Post-Bin Laden prospects for the peace process in Afghanistan

With all the symbolic allusions to 9/11, including President Obama’s visit to ‘ground zero’ on May 5, at the end of the day the annihilation of the world’s ‘terrorist number one’ in a US covert operation in northern Pakistan turned out to be a highly contextual, instrumental and multi-purpose move. The relevant political contexts are multiple, but the interests, dynamics and implications involved are qualitatively different from the ones that shaped the US-led ‘war on terrorism’ at its onset. A decade since 9/11, the main international implication of bin Laden’s execution is not the most obvious and direct one, i.e. the toppling of al-Qaeda as a major blow to transnational terrorism, but a more indirect and fundamental one

Russia’s policy on the Syria crisis: sources and implications

It may be hard to believe it now, but just a year ago Russia found itself enjoying a rather positive and balanced standing in the Middle East. This image could be traced despite, or thanks to, Russia’s reduced involvement and limited interest in the Middle East for much of the post-Soviet period. It was contrasted with the policies of the key external actors, particularly the two flawed US-led interventions in, and ignominious retreat from, Iraq and Afghanistan, and the 2011 ouster of the US main Arab ally outside the Gulf – the Mubarak regime. Against this background, Russia’s relatively low profile and its post-Soviet lack of ideological pressure, combined with historical record of support to the Arab countries and its remaining influence in the UN, until recently tended to affect its image in the Middle East in a rather positive way. It may be precisely the lack of major strategic interest or leverage that allowed Russia the luxury of relative neutrality – between Iran and the Arab Gulf states, the Sunni and the Shia, secular forces (such as Fatah) and reformist Islamists (such as Hamas), and even, to an extent, between the Arab world and Israel

Beyond Protection: In the Wake of the Moscow Domodedovo Airport Terrorist Attack

The failure of counterintelligence to prevent and pre-emptively disrupt terrorist plans and networks is highlighted in this paper as the single most critical flaw highlighted by the Domodedovo attack and other recent terrorist incidents in Russia. When considering the terrorist attack at Moscow’s Domodedovo airport perpetrated on 24 January 2011 it is important to consider the broader security and policy implications. This paper describes how this latest incident in a long series of mass-casualty attacks in Russia is similar to and different from previous ones. It reviews some of the general flaws in public transport security and in the protection-centred measures undertaken in response to the blast. It notes that the fundamental socio-political causes of terrorism will persist in Russia for the foreseeable future, arguing that effective counterterrorism is about minimising terrorist manifestations under given conditions. It questions the excessive focus on physical protection measures and argues for a better balance between protection and resilience strategies. It identifies the failure of counterintelligence to prevent and pre-emptively disrupt terrorist plans and networks as the single most critical flaw highlighted by the Domodedovo attack and other recent terrorist incidents in Russia

Images of Russia in American Political Discourse: Verbal Representations

The article analyzes qualitative verbal representations of the image of Russia in American political speeches from February 2022 to February 2024. Methods. The volume of the studied material amounted to 200,000 characters and included about 50 public speeches and transcriptions of press conferences of the political and military leadership. The study used comparative, interpretive, conceptual and descriptive methods. Analysis. The analyzed material reveals typical, recurring concepts associated with Russia, which are found in all the texts under consideration; convey a negative image of Russia in the linguistic consciousness of American linguistic culture; New images related to the current political agenda were also identified. Results. The authors present the results of a study of manipulative tactics and verbal means of their implementation within the framework of the representation of the conceptual image of Russia in modern American political discourse. It was determined that the means of nomination and verbal representations are determined by the concepts "no freedom of speech", "corruption", "weak evil enemy", "appalling tyranny", "human rights violations", "authoritarian nature", "totalitarian state", "threat to democracy", "axis of evil", "inevitable defeat", manipulation techniques are also used, including leveling facts and contrasting meanings

Climate change and ESG factors in instability period: Indian and Russian experience

Introduction. The article deals with the problem of application of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) criteria for investment and reporting principles in India and Russia as well as with sustainable development and climate change implementation policies within these countries. Methods. The research methods used by the authors in this work include the methodology of statistical analysis, forecasting, comparison, methods of assembling materials and research results. Analysis. Sustainable growth results from a compromise between long-term development priorities founded on carbon neutral economy, global introduction of carbon footprint emission taxes, on rapid digitalization of all areas of activity in society, and impact of greenhouse gases emissions. The authors compare incorporation of ESG principles in Indian and Russian business policies aimed at fighting climate change impact for sustainability. Results. The article concludes that despite the changing situation in the global economy, companies continue to expand their rationale for ESG taking into consideration the increase in the importance of public initiatives and good governance. Moreover, the implementation of many initiatives in this area helped businesses respond more flexibly to new challenges, while increasing sustainability

Ostracod species of the genus <em>Cytheropteron</em> from late Pleistocene-Holocene and recent sediments of the Laptev Sea (Arctic Siberia)

Sixteen species of the genus Cytheropteron from the Laptev Sea Late Pleistocene, Holocene deposits and Recent surface sediments have been described. Analysis of the literature on this subject and the collections of O.M.Lev from St. Petersburg, together with our own material from the Laptev Sea, allowed us to introduce certain changes in the taxonomy of this genus. One species Cytheropteron laptevensis Stepanova sp. nov. is described as new

Recent Ostracoda from the Laptev Sea (Arctic Siberia): Species assemblages and some environmental applications

Ostracod assemblages from coretop sediments collected at 26 localities at different depths of the Laptev Sea shelf and upper continental slope were investigated for assemblage studies. A total of 41 species belonging to 19 genera and 12 families have been identified. Three assemblages have been established that could be linked to environmental factors such as water depth, bottom salinities, water mass circulation and sea-ice transportation. The species-rich and abundant assemblages of the western and central Laptev Sea were related to the Atlantic waters occupying the upper continental slope. These include relatively deep-water forms that show clear affinities to North Atlantic and Arctic Ocean assemblages (Cytheropteron biconvexa, C. testudo, C. simplex, C. nodosoalatum, C. inflatum, C. porterae, Krithe glacialis, K. minima, Pseudocythere caudata, Polycope punctata, P. orbicularis). In the eastern middle shelf region, the assemblage is comprised of Acanthocythereis dunelmensis together with other normal marine species (Semicytherura complanata, Elofsonella concinna, Cluthia cluthae). This assemblage seems connected to the winter flaw polynya which is believed to be the main area of sediment entrainment into sea ice. The inner shelf assemblage of the southern Laptev Sea is dominated by shallow-water euryhaline species (Paracyprideis pseudopunctillata and Heterocyprideis sorbyana) with admixture of the brackish-water species Roundstonia macchesneyi. The unusual occurrence of a number of shallow-water ostracod species on the upper continental slope may be explained by ice-rafting which these ostracods are probably able to survive

IEEE 802.11ba -- Extremely Low Power Wi-Fi for Massive Internet of Things: Challenges, Open Issues, Performance Evaluation

Many recent activities of IEEE 802.11 Working group have been focused on improving power efficiency of Wi-Fi to make it favorable for massive Internet of Things scenarios, in which swarms of battery supplied sensors rarely communicate with remote servers. The latest step towards this direction is the work on a new IEEE 802.11ba amendment to the Wi-Fi standard, which introduces Wake-Up Radio. This radio is an additional interface with extremely low power consumption that is used to transmit control information from the access point to stations while their primary radio is switched off. This paper describes the IEEE 802.11ba protocol, discusses its open issues, investigates several approaches to provide energy efficient data transmission with 802.11ba, and evaluates how much 802.11ba improves energy efficiency and even reduces channel time consumption

Editorial: Letter from the Editors

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