The article examines the formation of China’s financial power. Possessing such a type of power, allowing to influence the behavior of other states through a system of financial interrelations with them, is an important factor of China’s transformation into a superpower. The basic prerequisites for the formation of China’s financial power have already developed: the country has the largest economy in the world and the third largest financial market after the US and the eurozone, wide foreign relations and considerable military power. The huge economic wealth allows China to increase foreign investment, as well as to initiate the establishment of new multinational development banks. Due to this, China is gradually building channels and mechanisms of its influence in the global financial system, although so far it has not taken a leading position. China’s emergence as a new pole of power in global finance requires more intense internationalization of the yuan, the transnationalization of Chinese bank business, and the transformation of China into a global financial center able to offer international investors ample opportunities to invest and raise capital, comparable to those provided by the United States. In turn, the achievement of these goals is almost impossible without a large-scale liberalization of international monetary and financial relations of China, including free convertibility of the yuan. Chinese authorities declare their readiness for such reforms, confirming it by the abolition of a number of restrictions. However, the growing openness of the Chinese financial system can increase its vulnerability to adverse external influences, in particular, from the United States, not interested in the rise of China. Given this, the Chinese authorities are likely to liberalize the financial system carefully, slowing it down as soon as threats to internal stability appear. In this regard, the article justifies the assumption that strengthening China’s financial power will be a long, uneven and contradictory process, which may be accompanied by crises triggered by the intensification of the struggle with the United States for dominance in the financial sphere and for global leadership in general.

The article addresses the issue of economic sanctions’ efficiency as an instrument of coercion in international relations. It goes beyond traditional approach where efficiency means an ability of an initiator-state to change a behavior of a target-state. Instead of a traditional “state vs. state” framework, the article makes a stress on the ability of an initiator-state to affect behavior of business at home and abroad i.e. it makes a focus on “state vs. business” framework. The U.S. governmental enforcement actions provide an empirical material for research. There are two major research questions. (1) Why does business violate the U.S. sanctions’ regimes? Is it a rational strategy to maximize profit or a result of reckless behavior or inaccuracy? (2) Does business change its behavior when affected by enforcement measures of the U.S. government? Are the U.S. secondary sanctions against business effective in terms of making business more loyal to the U.S. legislation? Research hypotheses imply that business misbehavior is rational and that the governmental measures make business change it in favor of compliance to the U.S. sanctions’ legislation. To test these hypotheses the author constructs quantitative database on 205 cases of the U.S. enforcement actions against business in 2009-2019. Investigation materials of the U.S. regulators provide empirical source for this database, composed of 73 variables. Descriptive statistics falsifies hypothesis on rational nature of violations by business – its misbehavior is rather reckless than willful. However, data supports an assumption about a significant impact of enforcement actions on business in terms of much better compliance to the U.S. sanctions’ legislation. These results show that while sanctions may be poorly effective in “state vs. state” framework, they are more effective when it comes to “state vs. business”.

The article considers the centenary of the ILO and analyzes the main transformations of the organization in the context of deepening globalization in recent decades; there have been significant changes in the ILO’s norms and standards. The article reveals the main problem of the ILO, which remains the task of increasing the number of ratifications of conventions for global proliferation of ILO’s standards in most member-states, and the ILO’s efforts to address the problem are also analyzed. It is shown that it is not yet possible to solve the problem of the low level of ratifications of many conventions which set standards in the most important areas of social and labor development. It is substantiated that an insufficient level of ratification can lead to a loss of control over the political consequences of the measures taken by the ILO. The problems of the fragmentation of international law and the consequences of fragmentation in the proliferation of norms and programs related to the rights of employees, labor standards and labor market regulation patterns are analyzed. The fragmentation fostered by both state and non-state international and transnational subjects is deteriorated by contradictory interpretation of common law. The article reveals the main problems of applying the latest ILO recommendation (2015) on the transition from the informal to the formal economy, that, as the author posits, should not be forced, because in the modern world the informal economy encourages the reduction of poverty by allowing to work those who cannot be employed in the formal economy. The reason lies in the tax system, which in many countries imposes an excessive burden on entrepreneurs. The article notes that the implementation of the green initiative and The Green Jobs Programme contributes to the expansion of the formal employment sector in developing countries. The ILO recommendation No. 204 is evaluated in the article as excessive in terms of the scope of activities in modern society. The main conclusion of the article connects the slowdown of ILO's norms-making activities in recent decades with the instability of the system and the lack of noticeable progress in the process of ratifying conventions.

The global information space is conceptualized as a new battlefield, both in the research literature and in the strategic planning documents of states. In such analytical environment, there is a growing tendency to analyze international processes in the global information space from the standpoint of the theory of political realism, based on the ideas emerged in the “nuclear era”. One of the most developed theoretical concepts of realism is deterrence theory, which is aimed to overcome the limitations of the security dilemma. American political scientist R. Jervis was one of the founders of the both theoretical concepts, which were later revised by contemporary authors in relation to cyberspace. Contemporary researchers, including D. Nye and M. Libicki, as well as a number of other authors, argue that the deterrence strategy, by analogy with nuclear deterrence, is applicable to cyber weapons. In particular, they propose new term “cyber deterrence” (cyber-deterrence). Such conceptual constructions influence practical politics. According to the National Security Strategy of 2017, the United States is seeking implement a deterrence in cyberspace. The purpose of the article is to analyze the applicability of the cyber-deterrence concept to cyberspace in the US academic discourse based on the characteristics of the digital “security dilemma”. The article shows that cyber deterrence, by analogy with the nuclear one, can only exacerbate the security dilemma in digital space. Digital security dilemma is different from the security dilemma that exists in relation to other types of weapons, due to the specifics of information technologies whose offensive use is more effective rather than defensive, as well as the significant role of non-state actors, especially business. Thus, methodologically, this article proceeds from the fact that modern information and communication technologies are not inherently neutral, but have a certain set of characteristics that determine their military use and, as a result, affect modern international security. Under these conditions, the development of norms of responsible behavior of states in the global information space is considered as one of the tools to deter conflict in cyber space.

The article deals with governments language politics and sociolinguistic situations in the three different and distant entitites: Catalonia (Spain), Peru and Philippines. Being importes in the XVI century, the Spanish language was the only common element to the countries. However, nowadays the destiny of the language is different. The analyses indicate that there is a balanced language politics in a polyethnic state is a key to successful governance. Spanish which was imported to the former colonies forced out local Catalan, Quechua, and Tagalog from almost spheres including governance, economy, and culture. Those languages were used only in families and ordinary life situations. Nevertheless, gradually local languages reconquered their positions. For instance, in Catalonia the process was a success leading to the Spanish government concerns about the future of Spanish in the autonomous community. As for Quechua (Runasimi), the Peruvian government is positive about the re-establishment of the role of the language giving it the co-official status. Spanish and Runasimi are interinfluencing each other, as well. The Philippines is a different case given that English has replaced Spanish as an official language. The authors emphasize that language destiny is defined by linguistic politics of a state.

The article discusses the structural elements of the security community concept using the example of ASEAN. The relevance of studying this phenomenon rises dramatically due to the official launch of the ASEAN Community in 2015, which consists of three key elements – the Economic Community, the Political and Security Community and the Socio-Cultural Community. The scientific novelty of the work lies, firstly, in the use of an updated approach to the analysis of this security community concept, and secondly, in rethinking the experience of ASEAN and, in particular, failures in the formation of the security community. The work argues the major variables that contribute to the initial formation of the security community are the “we-feeling” sense among the population, adherence to key norms and principles of functioning of the association, the presence of strong channels of communication between states, and the ability of states to collectively respond to internal and external challenges. It is concluded that at present, ASEAN is a nascent, pluralistic security community. However, while maintaining the existing problems identified in the study, the transition to a more mature stage is not possible. The key constraints of ASEAN include a periodic departure from the basic principles of the Association, and the failure to reach consensus on a number of sensitive issues. As concrete examples we can identify the various positions of ASEAN member states on the South China Sea issue, as well as the lack of a unified approach to the “Free and Open Indo-Pacific Region”, an emerging geostrategic space.

The article considers the prospects of the DPRK denuclearization. The authors reveal the fundamental differences in the interpretation of the concept of “denuclearization” and analyze the technological capabilities of the DPRK to preserve its nuclear arsenal. They posit that Pyongyang with a high probability has a program of the highest priority for the preservation of the nuclear and missile weapon. It is shown that the DPRK has technological capabilities which allow its leadership to sacrifice the part of the nuclear missile potential without critical damage to its defense capability. It is impossible for the international community to guarantee the security of the DPRK and its ruling class which is of crucial importance when assessing the possibility of the denuclearization. The article reveals strategic inevitability of a deadlock in the negotiations between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un in the search for a compromise through abandoning nuclear-missile program in exchange for the lifting the sanctions regime. The domestic state of affairs in the DPRK coupled with the strategic situation in Northeast Asia make real denuclearization without removal of Kim Jong-un from power unreal. The authors assess the potential of various technologies – be it color revolutions or hybrid wars – as well as a risk of direct invasion in the event of a breakdown in the US-North Korean negotiations and an escalation of the military-political situation in the region. Considered adverse factors whose total influence can lead to conflict on the Korean Peninsula in case of talks failure appear to be probable. At the end of the article conclusions useful for the departments responsible for the formation of Russian foreign policy are proposed.

A book review: Pе ´rouse de Montclos M.-A. L’Afrique, nouvelle frontiе ` re  du djihad? Paris: La Dе ´couverte, 2018. 239 p. 

A book review: Acharya A., Buzan B. The Making of Global International Relations: Origins and Evolution of IR at its Centenary. Cambridge University Press, 2019. 392 p.