eng Academicus International Scientific Journal Academicus International Scientific Journal 20793715 2026-07-20 MMXXVI 34 13 29 10.7336/academicus.2026.34.01 article Jordi Xuclà On 12 September 1986, Spain and Albania established diplomatic relations through an exchange of notes at the Spanish embassy in Paris. The agreement ended more than four decades without formal ties between the two countries. This article reconstructs the process that led to that normalization, examines the motivations of both governments and places the episode within the broader foreign-policy contexts of late Cold War Europe. The absence of diplomatic relations had deep historical roots. The Albanian communist government refused to recognize the Franco regime after the Second World War and instead recognized the Spanish Republican government in exile. Albanian volunteers had fought in the International Brigades during the Civil War, and that memory was woven into the founding legitimacy of the Hoxha regime. For several decades, those historical ties kept Madrid and Tirana apart even after Spain had normalized relations with almost all other communist states in Central and Eastern Europe during 1977. The period between 1978 and 1985 altered the conditions on both sides. The González government treated the extension of diplomatic relations as part of a policy of diplomatic universality — and, according to Juan Antonio Yáñez-Barnuevo, who served in the Office of the Prime Minister during the period, the Albanian case also carried a compensatory political meaning in the year of the NATO referendum. On the Albanian side, the rupture with China in 1978 and the death of Enver Hoxha in 1985 opened space for selective openings towards Western Europe. The article examines the negotiations of 1985–1986 in detail, drawing on published Albanian diplomatic documentation, Spanish press sources, secondary literature and an interview with Yáñez-Barnuevo conducted in March 2026. The choice of Paris as the venue, the preference for an exchange of notes over a joint communiqué, and the prior establishment of Spanish-Israeli relations in January 1986 were not incidental details: each reflected a specific political constraint that had to be resolved before the agreement could be signed. The first diplomatic steps after September 1986 were deliberately modest. Spain covered Albania through its embassy in Belgrade; Albania covered Spain through its embassy in Paris. Credentials were exchanged in December 1986 and April 1987. No resident embassies were opened. It was a thin relationship. It was also the first one they had ever had. https://academicus.edu.al/nr34/Academicus-MMXXVI-34-013-029.pdf Spanish foreign policy Albanian diplomacy Cold War Europe diplomatic normalization Felipe González Ramiz Alia bilateral relations eng Academicus International Scientific Journal Academicus International Scientific Journal 20793715 2026-07-20 MMXXVI 34 30 43 10.7336/academicus.2026.34.02 article Jahangir Hasanov Regional organizations have become central actors in the contemporary international system, shaping economic cooperation, political governance, and regional security. This article presents a comparative analysis of the European Union and the Organization of Turkic States in order to examine alternative pathways of regional integration. Drawing upon theoretical frameworks from International Relations, including Neofunctionalism, Liberal Intergovernmentalism, and Constructivism, the article explores institutional development, economic cooperation, and geopolitical roles of the two organizations. The study argues that while the EU represents the most advanced model of supranational regional integration, the OTS reflects an emerging intergovernmental framework rooted in shared cultural identity and geopolitical connectivity across Eurasia. The findings suggest that increasing institutionalization and economic initiatives within the OTS may contribute to the development of a distinct model of regional cooperation. https://academicus.edu.al/nr34/Academicus-MMXXVI-34-030-043.pdf Regional integration Eurasian cooperation European Union International organizations eng Academicus International Scientific Journal Academicus International Scientific Journal 20793715 2026-07-20 MMXXVI 34 44 60 10.7336/academicus.2026.34.03 article Ardita Dylgjeri This paper critically examines U.S. President Donald Trump’s immigration discourse between 2023 and 2025. It will pay particular attention to the way migrants are represented within the president`s broader populist communication. The analysis will draw on Critical Discourse Analysis, systemic functional linguistics, and political communication theory and it will aim to investigate how immigration is discursively constructed by Trump. Twelve campaign rallies, policy addresses, and international conferences will be taken into consideration and the focus will be the identification of five interrelated strategies in public speaking: securitization, criminalization, threat amplification through metaphor, populist moral polarization and globalization of the threat strategies. These five strategies will be discussed in five separate analytical sections of the paper and they will lead to the linguistic and discourse interpretation that follows each of them. The extended excerpts chosen for the study reveal how predication and nominalization, numerical inflation, metaphorical framing (invasion, contamination, destruction), and intertextual repetition elevate public threat perception, amplify perceived risks and justify state policy interventions towards immigration. In addition, the study demonstrates how Trump`s rhetorical discourse is spread across the national borders of the United States since the excerpts selected for analysis are taken from different countries and cities in the United States. It also shows that the use of threatening language places normative pressure on the sovereignty of the nations. Trump`s anti-migration discourse is famous for his way of criminalizing illegal immigrants and proposing hard laws and regulations against them. Thus, the combination between “micro-language” and “macro politics” will enable this paper to contribute in the continuous discussion about massive communication and migration discourses. https://academicus.edu.al/nr34/Academicus-MMXXVI-34-044-060.pdf political discourse analysis immigration populism securitization metaphor identity eng Academicus International Scientific Journal Academicus International Scientific Journal 20793715 2026-07-20 MMXXVI 34 61 74 10.7336/academicus.2026.34.04 article Daniele Battista Veronika Cillingová Arthur Gugliucciello This contribution examines the relationship between political and media polarization in contemporary society. Over the years, polarization has become a central phenomenon in multiple countries, characterized by the progressive separation of opinions and extreme attitudes among different political groups. The media, absolute protagonists in the dissemination of information and in the shaping of public opinion, stand as a stronghold of this process. This article first presents a conceptualization and examines its link with the media landscape, establishing its origin, consequences, and the different ramifications. The effects impact society’s media consumption and the very functioning of democracy, strongly affecting political life. Possible trajectories and strategies are therefore addressed to promote a more constructive and less polarized public discourse. https://academicus.edu.al/nr34/Academicus-MMXXVI-34-061-074.pdf Political Polarization Media Polarization Public Opinion Democracy Political Communication eng Academicus International Scientific Journal Academicus International Scientific Journal 20793715 2026-07-20 MMXXVI 34 75 90 10.7336/academicus.2026.34.05 article Ali Abdelhafidh Belabbes Hindu nationalism in British India witnessed a substantial transition in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This was through the disputed philosophical contributions of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar. The key research challenge tackles how Savarkar methodically changed Indian nationalism from a civic, pluralistic framework into an exclusionary cultural ideology by skilfully mobilising European nation-state paradigms and reinterpreting colonial history. Savarkar’s ideology shows great European influence, especially with regard to organic nation-state concepts to present what he meant by ‘nationhood’, employing Western nationalist paradigms with the aim to define Indianness strictly via Hindu lenses. This generated a foundational tension between anti-colonial secular aspirations and majoritarian cultural assertion. The main objective of this research is to tackle this ideological synthesis, tracing how Savarkar’s conceptualisation of Hindutva simultaneously advanced anti-colonial mobilisation and institutionalised religiously bound national membership. The study investigates how Savarkar instrumentalised history as a political mechanism for mass mobilisation while constructing a homogeneous cultural identity. Rather than advocating historical revivalism. He viewed the construction of a historicistic narrative from the Hindu perspective as necessary to unveil the glories of ancient India by systematically marginalising periods of Islamic rule as foreign invasions. His vast literary production functioned as vehicles to articulate his vision for India under Hindu sovereignty. A qualitative historical methodology combined with critical discourse analysis and archival triangulation is used to support this investigation and facilitate a systematic analysis of ideological development by correlating literary output with administrative documentation, thus reducing colonial surveillance bias and identifying strategic rhetorical changes. Savarkar’s primary texts, namely ‘Hindutva: Who is a Hindu?’, ‘The Indian War of Independence 1857’, and ‘Six Glorious Epochs of Indian History’ are the main corpus of this research. These are analysed alongside personal correspondence during his London exile and contemporary colonial intelligence reports for an understanding of how his ideas were received; archival documents from the India Office Records have also been used. Other sources include scholarly critiques on Hindutva as well as comparative nationalist theories. The findings indicate that Savarkar secularised religion into a territorial-political identity. He distinguished theological faith from national affiliation while culturally uniting them through ancestral lineage, sacred geography (pitribhumi and punyabhumi), and civilisational uniformity. https://academicus.edu.al/nr34/Academicus-MMXXVI-34-075-090.pdf Hindu nationalism Hindutva the RSS India independence eng Academicus International Scientific Journal Academicus International Scientific Journal 20793715 2026-07-20 MMXXVI 34 91 105 10.7336/academicus.2026.34.06 article Hanane Boumaraf This paper examines the construction of postcolonial subjectivities in Yaa Gyasi’s Homegoing through Homi K. Bhabha’s concepts of mimicry, ambivalence, and hybridity. Focusing on the intergenerational trajectories of the descendants of Effia in Ghana and Esi in America, the study investigates how colonialism, slavery, and diaspora shape complex modes of identification that resist fixed notions of identity and belonging. Employing a qualitative textual analysis, the paper explores the way acts of mimicry generate ambivalent forms of identification, creating liminal spaces in which inherited cultural values, colonial legacies, and diasporic experiences intersect and are renegotiated across generations. Within these in-between spaces, hybrid subjectivities emerge not as mere combinations of cultures but as dynamic processes of cultural translation and negotiation that unsettle stable categories of selfhood. The analysis demonstrates that Homegoing destabilizes binary oppositions such as colonizer and colonized, African and American, and tradition and modernity by portraying identity as historically contingent, relational, and continually reconfigured. Ultimately, the paper argues that Gyasi’s novel reveals how colonial encounters and their enduring aftermath produce intergenerational forms of hybridity and ambivalence that simultaneously expose the instability of colonial authority and open new possibilities for cultural identification and belonging. https://academicus.edu.al/nr34/Academicus-MMXXVI-34-091-105.pdf Ambivalence hybridity mimicry postcolonial subjectivity unbelonging eng Academicus International Scientific Journal Academicus International Scientific Journal 20793715 2026-07-20 MMXXVI 34 106 136 10.7336/academicus.2026.34.07 article Edlira Çerkezi Ana Çano Albanian fairy tales constitute one of the richest components of the country’s oral tradition, preserving an extensive corpus of mythological beliefs, symbolic representations and cultural values transmitted across generations. Mythological figures occupy a central place within these narratives, functioning not only as fantastic beings but also as symbolic expressions of the Albanian worldview, collective memory, and traditional cosmology. This study examines the representation, narrative functions, and cultural significance of mythological figures in Albanian fairy tales through a qualitative and interpretative approach. The research is based on the analysis of representative folklore texts drawn from the principal collections of Albanian fairy tales, complemented by the theoretical contributions of leading Albanian and international scholars of folklore and mythology. The analysis combines descriptive, comparative, and myth-critical perspectives to investigate the symbolic roles of figures such as: Kuçedra, Dragoi, Ora, Zana, Shtriga, Lugati, Vitore, Xhindet (mythological figures in Albanian fairy tales and other supernatural beings). The findings demonstrate that these mythological characters perform multiple narrative and symbolic functions. They embody the opposition between constructive and destructive forces, mediate relationships between the human and supernatural worlds, and preserve ancient beliefs concerning protection, destiny, fertility, justice, and moral order. Although Albanian fairy tales share numerous mythological motifs with other Balkan and European traditions, they also preserve distinctive cultural characteristics that reflect the historical development of Albanian society and its unique mythological imagination. The study argues that mythological figures should be understood not merely as fantastic literary elements but as fundamental components of Albania’s intangible cultural heritage. By integrating folkloristic, literary, and mythological perspectives, this research contributes to a broader understanding of the symbolic universe of Albanian fairy tales and highlights their significance within the wider context of European folklore studies. https://academicus.edu.al/nr34/Academicus-MMXXVI-34-106-136.pdf Albanian fairy tales mythological figures folklore cultural identity symbolism eng Academicus International Scientific Journal Academicus International Scientific Journal 20793715 2026-07-20 MMXXVI 34 137 151 10.7336/academicus.2026.34.08 article Latasha Holt This study examines how students’ perceptions of their educational experiences have evolved over the past sixty years, offering a retrospective analysis of key shifts in the schooling environment. Data includes perceptions of overall quality of school experiences, challenges faced at school, the importance of the school environment and thoughts on the fairness of rules and policies. By centering student perspectives across multiple generations, this research provides valuable insight into the importance of improving ways educational leaders listen to student voices to improve decisions being made about curriculum, daily schedules, rules and policies, maintaining adequate facilities, socialization needs, and having access to caring teachers who offer support. This is critical to understand the long-term impacts of educational change on citizens and when informing future reforms. https://academicus.edu.al/nr34/Academicus-MMXXVI-34-137-151.pdf democratic schools middle school education generational needs citizenship eng Academicus International Scientific Journal Academicus International Scientific Journal 20793715 2026-07-20 MMXXVI 34 152 177 10.7336/academicus.2026.34.09 article Roksana Poçi Undergraduate psychology programs are increasingly expected to demonstrate coherence, accountability, and alignment with broader educational and professional standards. In contexts where national frameworks are absent, however, curricular development may be shaped by implicit and potentially incompatible educational logics. This paper examines this problem through the case of Albania, where undergraduate psychology programs have expanded rapidly without a shared framework to guide their purpose, structure, or outcomes. Adopting a qualitative and analytic comparative approach, the study analyzes three influential international models: the APA Guidelines for the Undergraduate Psychology Major (Version 3.0), the International Competences for Undergraduate Psychology (ICUP), and the EuroPsy framework, across six dimensions: internal architecture, educational philosophy, pedagogical philosophy, unit of concern, graduate role, and assessment logic. The analysis demonstrates that these frameworks embody distinct educational logics: performance, formation, and authorization, which carry different implications for curriculum design, graduate identity, and the distribution of responsibility within higher education systems. The paper argues that, in the absence of strong institutional and regulatory infrastructures, the question of framework alignment is not merely technical but conceptual and ethical. It concludes that making such alignment explicit is essential for ensuring coherence, accountability, and the development of graduates capable of functioning responsibly within transitional higher education contexts. https://academicus.edu.al/nr34/Academicus-MMXXVI-34-152-177.pdf undergraduate psychology education higher education reform Albania ICUP APA Guidelines 3.0 EuroPsy curriculum models eng Academicus International Scientific Journal Academicus International Scientific Journal 20793715 2026-07-20 MMXXVI 34 178 204 10.7336/academicus.2026.34.10 article Somia Boudinar This study investigates the integration of digital learning resources to address the authenticity gap in English for Specific Purposes (ESP) instruction within the Computer Sciences Department at Setif 1 University, Algeria. Despite the growing recognition of authenticity as a pivotal factor in effective language learning, ESP classrooms in the Algerian higher education context continue to rely heavily on static, textbook-based materials that fail to replicate the linguistic demands of real-world professional environments. Employing a mixed-methods research design, this study combines quantitative data collected from a 20-item Likert-scale questionnaire administered to 45 Master 2 students across five sections with qualitative data gathered from semi-structured interviews with 5 ESP practitioners. Quantitative findings reveal that students perceive digital resources as moderately effective in enhancing authenticity, with an overall mean of 3.82 (SD = 0.74). Section-level analysis indicates that perceptions of the impact of digital resources on authenticity had the highest mean (M = 4.15), while challenges and limitations had the lowest (M = 3.31). Thematic analysis of teacher interviews uncovers four overarching themes: (1) the transformative potential of digital resources for authenticity, (2) infrastructural and pedagogical constraints, (3) the role of discipline-specificity in resource selection, and (4) professional development needs. The study concludes that while digital resources offer significant promise in bridging the authenticity gap, their effective integration requires systematic institutional support, targeted teacher training, and curriculum redesign informed by an analysis of authentic communicative needs. https://academicus.edu.al/nr34/Academicus-MMXXVI-34-178-204.pdf English for Specific Purposes digital learning resources authenticity gap mixed-methods research computer science education thematic analysis higher education Algeria eng Academicus International Scientific Journal Academicus International Scientific Journal 20793715 2026-07-20 MMXXVI 34 205 215 10.7336/academicus.2026.34.11 article Blerta Galica Family involvement in children’s lives and development is considered a fundamental requirement. Its role and continuous support are deemed crucial for a child’s personality, cognitive and academic development. Nowadays, when English has become the dominant language, its learning and teaching as a foreign language is also of great importance. In primary education, the home environment, parental attitudes and involvement, its engagement and support are very important factors that can substantially influence students’ confidence, motivation and success. Therefore, this study aims to examine parental attitudes and support during their children’s English language learning as a foreign language, as well as to provide an overview of the significance of parental involvement during the preparation of their children for tests and assessment in English language, in primary education in Kosovo. This qualitative study involved ten parents of children enrolled in public primary schools. The collected data from semi-structured interviews were used to obtain comprehensive responses addressing the research questions. Thematic analysis of the results revealed that participants had a positive attitude toward EFL learning and perceived their role as significant throughout the entire learning process. The majority of parents reported engaging in shared reading with their children, reviewing English language materials and preparing for tests and assessment, as well as in maintaining continuous parent-teacher communication. Overall, this study underscores the fundamental need for consistent parental support, involvement and continual collaboration between parents and schools in primary EFL education. https://academicus.edu.al/nr34/Academicus-MMXXVI-34-205-215.pdf EFL learning attitude involvement parent student eng Academicus International Scientific Journal Academicus International Scientific Journal 20793715 2026-07-20 MMXXVI 34 216 231 10.7336/academicus.2026.34.12 article Blerta Drenofci Albania is among the most disaster-prone countries in Europe, frequently struck by earthquakes, floods, wildfires, droughts, and extreme weather. Persons with disabilities (PWDs), 6.5% of the adult population and 10% of children, face mortality rates in disasters estimated to be two to four times higher than those of the general population. Yet Albania’s civil protection system has long been disability-blind: national strategies, local emergency plans, early warning systems, and evacuation protocols have been drawn up with little regard for the specific needs of PWDs. Despite the country’s ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2012 and the adoption of a Civil Protection Law in 2019 that explicitly references PWDs, the gap between legal obligation and operational practice remains wide. This paper analyses results from a structured institutional survey administered to central government bodies, prefectures, and municipalities across Albania. Drawing on responses from 26 institutions, the study examines institutional awareness, policy implementation, training levels, communication practices, and inter-institutional cooperation on the inclusion of PWDs in disaster risk reduction (DRR). Key findings include the near-total exclusion of PWDs from emergency drills, reported by 53.8% of institutions; the absence of accessible emergency communication formats in 65.4% of institutions; severe shortages of trained personnel; and the identification of insufficient financial resources as the primary barrier by 92.3% of respondents. The findings reveal a wide gap between formal commitments, including Albania’s Law on Civil Protection (2019), the National DRR Strategy and Action Plan (2023–2030), and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and what actually happens in practice. The paper identifies the key deficiencies and closes with seven concrete policy and operational recommendations, covering dedicated budget lines, mandatory training, disability-inclusive early warning systems, evacuation protocols, participatory mechanisms, disaggregated data systems, and accountability frameworks, aimed at building a rights-based, inclusive DRR system in Albania. https://academicus.edu.al/nr34/Academicus-MMXXVI-34-216-231.pdf disaster risk persons with disabilities Albania inclusive policy civil protection Sendai framework eng Academicus International Scientific Journal Academicus International Scientific Journal 20793715 2026-07-20 MMXXVI 34 232 301 10.7336/academicus.2026.34.13 article Samridhi Sharma Sunitha Srinivas Kelly Maguire Roman Tandlich Current study uses the method of narrative review and the method of bioethical analysis to evaluate the status of management antimicrobial resistance in South Africa and globally. Specific focus is placed on the evaluation of the alignment of the strategic, operational and tactical decision-making between international, regional national and sub-national level of planning decision-making, data and information exchange, and mechanisms to minimise human suffering due to antimicrobial resistance. Antimicrobial resistance is looked at as a feedback loop which results from the irrational prescribing an overuse of antimicrobial medicines by humanity, and through the lens of the utilitarian qubit. Results of the study indicate that the World Health Organisation and other international, or regional organisations stimulate collaboration and create/operationalise platforms that allow for efficient exchange of information about antimicrobial resistance. Limitations exist in the antimicrobial resistance testing and linking of prescribing and dispensing of antimicrobial agents in low- and middle-income countries. Solutions are proposed to address the gaps at the tactical level of decision-making and to deal with uncertainty antimicrobial resistance development in the future. These include of targeted training mechanisms, which are legislated at the national level of government, and which empower frontline healthcare workers. These training programmes should be supplemented by the use communicative ecology in data gathering, and information sharing. It is also important to drive behavioural rigor in prescribing, dispensing, and therapeutic uses of antimicrobial medicines in public healthcare systems. Finally, health literacy of all stakeholders should be continuously monitored in relation to antimicrobial resistance. https://academicus.edu.al/nr34/Academicus-MMXXVI-34-232-301.pdf utilitarian qubit, health threats, tactical decision-making, training, frontline healthcare workers