Remittances as a Vital Tool for Economic and Human Security in Latin America 1

While a wide range of extensive literature deal with migration as a security concern, much less attention is aimed at migrant remittances regarding security. However, vulnerable communities in developing regions such as Latin America tend to rely upon the sum of money received from migrants working abroad. In the shadow of the Covid-19 pandemic, it has again become apparent that migrant related monetary remittances play a vital role in disaster relief. In this paper it is argued that remittances have been a crucial tool for economic and human security in Latin America especially during the pandemic. Examining primary and secondary statistical sources, the analysis also tries to find explanations for the resilience and increasing volume of cross-border remittances with regard to the Latin American region, exceeding earlier estimates to a great extent.

The Quad as a Security Actor

When the Quad briefly emerged in 2007-8 among Australia, India, Japan, and the United States, this minilateral was referred to as the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue. Although some member states occasionally still use that term-often casually-it has been eschewed as a formal designation. Indeed, Quad members have gone out of their way to highlight a softer purpose rather than a security framing for the coalition. They have emphasized the idea of the group as a solutions provider for regional problems, including the Covid-19 crisis and climate change, while simultaneously officials have either denied or downplayed the grouping's security dimension.1 In September 2021, for instance, a senior U.S. official emphasized that the Quad "is not a regional security organization." The official further added that "there is not a military dimension...or security dimension" to the grouping.2However, while the Quad is not a regional security organization or alliance and does not involve formal security commitments or treaty obligations, it does have security and even some military dimensions. This element may not be evident in members' public statements, but as this essay argues, it is a key component of the Quad and the cooperation between its members.The Quad's resurrection lay in the need to respond to a security challenge-a more assertive and powerful China. This was not the only driver, but without it, the Quad was neither necessary nor possible. The member states' desire to respond to this challenge by shaping a favorable balance of power and building resilience in the region has led to several lines of effort, including in the defense and security domains. Among other elements, these interactions have involved building on a relatively low base of member-state interconnection in these sectors, particularly with India. Members' engagement in these realms has been evident in three areas: (1) security consultations and activities via the Quad, (2) sub-Quad activities, involving the deepening of ties between the Quad partners bilaterally and trilaterally, and (3) supra-Quad activities, consisting of member-state cooperation with other like-minded partners.

South China Sea: ASEAN Mechanism on Maritime Disputes and the Rise of Indo Pacific Region

Article Type: Research Paper Purpose-The intensification in the South China Sea (SCS) evolved through time concentrating on assertions of sovereignty by the multiplicity of claimants, increasing of competition over maritime resources and worsening geopolitical rivalries among great powers. The Asia- Pacific and Indian Ocean regions are amongst the most dynamic in the world as well as centers of economic growth for decades. Southeast Asia lies in the center of these dynamic regions and is a very important conduit and portal to the same. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has placed the promotion of regional peace and security at the forefront of its endeavors and had taken a proactive approach in evolving a comprehensive regional security architecture by building ASEAN- centric regional security frameworks, namely ASEAN Outlook on the Indo- Pacific, which undertake cooperation in a broad range of areas, including maritime cooperation as well as the ASEAN Regional Forum and the Code of Conduct (COC). The existing and arising geopolitical challenges facing countries in the region revolve around maritime issues. Methodology, Approach-This research employs a doctrinal approach and draws data from primary and secondary sources, including desktop research, with a particular emphasis on recent journals, documents, and official reports. Findings-Despite the efforts made by ASEAN to balance the influence of great powers, its individual member states crafttheir own diplomatic relations according to their economic needs and development. Analysis is on the ASEAN intergovernmental policies and mechanisms, as well as the complexity of geopolitical interest in the South China Sea Dispute. As ASEAN Framework has very weak foundations, it is crucial for ASEAN to focus on the implementation of COC and multilateralism to strengthen its ability to shape regional security dynamic. ASEAN already possesses the mechanisms;all that remains is to endow it with significant implementation powers. Practical Implications-Useful for under- and post- graduate students in writing a literature review. This paper analyses the scholarly and theoretical impact in international law and international relations. Originality, Value-This article analyses the ASEAN mechanism in addressing the maritime dispute in the SCS arising from the shiftof geopolitics in the Indo- Pacific region and is relevant to the contribution of dispute resolution to the current South China Sea conflict.

Barriers to integrating diagnostic services for febrile illness to support surveillance and patient management in Asia‐Pacific

As malaria cases continue to decline in Asia, an integrated service delivery approach is ever more urgent to ensure that no malaria and fever cases are missed, and that malaria health workers continue contributing to broader infectious disease control efforts. However, despite its perceived merit, translating integrated surveillance into practice poses several systemic challenges. This article aims to identify what is hindering improved processes for integrating diagnostic and surveillance services for febrile illnesses. Data from peer‐reviewed and grey literature were reviewed using a systems approach based on the World Health Organisation health systems building blocks to fully understand the connections between different elements and system implications of integration. We include snippets from Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Malaysia and Nepal, highlighting expanded diagnostic integration best practices. This review provides a foundation for ‘integration roadmaps’ that can be adapted to different contexts and guide national stakeholders on the operational and political steps for a successful integration model. Such a model can support malaria elimination efforts and serve as a public health tool in the context of disease surveillance and regional health security.

Understanding the Institutional Challenge of Indo-Pacific Minilaterals to ASEAN

The intensity of minilateral coalition-building among the United States and its Indo-Pacific partners, especially the consolidation of the Quad and the formation of AUKUS in 2021, has rekindled concerns over the relevance of ASEAN multilateralism and ASEAN's claim to centrality in the regional architecture. Although the challenge to ASEAN-led mechanisms from competing and parallel institutions initiated by other powers is not a new phenomenon, this article argues that the intensity of today's geopolitical tensions, primarily but not exclusively between the United States and China, has driven America and its Indo-Pacific partners to invest more in minilateral coalitions than in ASEAN institutions to advance their strategic goals. The institutional challenge that these minilaterals present to ASEAN is three-fold. First, they signify the entrenchment of hard balancing by the United States and its Indo-Pacific partners and their reduced reliance on ASEAN's normative influence. Second, their small, nimble membership holds out better prospects than ASEAN institutions in delivering tangible results and effective responses to regional security challenges. Third, they accentuate the pre-existing strategic incoherence within ASEAN in the face of Great Power competition.

Factors of Regional Processes Destabilization in the Southern Russia

Introduction. The article examines traditional and recent factors that affect the situation in the geopolitically significant southern Russian region. The reasons for the actualization of socio-political and ethno-confessional conflicts are considered as factors of possible regional destabilization. Methods and materials. Conflictological diagnostics of the regional tension dynamics, as well as the nature and features of situational and long-term risks to regional security and socio-political stability in the South of Russia are based on factor analysis of Rostov region, Krasnodar Krai, and the Republic of Adygea materials. Analysis. By analyzing the statistics, the authors has revealed the presence of such negative processes in these regions as a decrease in the standard of living, a sharp increase in the unemployment rate, an increase in corruption and crime rates, population decrease, which is provoked by the COVID-19 pandemic – the newest factor of regional tension. Results. It is concluded that socio-economic problems against the background of a pandemic crisis may adversely affect the nature of interethnic and interfaith relations. Competition in the labor market, deterioration of the criminal situation, and uncontrolled migration can be considered as factors of conflict. According to the results of the study, it was found that the destabilization factors of the Rostov region regional situation have an endogenous character: demographic (population decrease), economic (deterioration in the socio-economic situation of the population), growth of protest activity and destructive content in the media. For Krasnodar Krai and the Republic of Adygea, exogenous factors of regional tension remain relevant: there is a high level of external migration for the region. Authors’ contribution.The contribution of M.V. Tarasova in writing the article is to form the research logic, develop methodology and tools, and analyze statistical information in Rostov region. The analysis of the regional situation in Krasnodar Krai and Rostov region was carried out by I.V. Yurchenko, and M.V. Dontsova.Alternate : В статье рассматриваются традиционные и новейшие факторы, влияющие на ситуацию в геополитически значимом южно-российском регионе. Показаны причины актуализации конфликтогенов социально-политического и этно-конфессионального характера, являющиеся факторами возможной региональной дестабилизации. Проводится конфликтологическая диагностика динамики региональной напряженности, определяются характер и особенности ситуационных и долгосрочных рисков региональной безопасности и социально-политической стабильности на Юге России, в частности, по материалам Ростовской области, Краснодарского края и Республики Адыгея. На основе анализа статистических данных в указанных регионах отмечается наличие таких негативных процессов, как снижение уровня жизни, резкое повышение уровня безработицы, рост коррупции и уровня преступности, снижение численности населения, что провоцируется новейшим фактором региональной напряженности – пандемией COVID-19. Сделан вывод, что социально-экономические проблемы на фоне пандемического кризиса могут отрицательно скаРаться на характере межэтнических и межконфессиональных отношений. Факторами конфликтности могут выступать конкуренция на рынке труда, ухудшение криминогенной обстановки, неконтролируемая миграция. По итогам проведенного исследования установлено, что в Ростовской области факторы, способные привести к дестабилизации региональной ситуации, носят эндогенный характер: демографический (сокращение населения), экономический (ухудшение социально-экономического положения населения), рост протестной активности и деструктивного контента в СМИ. Для Краснодарского края и Республики Адыгея сохраняют актуальность экзогенные факторы региональной напряженности – высокий уровень внешней для региона миграции. Вклад авторов. В процессе работы над статьей вклад М.В. Тарасовой заключается в формировании логики исследования, разработке методологии и инструментария, анализе статистической информации в Ростовской области. Вклад И.В. Юрченко, М.В. Донцовой – анализе региональной ситуации в Краснодарском крае и Республике Адыгея.

Introduction to the Special Issue

Various discussion and research results were summed up in the book Az Európai Unió mediterrán térséggel összefüggo kapcsolata [Connections of the European Union with the Mediterranean Region].1 Currently UPS is leading a 3-year international project headed by Anna Molnár as scientific coordinator: 'EUSecure Project: An Interdisciplinary Training on EU Security, Resilience and Sustainability - A Simulation Supported Massive Open Online Course (SimMOOC), to be carried out in partnership with the Piraeus University of Greece, the University Fernando Pessoa in Porto, Portugal, the University of Salento in Lecce, Italy and Sapientia, the Hungarian University of Transylvania in Romania. In the post-Cold War era there has been a growing convergence between national and international security4 and a broadening of the concept of security, leading to the "redefinition of the referent objects and sources of threat".5 The latter might be grouped in distinguishable yet overlapping sectors, including military, political, economic, societal and environmental fields, as defined by the Copenhagen School at the beginning of the 21st century.6 Nowadays these tend to be complemented by new sectors, such as health security, energy security and cybersecurity. Yet security threats are increasingly multidimensional, cross-border and international. [...]states tend to face challenges that are getting more similar. [...]studying how others cope with security threats can help tackling challenges in one's own country/region, and lead to adopting good practices.

The Governance, Security and Development Nexus: Africa Rising

Citing nongovernmental and international organizations' data, he concludes: "the governance, security and development interface in Africa doesn't seem to portray the robust picture of a substantially transforming continent even though it may not be denied that some progress has been made" (25). Shifting to AfricaUnited States (US) relations, Taiwo Owoeye focuses on investment, security, and trade by examining humanitarian intervention and sustainable development. Drawing on interviews with government officials, Ibrahim Bangura explores trade and security cooperation with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

China-Southeast Asian Nontraditional Security Engagement: A Soft Power Mode in Beijing's Regional Diplomacy? *

Many people believed that cooperation in NTS could build initial confidence for China and Southeast Asian countries to manage more contentious issues, due to the low sensitivity of NTS relative to traditional security.10 To affirm their political will to cooperate, the two sides signed several agreements, some of which included the Joint Declaration on Cooperation in the Field of Non-traditional Security Issues in 2002 and the Memorandum of Understanding on NTS cooperation in 2004.11 Through engagement in disaster relief, infectious disease control, and combat against transnational crimes, China and ASEAN managed to achieve confidence building to a good extent in the 2000s, a period described as the "honeymoon" of the two-way relations.12 2.NTS Cooperation amid Changing Security Environment: Issues and Questions The regional security environment in Southeast Asia has undergone notable changes in the 2010s. [...]while welcoming the benefits and opportunities created by China's greater commitment, Southeast Asian countries are increasingly aware of the new trend in regional security and many Southeast Asian elites are more concerned about the expansion of China's influence in the region on all fronts.14 The conflicts and tensions in the South China Sea have also contributed to many regional states' apprehensions toward China. [...]one should also consider the dynamics beyond the China-Southeast context. [...]greater interest and commitment of China do not necessarily translate to strengthened NTS cooperation with Southeast Asia as the outcomes of its diplomatic endeavors are subject to the influence of a variety of factors and dynamics.

COVID-19 and Regional Security. Global Macrosecuritization, Local Adaptations, and the Dilemmas of Latin American Cooperation

This article analyses the main lines around which the securitization of COVID-19 has been interpreted and used in Latin America. Starting from an understanding of securitization that incorporates a dialogue between the local and the global to interpret the specific characteristics of the process, the investigation observes the varied ways in which different countries in the region have adapted global security discourses. The main global security dynamics around COVID-19, the particularities of its main local counterparts, and the extraordinary actions legitimized as a result of them are analysed. It is argued that the variations in the constructions of the "pandemic threat" by regional actors, carried out in isolation and read through different interpretive frameworks, are both a consequence and an aggravating factor of political disagreements between national leaders. In this way, the article seeks to make a general balance that serves as the basis for continuing the debate on the many aspects in which the current pandemic has affected regional security.