From a follower to a trendsetter: Hungary's post-Cold War identity and the West

The article attempts to make sense of recent developments in Hungary's relationship with the EU and the US by explicating the logic behind the formation of its post-Cold War identity. The article's central theoretical argument derives from social identity theory (SIT) in social psychology which argues that social groups strive for positive distinctiveness and provides concrete hypotheses concerning the identity management strategies that groups use to enhance their relative position. Extrapolating the identity management techniques predicted by SIT to international politics, I suggest that states may enhance their relative standing by imitating more advanced states (strategy of social mobility), trying to displace the higher-ranked state (strategy of social competition), or finding a new arena in which to be superior (strategy of social creativity). The article argues that Orban's government post-2010 steps in domestic and foreign policy can be conceptualized as attempts to redefine Hungary's identity by moving away from the strategy of social mobility pursued since the end of communism towards the strategy of social creativity.     

Detection of reladorm and donormil in forensic-medical examination of cadavers

A method was suggested for identifying reladorm and donormil in pharmaceutical drugs and biological objects. The above substances are isolated by 96% ethanol or by mixture of chloroform and isopropanol. 7 color reactions, 3 microcrystalloscopic reactions and chromatography in thin sorbent layer are suggested for identification.     

Legislative Basics of Legal Interpretation

The main purpose of legal interpretation is to create conditions for the effective functioning of law and its components by clarifying their true content, which eliminates any doubts and ambiguities. The purpose of this article is: first, to analyze the provisions of current Ukrainian legislation for identifying the general approaches embodied in it and the principles for the implementation of legal interpretation activities by state power bodies; secondly: presentation on the basis of modern achievements and developments of legal science of the system of measures for standardization of such activity, bringing it in line with the needs of law enforcement practice. The solution of the set tasks was carried out using the method of philosophical dialectics, a system of general scientific and special scientific methods of cognition, which are based on the principles of objectivity, comprehensiveness, complexity. Based on the analysis of the normative material, it is concluded that there is no single harmonized approach in the Ukrainian legislation on the procedure for providing clarifications of the content of normative-legal acts. The authors give arguments on the need to clarify and streamline the legal interpretation activity by state bodies and propose a number of measures to achieve this goal. Based on the conducted analysis of the normative material, the authors outline the main problematic issues of the legislative definition of the basics of legal interpretation and provide specific proposals for improving the current legislation in this area.

     

Natural Liberation in the <Emphasis Type="Italic">Sāṃkhyakārikā</Emphasis> and Its Commentaries

The subject of this article is the concept of natural liberation in classical Sā?khya. On the basis of the Sā?khyakārikā by ī?varak???a and its traditional commentaries, I will attempt to demonstrate that liberation from suffering in Sā?khya is not the result of rational inquiry—the prevailing view among contemporary scholars. The Sā?khya does not necessarily prescribe yogic practice as argued by other scholars. Instead, I will defend a position expressed by K.C. Bhattacharyya and Frank R. Podgorski, according to which liberation in classical Sā?khya is a natural and spontaneous process of suffering transforming into its own cure. I will argue that although traditional authorities may disagree over the form the liberating process takes on the phenomenal level (as yogic practice, instruction from a teacher, etc.), there is a general agreement that the natural forces are the primary drives and agents of liberation.     

Forensic evaluation of the results of chemical and toxicological analysis of blood alcohol level

According to printed research results, the endogenic level of ethanol in blood amounts to 0.001-0.3%, the physiological level amounts to 0.01-0.4% and the lethal level amounts to 3-17.6%. It was established experimentally that the absolute lethal level of ethanol in blood does not exceed 15%. Criteria of incidental contamination of analyzed blood sample with ethanol are described.     

Index Based Regional Analysis: The Case of the Former Soviet Union and Russia

This paper presents a methodology for analysing inter-regional differences and identifying a suitable combination of policies for a set of regions. The methodology is based on the development of a composite index and is applied to compare (i) the members of the Former Soviet Union (FSU) and (ii) the regions of Russia. All variables considered and incorporated in the relevant index are (1) scaled from 0–100, so that the index is independent of units of measurement, and (2) weighted using survey results. According to the adapted regional development index Lithuania is on the top of the ranking followed by Latvia, Estonia, Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, Russia, Armenia, Moldova, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. The FSU countries are positioned on a regional development index – per capita income mapping to investigate whether emphasis should be placed on regional, environmental or sustainable development policies. Finally, an index that incorporates various socioeconomic components is computed for the regions of Russia which are subsequently classified based on the value of this index. This classification shows that the regions with the best index values are in the Central–Southern part of the country (with the exception of Sackha Republic, which is in the West). The regions with the lower index values are in the Western part of the country and in parts of Central Russia (Mariel republic, Moldovia Republic, Perm region).