http://iorj.hse.ru en-us Copyright 2024 Wed, 04 Dec 2024 00:59:03 +0300 https://iorj.hse.ru/en/2024-19-4/993552589.html The article analyzes the role of modern geopolitical fragmentation in the regionalization of the global economic space. The research logic is based on the analysis of changes in the theory of regionalization in connection with tectonic transformations in the world economy and politics. A new stage in the development The article analyzes the role of modern geopolitical fragmentation in the regionalization of the global economic space. Theresearch logic is based on the analysis of changes in the theory of regionalization in connection with tectonic transformationsin the world economy and politics. A new stage in the development of regionalism, which is called geopolitical regionalism,has been identified, and the methodology for identifying types of regionalization of the world economy has been clarified.Types such as traditional regionalization, based on direct contractual formats of economic integration (integration regionalization),which is determined primarily by economic factors, are considered in more detail; regionalization based onmacroregions and subregions (macroregional regionalization), in which the dominant factor is geographic location, andfragmentation caused by political factors (geopolitical fragmentation) and leading to the division of the global economicspace into separate opposing blocs of states. Various methodological approaches to identifying separate geopolitical blocs areconsidered, including the use of a new criterion – geopolitical distance, that shows the degree of foreign policy proximity ordistance between the states included in the analyzed group. Unlike other types of regionalization, geopolitical fragmentationis a serious challenge for the global economy as it leads to the collapse of global ties, a fundamental change in existing globalvalue chains and a weakening of the international regulatory system. This requires constant monitoring of geopolitical fragmentationand analysis of its new manifestations as well as a balanced scientific discussion on this issueThis article was submitted  11.07.2024 https://iorj.hse.ru/en/2024-19-4/993564294.html This article analyzes current changes related to the international regulation of digital trade.In the context of technological transformation, the concept of digital trade is expanding. Under the influence of politicaldecisions and the priorities of big companies, it includes an increasingly wider range of issues, which complicates thedevelopment of international rules.Since 2000, the digital economy has taken an important place on the agenda of negotiations on free trade agreements.At the same time new types of arrangements have arisen – digital trade agreements, including provisions on e-commerceand data movement. Their compatibility with the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in terms of preferentialregimes raises objective doubts.Key participants in international digital trade (the European Union (EU), the US, and China) have different approachesto the formation of international rules. Their positions on certain issues may be revised and brought closer together.In recent years, Singapore has been increasingly active in developing international agreements on the digital economy,striving to become a global hub in physical and digital trade.Existing agreements of the WTO were designed before the rapid development of the Internet, so the conditions forconducting digital trade and the commitments of members in it are largely uncovered. Today, it is difficult to negotiate in amultilateral format at the organization. In this regard, the development of rules on e-commerce is taking place in a plurilateralformat – the Joint Initiative.The findings suggest that despite the stabilization of the text of the WTO Agreement on Electronic Commerce, theoutcome of future of negotiations’ outcome negotiations remains uncertain, both due to political disagreements and the crisisin the WTO.This work is an output of a research project “Transformation of the regulatory paradigm for international trade in terms of sanctions”, implemented as part of the Research Program of the Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs at HSE University in 2024.This article was submitted on 26.05.2024. https://iorj.hse.ru/en/2024-19-4/993608618.html Migration policy and its derivates—refugee and asylum policy—are increasingly important items on national and international agendas. This article provides a comprehensive legal and policy analysis of externalization policy and migration and asylum frameworks at the European Union (EU and national levels. Using an integrated approach in methodology, the article theoretically examines the insights from contemporary debates in the field and briefly analyzes the most recent developments in Europe, where the new Pact on Migration was approved in May 2024. Conducting a comparative legal analysis, we analyze the Protocol on Strengthening Cooperation in the Field of Migration, signed between the Albanian and Italian governments, juxtaposing its provisions with international and EU asylum and immigration law. Furthermore, analysis is contemplated with the critique of the judgment of the Albanian Constitutional Court on the compatibility of the protocol with the Albanian constitution and legal standards pertaining to international human rights law.We argue that the agreement is presented as a legal framework to, de jure, strengthen cooperation in the field of migration. However, from the text of the protocol, de facto, the agreement is about placing a certain part of the territory of the Republic of Albania under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Italian Republic, where it can “externalize” its asylum seekers, and deter potential immigrants from travelling toward Italy. It is the latest effort of the EU members to “discharge” asylum seekers onto other, poorer countries as a tool of domestic politics rather than to solve the thorny issue of migration. Conclusions are reached on the developments in EU law and policy on migration and asylum and their impact on relations between EU members and other countries. Finally, we provide recommendations to ensure compliance with human rights standards.This article was submitted on 20.06.2024. https://iorj.hse.ru/en/2024-19-4/993588415.html The increased sanctions efforts of European diplomacy in recent years have formed a new angle of view on the EuropeanUnionʼs external policy towards neighboring countries, since one of the criteria of the EUʼs sanctions policy effectiveness isthe so-called “regional leadership” – third countriesʼ alignment with the EU sanctions regimes. The established academicdiscourse on the topic in Europe evaluates the effectiveness of the sanctions policy on this parameter extremely highly.However, what, in fact, is behind the facade of the postulated successes of regional leadership? In this paper, the authorasks this question in relation to Iceland, a country that has increased vulnerability in the face of external challenges andwhich has incurred incomparably high costs from harmonizing its foreign policy with the EU anti-Russian sanctions regimes.Using the theoretical and methodological frameworks of the shelter theory, this study documents the negative political andeconomic consequences that Iceland has faced and shows that there are no such categories as consideration and leveling ofpossible costs for affiliated countries in the goal setting of the EU sanctions policy. In the Icelandic case, this, in turn, leadsto a reformatting and polarization of the existing ecosystem of relations in the Euro-Atlantic, since the costs Iceland incursfrom harmonization with EU policy are mostly compensated by the United States, although traditionally the U.S. has beenresponsible for Icelandʼs military rather than economic protection. The international political situation in the conditions ofsanctions sets the stage for possible tensions in Icelandʼs relations with the EU and a stronger U.S. direction in its multilateralforeign policy. Nevertheless, despite these tensions, Iceland will continue to synchronize with the EU sanctions regimes, asother options are either fraught with even greater costs (synchronization with the U.S. sanctions policy, which is substantiallytougher than that of the EU) or unrealizable in the international realities after the start of the Special Military Operation(developing its own sanctions regime).This article was submitted on 14.04.2024 https://iorj.hse.ru/en/2024-19-4/993590254.html In this article, the author examines the main approaches to water management in Africa in the context of realizing the rightto clean water and sanitation. The features of both public and private water management, as well as the public-privateapproach, are shown. The author also presents as well the attempts to find a “third way” through decentralization of themanagement system based on the theoretical developments of Nobel Prize-winner E. Ostrom, a representative of the BloomingtonSchool. Differences in water management in urbanized areas and in rural areas of African countries are shown. Inthe latter case, the normative and value attitudes of the local community play an important role, and water is not only animportant economic resource, but also has great socio-cultural significance. The experience of Burkina Faso illustrates thekey role of the public operator in water supply, which has generally remained despite the structural adjustment programmesof the 1990s. The article presents the main features of the privatization of water management in the countries of the GlobalSouth and the expert criticism that has been gaining momentum in this regard. At the mid-2000s, the anti-privatizationagenda shifted to the promotion of the human right to clean water. The process of adoption of United Nations GeneralAssembly (UN GA) resolution 64/292 “The human right to water and sanitation” on 28 July, 2010 and the mechanisms forits implementation, including within the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 6), as well as the place ofwater issues in the discussed draft of the International Covenant on the Right to Development are shown. The main stakeholdersof the global water governance mechanism within the UN and the World Bank are presented, and the special roleof leading water multinational corporations (MNCs) and specialized consulting firms, as well as France, are highlighted.Particular attention is paid to the implementation of the right to water on the Black Continent in Africa, including within theframework of the 2019 Guiding Principles on the Right to Water in Africa, Agenda 2063, and the Results Matrix, as well asin national legislation (the case of South Africa). The article ends with conclusions about the current state of implementationof the right to clean water in Africa.The article was prepared within the project “The “Clean Water” project as the most important component of cooperation between the Russian Federation and the countries of the Global South: socio-economic and technological dimensions” supported by the grant from Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation program for research projects in priority areas of scientific and technological development (Agreement № 075-15-2024-546).This article was submitted on 10.06.2024. https://iorj.hse.ru/en/2024-19-4/993591785.html Emissions trading systems are essential for combating climate change and the energy transition because they create incentivesto limit and control emissions. However, there is also a perception that taxing pollutants is a more effective way to limitemissions than setting caps on pollution. This creates an ambiguity in which taxation predicts the cost of collective actionbut not the volume of emissions. Caps, on the other hand, make pollution quantifiable but not its cost. Emissions tradingsystems, which set a ceiling on pollutants but allow companies to set a price on the market by trading allowances withinthe cap, provide an alternative to this ambiguity. However, the issue of equitable allocation of allowances to developingcountries and the most vulnerable countries remains. The importance of allowances is directly related to political stability,as governments implement measures and instruments to regulate greenhouse gas trade, including incentives, financialincentives and accountability. In general, emission quotas are no less a political task than an economic one, since the fightagainst global warming is a global public good and does not fit into standard market mechanisms.The purpose of the study is to develop a model for distributing quotas for private mathematical calculations that takesinto account country variables and allows, based on the level of industrial development, calculation of quotas, as well as theenvironmental friendliness of production factors.The methodology is presented by mathematical modeling methods through the creation of an equilibrium model forcalculating the distribution of emission quotas.As a result of the study, the authors developed a multicomponent heterogeneous equilibrium model for calculatingthe distribution of greenhouse gas emission quotas, taking into account not only the volume of the country's gross domesticproduct (GDP) but also the volume of GDP per capita, which prevents excessive underquoting of developing countries, aswell as separately regulating the quota system for the poorest countries.This article was submitted on 20.02.2024. https://iorj.hse.ru/en/2024-19-4/993605464.html The expansion of climate change measures on decarbonization and adaptation are implemented by countries in nationallegislation, including obligations to reduce greenhouse gases (GHGs) by nationally determined contributions that have animpact on integration processes, as climate obligations are primarily linked to the realization of collective actions by theinternational community. For example, WTO in its report on the interaction of climate and trade issues [Trade and ClimateChange, 2022] was pointed to 4,355 trade measures in agreements that are aimed to achieve the climate goals. The topic ofclimate change particularly affects the energy and metals sectors, in which Russia is currently a key exporter. For example,climate change has brought into focus the issue of ensuring stable supplies of critical raw materials that is needed for theenergy transition. Since Russia is currently a key exporter of certain goods, it seems relevant to consider how climate actionby Russian importers will affect Russiaʼs positioning in foreign trade under international sanctions. As a result of the study,the authors formulate proposals for Russia to take national measures, taking into account the exports changes.The article was prepared as part of the research work of the state task of the RANEPAThis article was submitted on 14.06.2024. https://iorj.hse.ru/en/2024-19-4/993606973.html This article analyzes strategic planning in Russia’s export of higher education and the prospects for its implementation underthe ongoing fragmentation of international relations. The purpose of the study is to assess how much the country’s prioritieshave changed in the export of higher education and how these changes affected goal setting and geographical guidelines.The article uses a multidisciplinary approach, since the problem of exporting education is at the intersection oftwo research areas: international relations and foreign policy and higher education and the internationalization of highereducation. The empirical material of the study includes strategic documents regulating foreign policy and the export ofeducation, documents of ministries and departments of the Russian Federation, and statistical data on the state of highereducation in the Russian Federation. The authors also analyze research publications, analytical reports, and other materialson this topic.It is concluded that the export of higher education began to be considered by the Russian government as an importantdirection of foreign policy after the start of the sanctions regime against the Russian Federation in 2014 and the actualbreakdown of institutional cooperation with western universities. The geographic reorientation of academic cooperation ofthe Russian Federation with non-western countries is changing the priorities of the export of education, strengthening thepolitical component in it and pushing the declared economic component to the background.The scope of available official statistics on the real volume of funds received from the export of Russian higher educationmake it difficult to assess the economic efficiency of this type of Russian activity on the global market. According tothe report of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education for 2023, the stated quantitative goalsThis research was supported by Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, project No FSWM-2024-0008This article was submitted on 13.06.2024 https://iorj.hse.ru/en/2024-19-4/996718409.html Purpose – After decades of hypergrowth, since the 2008 global financial crisis there has been a deceleration of globalization and apartial jamming of its main engines (trade and foreign direct investment [FDI]). This study aims to critically reflect on the currentphase, labeling it as “win-lose globalization” characterized by firm-firm competition increasingly intertwined with that between therespective nation-states, which aim to be the relative winners, even at the expense of joint absolute gains. Acting as “strategists,” statesimplement policies to weaponize economic interdependences, which the paper analyzes.Design/methodology/approach – The approach is “problem setting” rather than “problem solving.” The latter offerswell-defined solutions but often assumes unambiguous definitions of problems, which obscure their complexity. This phase is sointricate that the problem itself is problematic. Thus, to advance knowledge, the focus is given on nation-state policies: FDI screeningand the politicization of international trade relations; protectionism; misuses of antitrust and regulation.Findings – The intensification of firm-firm/state-state competition, seeking disproportionate gains over rivals, is the ultimateresult of the contradictions and dissatisfactions accumulated over decades of globalization, the benefits of which have beenfar from equally distributed. Conflicts in international economic relations are bound to intensify, and a return to win-win globalization isunlikely. International cooperation to strengthen existing/new supranational governance institutions in the interest of absolute globalinclusive benefits is urgently needed.Originality/value – The paper integrates the international business debate on the fate of globalization with interpretationsfrom industrial policy studies and international relations theory. This allows for suggestions for policymakers, corporate executivesand scholars.Mariotti, S. (2024), "“Win-lose” globalization and the weaponization of economic policies by nation-states", Critical Perspectives on International Business, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/cpoib-09-2023-0089 [1] Sergio Mariotti. Published by Emerald Publishing Limited. This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this licence may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode