This study analyses official Russian foreign policy discourses to contribute to our understanding of how Russia portrays its role in world politics and vis-à-vis neighbouring states. Building on previous studies, we offer a new, comprehensive analysis of Foreign Policy Concepts and the annual Presidential Address to the Federal Assembly during President Vladimir Putin's third term (2012-2018). By systematically coding these documents, counting references to particular discourses and undertaking a careful interpretation of the texts, we provide insights about three broader discourses related to foreign policy: the world order and sovereignty; civilisation, identity and values; and economics and modernisation. THE RETURN OF VLADIMIR PUTIN TO THE RUSSIAN PRESIDENCY IN 2012 saw a renewed interest in official foreign policy discourses. Commentators claimed that the beginning of Putin's third term (2012-2018) marked a turn in Russian foreign policy discourse away from the pragmatism that was often seen as the hallmark of his first two terms as
A rehabilitation program consisting of strengthening and locomotor training improved running speed, quality, and endurance in an adolescent male after traumatic brain injury. He was able to progress to a less restrictive carbon fiber brace as a result of gains in lower extremity strength. This change in ability allowed him to participate in physical education by running on a track and playing softball with his peers.
This essay analyses the political discourses employed by both the Belarusian authorities and the opposition with regard to homophobia and the LGBT community. It explores the anti-LGBT rhetoric and political homophobia that has been identified in the literature on Russian and Ukrainian politics as a baseline for examining neighbouring Belarus. It identifies which homophobic discourses are present in Belarus and how political homophobia is wielded by different actors on the domestic political scene. THE FIRST, AND SO FAR ONLY, PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC of Belarus, Aliaksandr Lukashenka, has been notorious for his colourful quotes during over a quarter of a century in office, and these have included a number of homophobic statements. Most famously, he proclaimed that it was 'better to be a dictator than gay' in 2012, in reference to meeting Germany's openly gay Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle (Matveev 2012). Nevertheless, homosexuality was decriminalised in the country in 1994, four months before Lukashenka was elected president. The first attempt to hold a gay pride event in any post-Soviet republic took place in the Belarusian capital Minsk in 1999 (Mantsevich 2015, p. 26). Belarusians themselves cite tolerance as being a key attribute of their national identity (Kaspe 2017, pp. 37-9). This essay explores political homophobia in Belarus, beyond individual prejudices and societal attitudes alone. Political homophobia in this context can be viewed as a purposeful strategy pursued by state actors and political movements (Bosia & Weiss 2013, p. 15). More specifically, this essay examines the political discourses present in the homophobia that has been employed on the Belarusian political scene, both by the incumbent authorities and their political opponents. For the purposes of this research, discourses can be defined as 'public articulations and
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.