Suchergebnisse

The article is about the Belgian federal system transformation, as well as the factors that aggravate or, on the contrary, restrain the centrifugal trends in the country. The specific nature of Belgian federalism determines its evolution from federation to confederation, but the answer to the question about the prospects of this transformation remains open. On the one hand, the Belgian Kingdom history, its geographical location, as well as economic and cultural-linguistic features predetermined the existence and deepening of dividing lines between the two main ethnic communities in the country – the Walloons and the Flemings. Decentralization, as a response to the aggravation of interethnic contradictions, allows political elites to partially control the process and minimize, as far as possible, the costs of this conflict of interest for the economy and the population, but at the same time, it feeds centrifugal tendencies. Reforms do not remove the problem of separatism from the agenda, but, vice versa, give the regions and communities all the necessary resources, reducing the central authorities' competences. Each reform creates the basis for the next redistribution of power. The logic of the decentralization process predefines the dual, asymmetric, dissociative and improvisational nature of the federal system of Belgium, and contributes to its extreme complication. The main drivers of centrifugal tendencies remain Flemish nationalists when the institutions and mechanisms designed to unite the country do not function effectively enough. On the other hand, the scenario of a complete collapse of the Belgian federation is not something predetermined and inevitable. There are still internal and external factors unifying Belgians (the Senate, the King, the absence of a provision for a national referendum in the constitution, a special place in the federation of the Brussels-Capital region, the country's membership in the EU), but their influence on the entire system is gradually decreasing. Belgium's active participation in the European integration contributing to creation of a highly developed modern economic system and high living standards, as well as stable GDP growth (with exception of crisis periods), play an important role in stabilizing the Belgian federation. So, the European Union prevents a rapid development of separation process, but does not change its main trends. The EU accompanies the Belgian federal system transformation, in order to reduce its costs for society and the European integration, but does not set the task of inversing its evolution. At the same time, the unstable political situation in the country has a certain negative impact on the European integration, exacerbating the complexity of the decision-making process within the EU. The coronavirus pandemic became a catalyst for controversial political processes in Belgium, brought renewal of the social and environmental contract and a new view of European solidarity. However, the pandemic highlighted the main shortcomings of the existing federal system. The dissociation of the federation and its drift to a confederation is a peaceful and slow process, but the country's unifying factors are gradually eroding. It is not yet clear whether and when a full-fledged confederate system will be created and the separation will be stopped, or whether the confederation will become the next stage on the Belgium's way to the final division. It is impossible to completely exclude a rollback scenario of the strong federation restoration while reducing competencies of regions and communities, but it is obvious that its probability is extremely small.

This article explores trolling as a form of literary activity. It presents a number of specific types of trolling on the Russian-language Internet in connection with digital literature and the literary practices of various groups of Internet users. Techniques for writing provocative "troll-texts" were created and developed within subcultural groups in the 1990s. Later, from being a subversive practice known only to a few insiders, it became a mass technique described in meta-texts that identified rules for trolling and shared facts about its culture with all interested users. In the 2010s, the now popularised techniques of trolling came to be seen as effective strategies to deploy in online debates. At the same time, trolling began to be exploited as a weapon in online political campaigns. This study also shows that trolling texts are often structured around the fight for voice, and it is this conflict that dictates the formal properties of the discourse of trolling. ; peerReviewed

This chapter looks at how the Russian state authorities have attempted to influence communication on the Russian-speaking internet ('Runet') in the 2010s and how pro-government 'patriotic' views are disseminated across diverse channels of the internet. It examines the strategies employed by the Russian authorities to present propagandistic messages in discourses tailored for digital media users. More specifically, it analyses connections between the language and the imagery of political populism and the forms of popular culture and discusses how pro-state messages are positioned as attractive consumer products. ; peerReviewed

This article is devoted to the French policy towards South- and East- Mediterranean countries. It shows the main lines of this policy and the principal ideas of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) project. Paris presented the UfM as the way to resolve economic, social and political problems of the region. Implementing its soft-power project Paris had to meet some challenges and overcome substantial difficulties. Conceived as the French program, the UfM required EU funding. Being a part of the EU Neighbourhood Program, it embraced 43 countries and became difficult to be run. The Gaza war stopped the UfM-cooperation, also undermined by the global economic and financial crisis.