Journal:Tiltai
Volume 88, Issue 1 (2022), pp. 121–133
Abstract
This article presents the concept of China’s sharp power, and features of its formation that support it. The article deals with theoretical interpretations of soft power that are inseparable from the properties of sharp power. Soft power has been a very influential concept in recent decades to describe a country’s ability to influence others by cooperating, persuading and promoting a positive attitude in other states to achieve the desired results. Nevertheless, the concept of power has changed dramatically in recent years, due to shifts in the international system, and no longer fits definitions of the relationship between authoritarian and democratic systems. It is necessary to introduce a new concept of power, in order to expose the new world order posed by China as an emerging normative power. Authoritarian methods of influence can no longer, in principle, be described as soft power. There is a need to introduce a new term for power in academic discourse, in order to conceptualise the influence of authoritarian states on democracies. The article highlights the problem that sharp power can restrict freedom of expression and distort the political environment, by taking advantage of asymmetric levels of freedom between democratic and authoritarian systems. Having identified and clarified the terminological framework, the article presents three components of China’s sharp power, which allows for empirical research into its mechanisms for spreading influence, expanding the country’s interests abroad, and damaging democratic systems.
Journal:Acta Historica Universitatis Klaipedensis
Volume 39 (2019): The Unknown Land of Žemaitija: The 13th to the 18th Centuries = Žemaitija – nežinoma žemė: XIII–XVIII amžiai, pp. 195–218
Abstract
In 1589, the Sejm of the Commonwealth of the Two Nations established the royal holdings (Crown lands), called Economijas, of Šiauliai, Hrodna, Alytus, Brest, Kobrin and Mahilioŭ in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. However, Šiauliai started to function as a royal Economija only in 1619. At this time, it was the largest and richest royal holding in the grand duchy. The article deals with the relatively closed community of the Šiauliai Economija in the second half of the 17th century. Its unusual administrative system, with its relatively abundant community records, makes it possible to trace and discuss the following issues: how the local government had functioned and how it maintained relations with the community; how the local community and individual members used and dealt with decisions by the Lithuanian central government; what rules of communication applied between different actors, the Lithuanian central government, the Šiauliai Economija government, and the local community.
Journal:Acta Historica Universitatis Klaipedensis
Volume 26 (2013): Kristijono Donelaičio epochos kultūrinės inovacijos = Cultural Innovations of the Epoch of Kristijonas Donelaitis, pp. 126–134
Abstract
On the turn of the 19th c., the composition of the students in Königsberg University changed. After the 3rd Partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (1795), the number of Polish students in it went up, however, after the foundation of the Duchy of Warsaw, it immediately dropped again. The Polish students who had studied abroad grew up into famous figures of culture and science. They promoted the development of cultural and scientific centres and of their network in Europe.
Journal:Acta Historica Universitatis Klaipedensis
Volume 23 (2011): Daugiareikšmės tapatybės tarpuerdvėse: Rytų Prūsijos atvejis XIX–XX amžiais = Ambiguous Identities in the Interspaces: The Case of East Prussia in the 19th and 20th Centuries = Die vieldeutigen Identitäten in den Zwischenräumen: Der Fall Ostpreußen…, pp. 128–135
Abstract
Between 1848 and 1871, German identity gained importance in East Prussia. The basis for the nationalization was the increased opportunities for communication in smaller cities and even villages in Prussian Lithuania provided by the newly founded associations. Additionally, the press developed into the most important medium allowing the adoption of national sentiments on a level wider than the local areas. A national movement encompassing all political camps did not appear on the German side. Only liberals and democrats supported the German national state. The conservatives remained distanced to the German nation state as they primarily identified themselves with Prussian patriotism.
Journal:Archaeologia Baltica
Volume 14 (2010): Underwater Archaeology in the Baltic Region, pp. 136–165
Abstract
The bog offerings of the Balts dating back to the period from the first century to the first half of the eighth century, and found in the Nemunas-Daugava interfluvia, are studied as part of the panhuman experience, and as a result of the influence of the Germanic culture of a period covering the Roman Iron Age and the Migration Period. In the lands of the Balts, however, offerings in water turned into a self-contained phenomenon known until historic times. This article discusses the links between bog offering sites and sacred waters. It discusses the position of bog offerings in the archaeological complex, the composition of offerings and changes in them, and the main intentions of the offerings, which can be characterised as offerings of war booty (to the god of war, as proof of a warrior’s honour), the transfer of valuables into the transcendental space (give to get back), and communication with the gods and with ancestors (requests and tokens of gratitude).