STUDIES AND ANALYSES

United Nations Security Council towards war in Ukraine

Anna Potyrała
Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu

Abstract: From the outbreak of the war until the end of July 2023, the Security Council held 33 meetings devoted to the events on the territory of Ukraine. None of the meetings ended with a decision to impose direct coercive sanctions against the Russian Federation. Once again, it turned out that the Security Council is incapable of solving a key international problem due to decision-making paralysis. The purpose of this article is to analyze the activity of the Security Council in a situation of threat to international peace and security and the arguments of the member states of the Council. The existing voting procedure from the very beginning of the ongoing conflict has doomed to failure any attempt to respond to aggression and violations of international humanitarian law. The tasks of the Security Council – contrary to the provisions of the UN Charter – are therefore limited to publicizing the problem and do not contribute in any way to solving it. This paper used methods characteristic of the social sciences, in particular political science and international relations. Particular importance was attached to the method of legal analysis and the comparative method.
Keywords: Security Council, Ukraine, war, international crimes

Putin’s War of Attrition and Contemporary Conditions of the Political Order of Central-Eastern Europe

Ryszard Ficek
Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski

Abstract: This paper studies the Russian Federation’s superpower aspirations under President Vladimir Putin’s leadership, culminating in Ukraine’s military invasion in February 2022. The analysis here displays several fundamental factors responsible for the threats that the Kremlin’s great-power policy poses to modern international security systems and, above all, to the political order of Central and Eastern Europe. The research questions concerned the fundamental issues responsible for the primary forms of antagonism destabilizing the mutual relations between Russia and Ukraine, inscribed in the context of the multidimensional dynamics of contemporary geopolitical conditions. The discourse presented by the authorities in the Kremlin points to ambiguity, ambivalence of meaning, multifacetedness, and even inconsistency of the Russian narrative on international security, especially in the context of the war with Ukraine. That is why the above issues are considered the sphere of the most complicated problems of contemporary issues affecting Russia and Ukraine. Diagnosing the impact of the discussed factors can help understand and, over time, shape more effective international security strategies, as well as create better support programs that effectively solve Central and Eastern European security problems. In addition, finding answers to such research questions is significant in the context of contemporary global political changes, which – in conjunction with the “political correctness” issue – become a severe challenge for the entire global concept of international security.
Keywords: Russian Federation, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian war, international security system, Central and Eastern Europe

Zaporizhzhia and Chernobyl nuclear power plants aspect in Russian warfare in Ukraine

Valerijs Bodnieks
Center for Geopolitical Studies, Riga

Abstract: In the eyes of the democratic world, Russia is an aggressor state. This has been confirmed by the events concerning and surrounding Ukraine since 2014. From the theoretical point of view, the world can also be divided into two opposite poles, or, in other words, liberal and realist wings. The aggressor state has shown that the most important in hostilities is to win at any cost and that it uses nuclear sites to achieve their objectives. All nuclear sites are internationally protected. The goal of the present article is to analyze the issue of nuclear power plants that Russia uses in the framework of hostilities in Ukraine based on the theoretical assumptions of liberalism and realism. The article uses Zaporizhzhia and Chernobyl nuclear power plants as examples. The qualitative research methods used in this article are document analysis, and interviews conducted with experts.
Keywords: defense, security, Russia’s aggression, war in Ukraine, nuclear power plants

The use of stock photos in news reporting: A case in 2022 of the Russo-Ukrainian War

Jaime A. Teixeira da Silva
badacz niezależny

Abstract: The ability to transmit accurate information that does not deceive its readership, and the use of images that reflects the truth of the fact that they are  supposed to be representing, should be an important principle and basal tenet of any traditional or social media-based news or journalistic organization or platform. It is not uncommon to find images or photos that accompany the text of a news article, and the visual impact of an image, as is often expressed in a cliché, can sometimes add much more value than merely the text itself. Whereas some fake news is patently untrue, another gray zone of journalism that is affected by fake news may encompass bias, spin and deceit. Absent rigorous quality control and editing measures, a news source may inadvertently slip into this gray zone, which encompasses the use of stock photos to represent, or supplement, the text of news items. Focusing on photos by a pro-Ukrainian social media app-based news media outlet, this rather unusual case involves a highly topical personality, the President of Ukraine. This article points to how subtle “truth” can change through the use (or abuse) of stock photos. Several images covering May-September of 2022, specifically photos or videos of an unshaven President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in military attire that switch to images of a shaven individual in a suit, and back again, are examined from a singleTelegram-based news source. This case notes, using a “soft” example, the risks of “massaging” truth using stock photos. In times of war, especially in the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War, the accuracy of news, including the non-fictional imagery that accompanies it, is essential, so as to neither mislead nor bias the readership, and to portray the news as accurately and neutrally as possible.
Keywords: clickbait, credibility, media manipulation, misleading news, sensationalism, truth

Ensuring Poland’s food security in light of the war in Ukraine

Łukasz Jureńczyk
Uniwersytet Kazimierza Wielkiego w Bydgoszczy

Abstract: To ensure the food security of a state, four conditions must be met: physical availability of food; sustainability and reliability of food supply; economic availability of food for all social groups; and health suitability of food products and food rations. Poland and Ukraine are major food exporters in Europe and the world. The war in Ukraine caused a significant increase in fuel and fertilizer prices, as well as difficulties in exporting from Ukraine, which resulted in a significant increase in food prices in the world. Difficulties in exporting Ukrainian food products to traditional partners, mainly via the Black Sea, and the EU’s suspension of customs duties on goods from Ukraine led to an increase in imports of Ukrainian food products to Poland. The above factors negatively affect the profitability of food production in Poland and the financial stability of Polish farmers. As Ukraine’s integration with the EU progresses, Ukraine’s food exports to Europe will increase, which will affect Polish food producers. This requires Poland to take appropriate measures both at the national and EU level.
Keywords: food security, Poland, war in Ukraine, agriculture, cereal

The significance of the European Green Deal for implementing the concept of smart villages in the European Union

Barbara Panciszko-Szweda
Uniwersytet Kazimierza Wielkiego w Bydgoszczy

Abstract: The aim of this article is to demonstrate the relationship between the objectives of the European Union’s (EU) development strategy for 2050, the European Green Deal (EGD), and the concept of smart villages. The research hypothesis assumed that the implementation of the European Green Deal’s objectives would contribute to the development of smart villages in the EU. Six components of smart villages were identified: smart economy, smart society, smart environment, smart accessibility, smart governance, and smart agriculture, which were briefly characterized. The article addressed the following research questions: (i) what are the main objectives of the EGD? (ii) How are smart villages defined? (iii) In which areas does the European Green Deal realize the objectives of the concept of the smart village? (iv) Which areas of smart villages are most prominently emphasized in the EU’s development strategy for 2050? Qualitative research methods were used, and an analysis of the EGD provisions was conducted using a self-prepared questionnaire to assess the implementation of smart villages’ objectives. It was demonstrated that the relationships are significant, with different degrees of importance attributed to individual areas. Most interventions were planned in the smart environment and smart economy areas, while intelligent accessibility received the least attention.This study represents the initial part of research into the discussed research problem, which requires further analysis of detailed strategies and legal acts related to the provisions of the European Green Deal.
Keywords: smart villages, intelligent villages, European Green Deal, European Union, rural development, climate neutrality, rural development policy

Women’s rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran in the light of protests 2022: the ‘Janus face’ of feminism

Małgorzata Abassy
Uniwersytet Jagielloński w Krakowie

Abstract: The aim of the presented analysis is to reflect on the dynamics of the struggle for women’s rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI). The article consists of three main elements. The first is a factual and ideological analysis of the protests through the prism of statistical data and the content of the song Woman, life, freedom (Persian: zan, zendegi, azadi). The second element is a discussion of feminism in Iran through the prism of the clash of different value systems, clarified as a result of restrictions after the 1979 revolution. The third element of the analysis is the phenomenon of awakening awareness among activists fighting for women’s rights during the presidency of Mohammad Khatami (1997–2005). The analyses will be carried out on the basis of source texts of specific legal acts, statutes of the organization and other cultural texts, such as autobiographies and lyrics of the song Zan, zendegi, azadi. The basic research methods are content analysis and hermeneutical text analysis. A review
of the literature on the subject and the state of research allowed to identify a research gap, expressed in the question about the values underlying the fight for women’s rights within oppressive systems: cultural, identified as patriarchal and political identified with broadly understood Islamic law in the Shiite version. The analysis of the dynamics of the struggle for women’s rights will allow us to forecast the further development  of events that began with the protests in autumn 2022. The conducted analyses led to the conclusion that the impending revolution has the face of a woman and is aimed at the patriarchal system – an ossified, oppressive system that stifles the individual. It will blow up the political system from within, destroying its structures. However, it will not bring a solution to the problem of the clash of two patterns of ordering social relations expressed in two varieties of feminism in Iran: “classical” and “Islamic”.
Keywords: Iran, protests, feminism, Islam, revolution

Different faces of populism in Venezuela. Comparison of governing styles and media image of Hugo Chávez and Nícolas Maduro

Karolina I. Kaleta
Uniwersytet Jagielloński w Krakowie

Abstract: The aim of this article is to conduct a comparative analysis of the discourses and rhetoric in the public speeches of two consecutive Venezuelan presidents – Hugo Chávez and Nícolas Maduro. Although both politicians have been identified in the literature as representatives of Latin American populism, their media activities, campaign styles, and governing methods differ significantly, as do their perceptions by the public and the international community. This analysis also takes into account the evolution of both presidents’ images during their respective terms in office, against the backdrop of the ongoing political-economic crisis. The presence of Chávez and Maduro in the media – both traditional, such as radio and television, and new (especially on social media platforms) – as well as their narrative-building techniques are of particular importance in this context. The reflection also includes the manipulations used by both politicians and the symbolic sphere to which they referred in their speeches. Such a comparison allows us to recognize that Latin American populism, which belongs to the so-called “third wave,” is a uniquely complex and internally diverse phenomenon, even within one country and successive presidential terms.
Keywords: populism, Latin America, Venezuela, media, Hugo Chávez, Nícolas Maduro

Colonial concentration camps in Cuba and South Africa. Characteristics and significance for the evolution of the idea

Jakub Chustecki
Uniwersytet Warszawski

Abstract: In 1896, the Spanish general Valeriano Weyler y Nicolau decided to build the first concentration camps in order to force rebels in Cuba to submit to colonial rule. In 1900, during the Second Boer War, the British command made a similar decision – concentrating the civilian population in controlled areas surrounded by barbed wire in order to hasten the end of the conflict. In both cases, the colonial authorities’ mismanagement and lack of basic supplies led to the deaths of tens of thousands of people. This paper characterizes the first concentration camps based on criteria, i.e. the goals of the camps or the reality of the camps, and then points out the similarities and differences found between the Spanish and British camps. The paper also addresses the problem of the concentration camp as a political precedent – it shows the relationship between the Cuban and Boer concentration camps and the Nazi death camps. Special emphasis is placed on the importance of the first concentration camps for the formation of the Nazi death machine (also in a purely propaganda context).
Keywords: concentration camps, Second Boer War, Cuban Independence War, British camps, Spanish camps, colonialism

REVIEWS

Michał M. Kosman (rev.): John J. Mearsheimer, The Great Delusion: Liberal Dreams and International Realities. Edycja polska, Universitas, Wydawnictwo Nowej Konfederacji, Kraków – Warszawa 2021

Marcin Wałdoch (rev.): Robert D. Kaplan, The Tragic Mind: Fear, Fate, and the Burden of Power. Translated by M. Głatki, Wydawnictwo Prześwity, Warszawa 2023