The Socialist Republic of Vietnam, just like other countries, functions in determined conditions which influence the way of determining and understanding the security and shaping of the security policy. There prevails a division to problems of an internal and external nature. While talking about and indicating global problems which in consequence can influence the internal security of a country, challenges and threats that countries face need to be noticed. These are ecological, demographic, political, economic and social threats. While looking at factors determining the internal security of a country, special attention needs to be paid to the state of relations and its surroundings, a state of system stability, a level of social peace, a level of public safety and a level of public order.

Although a current and marketable term in the literature and political discourses, the notion of ‘international role’ still lacks a clear and succinct, let alone consensually applicable, definition. This article posits that, from the actorness perspective as a point of departure, the concept of “international role” may well be assessed through the lenses of the quad-element “PIPP” analytical model, which is herewith developed. Thereby, the analysis of actor’s international role has to make a long conceptual sojourn from power, influence presence to performance (PIPP). These four embedded concepts (PIPP model) help assess the explanandum, i.e. “actor’s international role”, in a theoretically-informed, systematic and holistic way, thus avoiding the pitfalls of sporadic (mis) usage found in common parlance.

This article provides a comparative analysis of the implementation of referendums in Ukraine and the Baltic states during the first decade of independence. The article contains a historical and political aspect regarding the reasons and results of referendums introduced in the specified countries. The article provides a separate analysis of the political features of the introduction of referendums in Ukraine, which consisted, first of all, of pressure from the president on the parliament, with the aim of the latter adopting decisions necessary for the head of state. Such pressure on the parliament, in the form of a referendum initiative by the second President of Ukraine, was aimed at increasing its powers, especially with regard to influence on the government, and a proportional decrease in the powers of the Verkhovna Rada. This was most clearly manifested during the period of formation and approval of the text of the Constitution of Ukraine, in which all the «rules of the game» in the aspect of checks and balances of the highest institutions of state power were to be agreed upon. The experience of the Baltic countries in the first decade of restored independence had less practice than in Ukraine regarding political confrontations between the highest bodies of state power. The Baltic countries finally agreed on the main powers of the main institutions of power during the first two years of their restored independence and confirmed them in referendums. Further, their plebiscites consisted more in solving issues of national than exclusively political importance.

The article examines the impact of microlearning technology on students’ motivation. The experimental (microlearning technology) and control (traditional learning) groups compared the study results. Statistical analysis was conducted to determine the answers to the motivation scale and to identify the significance of differences in students’ answers in the control and experimental groups. The Scheffe method was used to determine the source of differences in the responses of the study groups. The analysis of the study shows that microlearning technology has better results due to greater student engagement and learning motivation than traditional learning.

Consequences of the nature of the war narrative in a democratic society in the long term

The way media informs the public about ongoing war is decisively distinct in authoritarian and democratic states. Differences are of a systemic nature and result from the direct influence, which the authoritarian authorities can exert on the narrative. It is much easier for them to pursuit of their preferences, manipulate message or neutralize public interest. In democracy the narrative must observe freedom of speech and expression and the message is finally the resultant of many factors, on which democratic authorities have limited influence. Paradoxically, media freedom creates the risk of lacking consistency of message and contribute do the “war fatigue” effect in the public.