No abstract

The 21st Century Maritime Silk Road (MSR), part of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), aims to turn China into a “strong maritime power” controlling the most important sea routes. The Special Declaration, signed in January 2018 during the Second China–CELAC Ministerial Forum, refers to the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) as the MSR’s “natural extension”. By the beginning of this year, more than 20 LAC countries, including two-thirds of the Caribbean, have become “indispensable participants” in the Initiative. The article analyzes the BRI’s implementation in the Caribbean region in the context of Sino–US relations. The primary sources are government documents, papers of international organizations and forums, think tank reports, speeches by officials, media publications, etc. In the course of the study, the following results are obtained: recent scientific works on the topic are listed, the issues considered in them are highlighted; some BRI’s infrastructure projects in the Caribbean are briefly characterized; the BRI’s impact on Sino–US relations is identified; the possible ways of further development of the situation are predicted. The author comes to the conclusion that, on the one hand, China is reaping the economic and political benefits from engagement with the Caribbean countries. On the other hand, Beijing is advancing on the grand chessboard by extending the BRI to the USA’s “backyard” and “soft underbelly”. The United States perceives the Initiative as a grave threat to national security and takes retaliatory measures. This determines the relevance of further studies on the BRI’s Caribbean segment.

The pandemic has produced the global COVID-19 vaccine market with various stakeholders acting in their economic self-interest. At the same time, some governments use vaccines for pursuing national interests and expanding their international influence. Using scientific works on the topic and documents from WHO, GAVI, WTO, IMF, government documents and think tank reports, the author analyzes vaccine diplomacy as a branch of medical diplomacy and identifies changes that occur under pandemic impact. The article examines the current policy of China, as it has achieved the most notable success in medical services export, primarily to developing countries, and Chinese pharmaceutical companies play a prominent role in the global vaccine market. It raises serious concerns of the West, which accuses Beijing of using coronacrisis to establish a new (China-centric) world order. It is concluded that government capacity to protect public health and control epidemic spread is among the significant criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of State policy, and its own vaccine industry begins to be regarded as an important element of national security. There is also a considerable increase in the role of healthcare in foreign policy of a number of States using medical and vaccine diplomacies as a means of achieving political goals. COVID-19 vaccines are becoming a strategic asset that affects the country’s position on the world stage and generates a new field of geopolitical rivalry. But at the same time, vaccine diplomacy could serve as a dialogue platform in cases when interstate relations are in a deep crisis. And it may lead to awareness of the need to train specialists in the field of medical diplomacy.

Introduction. The article studies the Triple Frontier – a Tri-Border Area along the junction of Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay. The main aim is to analyze the reasons for its perception as an ‘outlaw territory’, the term generally associated with the terrorist threat. Methods and Materials. Stigmatization theory, symbolic interactionism and securitization theory serve as a theoretical and methodological basis for the research. The main sources for the analysis are official reports, communiques, interviews, and publications in leading periodicals. Analysis. The article analyzes the formation of international perception of the Triple Frontier since the mid1990s. It highlights objective and subjective grounds for the negative image that has been created to date; defines the mechanisms exploited by the United States to stigmatize the region and the reasons for selective securitization of threats emanating from there. According to the authors, the Triple Frontier is characterized by a complex set of relationships between multiple stakeholders. Their diverse and often contradictory interests form a convergent-divergent space which affects security of local residents, security of Latin American countries, and, to a certain extent, international security in general. Results. In the final part of the article the main scientific results obtained during the research are formulated, and possible ways of further development regarding this case are outlined. The authors conclude that to destigmatize the Triple Frontier it is necessary to rebrand it – to create a new, positive image, taking advantage of the geopolitical and geo-economic situation, as well as the availability of unique water resources.