DOCSLIB.ORG

Civilisations, States, and World Order Where Are We? Where Are We Heading?

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Civilisations, States, and World Order Where Are We? Where Are We Heading? Civilisations, states, and world order Where are we? Where are we heading? Brand manual Dialogue of Civilzations Research Institute 1.1 GENERAL LOGO Logo and corporate identity The general logo is a combination of symbol (the sphere), typography, DOC, descriptor – indication of the company’s activities (Research institute). Logo should be used in business documentation advertising and packaging materials, as well as in design of interiors and exteriors. General logo is used in full-color printing in advertising materials: booklets, leaflets, outdoor advertising, ets. File name: 1_1.eps 5 Civilisations, states, and world order Where are we? Where are we heading? A DOC Research Institute report for the 17th Rhodes Forum By Richard Higgott With contributions by Amitav Acharya, Jiahong Chen, Anthony Milner, Kira Preobrazhenskaya, N Selin Senocak, Luk Van Langenhove, and Maya Janik Brand manual Dialogue of Civilzations Research Institute 1.1 GENERAL LOGO Logo and corporate identity The general logo is a combination of symbol (the sphere), typography, DOC, descriptor – indication of the company’s activities (Research institute). Logo should be used in business documentation advertising and packaging materials, as well as in design of interiors and exteriors. General logo is used in full-color printing in advertising materials: booklets, leaflets, outdoor advertising, ets. File name: 1_1.eps 5 The DOC Research Institute has produced a remarkably timely report to alert humanity that a new world is emerging. Our previous paradigms may no longer operate in this new world. The revival of ancient civilisations, like the Chinese, Indian, and Islamic civilisations, has introduced a new global dynamic. The contest is no longer primarily economic or political. There is a new dimension of history, philosophy, culture and mythology that will also resurface and drive world history. Those who want to get a glimpse of this new challenging and complex world should read this report carefully. Kishore Mahbubani, Distinguished Fellow at the Asia Research Institute at the National University of Singapore and the author of Has the West Lost it? The world is witnessing ever intensifying strategic competition between the United States and China and this has multifaceted implications for the international order. Many are so pessimistic as to predict a new Cold War between the two giants. This report, sponsored by the DOC Research Institute, provides fresh, in-depth, and thought-provoking views on Sino-US relations, among other critical issues affecting the trajectory of the evolving world order. It also highlights the roles played by civilisational states in managing great power competition and restoring a new equilibrium in world affairs. A very fascinating read. Minghao Zhao, Senior Fellow at the Institute of International Studies, Peking University. For twenty years, I’ve been struck by a certain void in the statements of European leaders. Listening to them, one would think people are primarily economic beings to be considered in terms of consumption, jobs, trade, and investment. This is useful, but people are cultural beings before they are economic actors. For humanity, the soul of a home is always more important than the keeping of a house. The great value of this report is that it fully accounts for this psychological and sociological reality in its analysis of international relations. I highly recommend it. Renaud Girard, international columnist at Le Figaro; Professor of strategy at Sciences Po, Paris. This report correctly and convincingly points out that fundamental adjustments towards a new form of multilateralism are required in order to sustain a workable global order. The report provides a much needed holistic picture. This is necessary in order to understand that apparently regional or bilateral matters are actually global, and that things which seem to be economic are more profoundly cultural. The report offers practical advice that should be taken seriously by concerned citizens of the world, especially policymakers. Peimin Ni, Professor, Department of Philosophy, Grand Valley State University, US. These vibrant and timely ideas contribute to a very open, informed, and delicate conversation, and thus demonstrate the essence of genuine dialogue. The civilisational focus of the report’s methodology allows us to understand the major forces behind emerging political, social, and cultural thinking in China, India, Russia, Turkey and elsewhere. In this way, the report equips us for a truly humane approach to overcoming the challenges of contemporary global antagonism. This kind of innovative work, previously conducted by the World Public Forum, is now realised in the activities of Dialogue of Civilizations Research Institute. Vladimir Yakunin, Chairman and Co-founder of the Dialogue of Civilizations Research Institute. Brand manual Dialogue of Civilzations Research Institute 1.1 GENERAL LOGO Logo and corporate identity The general logo is a combination of symbol (the sphere), typography, DOC, descriptor – indication of the company’s activities (Research institute). Logo should be used in business documentation advertising and packaging materials, as well as in design of interiors and The Dialogue of Civilizations Research Institute (DOC) is an independent platform for dialogue that brings exteriors. together diverse perspectives from the developed and developing worlds in a non-confrontational and constructive spirit. General logo is used in full-color printing in advertising materials: booklets, leaflets, outdoor The DOC’s goals are to forge shared worldviews through dialogue and to contribute to a fair, sustainable, and advertising, ets. peaceful world. In view of these goals, the DOC believes that globalisation should have humanity, culture, and civilisation at its heart. The DOC addresses three key themes: • Cultures and civilisations: Promoting understanding and cooperation among peoples, cultures, File name: 1_1.eps and civilisations, and encouraging harmony beyond differences.5 • Economics: Examining inclusive, innovative, and just development models that work for all. • Governance and geopolitics: Developing policy proposals for international actors and exploring new diplomatic avenues. Copyright © 2019 by Dialogue of Civilizations Research Institute ISBN 978-3-00-063475-8 The right of Richard Higgott, Amitav Acharya, Jiahong Chen, Anthony Milner, Kira Preobrazhenskaya, N Selin Senocak, Luk Van Langenhove, and Maya Janik to be identified as the authors of this publication is hereby asserted. The views and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the original author(s) and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views and opinions of the Dialogue of Civilizations Research Institute, its co-founders, or its staff members. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, please write to the publisher: Dialogue of Civilizations Research Institute gGmbH Französische Straße 23 10117 Berlin Germany +49 30 209677900 [email protected] Acknowledgements Teresita Cruz del-Rosario offered some initial and very useful insights in the early stages of developing this report. Indeed, a few of her sentences remain. Catarina Carta, Luk Van Langenhove, Vladimir Yakunin, Berthold Kuhn, and Toby Miller all offered insightful comments on early drafts. My listed co-contributors produced their sections, which immeasurably strengthen the report, with alacrity in the face of tight deadlines. Jean-Christophe Bas has been supportive of the product throughout. Jonathan Grayson and Maya Janik provided fine editorial support. I thank them all but do, of course, absolve them of any responsibility for its substance and argument. I also thank Kishore Mahbubani for his kind words. Richard Higgott, Brussels, August 2019. Table of contents Foreword 8 Executive summary 10 Introduction 13 Making sense of liberal international 21 Part 1 order: Concepts and context 1.1. Conceptual deck-clearing: 21 Culture, values, and civilisation 1.2. Liberal order and beyond: 26 The argument in brief 1.3. A little bit of economic theory: 31 Towards a new mercantilism International order, the US-China 36 Part 2 relationship, and Europe in context 2.1. The big picture: Ideology or interest 37 in the new ‘Great Game’? 2.2. Beyond protectionism: 44 The new economic warfare 2.3. The EU: Life after the ‘existential’ crisis? 50 2.4. From rules-based order to ‘fight club’? 54 Considering civilisation states 57 Part 3 and regions: Actors beyond a Western liberal order 3.1. Impressions from civilisation states 57 3.2. China – Jiahong Chen 59 3.3. Russia – Kira Preobrazhenskaya 65 3.4. Turkey – N Selin Senocak 71 3.5. India – Amitav Acharya 76 3.6. Southeast Asia – Anthony Milner 82 3.7. Towards Eurasia? 88 Civilisational dialogue as a vehicle 94 Part 4 for reforming world order: Can the liberalism-nationalism standoff be negotiated? 4.1. Core questions for our age: Securing 94 openness and cooperation 4.2. Creating a dialogue of civilisations: 101 Questions of practice 4.3. Creating a dialogue of civilisations: 106 Questions of method – Luk Van Langenhove 4.4. Shifting focus from conflict to balance 110 Ten propositions
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Language, Culture, and National Identity
    Language, Culture, and National Identity BY ERIC HOBSBAWM LANGUAGE, culture, and national identity is the ·title of my pa­ per, but its central subject is the situation of languages in cul­ tures, written or spoken languages still being the main medium of these. More specifically, my subject is "multiculturalism" in­ sofar as this depends on language. "Nations" come into it, since in the states in which we all live political decisions about how and where languages are used for public purposes (for example, in schools) are crucial. And these states are today commonly iden­ tified with "nations" as in the term United Nations. This is a dan­ gerous confusion. So let me begin with a few words about it. Since there are hardly any colonies left, practically all of us today live in independent and sovereign states. With the rarest exceptions, even exiles and refugees live in states, though not their own. It is fairly easy to get agreement about what constitutes such a state, at any rate the modern model of it, which has become the template for all new independent political entities since the late eighteenth century. It is a territory, preferably coherent and demarcated by frontier lines from its neighbors, within which all citizens without exception come under the exclusive rule of the territorial government and the rules under which it operates. Against this there is no appeal, except by authoritarian of that government; for even the superiority of European Community law over national law was established only by the decision of the constituent SOCIAL RESEARCH, Vol.
    [Show full text]
  • Spring 2019 Volume 45 Issue 2
    Spring 2019 Volume 45 Issue 2 155 Ian Dagg Natural Religion in Montesquieu’s Persian Letters and The Spirit of the Laws 179 David N. Levy Aristotle’s “Reply” to Machiavelli on Morality 199 Ashleen Menchaca-Bagnulo “Deceived by the Glory of Caesar”: Humility and Machiavelli’s Founder Reviews Essays: 223 Marco Andreacchio Mastery of Nature, edited by Svetozar Y. Minkov and Bernhardt L. Trout 249 Alex Priou The Eccentric Core, edited by Ronna Burger and Patrick Goodin 269 David Lewis Schaefer The Banality of Heidegger by Jean-Luc Nancy Book Reviews: 291 Victor Bruno The Techne of Giving by Timothy C. Campbell 297 Jonathan Culp Orwell Your Orwell by David Ramsay Steele 303 Fred Erdman Becoming Socrates by Alex Priou 307 David Fott Roman Political Thought by Jed W. Atkins 313 Steven H. Frankel The Idol of Our Age by Daniel J. Mahoney 323 Michael Harding Leo Strauss on Nietzsche’s Thrasymachean-Dionysian Socrates by Angel Jaramillo Torres 335 Marjorie Jeffrey Aristocratic Souls in Democratic Times, edited by Richard Avramenko and Ethan Alexander-Davey 341 Peter Minowitz The Bleak Political Implications of Socratic Religion by Shadia B. Drury 347 Charles T. Rubin Mary Shelley and the Rights of the Child by Eileen Hunt Botting 353 Thomas Schneider From Oligarchy to Republicanism by Forrest A. Nabors 357 Stephen Sims The Legitimacy of the Human by Rémi Brague ©2019 Interpretation, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of the contents may be reproduced in any form without written permission of the publisher. ISSN 0020-9635 Editor-in-Chief Timothy W. Burns, Baylor University General Editors Charles E.
    [Show full text]
  • Equity Office Task Force Final Proposal
    2020 Office of Equity Task Force Final Proposal OFFICE OF EQUITY TASK FORCE FINAL PROPOSAL To request this document in another format, call 360-236-4110. Deaf or hard of hearing customers, please call 711 (Washington Relay) or email [email protected]. Para solicitar este documento en otro formato, llame al 360-236-4110. Clientes sordos o con problemas de audición, favor de llamar al 711 (servicios de relé de Washington) o envíe un correo electrónico a [email protected]. Task Force Staff: LinhPhung Huynh, Project Manager Esmael López, Community Engagement Coordinator Hannah Fernald, Administrative Coordinator For more information / Para más información: Christy Curwick Hoff Manager, Governor’s Interagency Council on Health Disparities 360-688-4699 [email protected] Website: www.healthequity.wa.gov & healthequity.wa.gov/TheCouncilsWork/OfficeofEquityTaskForceInformation Statement of Acknowledgement We are indebted to those who came before us, and we recognize that efforts in diversity, equity, and inclusion did not begin with this Task Force nor will they begin with the Office of Equity. We recognize and honor the tremendous efforts our communities, agency staff and leaders, and legislators have contributed to advancing DEI throughout our state and within our government. This includes the work over many years to identify and implement best practices, to demand transparency and accountability, and to establish the Washington State Office of Equity in statute. We urge our state leaders to remain committed to advancing these efforts and ensure this commitment is manifested through meaningful change and tangible benefit for communities across the state. We are deeply grateful to all those who traveled beside us on this yearlong journey.
    [Show full text]
  • Political Trends in Russia
    russian analytical russian analytical digest 60/09 digest analysis Fascist Tendencies in Russia’s Political Establishment: The Rise of the International Eurasian Movement By Andreas Umland, Eichstaett, Bavaria Abstract Aleksandr Dugin, a prominent advocate of fascist and anti-Western views, has risen from a fringe ideologue to deeply penetrate into Russian governmental offices, mass media, civil society and academia in ways that many in the West do not realize or understand. Prominent members of Russian society are affiliated with his International Eurasian Movement. Among Dugin’s most important collaborators are electronic and print media commentator Mikhail Leont’ev and the legendary TV producer and PR specialist Ivan Demidov. If Dugin’s views become more widely accepted, a new Cold War will be the least that the West should expect from Russia during the coming years. The Rise of Aleksandr Dugin course that must be taken seriously. Dugin’s numerous In recent years, various forms of nationalism have be- links to the political and academic establishments of a come a part of everyday Russian political and social life. number of post-Soviet countries, as well as institutions Since the end of the 1990s, an increasingly aggressive in Turkey, remain understudied or misrepresented. In racist sub-culture has been infecting sections of Russia’s other cases, Dugin and his followers receive more se- youth, and become the topic of numerous analyses by rious attention, yet are still portrayed as anachronis- Russian and non-Russian observers. Several new radi- tic, backward-looking imperialists – merely a partic- cal right-wing organizations, like the Movement Against ularly radical form of contemporary Russian anti-glo- Illegal Emigration, known by its Russian acronym balism.
    [Show full text]
  • Ivan Vladislavovich Zholtovskii and His Influence on the Soviet Avant-Gavde
    87T" ACSA ANNUAL MEETING 125 Ivan Vladislavovich Zholtovskii and His Influence on the Soviet Avant-Gavde ELIZABETH C. ENGLISH University of Pennsylvania THE CONTEXT OF THE DEBATES BETWEEN Gogol and Nikolai Nadezhdin looked for ways for architecture to THE WESTERNIZERS AND THE SLAVOPHILES achieve unity out of diverse elements, such that it expressed the character of the nation and the spirit of its people (nnrodnost'). In the teaching of Modernism in architecture schools in the West, the Theories of art became inseparably linked to the hotly-debated historical canon has tended to ignore the influence ofprerevolutionary socio-political issues of nationalism, ethnicity and class in Russia. Russian culture on Soviet avant-garde architecture in favor of a "The history of any nation's architecture is tied in the closest manner heroic-reductionist perspective which attributes Russian theories to to the history of their own philosophy," wrote Mikhail Bykovskii, the reworking of western European precedents. In their written and Nikolai Dmitriev propounded Russia's equivalent of Laugier's manifestos, didn't the avantgarde artists and architects acknowledge primitive hut theory based on the izba, the Russian peasant's log hut. the influence of Italian Futurism and French Cubism? Imbued with Such writers as Apollinari Krasovskii, Pave1 Salmanovich and "revolutionary" fervor, hadn't they publicly rejected both the bour- Nikolai Sultanov called for "the transformation. of the useful into geois values of their predecessors and their own bourgeois pasts? the beautiful" in ways which could serve as a vehicle for social Until recently, such writings have beenacceptedlargelyat face value progress as well as satisfy a society's "spiritual requirements".' by Western architectural historians and theorists.
    [Show full text]
  • The Nation-State and Global Order: a Historical Introduction to Contemporary Politics SECOND EDITION
    EXCERPTED FROM The Nation-State and Global Order: A Historical Introduction to Contemporary Politics SECOND EDITION Walter C. Opello, Jr. and Stephen J. Rosow Copyright © 2004 ISBNs: 1-58826-289-8 pb 1800 30th Street, Ste. 314 Boulder, CO 80301 USA telephone 303.444.6684 fax 303.444.0824 This excerpt was downloaded from the Lynne Rienner Publishers website www.rienner.com i Introduction: A Historical Approach to the State and Global Order During the 1970s, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher blamed Britain’s eco- nomic malaise and decline as a world power on the welfare-state programs put in place by the Labour Party after World War II. She and her Tory Party began to dismantle the welfare state by selling off nationalized industries, reducing social programs, and implementing monetarist economic policies. In the 1980s, Ronald Reagan, president of the United States, was elected on a similar neoliberal agenda. To the Thatcherite critique of the welfare state, Reagan and his Republican Party added to their list of causes of the United States’ economic malaise the hedonism of the 1960s, the rise of the new left, the anti–Vietnam War movement, the radicalization of the civil rights movement, and, later, the rise of feminism. In 1989, the Soviet Union withdrew from Eastern Europe and, in 1991, collapsed, thus ending the bipolar system that had divided the world into two spheres of influence, one American and one Soviet, since the end of World War II. As Russian power faded and the United States emerged dur- ing the 1990s as the world’s only superpower, the neoliberal agenda articu- lated by Thatcher and Reagan began to spread to the major states in Europe, including Russia and the states of Eastern Europe, and beyond to states in Asia, Latin America, and even Africa.
    [Show full text]
  • From Periphery to Centre.The Image of Europe at the Eastern Border of Europe
    Munich Personal RePEc Archive From Periphery to Centre.The Image of Europe at the Eastern Border of Europe Şipoş, Sorin and Moisa, Gabriel and Cepraga, Dan Octavian and Brie, Mircea and Mateoc, Teodor University of Oradea, Romania, University of Padova, Italy 2014 Online at https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/59276/ MPRA Paper No. 59276, posted 15 Oct 2014 12:04 UTC Edited by: Sorin Şipoş, Gabriel Moisa, Dan Octavian Cepraga, Mircea Brie, Teodor Mateoc From Periphery to Centre. The Image of Europe at the Eastern Border of Europe Editorial committee: Delia-Maria Radu Roxana Ivaşca Alexandra Bere Ionuţ Ciorba CONTENTS Sorin ŞIPOŞ, Dan Octavian CEPRAGA, From Periphery to Centre. The Image of Europe at the Eastern Border of Europe ………..………..… 5 I. PERIPHERY VIEWED FROM THE CENTRE …………………..… 13 Lorenzo RENZI, «Terra Romena» ……………………………………..… 15 Ion Alexandru MIZGAN, The Crusades – Cause of Tension between Eastern and Western Europe ………………………………………...…..…21 Florin DOBREI, Transylvanian “Schismatics”, “Heretics” and “Infidels” in the Vision of 13th-16th Century Catholic Europe ……………………..… 47 Ioan-Aurel POP, 16th Century Venetian Bailiffs‟ Reports on Realities in the Ottoman Empire …………………………………………………..… 61 Ion EREMIA, A False Theory Still Persists at the Eastern Border of Latinity .. 76 Delia-Maria RADU, From Centre to the Periphery and the Other Way Round ………………………………………………………..……..… 88 Teodor MATEOC, Identity and Race. The Problem of Otherness in Contemporary Cultural Studies …………………………………...……..…96 II. SELF-IMAGES AT EUROPE’S EASTERN BORDERS
    [Show full text]
  • The Moral Mappings of South and North ANNUAL of EUROPEAN and GLOBAL STUDIES ANNUAL of EUROPEAN and GLOBAL STUDIES
    The Moral Mappings of South and North ANNUAL OF EUROPEAN AND GLOBAL STUDIES ANNUAL OF EUROPEAN AND GLOBAL STUDIES Editors: Ireneusz Paweł Karolewski, Johann P. Arnason and Peter Wagner An annual collection of the best research on European and global themes, the Annual of European and Global Studies publishes issues with a specific focus, each addressing critical developments and controversies in the field. xxxxxx Peter Wagner xxxxxx The Moral Mappings of South and North Edited by Peter Wagner Edited by Peter Wagner Edited by Peter Cover image: xxxxx Cover design: www.paulsmithdesign.com ISBN: 978-1-4744-2324-3 edinburghuniversitypress.com 1 The Moral Mappings of South and North Annual of European and Global Studies An annual collection of the best research on European and global themes, the Annual of European and Global Studies publishes issues with a specific focus, each addressing critical developments and controversies in the field. Published volumes: Religion and Politics: European and Global Perspectives Edited by Johann P. Arnason and Ireneusz Paweł Karolewski African, American and European Trajectories of Modernity: Past Oppression, Future Justice? Edited by Peter Wagner Social Transformations and Revolutions: Reflections and Analyses Edited by Johann P. Arnason & Marek Hrubec www.edinburghuniversitypress.com/series/aegs Annual of European and Global Studies The Moral Mappings of South and North Edited by Peter Wagner Edinburgh University Press is one of the leading university presses in the UK. We publish academic books and journals in our selected subject areas across the humanities and social sciences, combining cutting-edge scholarship with high editorial and production values to produce academic works of lasting importance.
    [Show full text]
  • Nation-Building and Ethnicity1
    Nation-Building and Ethnicity1 There are many terms for defining human groups: they emerged in various societies with different histories and cultural traditions at different times. The meanings of these terms became more confused when they were translated into different languages. In English, there are terms to describe human groups such as “race,” “tribe,” “clan,” “nation,” “people,” “country,” “state,” etc2. Compared with these terms, “ethnic group” and “ethnicity” only appeared recently in the 20th century (Glazer and Moynihan, 1975: 1). These terms emerged in west Europe, the countries initiating the industrial revolution, then were introduced into other parts of the world accompanied by the western merchants, priests, and armies. These Europeans introduced their political and social systems as well as their ideology and values to other people by cultural influence or military force. “Nation-state” was the form of political entity first appearing in Western Europe, then adopted by colonies when they sought independence. “Nation” became an important term in international politics. “Nation-building” became a widespread political process among Asian, African and American countries, together with the powerful “nationalist” movement. At the beginning of the 21st century, there were about 200 independent countries around the world that were recognized by the international society (the United Nations). An important phenomenon is that political boundaries have not always been drawn according to human group inhabitance but often, oppositely, have been affected by wars, treaties, and international powers. Therefore, there are many different human groups living in the same countries; populations originally from the same group now living on both sides of a boundary.
    [Show full text]
  • Definitions of Nation, Ethnic Group, Race, Etc.: How Can We Classify Human Beings?
    Definitions of nation, ethnic group, race, etc.: How can we classify human beings? Multi-Ethnic Society （Apr. 24, 2014） 1 Some Examples ＠Minority groups in Japan (such as Ainu, Okinawan, Korean, etc.） are categorized as ethnic groups, nations, or anything else? How about the majority? ＊We use “Japanese-American”, “Japanese- Brazilian” but how about “American-Japanese”, “Brazilian-Japanese”? ＠Native Americans: are they called “tribes” while other minorities are not? →How are other races/ethnic groups categorized? 2 Considering Various Concepts by Comparison 国民／民族（種族）／部族／…＝nation／ ethnic group／tribe…？ • nation・race→ in Japanese? (Shiokawa 2008:9) • Minzoku（民族）→ in English, French, Spanish, Chinese, Thai, etc. • Translation problem, yes, but… 3 Example of Comparison • Race vs. Ethnicity (Brubaker 2009: 25-6) Race Ethnicity • Involuntary • Voluntary • External categorization • Internal self-identification • Differences of phenotype • Differences of culture or nature • Rigid • Flexible • Involve super- and • Coordinate groups subordinate • Process of exclusion • Process of inclusion • European colonial • History of nation-state encounter with non- formation European 4 Criteria of Classification? • Population size • Language, culture, lineage, etc. • Degree of “evolution / development” • Physical traits/ appearance (visibility) = race? 5 Space, Time, Context of Terms • Developed and developing countries： ethnic group and tribe • Pre-modern and modern times：ethnic and ethnic group • Political, academic and/or everyday words • Proper and/or common
    [Show full text]
  • Russia's Emergence As an International Conservative Power
    Russia’s Emergence as an International Conservative Power Russian Conservatism: An Ideology or a Natural Attitude? Paul F. Robinson Paul F. Robinson Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, University of Ottawa, Canada. Professor Scopus AuthorID: 57205126860 E-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 (613) 562 5800 ext 4174 Address: 120 University, Ottawa, Ontario, K1N 6N5, Canada DOI: 10.31278/1810-6374-2020-18-1-10-37 Abstract Since Vladimir Putin’s return to the presidency in 2012 it has become common to talk of a “conservative turn” in Russian politics. Various commentators argue that this ideological shift applies to external as well as internal politics, with Russia becoming an international conservative power. This article seeks to determine what being an “international conservative power” actually means for Russia, by means of an examination of four different variations of Russian conservatism—Orthodox/Slavophile conservatism, civilizational conservatism, isolationist conservatism, and state/official conservatism. It argues that these are not all fully compatible with each other. If Russia truly is emerging as a conservative international power, this could lead both Russia and the world in one of several different directions, depending on which version of conservatism comes to dominate. Overall, though, it seems likely that the result will be a pragmatic, moderate 10 RUSSIA IN GLOBAL AFFAIRS Russia’s Emergence as an International Conservative Power variety of conservatism rather than the more radical versions associated with conservative ideologists. Keywords: Russia, conservatism, international power, Orthodoxy, Slavophilism, civilizations, isolationism ince Vladimir Putin’s return to the presidency of the Russian federation in 2012, it has become common to talk of a “conservative turn” in Russian politics (engström, 2014, p.
    [Show full text]
  • These Sources Are Verifiable and Come From
    0 General aim: To give institutions a report as unbiased, independent and reliable as possible, in order to raise the quality of the debate and thus the relative political decisions. Specific aims: To circulate this report to mass media and in public fora of various nature (i.e. human rights summits) as well as at the institutional level, with the purpose of enriching the reader’s knowledge and understanding of this region, given its huge implications in the world peace process. As is well known, for some years now highly politicised anti-Chinese propaganda campaigns have targeted the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, often spreading groundless, non-verifiable or outright false information, triggering on these bases a sanctions war and causing serious damage to international relations. There is a dramatic lack of unbiased and alternative documentation on the topic, especially by researchers who have lived and studied in China and Xinjiang. This report aims to fill this gap, by deepening and contextualising the region and its real political, economic and social dynamics, and offering an authoritative and documented point of view vis-à- vis the reports that Western politicians currently have at their disposal. The ultimate goal of this documentation is to promote an informed public debate on the topic and offer policymakers and civil society a different point of view from the biased and specious accusations coming from the Five Eyes countries, the EU and some NGOs and think-tanks. Recently some Swedish researchers have done a great job of deconstructing the main Western allegations about the situation in the autonomous region of Xinjiang.
    [Show full text]