The People's Republic of China (PRC) wants to become a key regional actor in the Arctic. PRC's underlying priority in the region is gaining access to commercial opportunities from trade and natural resources. To this end, PRC is building its domestic capacities for research and commercial development in the Arctic, increasing its involvement in multilateral forums on Arctic governance and deepening ties to Arctic nations, especially Russia.

Attitudes towards PRC among Arctic nations are diverging, but Beijing generally faces high levels of skepticism and opposition to its Arctic involvement, explicitly grounded in perceptions of PRC as a state undermining the rules-based international order and potential military build-up in the high north.

The analytical framework in this article builds on an outline authored by Exner-Pirot in 2012 (Exner-Pirot, 2012) to detail the current schools of thought within Arctic governance, and builds on it by including more recent developments in Arctic governance, incorporating the updated Arctic policies of most Arctic countries and connecting it to PRC.

This article contends that Beijing wants to change the status quo of Arctic governance and shift it towards a more accommodating approach to non-Arctic states. This article finds, based on the stated Arctic strategies of the eight Arctic states and PRC, that there are different views on Arctic governance where Arctic countries for the most part indicate an openness to a Chinese entry into the Arctic, albeit in diverging ways. This creates a complex governance scenario for PRC to navigate as it seeks to become a key Arctic player

The study is focusing on cyberspace—a new type of space mastered by humans with the help of digital technologies. This systematic review uses SPAR-4-SLR protocol to analyze over 30 years of scholarly research indexed in Scopus database, highlighting five time periods: before 1995, 1996–2008, 2009–2012, 2013–2019, and after 2020. A final sample of 6645 publications in social sciences, Business, management and accounting (BMA), and Economics, econometrics and finance (EEF) was analyzed across multiple parameters, including: chronology, types of documents, sources, countries, institutions, authors, topics, and most cited publications. The review has systematized information about the most influential organizations and individuals involved in cyberspace research. First of all, these are researchers from the United States, the United Kingdom, and China. Key journals that publish research on the topic have been identified, and a ranked list of funding organizations supporting research on the social and economic aspects of cyberspace are identified. The study provides insights into the achievements of the social and economic sciences in cyberspace over the past 30 years. The results will be useful to scholars who seek for a general overview on the topic of cyberspace, as well as experts and policymakers developing mechanisms and tools for regulating cyberspace as a mixture of the virtual and real worlds.

This research explores the role of social media in the political construction of identity, analyzing how these platforms mediate the expression and formation of individual and group political identities. The focus is on how social media changes the dynamics of communication and social interaction, facilitating the formation of “echo chambers” and increasing political polarization. Additionally, this study highlights challenges such as disinformation and the implications of social media for the health of democracy. As a researcher, I aim to highlight the broader implications of using social media in identity politics. By analyzing the impact of social media on political dynamics in Indonesia, this study reveals how social media influences public perception and political decisions. This study identifies how social media can be used as a tool to mobilize political support, but also how these platforms can spread disinformation and reinforce political polarization. Based on these concerns, researchers have not yet found research results that examine how social media specifically impacts the construction of political identity. This research aims to highlight how social media not only acts as a communication tool but also as a medium that influences the way individuals view and express their political identity. Through a qualitative approach, this study provides new insights into the impact of social media in contemporary political dynamics and the importance of digital literacy in addressing issues of identity politics in the digital era.

Conspiracy theories during Covid-19 pandemic spread worldwide, including in Indonesia. What political and religious factors explain their spread in Indonesia with particular reference to the DKI Jakarta province, its surrounding municipalities, and West Sumatera province? This study aimed to answer the questions. It employed a qualitative approach with multi-data collection methods, including those from media, documents, and interviews. The spread of Conspiracy theories benefited from the democratic system that promotes the freedom of information in using social media. First, the government officials initially spread conspiracy theories to satisfy people’s anxiety about the obscured Pandemic. However, they resulted in the government’s ambiguous, controversial, and reckless policies leading to people’s distrust of the government. Jokowi-Makruf Amien, political opponents capitalized on the government’s poor policies to spread conspiracy theories which partly discredited the Jokowi-Amien administration. Both government officials and the opposition capitalized on politics and religious teaching or supra-natural pretexts to posit their conspiracy theories.

The erudite priest Marciano Di Leo (1751–1819), a prominent personality in the historical and geographical panorama of his time, not only in his home territory, authored a vast literary and poetic production but also tried his hand at producing some maps, referring to a province of the Kingdom of Naples. At a time when the principles of geodetic cartography had become increasingly known, even locally, hand in hand with improvements in technology and accuracy of measurements, the author reflected on the historical narratives of the progress of the European (and Neapolitan) Enlightenment and translated them into an unpublished manuscript of statistical, historical, and geographical nature, accompanied by numerous maps of various scales. The rediscovery of a largely unknown—and therefore not very thorough—minor cartographic production underscores the spread, even in more marginal contexts, of the most innovative ideas and increasingly precise scientific foundations in the cartographic-mathematical representation of the territory. It also illustrates the role of a number of intellectuals in the service of the political choices of their time, in an attempt—often unrealized—to bring about a decisive change of course in public administration, in accordance with Enlightenment ideals and in the spirit of reform that spread throughout Europe thanks to the French Revolution.

The study builds on Deborah Stone’s foundational work exploring the mechanics of causal narratives and their implications for framing problems, assigning responsibility, and guiding policy solutions. The purpose of this research is to unravel the complexities of causal narratives in contemporary politics and understand their profound influence on public policy and society at large. In the digital age, where information is abundant and the traditional gatekeeping role of media has diminished, causal narratives have become increasingly multifaceted. The study aims to explore how these narratives, influenced by the intersections of natural phenomena, human actions, politics, risk, and media, shape public understanding and policy directions. The study employs an extensive review of existing literature, covering works from political science, media studies, and public policy. This includes analyzing seminal texts like Deborah Stone’s “Policy Paradox” and recent studies on media’s evolving role in political discourse. Today’s causal narratives are multifaceted, influenced by a myriad of factors including political agendas, scientific findings, and media portrayals. In conclusion, the research highlights the dynamic nature of causal narratives in the digital age and their significant impact on public policy and societal outcomes. It underscores the need for nuanced understanding and strategic approaches in crafting and interpreting these narratives.