The Phenomenology of Brotherhood and Town Twinning: From Paradiplomacy to Digital Twin Cities

Abstract

 This article studies the nature of the phenomenon of twin town relations through the semantic analysis of the concept of brotherhood and comparison of antagonistic views on this phenomenon: on the one hand, as a deep foundation of cooperation and, on the other, as an ideologeme and “social imaginaries”. The results of the study show that in the era of universal smartization brotherhood can be achieved by means of digital twin technologies and big data analysis. Moreover, the article points out that the transcendental goals of this phenomenon are permanent and allow us to overcome the civilizational challenges that threaten to fragment the cultural-genetic foundations of Russia. The growing interest in the problem of brotherhood indicates increasing contradictions between the expectations of market-liberal declarations and transformations on the one hand, and Russia’s real place in the international arena on the other. Further, the article attempts to overcome the view on the phenomenon of brotherhood as an ideologeme, “social imaginaries” and a political cliché. The problem of the social ideal, exemplified by brotherhood, is solved by identifying in the latter the transcendental foundations necessary for the reproduction of Russia’s cultural competitive strategies in a globalizing world. The probabilistic result of the development of town twinning is considered to be the most important element of paradiplomacy, which makes a significant contribution to Russia’s international diplomatic agenda and to the improvement of its soft power mechanisms. The primary purpose of this paper is a socio-philosophical study of the fundamental foundations of the phenomena of brotherhood and town twinning. The research methodology is based on the ideas and principles of historicism, comprehensiveness and integrated approach. The article concludes by outlining possible ways of developing the practice of town twinning in the conditions of international tension and sanctions policy of Western countries.