The Fall–Winter 2023 issue of “Pathways to Peace and Security”, no. 2 (65), has five thematic sections. The first section is devoted to the problems of and prospects for global international institutions. Both more ambitious plans and more realistic directions of the UN reform are considered, the impact of the U.S. economic aid on the voting patterns of recipient countries at the UN General Assembly is examined, and the evolution and expansion of BRICS are explored. A special section is devoted to security, peace and conflict issues in Africa, including analyses of the crises in Niger and Burkina Faso, the role of the BRICS factor in South Africa’s diplomacy, France’s military presence on the continent, and China’s cooperation with African countries in the field of peace and security. The sections on maritime security and arms/control focus on the Russia–Ukraine confrontation in the Black Sea through the lens of the "grain deal", analysis of the conventional weapons control crisis in Europe, and the use of drones in the conflicts in Syria and Nagorno-Karabakh. The final section is devoted to international and other aspects of the phenomenon of private military companies, including the key principles of the draft UN Convention on the regulation of PMCs, the methodology and directions of their analysis, and the range and evolution of their functions. An overview of the leading Turkish PMCs is followed by a broader analysis of the role of private military and security companies in the Middle East and North Africa.
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