Journal articles on the topic 'Economic development – Political aspects – Middle East'

China is one of the most influential non-regional actors in the Mediterranean. As of 2021, it is ranked among the top three trading partners of almost all Mediterranean states. Chinese foreign policy in the Mediterranean reflects the growing importance of geoeconomics and, in particular, economic instruments of foreign policy in Chinas foreign policy strategy. The intersection of the routes of the Maritime Silk Road of the 21st Century and the Silk Road Economic Belt in the Mediterranean basin indicates the regions high potential for the development of new logistics routes, economic corridors and supply chains. Despite significant impact of the coronavirus restrictions on the global economy and the deepest economic crisis seen in recent years, China has not reduced its global activity. Actually, it is the pandemic that can become an incentive for the development of new formats of cooperation within the Belt and Road in the Mediterranean. Chinas traditional foreign policy paradigm presupposes emphasis exclusively on economic interaction and non-involvement in political issues. De facto Chinas economic relations with the countries of the region are increasingly complicated by military and political issues. The article categorizes the main political and security issues that arise between China and partner countries in the Mediterranean region. While the discourse of human rights and sustainable development prevails in relations with Europe, the issues of ensuring security and managing regional instability come to the fore when dealing with the states of North Africa and the Middle East. Given Chinas growing economic needs, it is likely that in the medium term there will be a doctrinal formalization of Chinas role in the political process in the Mediterranean region.

The lack of Russian-language research on the features of the economic development of Israel as an OECD member state underlines the urgent need to identify new trends in the Israeli economy. Not taking into account the existing variety of humanitarian studies, and especially the concentration of studies on the political history of Israel and its modern component, we can recognize a clear lack of work that would cover Israeli economy. Current trends in Israeli trade relations, which have begun to make the mselves clear, require both consideration of effective trade and economic interaction between Israel and Palestine, and identification of the peculiarities of hidden regional trade and economic ties. Israel and Palestine are in close cooperation on the exchange of labor and goods, despite the lack of a political settlement. For Palestine, Israel is a major trading partner, and Palestine plays a key security role for Israel. The second important aspect in covering new trends in the Israeli economy may be the need to study the nascent format of cooperation between Israel and the Middle East. The article explores the specifics of economic relations between Israel and the countries of the Middle East, reveals the growing role of economic relations between Israel and the countries of the region.

The Arab Spring, which first erupted in Tunisia and spread to parts of the Arab world, remains one of the most realistic issues on the international political agenda in recent years. With the deepening of the political transformation in the Middle East, the political development of Libya, Turkey, Iran and other countries has encountered more and more difficulties. Libya has also experienced the Arab Spring, and whether the socio-political landscape has changed has become a topic of debate. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether the socio-political landscape of Libya has changed politically and economically since the Arab Spring. In the early days of the Arab Spring, Libya's political system has changed, and some economic achievements have been made. However, these achievements at the political and economic level are superficial, which means that Libya's political and economic landscape has not been fundamentally transformed, and what was achieved at the time did not last long. After a brief introduction to the Arab Spring and the current social situation in Libya, this paper will discuss the specific changes in Libya's socio-political landscape from both political and economic aspects.

Modern changes in the economy of Ukraine caused by the socio-political situation in the country as well as a number of initiated reforms encourage scientific exploration of the socio-economic development of the country. The purpose of the article is to conduct a problem-oriented analysis of the social component of the economy of Ukraine. The article presents the results of a study of socio-economic development of Ukraine during the past five years. The following areas of analysis were selected: labor markets, poverty, unemployment, income / expenditures of the population. Low growth rates of the subsistence level are proven to be causing a decrease in social standards, which negatively affects the living standards of the population in Ukraine; a significant drop in real income of the population in 2014-2015 aggravated the purchasing power of the population; the increase in the share of wages and social benefits in the structure of the population's income during the analyzed period is an indication of the excessive dependence of the population's well-being on state support, as well as the absence of the so-called middle class in the country. The visible growth in the unemployment rate is caused by the military actions in the East of Ukraine, the deepening of the financial and economic crisis and the deterioration of the socio-political situation in the country. Emphasis is placed on differentiation in wages in economic sectors. Low level of the average salary in the budget sphere is proven to be caused by the peculiarities of calculating the size of the minimum salary on the basis of the subsistence minimum, which ultimately leads to the “depreciation” of the work of employees of the budgetary sphere and the reduction of the cost of highly skilled labor. Challenges to further development of Ukraine have been identified, such as excessive unemployment, poor level of remuneration, the level of social protection, military conflict in Eastern Ukraine among the key ones.

Abstract The Middle East and North Africa region has been an important player in the swift demographic transition process that happened in many parts of the developing world starting in the mid-twentieth century. This demographic change was not independent from the developmental efforts and political transformations that the region was experiencing. Social and demographic change in the Middle East and North Africa brought with them power struggles, changes in social and political structures, and confusion in all areas of social life, all of which could be seen in the region. This paper focuses on the more general aspects of the demographic and social characteristics in the countries of the Middle East and North Africa in 1950, 1980, and 2015, bearing in mind the relationship between mentalities and events, and dealing with the issue through the lens of social change, demographic change, resistance, and the struggle for political change in an international context. This study has two main approaches. First, it investigates demographic changes and spatial clustering with a qualitative (cluster analysis) approach in Middle Eastern and North Africa countries based on selected demographic indicators for the years 1950, 1980, and 2015. Then it discusses the relationship between the outcomes of these demographic changes and recent socio-political developments in the region. One of the main findings of this study is MENA countries present three different structures in different time-periods in terms of demographics and these structures are responsible for the regional social, economic, and political transformations.

This article explores the Qatari perception of the partnership with China on the basis of three factors: globalisation, the absence of a legacy of colonialism and the principles of non-intervention and respect for state sovereignty professed in China’s foreign policy. China’s perception of its relations with Qatar is embedded within its understanding of the regional order in the Middle East and reflects its assessment of the geopolitical factors that are transforming Gulf countries. It emerges from this analysis that the diplomatic and economic aspects of Qatar–China relations are substantial and well institutionalised. However, military cooperation is still underdeveloped despite the increase of military-to-military contacts.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to study the role of institutions (including civil law origin), financial deepening and degree of regime authority on growth rates in the Middle East and North Africa region. Design/methodology/approach – This paper examines the implications of industrial firm-related and national factors for the determinants of economic growth using panel data through a fixed effect model. Findings – The results reveal that English civil law origin and the establishment of the rule of law work with the development of financial institutions to increase economic growth in these economies; however, the democratization of the political institutions and foreign direct investment do not assist financial development in promoting economic growth. Research limitations/implications – Data covered is limited to four years. Social implications – The findings emphasize the prominence of overcoming institutional weaknesses and establishing transparent public policy governing businesses as a pre-requisite for successful universal integration in developing countries. Originality/value – This paper contributes to the literature on the relationship between finance and economic growth in two aspects. First, the authors focus on the contribution of the institutional setting and its interaction with the financial development and how this affects economic growth of the manufacturing firms. Second, the authors explore the relationship between the role of institutions, governance, the country civil law origin and the economic growth.

The article considers the main directions of the Russian Federations foreign policy in the Mediterranean region in the period from 2015 to autumn 2021. The authors present a historical analysis of Russias military presence in the Mediterranean Sea since its first deployment in the 18th century and separately during the Cold War, since the key strategic goals and operational-tactical tasks facing the 5th Soviet Navy operational squadron in those years, as a whole, remained unchanged. Only their scale was adjusted. Three key aspects that determine the need for Russias presence in the Mediterranean are researched. These are the military, political and economic (raw) components that form the determinant of Russian foreign policy in the region. The expansion of the military activity of NATO countries - in particular, the United States, Great Britain and France - in the Mediterranean Sea and the Middle East, especially since the beginning of the civil war in the Syrian Arab Republic in 2011, requires an asymmetric response from Russia in the context of protecting its national interests. As far as geopolitics is concerned, Russias return of at least partial of those Soviet influence in the region also contributes to strengthening our countrys international positions. Finally, Russias presence in a part of the world, which is a natural logistics hub in the context of both world trade and energy supplies, conceptually complements the military-political agenda. The authors use the methods of historical and political analysis and practical systematization in order to formulate the main hypothesis of the study and come to scientific and theoretical conclusions. The main hypothesis is that the expansion of Russias military, political and economic presence in the Mediterranean will be intensified as the countrys economic potential grows. The authors suggest the following order as tools for implementing the strategy: speeding up efforts to ensure the permanent military presence of the Russian Navy in the Mediterranean, deepening bilateral ties with Syria and conducting a pragmatic economic policy towards Turkey, which claims to be an important actor in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East as a whole.

Starting from the middle of the 16-th century, during the foreign policy expansion increase, the ethno-confessional diversity of the Russian state was steadily increasing. The imperial policy aimed at assimilating non-Russian peoples sharply raised the issue of their identity preservation. For domestic Muslims, an important factor in cultural and confessional identity provision was the preservation and development of their traditional ties with the Islamic world. Various political, economic, cultural, and other contacts maintained with the countries of the Muslim East have become the basis for the stability of the Muslim community in Russia under imperial pressure. In this system, a special role was originally played by the Hajj (Muslim pilgrimage to the holy places in the Hejaz), which the official administration had to reckon with. The aim of the proposed study is to identify socio-political aspects, socio-political conditions, and the specifics of the Hajj implementation in the 19th century. After the analysis of office documentation, travel notes of Muslim pilgrims, and expert assessments of orientalists, the authors concluded that, despite the increasing opposition from the authorities, the significance of the Hajj intensifies in the 19th century. Hajj became not only the factor of opposition to imperial acculturation, but also a channel for presentation the ideas of renewal.

Economic geography, at its best, deploys economic and social theory to make sense of the economic, political and social transformation of regions and their impact on people’s lives and opportunities. Nowhere is this approach more evident than in the work of Ray Hudson, who has consistently focused on analysing the processes of combined and uneven development to explain the broad changes in the capitalist economy together with middle-level theories to account for the complexity of regional development in practice. In so doing he has created a powerful Geographical Political Economy that provides a deep understanding of the last four decades of economic restructuring and industrial transformation of the North-East Region of England and its impact on the lives of people living there. This article reflects on this aspect of Ray Hudson’s work in the context of his broader contributions to the academy.

The paper presents an analysis of a unique manuscript identified in the book collection of a prominent Dagestani theologian Baguzhalav al-Machadi. It comprises 9 works compiled in the form of questions and answers, which reflect the theological discourse on various legal aspects. The discussion was attended by such reputed theologians as Dawud al-Usishi, Sheikh Izz ad-Din Tayyib, Said al-Makki, Muhammad-haji al-Uradi, Muhammad al-Aliji, Sheikh as-Sijini, Hadith al-Machadi, Muhammad al-Hifnawi and Muhammad al-Aymaki. Some of them were Dagestanis, while others – of the Middle East origin. Their works are written in a form of answers of a number of Middle Eastern theologians to the questions of Dagestanis on various topical issues of that time. The works were compiled in the second half of the 17th – first quarter of the 19th centuries, which allows to trace to a certain extent the development of the legal tradition of Dagestan of that period. They are also a valuable source on the history of everyday life, economic and socio-political development of Dagestan society. The range of questions and answers considered in the theological discourse is extremely diverse, and concerns the various aspects of everyday life. As we believe, Dagestani theologians, turning to their more authoritative compatriots, as well as to scholars from the Middle East, sought to legitimize adat norms through Sharia texts. At the same time, addressing the latter, Dagestani theologians sought to use the unspoken priority in favor of their opinion that existed in the Muslim world. Moreover, the identified Arabic-language sources clearly demonstrate how closely Dagestan was included in the unified legal field of the Arab-Muslim world.

The article presents the materials of a scientific discussion related to the topic of post-conflict settlement in the Arab world, organized by the National Communications Development Research Institution together with the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The authors analyze theoretical models and specific cases of settlement in the regions of the Middle East, North Africa, the Arab world and related challenges. The humanitarian aspect of post-conflict political settlement and economic reconstruction, which has been associated with a number of challenges in recent years, is considered.

Seven decades-long strategic partnership of Pakistan and China has survived all political weathers. Mainly, it grew up in two major domains i.e. political and military cooperation. But in 2015 both countries have entered into a new era of economic cooperation by signing a commercial agreement i.e. China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). It is a flagship project of Chinese strategic plan of socioeconomic and political cooperation through regional connectivity; Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) launched by President Xi Jinping in 2013. Today, CPEC has become a widely discussed aspect of Pak-China relations for several reasons. First, CPEC provides shortest route to China towards the Middle East and Europe because of the Geo-strategic location of Pakistan especially, Gwadar port. Second, both China and Pakistan want to utilize economic dividends of CPEC for socio-economic development of their underdeveloped areas like the western autonomous region of China, Xinjiang, and the Balochistan province of Pakistan. CPEC has a deep impact on the future strategic alignment in South Asia. This paper explore multiple challenges to CPEC which Pakistan and China are supposed to tackle and another hypothetical connotation of CPEC i.e. complex projection of economic competence.

Greece is an essential part of the Mediterranean and Middle East security system. Home and foreign policy of Greece became a factor of the critical importance for the US. The author`s vision of the Greek factor’s impact on the US Mediterranean policy was presented in the article. Research objective. The paper is devoted to the US Mediterranean policy and the Greek factor in the context of the Cold War. The purpose of the presented study is to research connection between Greek home and foreign policy to the US strategy in the region. Scientific novelty. The innovative nature of the article lies in the revision of the US Mediterranean policy according to political processes in Greece. A special attention was paid on regional strategic developments and US adaptation to them. Research methods. The system analysis was used in the article to research geopolitical and economic interests of the USA in the regional dimension. The history and genetic method is used in the article also. Conclusions. Greece played an important role in the US foreign policy throughout the Cold War. Greece was regarded not only as an equal partner, but also as a guarantor of the stability of NATO’s Southern Flank. Greece policy`s influence on the US Mediterranean policy had formed the so-called Greek factor. During the Cold war Greek factor forced the US to adapt. Such aspects as Truman doctrine, Cyprus problem, regime of Greek junta prioritized American policy in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East. Temporal withdrawal of Greece from NATO and emergence of Greek anti-Americanism were the most difficult stages of the US Mediterranean policy. By the end of the Cold War political anti-Americanism transformed into terrorist threat. The current situation in the Middle East region makes the US Mediterranean policy relevant. And its research has a prospect for a future survey.

Nowadays the problems of socio-cultural communication covers the gender issue and changes in the role of women in society in particular. Traditionally, the women status in Muslim countries is most vulnerable. Despite this fact, there has emerged such a socio-cultural phenomenon as Islamic feminism in the Middle East. Islamic Revolution was the first time when Iranian women had declared themselves as a social and political force. Imam R. Khomeini used their social activity for his own political purposes. Despite the promises of the revolution leader, first actions of the new government differed from those the citizens expected: most of the rights and freedoms were restricted or eliminated. Iran is currently ranked 148th out of 153 countries on the gender gap index, overtaking only the countries with difficult internal political and economic situation, such as the DRC, Syria, Pakistan, Iraq and Yemen. The article analyzes the changes in the Iranian women status that have occurred in the following areas: civil status, education and science, economic activity, politics, art and sports. The positive measures taken in these spheres indicate that the society is undergoing a process of reconsidering the role of women, and the development of the women empowerment process in Iran will progress.

The initial period of energy relations between the USSR and the FRG is considered. The question is raised about the role of economic diplomacy in the development of bilateral dialogue. Particular attention is paid to the impact of sanctions factors and political pressure from third parties on the oil and gas partnership between Moscow and Bonn. Transcripts of Bundestag meetings of the 1960s and the archives of the German Foreign Ministry during the specified period were put into circulation and used as sources. It analyzes how the establishment of bilateral energy cooperation was due to the need to restore and strengthen the economies of countries after the Second World War, the crises in the Middle East in the energy exporting countries, as well as the increased foreign policy and foreign economic activity of the USSR and the FRG in the 1950s-1960s. It is proved that the parties maintained close ties in the field of energy, despite the sanctions pressure and political differences between states during the Cold War. At the same time, it was noted that the pragmatism of the leaderships of the Soviet Union and West Germany in the area under study became the reason for the sustainable nature of the energy dialogue in the following decades, already in a completely different international political environment.

My theme is MESA and the American university. It is a worthy topic because MESA, and MESA’s membership, occupy distinctive places in the American academy. We are, as academic organizations and academic fields go, relatively small; but our membership constitutes, collectively and often individually, a deep reservoir of knowledge about a part of the world that has become of central importance to our country over the past several decades, and is likely long so to remain. The diverse and detailed understanding we hold about our region of special interest-the Middle East-is, or at least should be, a resource of immense value for those in our country, and beyond, who are also concerned with it-whether they are ordinary citizens, or business leaders, or political leaders and others who shape policy.MESA exists, of course, in the context of the North American university system. MESA was founded in 1966 by a small group of American academicians-at a meeting in Chicago, no less, that quintessentially American city in which I am so fortunate to live. It offers a unique forum for the unfettered exchange of information and ideas on the Middle East, especially the contemporary and recent Middle East, free of any political or economic or cultural or religious orthodoxies; and it serves as a vehicle for encouraging scholarship on every aspect of the region from the perspective of all disciplines, and for encouraging and sustaining the intellectual development of the scholars who undertake such work. While MESA is autonomous and independent of any particular university, we all realize that it simply could not function effectively in the absence of the hundreds of universities and colleges in which most MESA members serve as faculty, academic staff, or students. Without our university or college paychecks most of us would hardly be able to pursue research on the Middle East. It is, I think, no mere coincidence that MESA was born in the 1960s and grew rapidly in the subsequent three decades, the period when the American university system itself reached perhaps its apogee in size and sophistication. MESA can be seen in some sense as a reflection of that period of educational flourishing.

The article analyzes the role of the Egyptian military-political elite on the eve of the Revolution of 1952, when the military came to power, led by Gamal Abdel Nasser. The study of the history and activities of the organization «Free Officers» is hardly possible without considering the evolution of the national-patriotic and political movements in the Egyptian army. During the second quarter of the 20 th century the Egyptian society experienced fairly turbulent and eventful political process that influenced the further development of the country. At present the study of role of army in liberation movement in the Middle East is extremely urgent since military structures have become the base of the state system of many Arabic countries. The army has sufficiently influenced to the political development of the states. In connection with the recent transformations in the Middle East, that witnessed crises of political systems and statehood, the consideration of military elites, their coming to power and impact on a political system is important for the study of the general issues of the Middle East.The author considers the factors which influenced the evolutionary transformation of the Egyptian military before and after the World War II, as well as the social origins of the officer corps. Moreover, the object of the study includes the entire period of the national liberation movement of the Egyptian people, when almost all segments of Egyptian society were involved in this struggle. An important aspect of this trend is that, in the run-up to the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, the officers and the military elite became a more prepared and organized than other groups and was able to quickly and almost bloodlessly take power into their own hands.The article notes that it is impossible to solve urgent social problems and overcome economic backwardness without centralized strong leadership. While forming the Egyptian statehood and the Kingdom of Egypt, there were three centers of power – Wafd party led by Saad Zaghloul, the king and his supporters, as well as Great Britain, which retained control over Egypt. Given the absence of one center of power in the country, as well as the weakness and dependence of the existing ones, opposition movements with different views on the development of Egypt were created. The society of «Muslim Brotherhood» was one of them, eventually discrediting itself during its further development. «Free Officers» were able to establish themselves as a secret society, which ideologically did not belong to any political camp. Coherence, hierarchy and army solidarity became effective advantages in their struggle for power.

The article is aimed at analyzing changes in the geographical structure of Ukrainian exports in the context of increasing risks of uncertainty in the development of the global economy. The current global economy is a system where uncertainty has become one of its most important characteristics, requiring each country to find the optimal structure of foreign trade. The geographical structure of Ukraine’s exports is determined by its economic, geographical and transport-geographical position, specialization of the economy, which constitutes the basis of its export potential, established historically formed cooperation relations, position in the established markets of products sales, etc. The need to find the optimal geographical structure of Ukrainian foreign trade is caused by a negative balance of Ukraine’s trade balance; continuation of Russia’s military and trade aggression; lack of positive changes in the commodity structure of Ukrainian exports to the EU countries; increasing risks of uncertainty in the global economy as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic; decrease in revenues from export operations due to changes in the global market conditions. Currently, the markets of Asia and the Middle East are considered to be promising vectors of expansion of the geography of Ukrainian exports. The combination of economic and political aspects of foreign economic policy in expanding or reorienting the geographical structure of exports requires the search not only for the most profitable, but also, at the same time, long-term development prospects. Rising risks of global development uncertainty require an ongoing update of the sales expansion strategy. The condition for potential economic efficiency growth is not a simple increase in the number of trading partners, but a clearly defined direction of changes in the export policy of the State. Precisely these issues will be concern of the further research.

The article presents the analysis of the political, demographic and other aspects of the Palestinian community in Jordan, which has become a major factor in the Jordanian political life since the beginning of Arab-Israeli conflict and Israel’s occupation of the West Bank. The results of the research show that political and social-economic reforms of Jordanian King Abdullah II haven’t improve the status of the Palestinians, especially the status of the Palestinian refugee camps residents in Jordan. In contrast to the indigenous population (Bedouin population and some Caucuses or Circassian communities) they have no political representation, no access to power, no competitive education and business activity is under restrictions. Today the Palestinians and their descendants make up in Jordan at least two thirds of the population and most of them support the Hamas and other radical Islamic groups. Since the aftermath of the Black September Civil War (1970-1971) they continue to be the main factor that can destabilize the internal situation in the Hashemite Kingdom. Current unfavorable economic conditions and the extremely volatile situation on the borders of Jordan with Syria, Iraq and the area of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict are most likely to the growth of Islamist activity, including Islamic extremists calling for the overthrow of the Hashemite monarchy. In this context the possibility of mass anti-monarchy protests can’t be excluded. At the same time King Abdullah and his political proponents are well aware of this challenge and the dependence on the development of the situation in the Middle East, as well as financial and military support of powerful Western States and the Golf oil-producing monarchies. In seeking to preserve the existing status quo Jordanian authorities would deliberately put the country in a state of dependency on the political interests of the U.S. and Saudi Arabia, in return for all kinds of preferences, including military aid if a threat to the security of the Kingdom is expected.

Water resource development has always been considered as a strategic tool by the Turkish ruling elites to reach food and energy security, as well as to enhance domestic peace and stability since the foundation of the Republic of Turkey. Therefore, the concept of “hydraulic mission” fits this strategic understanding, and it has become a prevailing paradigm in Turkey’s water resource development. Many academic works have already been conducted to understand how Turkey has waged an ambitious hydraulic mission by securitizing its water resource development primarily on economic and political bases. However, fewer studies have shown how the Turkish ruling elites have also considered Turkey’s extensive hydraulic development, sanctioned by the hydraulic mission, as a foreign policy tool to enhance its influence at the international level. Drawing primarily upon the concept of opportunitisation and the body of literature that looks at, albeit indirectly, the international aspect of the hydraulic mission, this study fills this gap in the literature by looking at three case studies: The Southeastern Anatolian Project (GAP), the Water Export Initiatives to the Middle East, and the Water Transfer Project to Cyprus, namely the Peace Water Project. Being informed by an in-depth investigation of those three case studies, this study argues that ambitious hydraulic development projects conducted by the Turkish government do not only serve to keep peace and stability at the domestic level, but they are also strategic tools to enhance Turkey’s influence abroad. However, this study also shows the limits of Turkey’s hydraulic mission abroad. While Turkey promotes those water initiatives as tools for improving regional peace and stability, they are challenged by the recipient countries on social, economic, and political bases.

The high quality of life in the modern sense is directly related to energy consumption and associated with the provision of «clean» food products and environment, comfortable housing, public and private transport. Increasing the availability of energy for the developing countries allows their residents to live longer and more comfortably. At the same time, in the developed European countries with high quality of life, energy consumption is decreasing due to the implementation of energy efficiency and energy saving policies. The Human Development Index, the world’s best-known and most widely used integrated assessment of quality of life, does not include energy consumption indicators. The aim of our research is to study the relationship between energy consumption and quality of life, and prove the need to consider energy consumption indicators in order to improve the methodology framework for assessing quality of life. Using the method of cluster analysis, 77 countries of the world are grouped according to a set of indicators that characterize income, energy consumption, use of renewable energy sources, and CO2 emissions. As a result, the relationship between the level of human development, which is a universal characteristic of quality of life, and these indicators was identified and evaluated. It has been proved that the most prosperous countries in terms of quality of life and energy use are those in which relatively low indicators of primary energy consumption and CO2 emission are combined with high incomes and human development level. The progressive structure of energy consumption ensures the achievement of a higher quality of living, while high energy consumption is not a sufficient condition for this. Against the background of low levels of total primary energy consumption and GDP per capita, CO2 emissions, as well as a low share of renewable energy in total energy consumption, high quality of life is present mainly in the «new» EU member states, which provide it through rational energy consumption. The average level of human development is inherent in a group of countries of the former USSR (which includes Ukraine), as well as some countries in Latin America, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. At the same time, countries such as China and South Korea are reducing energy consumption owing to technological progress and have a positive dynamics of human development indicators. Instead, low levels of energy consumption in the former Soviet Union and Latin America are due to insufficient sustainability of economic and social development, human development in particular. The obtained results substantiate the need to improve the methodology for assessing the quality of life taking into consideration energy consumption indicators.

The article covers the place and role of Derbent in the cultural and civilization space of the Medieval Caucasus. Basing on written sources, the author highlights important features and peculiarities of the town situated at the ‘eternal crossing’, its polyethnic nature was the main structure-forming factor and the cultural environment was a kind of symbiosis based on centuries of interaction of traditions of historically developed ethnic, confessional and social groups of townspeople. A certain negative balance in the historical and cultural process of Medieval Derbent was accounted for the slave trade. Traditionally being one of the transit centers of the slave trade in the Eastern Caucasus, in the 11th-13th centuries Derbent acquired the status of the most well-known and active slave trade market. During the process of Islamization, Dagestan people found themselves under direct influence of the Arab-Muslim civilization. Together with the religion, the rich scientific literature and fiction of the peoples of the Middle East came here and had an entirely fruitful influence on the development of spiritual life of the region. Representatives of the Muslim elite of Derbent were recognized authorities in the field of hadith science and Muslim law. Medieval Derbent was not only a religious but also a major center of spiritual culture, a kind of intellectual base and foundation of the local Muslim spiritual elite. The Arabic language and writing were critical for the formation of the local culture and science. In the comparative historical aspect, the development of Medieval Derbent had a strongly-pronounced specific character conditioned, first of all, by the centuries-old history of the town, which created unique conditions for the formation of the ethno-confessional composition of the town’s population, for the development of economic and social life. As polyethnicity was the main structure-forming factor in Derbent, it should be considered as a specific model of stable long-term interethnic interaction. For many centuries, Derbent was a well-known center of large-scale transit trade in the Eastern Caucasus. Realizing the natural needs of peoples for the exchange of goods, trade was a powerful factor of creation because it stimulated the development of crafts, science, art, development of new territories, and construction of towns. Trade was also an important factor of peace as it required political stability. At the same time, trade was a factor of dialogue culture, the culture of civilized communication, respect for customs and faith of partners in trade. An important feature of Derbent was its unique socio-cultural function: it was the center of not only economic, but also considerable cultural attraction.

Cultural diplomacy is a recent diplomatic practice. Although elements of cultural-diplomatic actions have been evident ever since the early beginnings of diplomacy, it is safe to assume that cultural diplomacy saw its full development during the Cold War. Through cultural contents and forms, diplomacy promotes the system of values, ideas, representations and perceptions of a particular country. Cultural diplomacy is in direct and dynamic relation with both the internal and foreign political processes and contexts. When political, diplomatic, economic and military instruments and tools fail to produce the desired results, cultural diplomacy can unobtrusively create a favorable perception, affection and friendliness to its state and its policies. In this context, and from the aspect of international relations, the efforts of the former SFRY to implement cultural-diplomatic actions in its foreign policy are quite interesting. The first more complex international cultural-diplomatic representation of the SFRY occurred in years of unfavorable economic and social performance on the internal political scene and tense political relations with the countries of the Eastern Bloc on the foreign political scene. The profiling of the SFRY as a country different than those of the so-called "communist camp" and the creation of a favorable perception among the Western states and peoples shifted to the terrain of culture, and quite successfully so. Although the then Yugoslav authorities and official political intellectuals treated these activities as international cultural cooperation, from today's point of view, those were actually cultural-diplomatic actions that were strategically well devised and created, and also realized in the best possible way - in the spirit of the best practices of cultural diplomacy. The more fruitful cultural-diplomatic activities of the former SFRY, the better the possibilities for successful international political and economic positioning of the country. And vice versa, the new international positioning of the then Yugoslavia, changed the directions, methods and contents of its cultural diplomacy. The creation of the perception of a leader country in the Non-Aligned Movement was directly related to the cultural-diplomatic actions towards the countries of the so-called Third World. Statistical parameter analysis of the scholarships, students exchange and educational programs with countries from Africa, the Middle East and Asia indicates that the SFRY practiced extremely serious, thorough and modern cultural diplomacy, which for several decades had been effectuating excellent results in the international positioning of the country, simultaneously improving the domestic socio-economic and cultural performances.

The early 1960s marked a period of intellectual and literary ferment in Taiwan. The East-West Controversy, which had its roots in the debate that took place in the middle of the last century regarding the continued validity of the Chinese tradition in the face of western military and economic superiority and in the controversy regarding westernization as the road to modernization in the 1930s, had broken out afresh. Creative writers, musicians and painters were experimenting with new forms and new techniques. As early as 1954 the writers of modern Chinese poetry had started the search for a more contemporary expression of their art form; and modern poetry societies, each with its own philosophy on how modernization should take place, had come into being. Writers of fiction who up till then had been almost exclusively concerned with the Sino-Japanese War; the mainland before the communist takeover in 1949, or the various aspects of the struggle against communism, were moving away from this kind of “propaganda-motivated writing” towards the production of “pure literature.” However, there were few modern Chinese creative writers of stature on whom either the poet or fiction writer could model himself. This was because of the ban imposed by the government in Taiwan on the works of writers prior to 1949 due to the association of many of them with communism or with ideologies unacceptable to the authorities. This meant that they had to seek for inspiration in the works of western writers which could be found in translation or in pirated versions of the original texts in the major cities of Taiwan. The traditionalists viewed this growing trend with alarm as did those writers who were closely associated with the Kuomintang. The latter had formed themselves during the early 1950s into three writers' associations, the China Association of Literature and Art, the Chinese Youth Writers' Association, and the Taiwan Women Writers' Association.

Abstract Consensus exists on the importance of heritage for ensuring sustainable futures, due to its impact on political aspects, ethical reflection and local economic development. Nowadays, using technology has become crucial in the construction industry, including heritage conservation. This paper aims to compare a selected sample of digital platforms, gathering data in support of heritage documentation, both for heritage and archeological sites. Despite the huge potential of digital technologies for contributing to heritage conservation, still there is a need for more clarity on what should be used to achieve different goals and what is the best approach under various circumstances. A team of five experts on digital technologies applied to different types of heritage worked collaboratively to gather the case studies in this paper and to analyse them comparatively. Jordan is a Middle East and North Africa country chosen as unit of analysis, because of the huge potential of digital technologies for heritage documentation. The findings from the comparative case review offers a reflection on what should best adopted for achieving different goals. Differences of approaches were revealed between the characteristics of heritage site and those of archaeological sites in Jordan’s conservation history. The findings called for a prioritization of using digital technology in both heritage and archeological sites. The discussion on digital platforms currently available in Jordan allows for highlighting strengths and limitations of different approaches and methodologies, thus drawing lessons for addressing the strategic choice of the most appropriate digital solution under different circumstances and in different contexts.

The Mediterranean Sea is an important geopolitical region which defines the economic and strategic interests of the world powers, including the USA. The author`s vision of the US Mediterranean policy and its periodization was presented in the article. Research objective: the paper is devoted to the problem of the US Mediterranean policy in the 19th century. The purpose of the presented study is to research origin and development of the US Mediterranean policy taking into account the context of the European and world historical processes. Scientific novelty: the innovative nature of the article lies in the revision of the approach to the US Mediterranean policy`s timeline. The author`s periodization of the US Mediterranean policy was presented in the research. A special attention was focused on the US economic and geopolitical interests` transformations at each stage. Research methods. The history and genetic method was used in the article. It helps to research the origins of the US Mediterranean policy and to separate this policy into self-contained stages. Author`s periodization of the US Mediterranean policy became practical results of the mentioned method. The author demonstrated connections between all stages as holistic process of the American foreign policy`s evolution. An accent is done on research of geopolitical and economic interests of the USA in the field of the system analysis. That allows to consider connection between American foreign policy and European and world historical processes. The influence of the Concert of Europe and the Doctrine of Monroe on the US Mediterranean policy was taken into account also. Conclusions. In contradiction with widespread vision of the US Mediterranean policy in the 19th century as an unseparated historical period, it is possible to defined three stages. The first period (1776–1823) represented the early vision of the American state`s economic interests. The US Mediterranean policy until 1823 was characterized by intensive commercial, political and military activity in the region. The first military conflict in the history of the USA as an independent state was connected with the trade routes and security of navigation in the Mediterranean Sea. The second period (1823–1898) was characterized by principles of the Monroe Doctrine. During the period of isolationism, the USA maintained diplomatic and economic ties with the Mediterranean countries. A main aspect of the US Mediterranean policy at the mention period consisted of the humanitarian and commercial efforts in the Northern Africa and The Middle East. The third period (1898–1914) showed a gradually revision of the Monroe Doctrine. The transformation of the American political course was observed after the Spanish war and in the eve of the First World War. It was concluded that the Mediterranean policy of the USA in 19th century had an evolutional character and corresponded with inclusive European and American policy. Each of the mentioned stages represented an important period of history of the American diplomacy and foreign policy, that is why a research has a prospect for a future survey.

The article summarizes the results of the IMEMO academic affairs in the first half of the 2000s. Like before, the Institute combined fundamental theoretical and applied research. In its work, IMEMO focused on the study of global, regional and national problems of the modern world. An important achievement of the Institute during these years was the prepared long-term forecast of the world economy development until 2015. The annual (2000–2005) analytical reports on the study of armed conflicts, their prevention and control, as well as of global and regional trends in the development of military expenses can be considered another achievement of this kind. These reports were prepared at IMEMO together with the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). IMEMO’s accomplishments include the fundamental work “Transitional Economy: Theoretical Aspects, Russian Problems, International Experience”. In this research, the theoretical problems of the transitional economy were deeply investigated with an emphasis on the achievements of world economic thought, international and accumulated Russian experience of transitional processes was analyzed. The IMEMO scientists were involved in comparative analysis of the influence of new factors (globalization, information civilization, integration processes, international terrorism, etc.) on modern Russia and foreign countries. Along with theoretical research, the Institute regularly prepared analytical materials and expert opinions for the Administration of the President of Russia, the Government, the Federation Council and the State Duma. The IMEMO employees took part in the preparation of materials for the annual messages of the President of Russia to the Federal Assembly, gave their recommendations on military reform and updating the Foreign Policy Concept of the Russian Federation. The Institute was engaged in constant monitoring of the economic and internal situation in various regions and major states of the modern world. The focus of IMEMO analysts was the foreign policy of the United States, the European Union countries, the states of the Middle East, Central Asia and Latin America, as well as the Asia-Pacific region. This ongoing work was carried out in various departments and sectors of the Institute. The author presents the directions and main results of the work of these scientific departments. In general, one of the indicators of the overall performance of IMEMO in 2001–2006 are 256 monographs, collections of scientific papers, conference materials, brochures and reports published by its employees. During these years, the results of current work began to be posted on the IMEMO website.

Research background: International market selection is an essential issue for big companies that supply food products. Different types of decision factors and different characteristics of different international markets have brought up a complicated decision-making problem for food supply companies. In order to select the most suitable and profitable market, food supply companies have to consider several qualitative and quantitative factors, including social, political, economic, and ecological aspects. Purpose of the article: In order to overcome international market selection issues, the current study develops a novel integrated decision-making tool. Methods: A novel decision-making model of market analysis is developed as an extended model of Market Attractiveness and Business Attractiveness (MABA) analysis based on the Multiple Attribute Decision Making (MADM). To improve the MABA analysis model, we combine the EDAS method with MABA analysis to empower decision-makers in food supply companies to evaluate several international markets and select the most profitable market for their products. Findings & value added: In this study, we first identified the most important and frequently used decision factors for market analysis problems within MABA analysis under two categories: market attractiveness and business attractiveness. To show the proposed methodology's applicability and feasibility, we perform a case study for a food supply company in Iran that supplies products to Middle East and Asian countries. In order to investigate the reliability of the obtained results, we perform a sensitivity analysis concerning the importance of involved decision factors. The proposed decision-making tool results suggest that the model can be used as a reliable tool for market analysis problems. To sum up the long-term value of the study, we have developed a novel decision-making tool using MABA analysis and the EDAS method. No study integrates any MCDM methods with MABA analysis to the best of our knowledge. Integration of EDAS method with MABA analysis empowers decision-makers in market selection division to use more systematic methods for evaluating several markets.

Over the past few years, the structure and scale of international tourist flows have undergone several significant changes, which affected the situation on the global tourism market. Economic and political events are the reason for changing the format of the structure and quantitative indicators. The article analyzes the current state and development trends of one of the most promising areas in tourism - halal tourism based on the current experience of serving this category of tourists in the world. The author present analytical data characterizing the steady increase in the flow of tourists, who follow Islam. On the base of the Global Muslim Travel Index-2016 rating (International Index of Muslim Travels) the author identifies the most and least friendly countries for this segment of tourists, and considers the specifics of the service of tourists following Islam in the countries that hold the leading positions of the rating. The information of the Federal Agency for Tourism of the Russian Federation and a number of authoritative expert assessments clearly demonstrate the increase in the flow of tourists from the countries of the Middle East and Asia-Pacific re-gions. Based on this data, the author analyzes the state, problems and develop-ment prospects for this direction of tourism in the Russian Federation. All this confirms the viability of implementing the tourism industry objects certification under the "Halal Friendly" program. The author examines in detail the essence and specific features of introducing the experience of certification under the "Halal Friendly" program based on the examples of individual Russian cities and regions. The author draws special at-tention to the fact that certification of a significant number of tourist facilities is still a debating issue and is actively discussed in various professional communi-ties.

The article is aimed at highlighting the historical and theoretical aspects of the study of the formation of foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran at the present stage is based on a combination of historically formed interests of the State and the ideology of the Islamic revolution – the so-called «Khomeinism». Balancing a pragmatic and a revolutionary approach is enshrined in the country’s political system itself and, thanks to a significant economic, demographic and military base, allows Iran to hold a strong position in the international arena. At the same time, the initial course of confrontation with a number of regional and global actors, coupled with the development of the national nuclear program, creates obstacles for Iran’s full functioning in the international arena. The geopolitical position of the Islamic Republic is as profitable as it is quite complicated. Being at the crossroads of several world regions and approaching the world’s key energy basins provides Tehran with ample opportunities to advance its own influence and cooperation with neighboring countries. At the same time, Iran is surrounded by zones of regional instability and its rivals or competitors. To counter external threats, Tehran has developed a flexible strategy based on a wide range of pro-Iranian non-governmental organizations – the so-called «Axis of Resistance» – and an asymmetrical action instrumentarium, which include the use of both hard and soft power methods. Currently, the degree of confrontation with regional adversaries (Israel and the Gulf countries) and a global opponent (the United States) is gaining a threatening scale. However, Iran is generally characterized by a periodic change in the cycles of aggravation of tension and d?tente in relations with its opponents. At the same time, Tehran’s pragmatism has its manifestation in maintaining relations and dialogue with its opponents in order to achieve certain goals, despite the confrontational discourse of official statements. In addition to the activities strictly along the perimeter of the State (that includes the Middle East, South Caucasus, Central and South Asia), Iran, to the best of its own capabilities and the regime of international sanctions, establishes relations with many countries of the world, from members of the UN Security Council - Russian Federation and People’s Republic of China to the countries of Africa and Latin America. To promote its discourse on the international stage, Tehran uses a wide network of cultural, religious, educational and charitable organizations. This approach allows to win supporters and generate financial flows for the regional activities of the IRI around the world.

The role of the United States in the security system of the global international space is difficult to overestimate. At the same time, the question of the degree to which America’s national security strategies are consistent with the requirements of international security is increasingly being questioned. On the one hand, the shift in emphasis to humanitarian values has made it more logical to use modern force to address issues such as the spread of WMD or genocide. On the other hand, the practice of American action in the Middle East and Central Asia has demonstrated the limits of power policy through the use of high technology in the use of traditional structures and strategies. The aim of the article is to analyze the transformational aspect of US security and defense policy, the impact of which becomes more significant than technological innovation. The study, based on the methods of political analysis, identified the main characteristics of American world leadership, which includes military power, economic competitiveness, moral authority, active participation in international political processes on a global scale and efforts to streamline the international system. Conclusions. Responding to change must begin with an analysis of the social foundations of threats and, above all, the role of the social factor in modern wars. In case of unsuccessful application, technological power not only does not solve the problem, but also strengthens its social roots. Such a scenario creates a very dangerous situation for the United States, where counteraction can be crystallized or cover conflict sectors that are unusual for Americans. It is important to keep in mind that today’s security threats extend to specific citizens and communities more than to the state as a whole. That is why the world community’s acceptance of the American vision of international development in areas such as human rights and development is so important to America. While security is based on military capabilities in today’s world, its new forms and configurations require the embodiment of types of forceful intervention that are not always consistent with classical doctrines and strategic approaches.

Lebanon has a number of features that determine its special position in the region and its importance in the system of relations between the Middle East states. An important role in this is played by the ideological and strategic aspects of world politics in the region in which Lebanon is organically inscribed in both the historical and geopolitical plans. The stability of a country that has passed through a long civil war makes it stand out from a number of states in the region. The author's hypothesis is that the reason for the extraordinary stability — of Lebanese society, the system of state power, political elites, economic ties and foreign policy contacts, despite all the negative regional factors — can be rooted in the consociational principle of making key decisions based, paradoxically, on the notorious political confessionalism. The peculiarities of the Lebanese political model (although they are subject to well-deserved criticism) distinguish it from the multitude of “customary” democracies, bringing together with examples of the unique democratic systems of Europe and other continents. The motley confessional composition of society, along with the historically determined foreign policy guidelines of individual communities, suggested a special informal decision-making mechanism throughout the country — not on the basis of majority power, but on a contractual, compromise principle. Leading theorists of consociationalism often had in mind the Lebanese pattern of democracy in their political studies, and many of their developments are still well applicable for analyzing the functioning of the main state institutions of Lebanon. A theoretical study, along with an analysis of the current regional situation, convince the author of the correctness of the hypothesis put forward. Both in Lebanese history and now, it is the inveterate forms of external influences that forced Lebanese society to balance on the verge of aggravated intercommunal clashes. The combination of external factors served as the beginning and further warmed up the civil war. Heightened relations with Syria by 2005, the Israeli attack in 2006, the gravest threat from jihadi-caliphatists – all these factors have negatively affected intra-civil and inter-group relations. Stereotypical forms of use of religious communities (Shiites, Sunnis, Christians of different denominations, etc.) from the outside and even direct pressure from abroad continue to confront them, imposing ideas on social relations and political participation that are alien to Lebanese. Diversification of political and business contacts of Russia with representatives of different Lebanese communities can serve as a good example of Lebanon’s perception of all the features of its political system as a full subject of international relations.

This article highlights the positive relations between the Jewish and the Kurdish nations, maintained mainly by Kurdistani Jews until their displacement to Israel in the mid-20th century. These positive relations have been transmitted through their oral traditions, documented by both communities and travelers to Kurdistan, and validated by several scholars who studied the Jews of the region, Kurdistan, and Jewish-Kurdish relations. The dearth of historical documentation of both societies has resulted in a ‘negative myth’ used by the enemies of the Kurds and the Jews to dehumanize them before the 20th century, and therefore delegitimizing their right to statehood in modern times. From the 16th century onward, there is more solid evidence about the Kurdistani Jews and their relations with Kurdish neighbors. There are considerable and certain parallels between the two nations in terms of their oral traditions as well as linguistic and literary practices. The historical ties between the Jews and their neighbors in Kurdistan formed a fruitful ground for the relations between the Jewish people of Israel and the Kurds since 1948. Despite the exodus of almost the entire Kurdistani Jewish population to the State of Israel, Kurdistani Jews have largely retained their identity, culture, and traditions and have effectively influenced Israel’s policy towards the Kurds. The often-secret relations between the Kurdish movement in Iraq and Israel since 1960 played an important role in the global security policy of the Jewish nation in the Middle East, and in effect served to keep Baghdad from becoming involved in the Arab-Israeli conflict on one hand, and allowed the Kurdish liberation movement in Southern/Iraqi Kurdistan to survive on the other. These ties were reinforced by the sense of a common fate and struggle for statehood, persecution and genocides, feeling of solidarity, mutual strategic interests, humanitarian and economic dimensions, in post-1988 Halabja Massacre, the operation of the US led coalition against Iraq in 1991, and 2003 Invasion of Iraq. Since the Arab Spring, the military interventions against the self-proclaimed caliphate, Islamic State (IS), and the referendum for an independent Kurdish state in northern Iraq in 2017, this relationship allegedly has extended to include the relationships between Israel and the Kurds in Western/Syrian and Eastern/Iranian Kurdistan as well. Notably, Israel was the only state that publicly supported the creation of an independent Kurdish state. With all the development the Kurdish question has paved in the 21st century, the article concludes that the majority of the Kurds of the 21st century can be described as a ‘pariah people’ in Max Weber’s definition and meditation of the term and Hannah Arendt’s ‘rightless’, who ‘no longer belong to any community’, while describing the different aspects of the political, economic, and cultural calamity of Jews, refugees, and stateless people at the beginning of the 20th century.

The process by which the modem Middle East has taken its presentpolitical shape and continues to develop is the subject of a large and diverserealm of scholarship. Authors have examined this topic from a variety ofacademic and political points of view, but few have been able to classifythe assortment of past works in a coherent way while formulating a validnew approach to this complex area of study. Simon Bromley's most recentbook, Rethinking Middle East Politics, is an ambitious work that is moresuccessful than most earlier endeavors at meeting this dual challenge.Borrowing heavily from Marxism, Bromley pieces together a "historical-materialist" approach that, he posits, illuminates the processes of tateformation and political development in the Middle East while highlightingboth the distinctive aspects of the region's development and its similaritiesto other nondeveloped areas. The book is not flawless; Bromley makesseveral claims that may not be as universaJly accepted as he suggests andsupports the modem Middle East case studies with only a limited numberof references. Despite these relatively mild shortcomings, RethinkingMiddle East Politics as a whole provides a compelling and often provocativedescription of the Janus-faced nature of Middle East state formationand political development.Bromley begins with an introduction to culturalist and materialistarguments about non-European societies and their development. Thereader will be impressed with Bromley's ability to impose a sense of orderon the wide-ranging writings of such thinkers as Karl Marx, BassamTibbi, Max Weber, and Edward Said and to put together a cogent analysisof the implications of these schools of thought for Middle East development ...

This article is about social activism and its relationship to social development in the Middle East. It examines the myriad strategies that the region's urban grass-roots pursue to defend their rights and improve their lives in this neo-liberal age. Prior to the advent of the political–economic restructuring of the 1980s, most Middle Eastern countries were largely dominated by either nationalist-populist regimes (such as Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Libya, Sudan, Turkey) or pro-Western rentier states (Iran, Arab Gulf states). Financed by oil or remittances, these largely authoritarian states pursued state-led development strategies, attaining remarkable (21% average annual) growth rates.1 Income from oil offered the rentier states the possibility of providing social services to many of their citizens, and the ideologically driven populist states dispensed significant benefits in education, health, employment, housing, and the like.2 For these post-colonial regimes, such provision of social welfare was necessary to build popularity among the peasants, workers, and middle strata at a time that these states were struggling against both the colonial powers and old internal ruling classes. The state acted as the moving force of economic and social development on behalf of the populace.

Improving energy efficiency is one of the main ways to reduce energy pollution that leads to economic development, increasing energy access and better life. That can result in reducing fossil fuel use and growing clean energy supplies. The Gulf countries have as many renewable resources as hydrocarbons like sunshine, considerable wind resources, and geothermal. The economy of the Middle east deeplydepends on fossil fuel export. Declining fossil fuel supplies and rising energy prices are driving global energy supplies to renewables energies. Although the Middle East region, due to its special geographical features, has significant potential for the growth of renewable energy sources, they have not been developed yet. It overviews the energy situation and sustainability, economic potential of renewable energy, policies for energy systems over the recent decades in six resource-rich countries in the middle east. In addition, along with renewable energy technologies, possible ways to solve current environmental problems are recognized. The methodology of this work is PESTLE analysis of these countries' energy status to develop a long-term mechanism for sustainable and secure energy for the Middle East based on Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal, Environmental. Also, it identifies challenges that restrict the development of renewable energy technologies in the Middle East. By analyzing the status of energy in recent decades, the importance of implementation of effective energy policies to develop sustainable energy can be realized. Key words: energy source, sustainable future, renewable, effective policy, resource-rich countries.

This study analyses China’s economic diplomacy approach in the Middle East conflicts in order to explore the following question: How does China use diplomatic means to protect and pursue commercial investments, economic assets, and economic tools, and to advance its foreign policy goals in the Middle East conflict zones? This study argues that despite its adherence to the principle of non-intervention, Beijing’s economic diplomacy has a more flexible and pragmatic interpretive approach. Chinese economic diplomacy in the Middle East uses its diplomatic resources to intervene as needed to safeguard its investments and assets, and utilises economic incentives to promote its well-defined foreign policy goals in the region’s hotspots.

The September 11 terrorist attacks ignited global interest in the Middle East. Observers in the region and abroad were quick to highlight the development “deficits” in Middle Eastern countries which have been linked to everything from structural economic imbalances to deficient political systems, the curse of natural resources, and even culture and religion. This paper reviews the development history of the Middle East and North Africa region in the post-World War II era, providing a framework for understanding past outcomes, current challenges and the potential for economic and political reform.

The objective of this study is to examine the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and its challenges from the perspective of development with a goal to break down and make better sense of what seems to be the complexities and 'idiosyncrasies' of this region. The primary issues and concerns for the MENA countries have largely been perceived and dealt with through the vantage point of addressing conflicts in the geopolitical and historical context. In light of this, applying developmental approach that is multidisciplinary to understand and meet the challenges of the MENA region in a fundamental way would have many benefits, opening a new window of opportunities, academically and policy wise. From such stance, this paper focuses on and explains what are considered to be the three fundamental and core 'conditions' or tasks for the countries in the region: state-building and nation-building; participatory development; and capability of state. The importance of looking at the 'big picture' of the reality in the manner of reflection and metacognition is underscored.

Social innovations are activities aiming at implementation of social objectives, including mainly the improvement of life of individuals and social groups, together with public policy and management objectives. The essay indicates and discusses the most important contemporary problems, solving of which requires social innovations. Social innovations precondition the progress of civilisation. The world needs not only new technologies, but also new solutions of social and institutional nature that would be conducive to achieving social goals. Social innovations are experimental social actions of organisational and institutional nature that aim at improving the quality of life of individuals, communities, nations, companies, circles, or social groups. Their experimental nature stems from the fact of introducing unique and one-time solutions on a large scale, the end results of which are often difficult to be fully predicted. For example, it was difficult to believe that opening new labour markets for foreigners in the countries of the European Union, which can be treated as a social innovation aiming at development of the international labour market, will result in the rapid development of the low-cost airlines, the offer of which will be available to a larger group of recipients. In other words, social innovations differ from economic innovations, as they are not about implementation of new types of production or gaining new markets, but about satisfying new needs, which are not provided by the market. Therefore, the most important distinction consists in that social innovations are concerned with improving the well-being of individuals and communities by additional employment, or increased consumption, as well as participation in solving the problems of individuals and social groups [CSTP, 2011]. In general, social innovations are activities aiming at implementation of social objectives, including mainly the improvement of life of individuals and social groups together with the objectives of public policy and management [Kowalczyk, Sobiecki, 2017]. Their implementation requires global, national, and individual actions. This requires joint operations, both at the scale of the entire globe, as well as in particular interest groups. Why are social innovations a key point for the progress of civilisation? This is the effect of the clear domination of economic aspects and discrimination of social aspects of this progress. Until the 19th century, the economy was a part of a social structure. As described by K. Polanyi, it was submerged in social relations [Polanyi, 2010, p. 56]. In traditional societies, the economic system was in fact derived from the organisation of the society itself. The economy, consisting of small and dispersed craft businesses, was a part of the social, family, and neighbourhood structure. In the 20th century the situation reversed – the economy started to be the force shaping social structures, positions of individual groups, areas of wealth and poverty. The economy and the market mechanism have become independent from the world of politics and society. Today, the corporations control our lives. They decide what we eat, what we watch, what we wear, where we work and what we do [Bakan, 2006, p. 13]. The corporations started this spectacular “march to rule the world” in the late 19th century. After about a hundred years, at the end of the 20th century, the state under the pressure of corporations and globalisation, started a gradual, but systematic withdrawal from the economy, market and many other functions traditionally belonging to it. As a result, at the end of the last century, a corporation has become a dominant institution in the world. A characteristic feature of this condition is that it gives a complete priority to the interests of corporations. They make decisions of often adverse consequences for the entire social groups, regions, or local communities. They lead to social tensions, political breakdowns, and most often to repeated market turbulences. Thus, a substantial minority (corporations) obtain inconceivable benefits at the expense of the vast majority, that is broad professional and social groups. The lack of relative balance between the economy and society is a barrier to the progress of civilisation. A growing global concern is the problem of migration. The present crisis, left unresolved, in the long term will return multiplied. Today, there are about 500 million people living in Europe, 1.5 billion in Africa and the Middle East, but in 2100, the population of Europe will be about 400 million and of the Middle East and Africa approximately 4.5 billion. Solving this problem, mainly through social and political innovations, can take place only by a joint operation of highly developed and developing countries. Is it an easy task? It’s very difficult. Unfortunately, today, the world is going in the opposite direction. Instead of pursuing the community, empathic thinking, it aims towards nationalism and chauvinism. An example might be a part of the inaugural address of President Donald Trump, who said that the right of all nations is to put their own interests first. Of course, the United States of America will think about their own interests. As we go in the opposite direction, those who deal with global issues say – nothing will change, unless there is some great crisis, a major disaster that would cause that the great of this world will come to senses. J.E. Stiglitz [2004], contrary to the current thinking and practice, believes that a different and better world is possible. Globalisation contains the potential of countless benefits from which people both in developing and highly developed countries can benefit. But the practice so far proves that still it is not grown up enough to use its potential in a fair manner. What is needed are new solutions, most of all social and political innovations (political, because they involve a violation of the previous arrangement of interests). Failure to search for breakthrough innovations of social and political nature that would meet the modern challenges, can lead the world to a disaster. Social innovation, and not economic, because the contemporary civilisation problems have their roots in this dimension. A global problem, solution of which requires innovations of social and political nature, is the disruption of the balance between work and capital. In 2010, 400 richest people had assets such as the half of the poorer population of the world. In 2016, such part was in the possession of only 8 people. This shows the dramatic collapse of the balance between work and capital. The world cannot develop creating the technological progress while increasing unjustified inequalities, which inevitably lead to an outbreak of civil disturbances. This outbreak can have various organisation forms. In the days of the Internet and social media, it is easier to communicate with people. Therefore, paradoxically, some modern technologies create the conditions facilitating social protests. There is one more important and dangerous effect of implementing technological innovations without simultaneous creation and implementation of social innovations limiting the sky-rocketing increase of economic (followed by social) diversification. Sooner or later, technological progress will become so widespread that, due to the relatively low prices, it will make it possible for the weapons of mass destruction, especially biological and chemical weapons, to reach small terrorist groups. Then, a total, individualized war of global reach can develop. The individualisation of war will follow, as described by the famous German sociologist Ulrich Beck. To avoid this, it is worth looking at the achievements of the Polish scientist Michał Kalecki, who 75 years ago argued that capitalism alone is not able to develop. It is because it aggressively seeks profit growth, but cannot turn profit into some profitable investments. Therefore, when uncertainty grows, capitalism cannot develop itself, and it must be accompanied by external factors, named by Kalecki – external development factors. These factors include state expenses, finances and, in accordance with the nomenclature of Kalecki – epochal innovations. And what are the current possibilities of activation of the external factors? In short – modest. The countries are indebted, and the basis for the development in the last 20 years were loans, which contributed to the growth of debt of economic entities. What, then, should we do? It is necessary to look for cheaper solutions, but such that are effective, that is breakthrough innovations. These undoubtedly include social and political innovations. Contemporary social innovation is not about investing big money and expensive resources in production, e.g. of a very expensive vaccine, which would be available for a small group of recipients. Today’s social innovation should stimulate the use of lower amounts of resources to produce more products available to larger groups of recipients. The progress of civilisation happens only as a result of a sustainable development in economic, social, and now also ecological terms. Economic (business) innovations, which help accelerate the growth rate of production and services, contribute to economic development. Profits of corporations increase and, at the same time, the economic objectives of the corporations are realised. But are the objectives of the society as a whole and its members individually realised equally, in parallel? In the chain of social reproduction there are four repeated phases: production – distribution – exchange – consumption. The key point from the social point of view is the phase of distribution. But what are the rules of distribution, how much and who gets from this “cake” produced in the social process of production? In the today’s increasingly global economy, the most important mechanism of distribution is the market mechanism. However, in the long run, this mechanism leads to growing income and welfare disparities of various social groups. Although, the income and welfare diversity in itself is nothing wrong, as it is the result of the diversification of effectiveness of factors of production, including work, the growing disparities to a large extent cannot be justified. Economic situation of the society members increasingly depends not on the contribution of work, but on the size of the capital invested, and the market position of the economic entity, and on the “governing power of capital” on the market. It should also be noted that this diversification is also related to speculative activities. Disparities between the implemented economic and social innovations can lead to the collapse of the progress of civilisation. Nowadays, economic crises are often justified by, indeed, social and political considerations, such as marginalisation of nation states, imbalance of power (or imbalance of fear), religious conflicts, nationalism, chauvinism, etc. It is also considered that the first global financial crisis of the 21st century originated from the wrong social policy pursued by the US Government, which led to the creation of a gigantic public debt, which consequently led to an economic breakdown. This resulted in the financial crisis, but also in deepening of the social imbalances and widening of the circles of poverty and social exclusion. It can even be stated that it was a crisis in public confidence. Therefore, the causes of crises are the conflicts between the economic dimension of the development and its social dimension. Contemporary world is filled with various innovations of economic or business nature (including technological, product, marketing, and in part – organisational). The existing solutions can be a source of economic progress, which is a component of the progress of civilisation. However, economic innovations do not complete the entire progress of civilisation moreover, the saturation, and often supersaturation with implementations and economic innovations leads to an excessive use of material factors of production. As a consequence, it results in lowering of the efficiency of their use, unnecessary extra burden to the planet, and passing of the negative effects on the society and future generations (of consumers). On the other hand, it leads to forcing the consumption of durable consumer goods, and gathering them “just in case”, and also to the low degree of their use (e.g. more cars in a household than its members results in the additional load on traffic routes, which results in an increase in the inconvenience of movement of people, thus to the reduction of the quality of life). Introduction of yet another economic innovation will not solve this problem. It can be solved only by social innovations that are in a permanent shortage. A social innovation which fosters solving the issue of excessive accumulation of tangible production goods is a developing phenomenon called sharing economy. It is based on the principle: “the use of a service provided by some welfare does not require being its owner”. This principle allows for an economic use of resources located in households, but which have been “latent” so far. In this way, increasing of the scope of services provided (transport, residential and tourist accommodation) does not require any growth of additional tangible resources of factors of production. So, it contributes to the growth of household incomes, and inhibition of loading the planet with material goods processed by man [see Poniatowska-Jaksch, Sobiecki, 2016]. Another example: we live in times, in which, contrary to the law of T. Malthus, the planet is able to feed all people, that is to guarantee their minimum required nutrients. But still, millions of people die of starvation and malnutrition, but also due to obesity. Can this problem be solved with another economic innovation? Certainly not! Economic innovations will certainly help to partially solve the problem of nutrition, at least by the new methods of storing and preservation of foods, to reduce its waste in the phase of storage and transport. However, a key condition to solve this problem is to create and implement an innovation of a social nature (in many cases also political). We will not be able to speak about the progress of civilisation in a situation, where there are people dying of starvation and malnutrition. A growing global social concern, resulting from implementation of an economic (technological) innovation will be robotisation, and more specifically – the effects arising from its dissemination on a large scale. So far, the issue has been postponed due to globalisation of the labour market, which led to cheapening of the work factor by more than ten times in the countries of Asia or South America. But it ends slowly. Labour becomes more and more expensive, which means that the robots become relatively cheap. The mechanism leading to low prices of the labour factor expires. Wages increase, and this changes the relationship of the prices of capital and labour. Capital becomes relatively cheaper and cheaper, and this leads to reducing of the demand for work, at the same time increasing the demand for capital (in the form of robots). The introduction of robots will be an effect of the phenomenon of substitution of the factors of production. A cheaper factor (in this case capital in the form of robots) will be cheaper than the same activities performed by man. According to W. Szymański [2017], such change is a dysfunction of capitalism. A great challenge, because capitalism is based on the market-driven shaping of income. The market-driven shaping of income means that the income is derived from the sale of the factors of production. Most people have income from employment. Robots change this mechanism. It is estimated that scientific progress allows to create such number of robots that will replace billion people in the world. What will happen to those “superseded”, what will replace the income from human labour? Capitalism will face an institutional challenge, and must replace the market-driven shaping of income with another, new one. The introduction of robots means microeconomic battle with the barrier of demand. To sell more, one needs to cut costs. The costs are lowered by the introduction of robots, but the use of robots reduces the demand for human labour. Lowering the demand for human labour results in the reduction of employment, and lower wages. Lower wages result in the reduction of the demand for goods and services. To increase the demand for goods and services, the companies must lower their costs, so they increase the involvement of robots, etc. A mechanism of the vicious circle appears If such a mass substitution of the factors of production is unfavourable from the point of view of stimulating the development of the economy, then something must be done to improve the adverse price relations for labour. How can the conditions of competition between a robot and a man be made equal, at least partially? Robots should be taxed. Bill Gates, among others, is a supporter of such a solution. However, this is only one of the tools that can be used. The solution of the problem requires a change in the mechanism, so a breakthrough innovation of a social and political nature. We can say that technological and product innovations force the creation of social and political innovations (maybe institutional changes). Product innovations solve some problems (e.g. they contribute to the reduction of production costs), but at the same time, give rise to others. Progress of civilisation for centuries and even millennia was primarily an intellectual progress. It was difficult to discuss economic progress at that time. Then we had to deal with the imbalance between the economic and the social element. The insufficiency of the economic factor (otherwise than it is today) was the reason for the tensions and crises. Estimates of growth indicate that the increase in industrial production from ancient times to the first industrial revolution, that is until about 1700, was 0.1-0.2 per year on average. Only the next centuries brought about systematically increasing pace of economic growth. During 1700- 1820, it was 0.5% on an annual average, and between 1820-1913 – 1.5%, and between 1913-2012 – 3.0% [Piketty, 2015, p. 97]. So, the significant pace of the economic growth is found only at the turn of the 19th and 20th century. Additionally, the growth in this period refers predominantly to Europe and North America. The countries on other continents were either stuck in colonialism, structurally similar to the medieval period, or “lived” on the history of their former glory, as, for example, China and Japan, or to a lesser extent some countries of the Middle East and South America. The growth, having then the signs of the modern growth, that is the growth based on technological progress, was attributed mainly to Europe and the United States. The progress of civilisation requires the creation of new social initiatives. Social innovations are indeed an additional capital to keep the social structure in balance. The social capital is seen as a means and purpose and as a primary source of new values for the members of the society. Social innovations also motivate every citizen to actively participate in this process. It is necessary, because traditional ways of solving social problems, even those known for a long time as unemployment, ageing of the society, or exclusion of considerable social and professional groups from the social and economic development, simply fail. “Old” problems are joined by new ones, such as the increase of social inequalities, climate change, or rapidly growing environmental pollution. New phenomena and problems require new solutions, changes to existing procedures, programmes, and often a completely different approach and instruments [Kowalczyk, Sobiecki, 2017].

Since the eastward expansion of NATO dashed Moscow's early hopes of being integrated into the West, Russia has pursued an independent foreign policy focused mainly on Central Asia and the Middle East, including "rogue" states shunned by Washington. Among Russia's advantages are tens of thousands of Arabic-speaking former Soviet experts and a growing regional anti-Americanism. At the same time, Russian Muslims are becoming more assertive. Russia's dependence on the West for economic aid, however, sharply limits its margin of maneuver.

This research provides insights into regional middle powers’ postures and constraints, showing evidence of a gradually structured peace dividend resulting from networking economic development in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Using three case studies, Turkey/Israel, Iran/Pakistan, and Turkey/Iran, this research demonstrates that external regional constraints and internal capacity needs have facilitated strategic economic relations, including joint electricity, gas, and water projects, joint infrastructure and technology initiatives, and joint R&D and military industries. In turn, this strategic networking of economic development projects has restricted these states’ reactions to tension and conflict, prompting them to negotiate and engage in diplomacy to resolve bilateral disagreements so as to not compromise their mutual economic interests. This research contends that the security dilemma faced by middle power states in MENA is a motivator for economic integration even when there is no clearly expressed desire for peace. Economic integration increases their bargaining leverage with the West, while simultaneously resulting in bilateral conflict reduction behaviour patterns. This research further discusses the implications of categorising regional middle power states as regional stability facilitators, since economic integration can satisfy their security concerns, maintain their middle power statuses, and restrain the possibility of war.

Aspects of space and place shape daily life, social structures, politics, and intimate relations among people. In the late 1980s and 1990s, anthropologists, geographers, and sociologists—influenced by the writings of Michel Foucault and Henri Lefebvre on the meaning of social space—started to highlight the spatial in their analysis of social phenomena. These scholars focused on the production of urban space and asserted that space is dynamic and often shaped by the needs of its users as well as by those who design it. With the exception of Setha Low's work on Latin America, these writings were mostly centered on the United States.