An analysis of identity-based and security-oriented Russian foreign policy in relation to Syria

The civil war in Syria has become a culmination of the Arab Spring, which transformed into a complex international conflict, involving many states not only from the Middle East region, but also Russia, the US, and some EU states. From the beginning of the civil war in Syria, Russia played the key role in the conflict, starting from serving as a mediator of the conflict, and ending with active military actions initiated in 2015. Intensive discussion, and sometimes a rather negative discourse developed over Russian foreign policy in relation to Syria, which shaped a demand in an in-depth analysis of reasons behind Russian foreign policy decisions. Apart from historically strong ties with Syria, geopolitical and economic interests between two states still matter. At the same time it seems that in regards to Syria, Russian foreign policy has been mainly security-oriented, and simultaneously identity-based. A primary contribution of this thesis is offered by an application of a theoretical synthesis of Neoclassic Realism and Constructivism for the Russian foreign policy analysis. It is argued that Neoclassic Realism provides a theoretical basis for explaining security-oriented Russian foreign policy in Syria, while Constructivist theory supports the argument that Russian foreign policy in Syria is also identity-based. In case of Syria, domestic factors form an operational environment of Russian foreign policy-making. To Russia, the Syrian stability is seen as vital to the stability in the Middle East, and consequently to the Russia’s national security and territorial integrity. In particular, Russia is concerned about the rise of ‘Religious Extremism’ in the Middle East, because this development could potentially give an impulse to further political opposition and intensify insurgencies in the Russian Muslim-populated regions. Apart from that, Russian foreign policy in Syria is also motivated by the desire to sustain ‘the Great Power’ status by playing the key role in the Syrian crisis. This thesis is dedicated to the analysis of these developments, as well as their effects on Russian foreign policy in relation to Syria

Induction of Minimalist Grammars over Morphemes

Syntactic literature tends towards a big-picture outlook, abstracting away from details such as full specifications of lexical items or features involved in derivations. However, in order to identify quantifiable differences between competing analyses, a lower-level description is required. We frame this task as a learning problem, using the formalism of Minimalist Grammars. The learner makes morphosyntactic generalizations over a corpus of dependency structures and expresses them as standalone lexical items. The present work-in-progress explores how this approach can be used to induce linguistically plausible grammars and, ultimately, to evaluate proposals of theoretical syntax in quantitative terms

Towards the semiotics of political graffiti: the example of Samara

http://www.ester.ee/record=b4429912~S1*es

The soviet-finnish border as a state securitization project in the early 1920s

Undertaking a case study of the Soviet-Finnish border in the 1920s, the article explores how problems of Soviet international borders’ security and Soviet initial responses to them locally played on the ground. It discusses, how the early Soviet border securitization project, intertwining with the Soviet security threats, entailed the first “cleansing” operations in the border zones. It argues that the Soviets engaged in their first “prophylactic cleansing” experiments in the mid-1920s in the relatively stable borderlands earlier than the actual first “security threats” of the 1920s materialized. Therefore, the heritage of the revolution and the civil war mixed with the tenets of Bolshevik ideology left its imprint not only on Stalin’s mentality as a primary trigger of Soviet “cyclical violence,” as many scholars argue, but generated a continuum of hibernating but never ceasing state violence which was easily triggered locally by the regional actors

Application of groundwater aggressiveness assessment method for estimation of the karst process at main gas pipeline construction

Main pipelines maintenance is connected with hazard engineering and geological working conditions. The article deals with the use of groundwater aggressiveness assessment method to estimate the karst processes development during the construction of main gas pipelines. The possibility of using this method is analyzed on the example of the initial section of the designed gas pipeline "Power of Siberia" (section "Chayanda-Lensk"). The calculation of the nonequilibrium index Ca was made in accordance with the geotechnical survey data. The dependencies between the geomorphological features of the terrain and the natural waters aggressiveness were determined

Problemas de institucionalização da gestão de resíduos na Rússia

The article considers the current state of the waste management industry in Russia. The central issue is the problem of modernization and institutionalization of management schemes. The institutional, functional and social features of the waste management industry in Russia are considered in this article, based on the discourse analysis of legal and state documents in the sphere of environmental, economic and management control. The stages of the waste management problem formation, achievements and limitations of the modern vector of environmental modernization of the waste management sector are highlighted in the article. The author came to the conclusion that the main obstacles to the non-waste management policy are: the content of the objectives of environmental modernization and their practical implementation in the “Clean Country” project, profitability barriers of technological and organizational support of the waste stream, the problems of unifying and harmonizing of regional schemes in the overall waste management conception.El artículo considera el estado actual de la industria de gestión de residuos en Rusia. El problema central es el problema de la modernización y la institucionalización de los esquemas de gestión. Las características institucionales, funcionales y sociales de la industria de gestión de residuos en Rusia se consideran en este artículo, basadas en el análisis del discurso de documentos legales y estatales en el ámbito del control ambiental, económico y de gestión. En el artículo se destacan las etapas de la formación de problemas de gestión de desechos, los logros y las limitaciones del vector moderno de modernización ambiental del sector de gestión de desechos. El autor llegó a la conclusión de que los principales obstáculos a la política de gestión de residuos no son: el contenido de los objetivos de modernización ambiental y su implementación práctica en el proyecto "País limpio", barreras de rentabilidad del apoyo tecnológico y organizativo del flujo de residuos , los problemas de unificación y armonización de esquemas regionales en la concepción general de gestión de residuos.O artigo considera o estado atual da indústria de gestão de resíduos na Rússia. A questão central é o problema da modernização e institucionalização dos esquemas de gestão. As características institucionais, funcionais e sociais da indústria de gerenciamento de resíduos na Rússia são consideradas neste artigo, com base na análise de discurso de documentos legais e estaduais na esfera de controle ambiental, econômico e de gestão. As etapas da formação do problema de gestão de resíduos, conquistas e limitações do moderno vetor de modernização ambiental do setor de gestão de resíduos são destacadas no artigo. O autor chegou à conclusão de que os principais obstáculos à política de gestão de resíduos não são: o conteúdo dos objetivos de modernização ambie ntal e sua implementação prática no projeto “País Limpo”, barreiras de rentabilidade do suporte tecnológico e organizacional do fluxo de resíduos , os problemas de unificação e harmonização de esquemas regionais na concepção global de gestão de resíduos.&nbsp

Medindo cidades sustentáveis na Rússia: análise crítica de metodologias-chave

The paper provides insights on the critical analysis of the current methodologies of the sustainability cities measurement for the present-day Russia. Based on meta-analysis of more than 90 peer-reviewed papers published in Russian and English, we examined both authoring and corporate methodologies such as the SGM methodology for Russian sustainable cities, the environmental rating of Russian cities, and the rating of the environmental governance of the Russian cities, the environmental efficacy index and several authoring methodologies. The analysis showed that most of the calculation methods are based on quantitative (statistical) data, what is their advantage, on the one hand, making their results as objective as possible, but on the other hand, it is a disadvantage, because in connection with the delay in publication of statistics or even its absence, it does not allow the annual dynamics to observe. In addition, the difficulty in choosing the most suitable methodology lies in the significant differences in the development of large, medium and small cities in Russia, and many rating methods are developed exclusively for one of the types of cities. Authors concluded that in spite of the high level of the existing methodologies development, there was a shortage of comprehensive studies carried out in the qualitative-quantitative paradigm that would, in addition to index assessment and mathematical models generation, explain complex causal relationships and processes within a city.El documento proporciona información sobre el análisis crítico de las metodologías actuales de la medición de ciudades de sostenibilidad para la Rusia actual. Con base en el metanálisis de más de 90 artículos revisados por pares publicados en ruso e inglés, examinamos tanto las metodologías de autoría y corporativas como la metodología SGM para ciudades sostenibles rusas, la calificación ambiental de las ciudades rusas y la calificación de la gobernanza ambiental de las ciudades rusas, el índice de eficacia ambiental y varias metodologías de autoría. El análisis mostró que la mayoría de los métodos de cálculo se basan en datos cuantitativos (estadísticos), lo que es su ventaja, por un lado, hacer que sus resultados sean lo más objetivos posible, pero por otro lado, es una desventaja, porque en conexión con el retraso en la publicación de las estadísticas o incluso su ausencia, no permite observar la dinámica anual. Además, la dificultad de elegir la metodología más adecuada radica en las diferencias significativas en el desarrollo de ciudades grandes, medianas y pequeñas en Rusia, y muchos métodos de calificación se desarrollan exclusivamente para uno de los tipos de ciudades. Los autores concluyeron que, a pesar del alto nivel de desarrollo de las metodologías existentes, había una escasez de estudios exhaustivos llevados a cabo en el paradigma cualitativo-cuantitativo que, además de la evaluación del índice y la generación de modelos matemáticos, explicaran relaciones y procesos causales complejos dentro de una ciudad.O artigo fornece insights sobre a análise crítica das metodologias atuais da medição das cidades de sustentabilidade para a Rússia atual. Com base na meta-análise de mais de 90 artigos revisados por pares publicados em russo e inglês, examinamos metodologias de autoria e corporativas, como a metodologia SGM para cidades russas sustentáveis, a classificação ambiental de cidades russas e a classificação da governança ambiental. das cidades russas, o índice de eficácia ambiental e várias metodologias de autoria. A análise mostrou que a maioria dos métodos de cálculo são baseados em dados quantitativos (estatísticos), o que é sua vantagem, por um lado, tornando seus resultados tão objetivos quanto possível, mas, por outro lado, é uma desvantagem, porque em com o atraso na publicação das estatísticas ou mesmo sua ausência, não permite que a dinâmica anual observe. Além disso, a dificuldade em escolher a metodologia mais adequada reside nas diferenças significativas no desenvolvimento de grandes, médias e pequenas cidades na Rússia, e muitos métodos de classificação são desenvolvidos exclusivamente para um dos tipos de cidades. Os autores concluíram que, apesar do alto nível de desenvolvimento das metodologias existentes, houve escassez de estudos abrangentes realizados no paradigma qualitativo-quantitativo que, além da avaliação de índices e da geração de modelos matemáticos, explicariam relações e processos causais complexos Uma cidade

Distributed Morphology as a regular relation

This research reorganizes the Distributed Morphology (DM) framework to work over strings. Typically, DM operates on binary trees, with the syntax-morphology interface implicitly treated as a tree-transducer. We contend that using (binary) trees is overpowered, predicting patterns unattested in natural language. Assuming the standard Y-model, DM operating on trees presumes that the flattening of the derivation for PF takes place post-morphology. We however flatten the structure above the morphological module, between the syntax and morphology. Restricting the morphological component to working on strings, we correctly predict that morphology can be modeled with regular string languages

Formal Properties of Agreeing Minimalist Grammars

Minimalist grammars (Stabler, 1997, MGs,) are a formalization of core ideas of the minimalist program (Chomsky, 1995). One glaring discrepancy between minimalist practice and formalization has been agreement. Agree is taken in the linguistic community as a fundamental operation of grammar, whereas in the formal community it has been ignored. Ermolaeva & Kobele (2022) propose an extension of MGs which allow for agreement to take place between lexical items. Their implementation, in the spirit of so-called post-syntactic approaches to Agree (Bobaljik, 2008), divorces agreement from the syntax proper, and mediates it via annotations on lexical items. A metaphorical perspective views the morphological information as a liquid, derivationally established dependencies between lexical items as channels, and the lexical annotations as sluices controlling the flow of liquid through channels. The formal properties of MGs with agreement have not been investigated. This paper aims to fill that gap