 February 2006, Bill Leak sketched an Arab raising his sword over a school boy who was drawing in a classroom. The caption read, “One more line and I’ll chop your hand off!” (12). And in the third, on 10 February 2006, Bill Leak sketched Mr Mohammed’s shadow holding a sword with the caption: “The unacceptable face of fanaticism”. A reporter asked: “And so, Mr Mohammed, what do you have to say about the current crisis?” to which Mr Mohammed replied, “I refuse to be drawn on the subject” (16). The cartoonist also thought that the Danish cartoons should have been republished in the Australian newspapers (Insight). Cartoons are supposed to reflect the theme of the day. Therefore, Bill Leak’s cartoons were certainly topical. But his cartoons reveal that his or The Australian’s “freedom of expression” has been one-sided, all depicting Islam as representing violence. For example, after the Bali bombing on 21 November 2002, Leak sketched two fully veiled women, one carrying explosives under her veil and asking the other, “Does my bomb look big in this”? The cartoonist’s immediate response to criticism of the cartoon in a television programme was, “inevitably, when you look at a cartoon such as that one, the first thing you’ve got to do is remember that as a daily editorial cartoonist, you’re commenting first and foremost on the events of the day. They’re very ephemeral things”. He added, “It was…drawn about three years ago after a spate of suicide bombing attacks in Israel” (Insight). Earlier events also suggested that that The Australian resolutely supports Australia’s ally, Israel. On 13-14 November 2004 Bill Leak caricatured the recently deceased Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in The Weekend Australian (18). In the cartoon, God appeared to be displeased with him and would not allow him to enter paradise. Arafat was shown with explosives strapped to his body and threatening God by saying, “A cloud to myself or the whole place goes up….”. On the other hand, on 6 January 2006 the same cartoonist sympathetically portrayed ailing Israeli leader Ariel Sharon as a decent man wearing a black suit, with God willing to accept him (10); and the next day Sharon was portrayed as “a Man of Peace” (12). Politics and Religion Thus, the anecdotal evidence so far reveals that in the name of “freedom of expression”, or “free speech” The West Australian and The Australian newspapers have taken sides – either glorifying their “superior” Western culture or taking sides on behalf of its allies. On the other hand, these print media would not tolerate the “free speech” of a Muslim leader who spoke against their ally or another religious group. From the 1980s until recently, some print media, particularly The Australian, have been critical of the Egyptian-born Muslim spiritual leader Imam Taj el din al-Hilali for his “free speech”. In 1988 the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils bestowed the title of Mufti to Imam al- Hilali, and al-Hilali was elevated to a position of national religious leadership. Al-Hilali became a controversial figure after 1988 when he gave a speech to the Muslim students at Sydney University and accused Jews of trying to control the world through “sex, then sexual perversion, then the promotion of espionage, treason and economic hoarding” (Hewett 7). The Imam started being identified as a “Muslim chief” in the news headlines once he directly criticised American foreign policy during the 1990-91 Gulf crisis. The Imam interpreted US intervention in Kuwait as a “political dictatorship” that was exploiting the Gulf crisis because it was seen as a threat to its oil supply (Hewett 7). After the Bali bombings in 2002, the Howard government distributed information on terrorism through the “Alert and Alarmed” kit as part of its campaign of public awareness. The first casualty of the “Be alert, but not alarmed” campaign was the Imam al-Hilali. On 6 January 2003, police saw a tube of plastic protruding from a passenger door window and suspected that al-Hilali might have been carrying a gun when they pulled him over for traffic infringements. Sheikh al-Hilali was charged with resisting arrest and assaulting police (Morris 1, 4). On 8 January 2003 The Australian reminded its readers “Arrest Adds to Mufti’s Mystery” (9). The same issue of The Australian portrayed the Sheikh being stripped of his clothes by two policemen. The letter page also contained some unsympathetic opinions under the headline: “Mufti Deserved No Special Treatment” (10). In January 2004, al-Hilali was again brought under the spotlight. The Australian media alleged that al-Hilali praised the suicide bombers at a Mosque in Lebanon and said that the destruction of the World Trade Center was “God’s work against oppressors” (Guillatt 24). Without further investigation, The Australian again reported his alleged inflammatory comments. Under the headline, “Muslim Leader’s Jihad Call”, it condemned al-Hilali and accused him of strongly endorsing “terrorist groups Hezbollah and Hamas, during his visit to Lebanon”. Federal Labor Member of Parliament Michael Danby said, “Hilali’s presence in Australia is a mistake. He and his associates must give authorities an assurance he will not assist future homicide attacks” (Chulov 1, 5). Later investigations by Sydney’s Good Weekend Magazine and SBS Television found that al-Hilali’s speech had been mistranslated (Guillatt 24). However, the selected print media that had been very critical of the Sheikh did not highlight the mistranslation. On the other hand, the Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal George Pell has been critical of Islam and is also opposed to Australia’s involvement in the Iraq war in 2003, but the print media appeared to ignore his “free speech” (Dateline). In November 2004, Dr Pell said that secular liberal democracy was empty and selfish, and Islam was emerging as an alternative world view that attracted the alienated (Zwartz 3). In May 2006, Dr Pell said that he tried to reconcile claims that Islam was a faith of peace with those that suggested the Quran legitimised the killings of non-Muslims but: In my own reading of the Koran [Quran], I began to note down invocations to violence. There are so many of them, however, that I abandoned this exercise after 50 or 60 or 70 pages (Morris). Muslim leaders regarded Dr Pell’s anti-Islam statement as “inflammatory” (Morris). However, both the newspapers, The Australian and The West Australian remained uncritical of Dr Pell’s “free speech” against Islam. Conclusion Edward Said believed that media images are informed by official definitions of Islam that serve the interests of government and business. The success of the images is not in their accuracy but in the power of the people who produce them, the triumph of which is hardly challenged. “Labels have survived many experiences and have been capable of adapting to new events, information and realities” (9). In this paper the author accepts that, in the Australian context, militant Muslims are the “enemy of the West”. However, they are also the enemy of most moderate Australian Muslims. When some selected media take sides on behalf of the hegemony, or Australia’s “allies”, and offend moderate Australian Muslims, the media’s claim of “free speech” or “freedom of expression” remains highly questionable. Muslim interviewees in this study have noted a systemic bias in some Australian media, but they are not alone in detecting this bias (see the “Abu Who?” segment of Media Watch on ABC TV, 31 July 2006). To address this concern, Australian Muslim leaders need to play an active role in monitoring the media. This might take the form of a watchdog body within the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils. If the media bias is found to be persistent, the AFIC might then recommend legislative intervention or application of existing anti-discrimination policies; alternatively, AFIC could seek sanctions from within the Australian journalistic community. One way or another this practice should be stopped. References Ali, Abdullah Yusuf. The Holy Quran: Text, Translation and Commentary. New Revised Ed. Maryland, USA: Amana Corporation, 1989. Anonymous. “Dutch Courage in Aftermath of Film-Maker’s Slaying.” The Weekend Australian 6-7 Nov. 2004. Chadwick, Alex. “The Caged Virgin: A Call for Change in Islam.” 4 June 2006 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5382547>. Chulov, Martin. “Muslim Leader’s Jihad Call.” The Australian 19 Feb. 2004. Dateline. “Cardinal George Pell Interview.” SBS TV 6 April 2005. 7 June 2006 http://news.sbs.com.au/dateline/>. Dreher, Tanya. “Targeted”, Experiences of Racism in NSW after September 11, 2001. Sydney: University of Technology, 2005. Doogue, Geraldine, and Peter Kirkwood. Tomorrow’s Islam: Understanding Age-Old Beliefs and a Modern World. Sydney: ABC Books, 2005. Insight. “Culture Clash.” SBS TV 7 March 2006. 11 June 2006 http://news.sbs.com.au/insight/archive.php>. Guillatt, Richard. “Moderate or Menace.” Sydney Morning Herald Good Weekend 21 Aug. 2004. Hewett, Tony. “Australia Exploiting Crisis: Muslim Chief.” Sydney Morning Herald 27 Nov. 1990. Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission. Ismaa – Listen: National Consultations on Eliminating Prejudice against Arab and Muslim Australians. Sydney: Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, 2004. Jyllands-Posten. 24 Jan. 2006. http://www.di2.nu/files/Muhammad_Cartoons_Jyllands_Posten.html>. Jardine, Lisa. “Liberalism under Pressure.” BBC News 5 June 2006. 12 June 2006 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/5042418.stm>. Kabir, Nahid. Muslims in Australia: Immigration, Race Relations and Cultural History. London: Kegan Paul, 2005. Media Watch. “Abu Who?” ABC Television 31 July 2006. http://abc.net.au/mediawatch/>. Morris, Linda. “Imam Facing Charges after Row with Police.” Sydney Morning Herald 7 Jan. 2003. Morris, Linda. “Pell Challenges Islam – O Ye, of Little Tolerant Faith.” Sydney Morning Herald 5 May 2006. Page, Jeremy. “Russia May Sell Arms to Hamas.” The Australian 18 Feb. 2006. Said, Edward. Covering Islam: How the Media and the Experts Determine How We See the Rest of the World. London: Vintage, 1981, 1997. Submission. “Film Clip from Short Submission.” Submission. 11 June 2006. http://www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2655656?htv=12> The Age. “Embassies Torched over Cartoons.” 5 Feb. 2006. http://www.theage.com.au>. The Guardian. “Virgins? What Virgins?” 12 Jan. 2002. 4 June 2006 http://www.guardian.co.uk/>. Zwartz, Barney. “Islam Could Be New Communism, Pell Tells US Audience.” Sydney Morning Herald 12 Nov. 2004. Citation reference for this article MLA Style Kabir, Nahid. "Depiction of Muslims in Selected Australian Media: Free Speech or Taking Sides." M/C Journal 9.4 (2006). echo date('d M. Y'); ?> <http://journal.media-culture.org.au/0609/1-kabir.php>. APA Style Kabir, N. (Sep. 2006) "Depiction of Muslims in Selected Australian Media: Free Speech or Taking Sides," M/C Journal, 9(4). Retrieved echo date('d M. Y'); ?> from <http://journal.media-culture.org.au/0609/1-kabir.php>.

Abstract The blurring of international barriers has impacted the nature and complexity of tortious claims and, in particular, those concerning product liability. Products manufactured in one country are often sold or used in another State – and there is often a separation in time and space between the occurrence of the harmful behaviour the resultant injury. For this reason, countries across the globe have increasingly considered it inappropriate to subject such claims to the same mechanism to identify the governing law that applies to other tortious claims of different nature such as negligence, nuisance or defamation. The EU, the UK, Australia, Canada, and India’s BRICS partners – Russia and China – are examples of legal systems that have developed a special conflict of law rules on the applicable law in product liability claims. In contrast, the principles of Indian private international law do not contain any special rule. The applicable law is determined on the basis of a uniform principle that extends to all cross-border disputes on tort. The paper provides a critical evaluation of the mechanism to identify the applicable law in international disputes on product liability. It highlights the predicaments in extending the uniform rule to product liability claims and demonstrates how it debilitates access to justice and is not suitable for disputes that arise from accidents caused by products such as autonomous vehicles, which incorporate new technology. Consequently, the paper suggests workable solutions to develop the Indian conflict-of-law rules on the subject.