Rethinking Soft Power in the Post‐Blockade Times: The Case of Qatar

This study seeks to advance the understanding of the utility of “soft power” by exploring the case of Qatar. The country's approach is conceptualized as “nested power” through the examination of its political strategies before and after the regional blockade in 2017. The role of soft and nested power in Qatar has already been examined through various vantage points, such as small state diplomacy, mediation, and sports. Since the blockade has been for Qatar a great strategic dilemma, examination of how it affected power dynamics reveals the salience as well as the resilience of Qatar's soft and nested power. The article will discuss the concepts of “soft” and “nested” powers and their relevance to the state of Qatar in general and it will focus in the final section on the post‐blockade period. In doing so, we also seek useful approaches, which can be compatible with, and even advance “global international relations” (IR). The movement to make IR more global and inclusive is a welcome feature of the current century, reflective of the burgeoning role of the “Global South.”     

Palynological and Archaeological Evidence for Ritual Use of Wine in the Kura-Araxes Period at Aradetis Orgora (Georgia,Caucasus)

Pollen and non-pollen palynomorphs from two zoomorphic Kura-Araxes vessels (ca. 3000 b.c.) from Aradetis Orgora suggest they were utilized for the ritual consumption of wine and likely represent the beginning of the enduring tradition of animal-shaped wine-drinking containers in Georgia. This hypothesis is supported by archaeological and geoarchaeological data: they resemble later wine-containing vessels from Georgia and elsewhere and were found in a building whose context is suggestive of a small shrine. Their palynological spectra match those of present-day wine and wine containers of other periods. One of them was intact, with only a small access hole; consequently, its palynological spectrum can be utilized as a standard for determining the presence of wine in other archaeological vessels. Palynological analyses from different contexts of the Aradetis Orgora settlement and its cemetery (Doghlauri) yielded other significant results regarding the practice of viticulture and the cultural relevance of wine during the Kura-Araxes period.