Turkey a Hybrid Regime: Using the Election and Repression to Stay in Power

This research article will discuss the government system of the Turkey during Justice and Development Party. It will seek answers to whether Turkeyis a hybrid regime, the claim is Turkey demonstrated some degree and type of the behavior which are neither democratic nor an autocratic. In orderto connect the relevancy and find the answers some factors are explored such as Election, Economy, Tin-Pot, Repression, Loyalty and Disloyalty andJDP party as independent variable and as sub topics for this research. Further, this research article is based on qualitative data which is conductedby following and tracing the previous study of the eclectic and existent literature. The major part of this research study is based on the theory andconceptualization of Ronald Wintrobe’s hybrid regime. In conclusion, the purpose of the study is to prove whether Turkey is a Hybrid Regim

Cyber warfare – New threat for national and international security and transformation of the conflicts under the conditions of the new geopolitical order

This research paper, based on the methodology of political realism, will be discussed the transformation of conflicts in the context of the newgeopolitical order and how important this methodology is in international cyber politics.Within the paper, virtual threats are discussed where not only cyber-attacks and cyber wars are considered. Information, propaganda and disinformationmanipulations, brief history, and development in cyberspace are analyzed. The focus is on fake news and these issues are supported by variousexamples. It analyses how all this works in relation to Georgia and cites the 2016 NDI survey. Furthermore, the research presents the classificationof cyberspace and discusses the black market, which is a major threat worldwide. From the book by Kenneth Knapp, a cyber-security specialist theinformation provided on “Cyber Security and Global Information Assurance - Threat Analysis and Response Solutions”, published by the US Air ForceAcademy in Colorado, deals with the black market in cyberspace.At the same time, the research is devoted to the analysis of the impact of modern high technologies on international security processes. It is notedthat the development of technology and the Internet has had an impact on international security processes. It is discussed in the framework of theforce balance method, or force balance methodology. Numerous examples are given of Russia’s cyber-technological capabilities, as well as thoseof the United States, China, and the Islamic Republic of Iran. Attempts by Russian hackers to intervene in various elections, including the 2016 USpresidential election, as well as examples of Chinese cyber-attacks, which are of great political importance internationally and an important elementin the balance of power, are discusse

The contemporary authoritarianism in the post-Soviet space (case study of Belarus and Georgia under Saakashvili rule)

The paper describes the very essential dilemma of democracy building in the post-Soviet area: the role of elites and popular support in the absenceof institutional constraints on executive power; these tools can be used both in favor of democracy building and against it, and ultimately for the sakeof regime to maintain its power. Many post-Soviet incumbents, among them Saakashvili and Lukashenko, managed to become authoritarian rulersbecause, and not on the contrary of mass support. Divide and rule strategy helped them to overcome the resistance of plural elites and to suppressthem in the name of modernization, good governance and stability. In particular, it shows how the constraints on power can be used by the newlyelected rulers against each other and how their removal leads to power consolidation and concentration in one hand. From this perspective comparingSaakashvili and Lukashenko makes sense and reveals the shallowness of democratization approaches and rhetoric, in which these two leaders arealways considered to be at the different poles of democracy building. In the meantime, it focuses on the role of society and the phenomenon of a“good” autocrat who at the early stage can be useful for the country modernisation and then drive to the authoritarian rule, thus retaining power by allavailable means. The research also discusses the role of external powers in the observed processes and particularly Russia as sponsor and promoterof autocratic regimes in the neighbourhoo

The Significance of Southern Gas Corridor for European Energy Security - Myth or Reality?

Taking into consideration the obvious fact that Kremlin`s threatening and manipulative rhetoric is increasingly loud and severe, energy security problem is accordingly high on the European Union agenda. The paper analyses the importance of the Southern Gas Corridor - a planned infrastructure project in terms of its role in improving the security and diversity of the EU’s energy supply by bringing natural gas from the Caspian region to Europe. The article discusses if Southern Gas Corridor is a window of opportunity for Europe to lessen Russian Gas dependence significantly or just a myth. Besides, the paper reviews a strategic logic of the Southern Gas Corridor and the Italian market as a final destination of the project. In the end, direct economic benefits from the Southern Gas Corridor are presented for the countries participating in this project

Refocusing the Focus, Metafocus and Profocus: Mopping Urban Violence in Developing Cities

In most developing countries, urbanization is often relegated to the major population centres, leaving secondary cities and rural communities neglected. Such acts of neglect have caused occurrence of certain forms of violence in large cities. In order to reduce and mop up the resultant menace of urban violence, policy makers should initiate refocusing processes from larger cities to secondary cities. This will reveal an enormous potential growth and developments within the secondary cities and the country. This paper uses the principles of metafocus and profocus to proffer how the refocusing on secondary cities can be actualised and benefit the development of the state. The relative deprivation theory is utilized to analyse how the deprivation and neglect leads to urban violence. The adopted methodology analyses the economic conditions and the achieved satisfactory level of urban violence management that ensues from the demographic delimitations in the selected three African countries of Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa. Conclusions are based on the premise that the economic conditions will improve and become balanced if the Pleuri-Potent Mega-City Stem Cell (PPMC-SC) of the metafocus principles and the defensive internal curative packages (M-DICP) of the profocus principles are applied in the countries’ secondary and larger cities

Cultural Policies of Creative Clusters: A Short Review

The concept of creative clusters generates an active public discussion in today’s world. It takes place into two levels - academic and practical. Thus, this paper is a short review of the cultural policies of creative clusters. It is oriented to show the role of clusters in overall economic development and to provide some policy implications. The key issues include whether creative clusters are efficient to foster creativity and innovation in cultural industriesor not, in addition to the need of public policy intervention. Furthermore, it considers the scope and scale of creative clusters with providing various reasons for assessing their efficiency in different aspects

Psychosocial Predictors of Drug Involvement Among Secondary School Students

Predictors of drug involvement among secondary school students in Ibadan were examined in this study. Two hundred and four (204) students comprising 113 males and 91 females, whose age ranged between 13 and 25 years (M = 16.32, S.D. = 1.81) participatedin the study. Data collected with a structured questionnaire were subjected to independent sample t-test, and regression analysis. Psychosocial factors (life purpose, need for achievement and self-esteem) significantly predicted drug abuse [F (6, 113) = 7.75; p < .01, R2 = .29]. Participants with low score on life purpose reported higher substanceabuse than those with high score on life purpose, t (161) = 2.62, p <.05 ; those with low score on the need for achievement reported higher substance abuse than those with high score on the need for achievement, t (162) = 4.09, p < .01 ; those with low score on the need for achievement reported higher substance abuse than those with high scoreon the need for achievement t (162) = 2.62, p <.05; female participants reported higher substance abuse than male counterparts, t (176) = - 4.05, p <.01). In conclusion, it is expedient that efforts be intensified on actions that will reawaken the strive for excellence and sense of self worth through engagement in self development activities, thereby minimizingthe prevalence of substance abuse among Nigerian youths

To Determine Factors Leading to the Successful Development and Prosperity of Nations

Throughout the course of history, there are multiple factors that may determine the success of a nation, or the failure of a nation. This paper underlines the factors that make nations powerful and prosperous while analyzing several institutions such as mainly focusing on institiuons such as democratic institutions, history, culture, ideology, geography,and economic resources that shape the nations’ prosperity and development. It examines the institutions that fortify the foundation of the nation’s building. To further analyzing the factors, the paper pursue to find answers to what are some institutions factors as driving force and what to extend they are effective in nation’s prosperity and development? Which institution is extractive and which one is inclusive? The successfulnations of the past carry on their civilizational legacy to present-day nations and continue to influence their institutions in the present time while the failed civilizations are largely forgotten, obscured and left in the dustbin of history

Geography of the Hydro Resources and Its Impact on the World Economy

The importance of the water resources – as a main natural resource in the world is analyzed in this research. The location of the fresh water in different regions and countries of the world, differences among the regions related to the water consumption, major problems, related to the water shortages and ways for their resolution are among the topics discussed in the article

Foreign Policy Strategies for Declining Hegemony: Searching for the Balance between Costs and Involvement

The article explores and analyzes the foreign policy strategies of a declining hegemon. For this purpose, it develops an analytical framework for the classification of the strategies based on the two variables, costs and involvement. While amount of costs required to be spent in order to attain the goals of a certain strategy affects a hegemon’s power, and involvement represents the hegemon’s ability to achieve desired outcomes though participation in international relations, the variables empirically express the two attributes of a hegemon as defined in the theories of international relations - power and willingness to be a hegemon. Therefore, beyond classification of strategies, the analy- tical framework illustrates how implementation of each strategy affects the attributes of a hegemon. Based on the framework, the article defines the most optimal foreign policy of a declining hegemon by discovering the one that minimally affects the attributes of a hegemon by enabling it to preserve high involvement in relatively lower costs