Alberto Frigerio

Dystopian movies are often the product of both creativity and analytics. As a result, they offer thought provoking reflections on how the world might turn into a place of desolation and misfortune if we do not recognize and intervene on the deep-rooted problems affecting our society. The main objective of this book is to raise up the public attention on a series of contemporary global challenges – such as  climate change, lack of vital resources, overpopulation, global pandemics, social inequality, authoritarianism, weapons of mass destruction, artificial intelligence and genetic engineering – by provocatively claiming that the world might soon turn into a dystopia.
#dystopianworld

Kazakhstan Strategy-2050 outlined an ambitious development plan aimed at bringing the country into the top 30 most developed countries in the world. Nonetheless, certain unresolved issues in public governance, international affairs, economic development, national identity, the rule of law, and the center-periphery dialectic continue to conceal Kazakhstan's future steps. Therefore, this article aims to provide a critical and systemic analysis of the future of Kazakhstan, challenging the linear interpretation often offered in previous studies. Through the lens of a future triangle, this article examines six fundamental dilemmas that will have a significant impact on Kazakhstan's future development. Methodologically, it combines a critical analysis of academic resources with direct observation of local practices to draw a continuity and a transformative scenario for each of the dimensions examined in this text. As the main limit, this approach leads to an oversimplification of the future spectrum because it restricts the analysis to two alternative scenarios, while a much wider set of possibilities could take place. What emerges is a volatile, dynamic, and uncertain framework in which a dominant national narrative may emerge, but several diverse and overlapping plots will continue to characterize Kazakhstan's storyline. Being aware of such "murky areas" is thus a necessary condition for researchers to gain a deeper understanding of contemporary Kazakhstan and its still-changing future development plans. As a result, Kazakhstan's future needs to be seen as open and dynamic rather than static and linear: there is no single future that can be predicted in advance, but rather a plethora of diverse scenarios that are more or less plausible. Otherwise, there is a risk of becoming entangled in misleading and inaccurate interpretations. More professional foresight studies about Kazakhstan's future in each of the dimensions addressed here should, therefore, be considered from a research standpoint.

The use of AI technologies like ChatGPT has the potential to revolutionize academic research by offering support in writing, editing, and research processes. However, its limitations, such as the potential for bias and inaccuracies in information, as well as plagiarism and ethical concerns, must be considered. This paper presents preliminary insights into the opportunities and challenges of using ChatGPT in academic research. Structurally, it is based on three sections. The first section concerns the impact of ChatGPT on research production and the question of authorship. The second section is related to emerging ethical concerns like fairness, privacy, accountability, and transparency. The third section is dedicated to the future role of researchers and the identification of new metrics to assess the value of their research activities. The methodology used in this study involves a critical study of the perspectives expressed by researchers on LinkedIn and the information gathered during a conversation using ChatGPT. The main conclusion is that AI technologies have the potential to aid the research process and, as such, they should be constructively embraced in the academic environment. Nonetheless, new ethical norms and assessment tools are required to fully capitalize on the positive benefits while mitigating the potential risks.

The concept of dystopia makes reference to a non-existent society intended to be viewed by its author as considerably worse than the contemporary world (Sargent, 1994). For many authors, dystopic stories must be interpreted as symbolic reflections of the most frightful fears of modern-day society: ‘dystopia places us directly in a dark and depressing reality, conjuring up a terrifying future if we do not recognize and treat its symptoms in the here and now’ (Gordin, Tilley and Prakash, 2010). This article detects and examines four conventional features of recently released dystopic movies (climate change, social inequality, democratic deficiency and uncontrolled artificial intelligence) and compares them with facts and data from the current international society. The goal is to create a thought-provoking debate about contemporary global challenges by showing how such worst-case scenarios could be closer to current reality than commonly expected.

Acknowledging the value and importance of culture at local, national and global levels, the international community has progressively developed a series of conventions for the protection, preservation and enhancement of cultural heritage. Each of these conventions provides a unique set of binding principles and practices that member-states must follow in order to strengthen the protection of the heritage at stake. Still, while some of these laws have been enthusiastically embraced by Central Asian countries, others have been mostly ignored or avoided. This article aims to briefly examine three issues. First, the current rate of ratification of these conventions in the Central Asian region. Second, the main reasons why some of these legal documents have not received a spread endorsement in Central Asia. Third, a tentative interpretation of Central Asian states’ intentions over the next years.

The statues of Stalin can be inscribed in the controversial category of contested cultural heritage: they are simultaneously important resources of historical memory that celebrate the “man who defeated Nazism” as well as inconvenient symbols of a totalitarian leader who executed millions of people. In post-Soviet countries these statues have received drastically diverse treatments: a few have been preserved in situ, many have been toppled down, some have been removed from public accession, while others have been relocated in parks and museums. Still, identifying and enforcing an appropriate method of management for these statues remains a thorny issue. By critically analysing the cases of Asht (Tajikistan), Gori (Georgia), and Grūtas Park (Lithuania), this article provides some preliminary reflections on the complex dilemmas associated with the management of contested cultural heritage.

The 'Law on Competition' (Law n. 124, 4th August 2017) introduced some significant changes to the system regulating the definitive exportation of cultural goods from Italy. Some experts consider it to be a step forward in the development of a competitive art market in Italy as well as a welcome transition towards the EU Regulations. Others, however, believe that this new legislation imperils the retention of national cultural property within the Italian borders. This article aims to critically examine what this reform accomplishes and how it relates to EU Regulations on the import and export of cultural goods.

Critiquing dystopic movies as representations of the here and now is a good method to raise interest about modern challenges and stimulate a debate over the solutions.
Link: http://www.e-ir.info/2017/08/04/on-the-verge-of-the-darkness-dystopic-movies-and-contemporary-global-challenges/

The destruction of cultural property in times of war is an alarming issue. In spite of the efforts made by the international community to fight this deplorable phenomenon, the reported cases of incidental/intentional damages against cultural property are still numerous. This article retraces some of the most dramatic cases over the last twenty-five years in order to identify the root causes of the destruction of cultural property in the event of armed conflict as well as to assess the core limits of the related international legal system.

This article aims to develop some critical considerations over the US and Russian discursive representations of the Syrian conflict. What comes forth into view is the shared use of dichotomous ideological categories, here identified within the notion of “chess fallacy”, to classify the parties involved in the Syrian crisis. On one side, since the rise of the first riots in 2011, the US government has depicted the conflict as a clash between freedom and oppression. On the other side, the Russian Federation has described the war as a confrontation between the order ensured by a legitimate government against the chaos produced by the terrorist groups operating in Syria. This ideological schematization risks, however, to hinder any significant step toward a political resolution of the conflict. Unsurprisingly, the adoption of the UNSC Resolution 2254 was achieved only when both sides started to embrace a more moderate narrative to which, unfortunately, have not always followed coherent deeds in their field operations.

This article critically examines and compares the representation of Kazakhstan in the framework of international popular culture and in the official Kazakh nation-branding strategy. The first section of this article reveals how European and American movies have regularly depicted Kazakhstan through stereotypes and labels. The second section critically evaluates western audience reactions by assessing movie reviews published in the Internet Movie Database (IMDb). The third section analyses the strategy adopted by the Kazakh government for shaping a positive image of Kazakhstan abroad.

Full text: http://www.ejournals.eu/SAACLR/2015/2(2015)/art/6785/
Since its inception in Iraq, ISIS has been responsible for the pillaging and destruction of numerous cultural sites, notwithstanding the protests of the international community. None of the solutions proposed and implemented to stop this devastation have so far obtained adequate results. This article analyzes the legitimacy of organizing a humanitarian intervention aimed at preserving cultural heritage from such kinds of destructive actions. Two critical issues are addressed: first, the legitimacy of using armed force to preserve cultural heritage on the behalf of the international community; second, the technical difficulties associated with the development of such a practice.

World Politics is a free printable Trivia Board Game in which players must correctly answer a series of questions related to issues of international relations and geopolitics. This game is designed to offer international relations students an alternative and funny method for reviewing the main issues studied during the previous academic years.