Partnership NATO–Sweden

Article characterizes relations between most powerful military pact – Northern Atlantic Pact and neutral state – Sweden. In this article is analyzing cooperation on military ground, non-military ground and it is also analyzing aspects of cooperation involving neutral status of Sweden, Crimea annexation and growing danger from Russia. Studies connected to main theme of article were based on official documents od NATO, press notes or official releases. Main reason of article is to answer on question if neutral state can cooperate with NATO and can we say that between NATO and Sweden exists partnership relation. Except of above issues, in this article I will try to define neutrality, neutral policy and partnership. After made analysis of available documents, emphatically we can agree that partnership between NATO and Sweden exists.

Recent years the growing confrontation between the Russian Federation, the United States, and the EU is accompanied by Moscow’s searching the alternative allies for its diplomatic support. Iran is called one of such allies today. The Russian-Iranian relations are interesting both in terms of sectoral and geographical fields. The region of Central Asia is of particular importance. The need to consider such aspects is explained by the strengthening of Iran’s position in Central Asia as a direct zone of Russian interests in a sense of its economic, cultural, and religious presence.

An active collaboration with teachers is a prerequisite of system based approach to school counselling. The objective of the research was examining the experiences of school counsellors regarding collaboration with teachers in the domain of student counselling in the school setting in Serbia. This research applied a pragmatist qualitative approach using a semi-structured interview. Participants were 81 elementary school counsellors (pedagogues). The results show that teachers are generally open for collaboration during student counselling. Teachers’ acceptance of advice depends on their personality and classroom management style. Conclusions offer recommendations for improving the partnership relations as a basis for effective student counselling.

Legal Grounds for Establishing and Conducting International Cooperation by Local Government Units in Poland

Reactiving the local government in Poland gave an opportunity to increase the activity of local communities in the international area. The adoption of legal solutions guaranteed the international activity of local government untis through standardized procedures, defined goals and directions of action. A specific suplement are signed international agreements and agreements on cross-border and international cooperation, which are anchored in international treaties. The legal basis for international cooperation of local government units was defined in the Constitution of the Republic of Poland of April 2, 1997. The main aim of the article was to define the possibilities of international cooperation of local government units in Poland. European documents supporting international cooperation of territorial units were identified. In addition, Polish legal conditions were identified in the scope of concluding cooperation agreements and belonging to international associations.

Illusory NATO–Russia partnership during the crisis and building superpower status of the Russian Federation

The aim of the article is to analyze the relationship between NATO and the Russian Federation. Deliberations are conducted within the institutional and historical-problematic approach. The author characterizes the institutional framework for cooperation between NATO and Russia, as well as discusses the factors which are barriers to this cooperation. Therefore focuses on the most important issues of common interest of partners, such as the problem of stabilizing the security environment, the fight against international terrorism, the use of the armed forces in foreign policy, the process of NATO enlargement and the maintaining of strategic balance between parties. The Author is skeptical about the possibility of establishing a lasting partnership between NATO and Russia. He indicates the difference between the period of the 90s of the twentieth century, when was evident weakness and submission of Russia to NATO and the beginning of the twenty-first century, when is an attempt of rebuilding Russia’s superpower in a manner unacceptable by NATO.

Aporias of sustainable development

The article considers the aporias underlying the idea of sustainable development and the 2030 Agenda. The reports made for the Agenda show, on the one hand, that in recent years the number of people living in extreme poverty has significantly decreased, on the other hand, it turns out that the goals of sustainable development are implemented are faster and more effective in developed countries. In other words, we observe that despite the relative improvement in living conditions in the poorest countries of the global South, most of the profits still go to the wealthiest countries of the North, which get richer at the expense of the poor. The author concludes that the aporetic nature of the 2030 Agenda has been unintentionally expressed already in the preamble, where the idea of sustainable development is compared to modern Esperanto, thanks to which the activities of governments and business are to be integrated under the aegis of the United Nations, and notes that the vast majority of vocabulary in Esperanto comes from languages Western European, and the language is always governed by a specific axiology and social structure – it turns out that it is easier for Western countries to find the semantic, syntactic and, above all, pragmatic reality assumed in the Agenda.

The role and importance of the international legal solutions to global processes

Growing international inter dependencies, weakening of internal and external sovereignty of the state and necessity of joint overcoming of problems and global threats reveals the necessity of creating new rules of global order, based not only on nation states, but also on growing number of international organizations and institutions, regional groupings, communities and local organizations. The globalization of political life fosters rise of number of institutions, organizations and international groupings and development of international law. The cooperation between them should respect the rules of equality, freedom, democracy, partnership, solidarity, respect for cultural diversity and environmental protection.

The article analyses the peculiarities of cooperation between one of the key integration associations of the modern international system – the European Union (EU) and the African Union (AU). The historical retrospective of AfricanEuropean relations has been depicted. The key directions of the AU and EU partnership, which ensure intercontinental cooperation in various spheres of life, have been identified. The objectives of the Joint Africa-EU Strategy, which forms the basis of their cooperation, have been described. Emphasis has been placed on the political dimension of AU-EU relations, in particular the summits of the organizations and their results. The security issue in AU-EU relations has been analyzed. The economic direction of the joint activities of the African Union and the European Union and the challenges of trade cooperation have been studied. Climate and energy cooperation between the African and European continents has been considered. Migration issues and population mobility policy as components of AU-EU interaction have been characterized. Peculiarities and priorities of AU-EU cooperation in the field of innovation have been analyzed. The key challenges faced by the AU and the EU in the process of intercontinental partnership development have been outlined. The main prospects of cooperation between the African Union and the European Union, which have an impact on the stability of the geopolitical landscape of today, have been highlighted. A format of partnership that would be effective for both the European and the African integration associations has been determined, taking into account the challenges and perspectives of cooperation.