Patterns of strategic partnershipand political theory

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Article examines strategic partnership in contemporary political science discourse, and proves that this phenomenon, process and determinant are poorly researched. The concept of strategic partnership is analyzed and philosophically rethought, in the context of categories strategic partnership - dominance, strategic partnership - parity, strategic partnership - rivalry. Author proves that researchers of different fields support divergent interpretations of the strategic partnership concept, in particular: political science, law, philosophy, sociology, etc. It is also important to note that that strategic partnership is interpreted differently in different countries and has dramatically opposite shades in the conditions and processes of globalization of the world space. Strategic partnership, as a new form of cooperation and collaboration, is spread and interpreted by researchers in different parts of the world and receives various forms of interpretation and reflection in scientific thought.

We draw attention to the phenomenon of strategic partnership, which is multifaceted and, in different countries, plays a leading role in the transformation of the global environment. The peculiarities, factors through which strategic partnership, as a phenomenon acquires flexibility and undergoes processes of internal transformation in practical as well as applied dimensions of political theory, philosophy and system of international relations are considered.

While considering and analyzing strategic partnership in contemporary political discourse, it is worth noting that this phenomenon, the process and determinant of this phenomenon have not been well studied. The concept of strategic partnership, in the context of categories strategic partnership - dominance, strategic partnership - parity, strategic partnership - rivalry, needs more detailed analysis and philosophical rethinking.

However, the question of the interpretation of the concept of strategic partnership by researchers of various fields, including political science, law, philosophy, sociology, etc., remains quite ambiguous. It is also important to note that that strategic partnership is interpreted differently in different countries and has dramatically opposite shades in the conditions and processes of globalization of the world space. “Modern states are transformed into transnationalized “countries-systems” that are most actively involved in supranational processes in economic, information, financial, social, military and other spheres” [1, p. 32].

Strategic partnership, as a new form of cooperation and collaboration, is spread and interpreted by researchers in different parts of the world and receives various forms of interpretation and reflection in scientific thought. However, if we pay attention to the phenomenon of strategic partnership, we will realize that it is multifaceted and that in different countries it plays a leading role in the transformation of the global environment.

It is also seems relevant to consider the peculiarities, factors through which strategic partnership, as a phenomenon, acquires flexibility and undergoes processes of internal transformation in both practical and applied dimensions of political theory, philosophy and the system of international relations. «The modern world is changing very fast, new areas and directions of international interaction that complement the content of the strategic partnership are emerging. This fact also raises a number of contradictions about the essence of strategic partnership» [2, c. 164].

It is clear that the concept of strategy and the concept of partnership have fairly clear boundaries and frameworks; the interconnection of these terms describes a completely different level of cooperation at the international level. In the theory of politics, philosophy, this term respectively also requires a new level of approaches to its understanding.

While investigating the patterns of strategic partnership, we have got acquainted with the works of both foreign and domestic scientists. Among foreign researchers we would like to highlight the studies of J. Arrigi, B. Bazan, E. Batalov, A. Bogaturov, F. Voitlovsky, D. David, Y Galtung, R. Gilpin,

V Inozemtsev, R. Kagan, A. Kotrel, V Kremenyuk, S. Larrabi, F. Laursen, D. Lemton, F. Lenger, A. Melville, L. Nardon, O. Neckless, D. Snyder,

V Torkunov, Y. Habermas, J. Hart, and S. Hoffman, J. Chekala, P. Tsygankov, A. Utkin, and among the domestic ones are the works of B. Gonchar,

V Golovchenko, B. Kantselyaruk, E. Kaminsky,

I. Koval, A. Kruglashov, O. Litvinenko, V Manzhola, Yu. Makara, M. Ozhevan, B. Parachonsky, G. Pe- repelytsya, I. Pogorskaya, E. Tikhomirova, I. Khizh- nyak, S. Fedunyak, V. Fisanov, O. Shevchuk, E. Yuriychuk and others.

Considering the strategic partnership and its patterns, one should not only rethink the role of this phenomenon in world politics and the theory of politics, but also set itself the goal of revealing the regularities of strategy formation on the way of establishing partnership in the global space.

Accordingly, when considering different forms of political cooperation, they are quite clearly described in the sections of political theory, political philosophy, law, etc. However, the categories and concepts of strategic partnership do not have established norms and boundaries, and they are quite interesting for research and philosophical rethinking, which can qualitatively enrich modern political theory and practice.

Strategic partnership - domination. It is quite interesting as a phenomenon in modern political theory. First of all, the concept of domination itself implies conquest, and conquest in its logical content can be quite different from the power manifestation of these patterns to voluntary submission, which can be characterized by both weakness and desire to find protection.

“Strategic partnership is a type of intergovernmental relations, built as a coherent system of interaction between states in pursuit of common strategic objectives, interests and goals. Unlike allied relations, strategic partnership does not imply a rigid system of political, economic, humanitarian or security obligations” [3].

Accordingly, the dominance of one actor in the exercise of political will over another one can be perceived as both the manifestation of liberal and the manifestation of anti-liberal patterns (values).

With regard to power domination and its manifestations in contemporary international relations, it should be noted here that the concept of domination plays a key role in the globalization processes.

If we consider the concept of domination and its philosophical perception, in particular in the implementation of foreign policy, we may note that it is an advantage of leaders in the system of international relations. Due to its geopolitical weight, the leader is forced to dominate, and in this he usually uses economics and military power on an equal footing. Military force is present in several forms, and it is possible to use this foreign policy instrument not only to pressure internationally subdued actors, but also to protect their own interests and uphold geostrategic goals.

Thus, we see that the concept of strategic partnership - domination, is quite multifaceted and requires not only a full-fledged individual study, but also a complete and profound philosophical rethinking. Such forms of strategic partnership in the current system of international relations are widespread because they are quite simple to reproduce. In general, in the socio-humanitarian field of research, various scholars have stated that conquest and possession are a natural reflection of modern reality, and there is nothing complicated about this, because society is diverse and always there are those who conquest and those who submit.

Strategic partnership - rivalry. At its core, this form of cooperation is nothing more than an attempt to become a leader in the system of international relations. At the outset, all actors in the international relations system have sought to do so, and it should be noted that such an understanding of rivalry and strategic partnership also lacks sufficient analysis in current scientific thought and political theory. Rivalry inherently involves competition, whereby this competition can have both positive and negative effects on strategic relations. Competition involves existence of the conflict, disputes over spheres of influence, in particular in the system of international relations, during the transformation. “Competitiveness in its most general form is the possession of properties that create benefits for the subject of economic competition” [4, p. 22].

However, dispute, rivalry, competition creates conflict, and conflict, as the constant, ultimately leads to a solution. Conflict always comes to an end. But the thing is that this completion can be both destructive and constructive, and can contain both the forms of destruction of the world political system or to begin a new stage of development of the world order system. “The Glossary of Political Psychology defines competition as a special form of not only political but also other relationships in which the interests and goals of participants are in one way or another contradicted, but the presence of such participants and the nature of their interests cannot be overcome or altered by means compatible with maintaining political and / or social stability” [5].

Accordingly, considering the rivalry in its philosophical forms, it should be noted that this category implies the emergence and formation of a number of crisis factors that lead to conflicts at both bilateral and multilateral levels of strategic partnership formation.

It should be noted that strategic partnership - rivalry is reflected in the current system of international relations and is also explored in political theory. Category of strategic partnership - rivalry also needs detailed and comprehensive rethinking as an integral part of contemporary world politics. After all, politics without rivalry in general and in specific dimensions is impossible. We therefore consider it necessary to continue further investigation of the phenomenon of rivalry in the context of the system of international relations and policy theory.

Strategic partnership parity. It is probably one of those forms of cooperation that is most acceptable and at first sight most effective in the system of international relations, but the characteristics and processes of parity formation need not only philosophical rethinking but also consideration in political theory for a better understanding of the depth of political processes.

Parity, by its very nature, must develop strategic partnerships, establish relationships on the bilateral and multilateral levels of partnership in the system of international relations, but this category of cooperation is generally quite complex, poorly researched and imperfect due to the complexity of implementation.

It is clear that strategic partnership requires close cooperation and cooperation, but parity partnership should provide that level of communication and cooperation which ensures equality for all the parties. However, usually this form of cooperation is transformed into something else, first of all we mean the path from parity to rivalry or domination.

Accordingly, in the theory of politics, the category of parity needs to be considered in more detail, not only for the sake of a deeper philosophical understanding, but also for understanding the practical expediency of the implementation of parity in the system of international relations. “Pickler-Milanovich introduces models of partnership formation and their management, which consists of various stages: starting from the creation of an agreement strategy and up to the direct management of such partnership implementation. He also notes that partnerships are not static phenomena, but change over time, passing through different phases” [6].

We can notice that parity can be realized in the system of international relations at different levels of cooperation, but such cooperation should be implemented taking into account the fact that the transformation and evolution of this level of partnership can cause crisis and conflict in the political dimensions of being.

Foreign researchers add that partnership cannot be strategic only because it is defined as such, so in international-political discourse one can find attribution of such status to states that do not really have any normative grounds for that. Therefore, categories such as “strategic” and “partnership” that characterize interstate interaction are sometimes questioned by other international actors. Strategic partnerships, according to researchers, can only be called so if both parties consider it necessary to interact with each other in order to achieve their basic goals. Such interaction occurs because the cooperation of strategic partners can lead to a win-win solution and vice versa, because such partners can harm each other due to the lack of dialogue between them. Therefore, strategic partners are trying to use political, economic and security levers of influence on bilateral relations in order to solve global or regional issues, as well as deepen different levels of cooperation [7; 8; 9].

Foreign researcher L. Moraes believes that in fact, “strategic partnership” can be an important tool for the bilateral achievement of common goals. He also sates that partnerships cannot simply be defined as strategic, but the designation of the term “strategic partnership” demonstrates the actor's attitude to bilateral or multilateral interaction as “strategic”, which allows one to achieve a specific goal in a certain period of time. It is also important to note that the assignment of strategic partner status can be quite contradictory, since the categories strategic and strategy are related to military confrontation or preparation for deployment, although the term strategic partnership is used outside the confrontational context [10]. Therefore, we can agree with the view of scientists that the combination of “strategic” with the concept of “partnership” reflects the formation of a certain type of relationship between actors who share common interests or have common goals and common values, and therefore maintain an agreed position on urgent international political issues, carry out coordinated planning of their own foreign policy behavior in pursuit of the desired goal which is based on common interests or values.

In comparison with others, the foreign researcher T. Wilkins offers a more theoretically grounded approach to “strategic partnership”. In particular, he argues that strategic partnership can be categorized as one archetype, including the “union”, “coalition”, “security community”, and other forms, such as “concert of nations”, “Entente”, or “treaty of nonaggression”. Due to the fact that he highlights the properties of strategic partnerships, in particular, strategic partnership is based on a system principle, aimed at achieving a specific goal, is generally informal in nature and has to do with economic exchange and security concerns. Thus, T. Wilkins believes that strategic partnership allows international actors to balance while building engagement through a set of fixed parameters that vary depending on the stages of development of the collaboration. In particular, he identified the stage of formation, implementation and evaluation of strategic partnerships, which allows to treat the partnership as strategic. Summarizing, we have to note that scientist interprets “strategic partnership” as a cooperative interaction between international political actors, which is characterized by a certain set of properties, different processes of development, but the only consequence, which is the creation of a political, economic or security form of association based on the cooperation of international actors [11-12].

Thus, the essence of conceptual and categorical characteristics of strategic partnership is revealed through the identification of its features, properties and functions. It is established that in the internationalpolitical discourse there is sometimes a synonymous use of the terms “strategic partnership”, “alliance” and “special relations”, although it should be noted that each of these types of international interaction of political actors is formalized differently and may have different contextual filling. In general, the characteristics of modern strategic partnership are: transformation of the role of the national state in the system of international relations, strengthening of political influence of intergovernmental organizations and informal associations, development of strategic relations between integration associations and the emergence of constructive and destructive consequences of strategic relations. It is established that the strategic partnership is considered by foreign and domestic researchers as a long-term cooperation of international actors in order to secure their own foreign policy interests, which covers different areas of interaction and is based on equality, benefit and realization of common interests.

In our opinion, it is the existence of a coherent legislative framework and the creation of an institutional framework that enables participating countries to effectively implement strategic partnership relations.

At the same time, the combination of bilateral and multilateral strategic partnership in the foreign policy activity of an international actor allows to clearly regulate the mutual commitments of the partners, to deepen interregional and inter-sectoral cooperation, as well as to form a “comfortable” political and security environment.

We also consider it expedient to analyze and to rethink parity in all frorms of political reality in greater detail in order to gain a deeper understanding of the mechanisms of implementing strategic partnership in the system of international relations.

Concluding, it should be noted that strategic partnership is not only a tool of the exercise of political will, both at the state level and in the system of international relations. However, the tool is quite powerful, capable of accelerating the integration and transformation of the world community, so the relevance of strategic partnership research in the context of political theory is of paramount importance.

Finally, it is worth mentioning that strategic partnership can be the instrument capable of eliminating crisis factors and absorbing conflict, transforming destructive factors into a constructive forms of partnership not only in political reality, but in all spheres of social life.

Regarding the prospect of such research, it is worth noting that the problem of strategic partnership formation is widespread and poorly developed and needs further rethinking in political theory, philosophy, law and other relevant disciplines.

strategic partnership political

References

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