Political Sciences Journal

The "Nudge" Theory is considered one of the most recent theories, which is clear in the economic, health, and educational sectors, due to the intensity of studies on it and its applications, but it has not yet been included in crime prevention studies. The use of Nudge theory appears to enrich the theory in the field of crime prevention, and to provide modern, effective, and implementable mechanisms.
The study deals with the "integrative review" approach, which is a distinctive form of research that generates new knowledge on a topic through reviewing, criticizing, and synthesizing representative literature on the topic in an integrated manner so that new frameworks and perspectives are created around it.
The study is based on the literature of behavioral economics, with a focus on three basic and recent theories: nudges, fast and slow thinking, and chaos bias. All of them confirm that the ordinary person acts spontaneously, and makes his daily decisions according to what is available, without thinking and contemplation. Thus, they bear characteristics that the security researcher can employ in preventing crime and designing security policies.
Many of the results of studies using poke and behavioral economics theories in crime prevention emphasized the reduction of crime rates, and yielded positive results in preventing crime, rather than combating it, especially in the field of urban planning, shop design, afforestation, lighting, and paving of streets, which encourages the turnout of individuals to it and causes a natural social interaction that prevents the criminal from being motivated to commit his crime.
The study recommends giving more attention to studies about uses of the nudge theory, developing the design of security policies in crime prevention, and supporting modern security studies and security policy studies.

It is no secret to everyone that the Arab individual suffers from poor self-awareness and political awareness, which made the state and the importance of its existence and preserving its institutions not among his interests, which made researchers wonder about the possibility of strengthening it and the extent of its impact on the future of building the contemporary Arab state. So, the study attempts to addressing the issue of community awareness and its impact on building the state through a clear intellectual vision that blended what is social and political to define the concept of community awareness and highlight its importance and role as a basic pillar in shaping and building modern Arab countries in the Arab world and ways to enhance it. It must be emphasized that the desired societal awareness cannot be achieved in an instantaneous way, but rather it needs time because the development of awareness is cumulative, in addition to that, building awareness starts from the base to the elite and not vice versa, as it is closely linked to individual socialization.

The nation-building process in fragile states is complex, often involving multifaceted challenges and opportunities. A pertinent example is Iraq post-2003, which serves as a model to study the intricacies of rebuilding a nation in the aftermath of conflict. During this period, we witnessed a significant international intervention aimed at establishing democratic governance, fostering economic development, and restoring social stability. Iraq’s nation-building journey showcases both successes and shortcomings. Establishing a representative government marked a step towards inclusivity and political participation, yet sectarian tensions persisted, hindering cohesive national identity. Economic initiatives aimed to harness Iraq's oil resources for growth, but corruption and mismanagement posed obstacles. Moreover, building a unified social fabric proved arduous, as historical divisions necessitated reconciliation efforts.
The Iraqi model underscores the importance of a comprehensive approach encompassing political, economic, and social dimensions. Effective nation-building hinges on addressing the root causes of fragility, promoting institutional resilience, and fostering societal cohesion. International actors play a vital role through capacity-building, diplomacy, and aid coordination but must respect local agencies and avoid imposing top-down solutions.
In this article, we address the problem of nation-building in fragile states by reviewing and analyzing the challenges that face this process and the opportunities available to overcome those challenges, with the selection of Iraq after 2003 as a model for the study.

The launch of the EU’s Eastern Partnership in 2009 intended to signal a new, elevated level of EU engagement with its Eastern neighborhood. Yet there remain several long-simmering and potentially destabilizing conflicts in the region, with which EU engagement thus far has been sporadic at best. The Union’s use of its Common Security and Defense Policy (CSDP) in the region and to help solve these disputes has been particularly ad hoc and inconsistent, wracked by inter-institutional incoherence and undermined by Member States’ inability to agree on a broad strategic vision for engagement with the area.
The three CSDP missions deployed to the region thus far have all suffered from this incoherence to various extents. In particular, all three were tasked with long-term mandates far beyond their real capabilities, largely for symbolic reasons. This reflects a perception, common in Brussels even after the Treaty of Lisbon, that the EU’s instruments are either ‘political’, like the CSDP, or ‘technocratic’, like the European Neighborhood Policy (ENP). Yet the CSDP’s role as political symbol has only made Member States reluctant to deploy it in such a politically-sensitive region, and this artificial and unrealistic distinction between the two types of policy instruments has hampered the EU’s ability to use its wide variety of tools in an effective, coherent and long-term way.
This paper argues that the creation of the European External Action Service (EEAS), as well as the relatively positive current climate of Eurasia relations, offer an unrivalled opportunity for the EU to reconsider its approach to using CSDP to help resolve the conflicts in its Eastern neighborhood. First, the EEAS must develop a set of concrete and politically realistic policy aims for each of the three major disputes in the region: in Transnistria, Nagorno-Karabakh and the two breakaway provinces of Georgia, South Ossetia and Abkhazia. The EEAS, together with the Directorate General for the ENP, should then plan together to use their various instruments in support of one another, rather than, as has too often been the case until now, merely brief one another on separate but parallel policies.

It is no secret to everyone that the Arab individual suffers from poor self-awareness and political awareness, which made the state and the importance of its existence and preserving its institutions not among his interests, which made researchers wonder about the possibility of strengthening it and the extent of its impact on the future of building the contemporary Arab state. So, the study attempts to addressing the issue of community awareness and its impact on building the state through a clear intellectual vision that blended what is social and political to define the concept of community awareness and highlight its importance and role as a basic pillar in shaping and building modern Arab countries in the Arab world and ways to enhance it. It must be emphasized that the desired societal awareness cannot be achieved in an instantaneous way, but rather it needs time because the development of awareness is cumulative, in addition to that, building awareness starts from the base to the elite and not vice versa, as it is closely linked to individual socialization.

Class consciousness represents its highest stage in the contemporary Marxist thought of Rosa Luxemburg and Antonio Gramsci, not just a reflection of reality, but rather a dialectical form through the reflection of consciousness on reality and its reproduction. The superiority over the infrastructure (historical materialism) promised the revolutionary class consciousness to be achieved spontaneously, and the seeds of a breakthrough are mass strikes, denying the role of the party to organize this awareness, limiting its role to the interconnection between classes, emphasizing the role of socialist democracy as a conscious vanguard for organizing spontaneity, struggle, and developing awareness during the revolutionary process and the leadership of the revolution to achieve its goals. But at the same time it called for reducing the role of the leading vanguard whenever the class consciousness of the proletariat increased, and although it reduced a lot of the role of violence in achieving the revolution, in the end it relied on revolutionary violence as a final solution to achieving the revolution after the revolution had run out. Peaceful means of change, then, after the socialist revolution is achieved through the conscious proletarian class and the establishment of its state, will wither after achieving its goals and consolidating its principles in awareness of individuals, for Rosa's class consciousness is an important tool in educating the masses, achieving revolution, changing the bourgeois system, and establishing the bourgeois state; and at the same time it is a tool for its decay.

The study deals with China's soft power and diplomacy in the Middle East, and it focuses specifically on the tools and foundations of China's soft diplomacy and how it achieves its goals in the region in addition to its challenges in the region. In this regard, the study also focuses on the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative and its soft foundations and how they serve China’s diplomacy and soft power in the region. The study ends with a set of conclusions, perhaps the most prominent of which is that diplomacy and soft power have become a fundamental pillar of China's foreign policy to achieve its foreign goals and to establish an international system compatible with China's principles. As for the Middle East, China has established a policy in the region in order to achieve its goals, especially securing its share of oil, based on non-interference and neutrality. This policy has represented a basic pillar of diplomacy and soft power for China and the enhancement of its positive image in the region. The Belt and Road Initiative promoted by China in the region gives a strong impetus to China's soft power and enhances its positive image. Especially since the initiative itself is based on soft and civilized principles, and the slogan of "Win-Win Cooperation". is the main slogan of the initiative. However, China's diplomacy and soft power in the region still faces many great challenges, the most important of which is the difficulty of competing with Western soft power, especially the American one, or the lack of attractiveness of China's soft power in front of its Western counterpart.

Since regaining control of Afghanistan in mid-August 2021, the Taliban has returned to the forefront, prompting the international community and researchers to speculate whether it has adopted a different political vision and ideology from its previous rule (1996-2001). The previous rule presented a distorted version of governance that lacked clear political and ideological foundations, characterized by impulsive and chaotic decisions, and the absence of a comprehensive theoretical and intellectual framework for governance.
Once again, the Taliban returned to power on August 15, 2021, and took control of the country. This raised many questions about the Taliban's return, the extent of its flexibility and adaptability that allowed the movement to come back on a broader scale, and whether it has developed its political ideology and brought about a significant change in the political theory of governance.

This research discusses the logic of the balance of power in the field of International Relations. It focuses on the structural-systemic version of the theory because of its centrality to the realist research program within the field. The paper examines the conventional wisdom, which argues that balances of power, in a self-help system, will form regardless of the state’s motives (or intentions); It emerges as an unintended recurring consequence of the interaction of units in anarchy, which primarily seeks superior, not an equal power. This logic assumes that hegemony does not form (or fail) in a multi-state system, because its threats (actual or perceived) to the system instill fear and provoke counterbalancing behavior by other states. The paper contrasts this logic with another one that does not accept that balancing is the normal state of international systems and believes that this argument reflects an ignorance of non-western history. In contrast, it argues in favor of expansionist policies and hegemony in the international system. It assumes a succession of "hegemonies", not "balances", because hierarchy systems, such as anarchy, are solid and continuous structures. The paper concludes that balancing has a strong logic, but it is contested among the realist scholars in International Relations discipline.

Wars represent one of the most serious threats to the world order; It is considered a violation of international laws and norms, and humanitarian principles. From this point comes the study of the importance of the topic entitled (The Future of the Russian-Ukrainian war and the extent of its Reflection on the security of Eastern European countries after the year 2022). This study is based on reviewing future possibilities (scenarios) of war. The Russian-Ukrainian war, which was launched by the Russian government led by Russian President Vladimir Putin in February 2022, is still ongoing at the time of writing this research. This chapter includes three possibilities (scenarios). The first possibility deals with the development of the war to dangerous levels, and this possibility is unlikely. Because both sides of the conflict (the West and Russia) possess nuclear deterrence. While the second possibility deals with the continuation of the war, this is also unlikely because history has proven that every war has an end, even if it is somewhat long, but it will inevitably end. The third possibility deals with a solution to end the war, which is likely and is expected to satisfy Russia because Russia will not accept withdrawal without compensation or keeping the areas controlled by Russia and to which they are annexed. These are the expected possibilities (scenarios) in the Russian-Ukrainian war.

Since more than a decade, human rights dialogue in the European Mediterranean Region has been marked by a number of tensions. Although a number of factors contribute to such disputes, the effect of human rights conditionality, which ties EU economic cooperation progression with partner countries human rights advancement, on the dialogue has not been studied. Understanding the aspects, impacts, and effects of conditionality on Euro-Med relations is crucial for furthering dialogue. Yet this variable has been almost entirely neglected in academic and policy research. The research concludes several direct and indirect impacts of conditionality on human rights dialogue using a mixed methodology approach. Direct effects are reflected in the widespread rejection of the language of conditionality used by EU institutions, exposing EU's normative identity to intense scrutiny from its southern neighbors. Indirect effects include skepticism and perceptions that the EU politicizes human rights for its own benefit.