Neoliberalism in the Age of Populism

This chapter takes a critical look at the changes in the global economic policies within the new neoliberal paradigm. It highlights the relevant literature, starting with its evolutionary academic understanding, the notion of neoliberalism as an economic development model and a political imposition, and finally, the literature focused on its transformational abilities across sectors and boundaries. Such contribution to knowledge would have implications not just for developing nations but policy makers active within the space. Overall, the chapter provides a disaggregated understanding of the current international structure, particularly in light of the new wave of populist movements.

(Geo)Politics of Universal Periodic Review: Why States Issue and Accept Human Rights Recommendations?

The research identifies geographic proximity as the crucial driving force behind state behavior in the Universal Periodic Review (UPR). Looking at both stages of the UPR mechanism, we pose two questions: what best explains states issuing human rights recommendations and what best explains states accepting those recommendations? Our model controls for a variety of alternative explanations—state capacity, international structure, and international institutions. The results show that the closer the states are, the more likely it is that they will issue each other recommendations; however, the closer the states are, the less likely it is that they will accept recommendations from one another. We also find an important caveat: the logic of issuance and acceptance of recommendations is reversed when it comes to neighboring states. The latter speaks against general international relations literature, where sharing a border and geographic proximity are both associated with increasing the likelihood of conflict.

Cultivating Normative Authority: The Biden Administration, Migration, and the International Legal Order

President Biden faces many hurdles to constructing an effective international legal order on migration, not least of which is the absence of any such structure even prior to the dual challenges of the nationalist fallout of the Trump administration's rhetoric and policies and the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet the excesses of cruelty under Trump and the social instability resulting from the pandemic may have created political space for the Biden administration to lay the groundwork for a more comprehensive international structure that governs migration of all kinds. To that end, President Biden should cultivate normative authority in the migration arena by shifting the national discourse, shoring up international agreements and institutions, and building regional cooperation.

The Semiperipheral States in the Twenty-first Century: Measuring the Structural Position of Regional Powers and Secondary Regional States

The notion of semiperiphery refers to specific, delimited, observable and geographically referenced spaces: the semiperipheries fulfil a complex structural function and are not common in the world system. In this way, what countries have transited through these ascending/descending mobilities and now make up the semiperiphery? This article not only presents an extensive theoretical review of the concept of semiperiphery but also demonstrates the coexistence of two groups of states in the semiperiphery: the first, the high or strong, semiperiphery, is composed of the so-called regional powers; the second, the low or weak, semiperiphery, is made up of a group that has been little studied so far and that can be named as secondary regional states. Due to an increase in their material and immaterial capacities, the regional powers entered into a dynamic of rise in the first decade of the twenty-first century and, with this, they strengthened their position in the international structure; secondary regional states did not stand out due to their emergence, but they significantly increased their semi-material capacities, which places them on the path of development. However, none of the cases have overcome their situation and semiperipheral nature.

Integration conditions and „new” development and management possibilities of regional structures – the importance of smart specialization

Purpose: The main goal of the study is to document and attempt to assess the impact of the latest European Union development strategy, i.e. Europe 2020 Strategy. It is inextricably linked to smart specialization, development and competitive capabilities of regions of EU member states. The partial goals are:  presenting Europe 2020 Strategy in the context of setting goals and management areas for regional policy which is part of multi-level transnational structure management in EU the Europe 2020 Strategy setting goals and management for regional policy and region will be described;  presenting smart specialization as a result of the development of integration conditions and determining new opportunities, challenges, decision-management orders for EU regions. Design/methodology/approach: At work, the authors mainly use source materials of European Commission, as well as foreign language studies which are also based on source material from EU institutions. Sometimes the authors had to use archival materials to take into account the value and sense of the latest integration conditions. Findings: The work mainly shows the links between: Europe 2020 Strategy, regional policy, regions of member states, smart specialization, guidelines for multi-level management in an international structure, and practicalisation of a development strategy. Practical implications: A member country of an integration group (EU) should be viewed in the context of an international structure and multi-level governance (including decision29 making). The consequences of that concern the impact on the member state, on the regions, on other entities in the regions. This is mainly about implementation of knowledge, environmental protection, quality of human capital. Changes (or actually adaptations) also apply to socio32 economic development. Social implications: The analyzes, documentation and authors’ suggestions regarding mutual dependencies and connections carried out here, have an undoubted impact on society. Europe 2020 Strategy has a social dimension in all its assumptions. And they concern intelligent growth, sustainable growth, but also (above all) the growth of social integration.Originality/value: The study has values of originality because it goes beyond the collected materials and their presentation. The collected materials were used to capture relationships and interrelationships. A development strategy and smart specialization were used to present the latest integration conditions. Then, these conditions were presented as guidelines for multi-level governance and, consequently, for the competitiveness of European Union and its regions in the global economy

The Impacts of International Structure on the Foreign Policy of Pakistan

Foreign policy is one of the key tools to maintain the affairs of international relations. Foreign policy of a state is mainly shaped by domestic environment and international system. This study highlights the impacts of international structure on the foreign policy behaviour of Pakistan since 1947. During cold war period, the bi-polar world order mainly shaped the foreign policy of Pakistan. After independence, the economic, political and security challenges pushed Pakistan towards western bloc to protect its interests. Being an ally of west, Pakistan supported USA to contain the spread of communism. With the collapse of Soviet Union, the world order was shifted from bi-polarity to uni-polarity. Consequently, American supremacy shaped the world politics as a sole super power. With the start of 21st century, the incident of 9/11 and in response American invasion of Afghanistan again made Pakistani an ally of USA on their Global War on terror. Pakistan has faced serious consequences as an ally of USA. However, with the emergence of multi-polar world order, now Pakistan has opportunity to balance its relations with global powers like China, Russia and USA on the basis of mutual benefits, equality and equity.