France’s strategy in the Baltic region: military and political aspects
This article examines the current military-political strategy of France in the Baltic region. This area has not traditionally been among the main priorities of French diplomacy. However, under President Emmanuel Macron, France pays closer attention to the Baltic Sea due to the growing tension between Russia and the West. According to France’s key strategic documents, the government assesses the present-day situation mainly in a negative way, considering Russian actions as the main reason for the...
Reputation and status in Denmark’s strategic culture
The primary objective of the article is to evaluate the significance of status and allied reputation within Denmark’s strategic culture. Amongst Danish international relations scholars, there is a well-established notion that one of the key motivations for the use of military force in Danish foreign policy was the aspiration to cultivate special relations with the United States and achieve the status of a privileged ally. This status would confirm guarantees for Denmark’s national security, provide...
Paradoxes of Legal Procedure in Mr. K’s Complaint to the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation on the Defense of Pension Rights of a Serviceman
The author studies some specific legal paradoxes in the implementation of the legislation on status of militaries in the concrete case of the military pensioner K. who served relevant period but did not get the right to obtain pension. The application to The Constitutional Court of Russian Federation and some aspects of the judgment of the Court are analyzed....
The Baltic policy of Germany and current international relations
This article analyses the Baltic policy of united Germany from the 1990s until today. The authors set out to identify the significance of German-Baltic relations and the role of the Eastern policy in Russian-German relations. The method of dynamic comparison between the political and economic narrative in intergovernmental relations makes it possible to identify distinctive features of Germany’s Baltic policy in the context of current international relations. In particular, it is noted that Germany...
The legitimation and criticism of violence in international law. A po¬litical science perspective
This article considers the practice of justification of arbitrary use of force, which poses a paradox and was not foreseen in Kant’s peace project. It is paradoxical because modern international law — unlike classical law — is aimed not at regulating wars but maintaining peace. However, the UN Charter provides for the right to self-defence before the collective resolution is adopted. Despite rather strict legal restrictions and international court procedures, cases of abuse of this right occur...
Priorities for the development of manufacturing industries in the Kaliningrad region
The Kaliningrad region is a socio-economically developed area with a steadily increasing population. Its economy is predominantly influenced by manufacturing industries, whose growth is supported by the region’s strategic geographic position on the Baltic coast and the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) regime. However, the region’s exclave status, which makes it reliant on external factors, hinders its development. Any change in these external factors could necessitate a restructuring of manufacturing...
The geopolitical effect of the maritime factor on the spatial development of post-Soviet Russia: the Baltic case
The article explores the impact of geopolitical processes on the spatial organisation of society, a matter that has gained increasing importance in Russia. It focuses on the utilization of the World Ocean and its coastlines for resource extraction, logistics, military-strategic purposes, and settlement. Methodologically, this study combines modern socio-geographical approaches emphasising the role of the maritime factor in spatial development with classical geopolitical ideologemes drawing a line...
Kant and his time — the essay Toward Perpetual Peace against the background of the French Revolution and ensuing wars
This article considers the events and ideas that served as a background to the creation of the essay Towards Perpetual Peace, as well as the earliest reviews of it. The author pays special attention to the objections voiced by Kant’s student Friedrich Gentz who turned from the advocate of his teacher’s ideas into his opponent. The conclusion offers an attempt to envisage the philosophers’ reactions to the current state of international politics.
1. Bahner W. Der Friedensgedanke in der Literatur...
Family, duty, and honour in the First World War: Problems of the everyday life of the German military elite
This article describes different aspects of the everyday life of the German military elite during World War I. The author stresses the effect of protracted hostilities on professional high-ranking officers in view of their age, special social standards, and family relations. Special attention is paid to a new little-studied area of research.
1. Деметр К. Германский офицерский корпус. М., 2007.
2. Ланник Л. В. Германская военная элита...
Desertion as a Social Phenomenon of Late European Modernity, 1871-1918
The paper analyzes the influence of modernization on social processes of different European states. On the example of desertion of the Central Power’s soldiers to Russia one comes to conclusion that changes in the manning system of European armies during the 19th century were one of the most important components of traditional society’s transformation and a vital source of new social practices.
1. Вербловский Г. О взаимной выдаче преступниковъ и дезертировъ...