Journal of Security and Sustainability Issues

The discussion about the impact of financial development on economic growth is still relevant for economists. However, in recent years, after the financial crises of the first decade of the 21st century, there has arisen certain scepticism about the positive impact of the growing financial sector on economic growth rates. Moreover, specific cases of negative consequences of such a connection or its absence have become known. The 2008-2010 crises, certainly, played an important role in rethinking the nature of the impact of the financial sector on the real sector in the economy, which led to new arguments in favour of a relatively more cautious approach to stimulating the financial sector, given the potential negative effects on the country’s socio-economic security. The aim of the research is to determine the nature of the relationship between financial development and economic growth and its direction in Latvia in the period 1995–2017.

The article reviews standards of state policies in terms of the national security of the European Union countries. The authors provide a comprehensive analysis of the theory and practice of providing national security in the EU countries. In addition to that, the article provides for a deep analysis of the major methodological approaches in regards to establishing national security in the EU. The authors make a systematic review of the development and implementation of the EU security doctrines. The aim of this research article is to analyze the development of the idea of developing a European defense policy to find an effective way of incorporating our state into European security structures. Also, the research question may be posed as discussion on the way the national security is guaranteed in the EU countries. The novelty of the study is in the way how the past, current and future national security setup is implemented in the EU countries and what may the ways of its development. Materials and methods used in studying this problem, researches and publications of such domestic and foreign researchers were used. At the same time, processes of global and European security need constant analysis and study. The results showed that the problem of the formation of the European security and defense system that emerged shortly after the end of the Second World War prompted European countries to work more closely together, particularly in the defense sector. After the Cold War and the emergence of new challenges for stability on the continent, the EU has embarked on a path towards greater consolidation and greater awareness of own defense and security interests. Conclusion of the article is that an analysis of the approaches to the national security in the EU convincingly demonstrates that the level of security depends on many factors. The successful provision of national security strategy and approach depends on the sustainability and strength of their national economies. Only a strong economy allows successfully defending national interests in growing global competition and world economic disparities. Therefore, a country shall not only develop a national security concept, relying on world experience, but, above all, to reform its domestic and foreign policies with a view to protecting all actors.

This paper has aimed to explore the inter-linkages of economic growth, poverty and inequality in the context of the European Union (EU) countries during the period of 2005 – 2016. Descriptive statistics analysis and econometric methods have been applied for this purpose. Research results have revealed statistically significant interrelationships between growth and poverty in half of the European Union countries. Moreover, in majority of these countries poverty has been elastic of economic growth. It should be noted, that the countries with higher level of economic development have relatively smaller share of population living below the national poverty lines. However, we cannot say the same about the growth – inequality relationships, which have varied across the EU countries. There are economically strong countries with relatively high income inequality and economically weaker countries with lower income distribution coefficients. However, in many cases poverty and income inequality tend to move in the same direction, i.e. as one increases, the other as well and vice versa. Finally, the insights of the research could be useful in developing a common strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth and achieving the goals for Europe 2020.

The safety and security research is presented as a problem of multiple levels. This article is focused on security on a national level within the wider international community. More specifically, it evaluates economic policy exercised by several members of the international community as the response to the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014. “Economic statecraft” as a technical term presented by David A. Baldwin in the book with the same name represents economic policy exercised by International actor or multiple actors to influence the behavior of another actor in the desired direction. The main advantage of such tool is it`s non-violent nature as the opposite of direct military involvement often resulting in death and various atrocities. Baldwin as a realist or perhaps neo-realist on the field of the theory of international relations provides us with tools for assessment of the viability of economic sanctions. Evaluation tools can be used in retrospect when the wider economic data is available. Economic statecraft is the comprehensive name for economic policy instruments such as economic sanctions, economic warfare and foreign aid. When these are used in the particular case, their usage can be consequently evaluated taking into consideration four main criteria. The aim of this paper is to analyze, evaluate and discuss economic sanctions imposed against Russia as a consequence of Crimean annexation. A secondary aim of this article is to synthesize acquired knowledge and assess the success of sanctions in this particular case. Final part of this article reviews the outcomes of such economic policy using the Baldwin`s “failure makers.”

The article describes the research of the development of the shadow economy, defines its essence, discloses main reasons for its occurrence; describes its structure, Identifies factors that promote its development; evaluates the system of combating measures and reveals the results of controlling it. Policy implications are being suggested.