The Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict:The principle of sovereignty and the right to self-determination

Author(s): Alexandru-Vlad Crişan / Language(s): English Issue: 02/2015

This paper tries to shed some light on the aspects in regard to the principle of sovereignty and the right to self-determination as decisive elements in the course of the Nagorno-Karabakh war. Defining sovereignty and the right to self-determination as well as linking them to the conflict in Transcaucasia is the first part of this paper. Likewise, the reactions of the Azeri government and civil society are also analysed, as well as the factors which influenced the outcome of the conflict. Simultaneously, we shall analyse how the structure of the political power of the two states was formed as a result of the conflict in Mountainous Karabakh. Last but not least, the relation between the central leadership of the USSR with Azerbaijan and Armenia will be analyzed.

Što nakon (društvene) tranzicije? Kritičke crtice uz upotrebu tranzicijskoga pristupa u sociološkim razmatranjima hrvatskoga društva

Author(s): Krešimir Žažar / Language(s): Croatian Issue: 2/2015

This article provides basic outlines of a prospective, more comprehensive, critical evaluation of the use of the concept of transition in sociological discourse in post-socialist Croatia. Certain terminological confusions were briefly considered,relations among disciplines that address transition were clarified, and historical roots of the transition model – as well as its fundamental determinants and crucial propositions – were indicated. Particular attention was paid to the examination of drawbacks and different critical objections directed at the transition approach. These objections include: a) mechanistic determinism and neo-evolutionism; b) implicit teleological presumptions; c) political reductionism of sorts;d) hypotheses about the sequential character of transition; e) ideological assumptions.Certain revisions aiming to overcome the objections to the transition approach were presented. Those revisions indicated departure from particular rigid assumptions enshrined in the classic transition model and enabled proliferation of different theoretical approaches that allowed the possibility of diverse outcomes of transition processes. Additionally, the status of Croatian society regarding the dynamics of ongoing transformation processes was discussed, and the heuristic potential and epistemological validity of application of the transition approach was examined. Owing to the drawbacks denoted in the article, the transition approach was deemed inappropriate for the analysis of the social dynamics of Croatian society. The urgency for development of authentic conceptual-analytical tools suited for the inquiry of social processes and for macroscopic dissection of the contemporary social environment was emphasized. The construction of such theoretical instruments must be sensitive to specific attributes of a particular society. Furthermore, such instruments should holistically encompass the totality of social universe and, correspondingly, avoid reductionism that may stem from analytical primacy being given to any singular social domain. It was concluded that the development of authentic theoretical tools is considerably more pertinent than the »import« and uncritical application of theoretical models generated in other social environments.

Controlul exercitat de serviciile secrete din România asupra politicii și presei – metatemă a alegerilor prezidențiale din 2014

Author(s): Luminița KOHALMI / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 09/2015

The last Romanian presidential elections have been marked – more than in any other post-communist electoral races – by the public debate regarding the control of the secret services over politics and media. This research is focused on the presidential elections in 2014 and aims to analyze the subsequent items of this theme, its media impact, and its effect on the confidence that Romanians have in intelligence organizations, politics and media. This research is not aimed at discerning truth from fiction in the debates that have taken place with regards to the chosen theme. The results of the study validate the hypothesis that public interventions with regards to the theme have a medium and long term potential to shift the balance of power in Romania, by slicing antinomies on legal, institutional and ethical operation of intelligence into a democratic society

THE VIOLENT CONFLICTS IN FORMER YUGOSLAVIA AND THE VACILLATIONS OF THE WEST: TRANSATLANTIC DISCOURSE CONSTRUCTIONS OF THE YUGOSLAV WARS

Author(s): Laura M. Herţa / Language(s): English Issue: 17/2015

The chief purpose of this article is to present and analyze the shift within the transatlantic portrayals of the wars in Bosnia and Kosovo. This analysis will indicate the shift from a hesitant and ambivalent attitude with respect to the war in Bosnia towards a rather pro-active, military response to the war in Kosovo, built on the criteria of a just war and on the need to use force in order to pursue humanitarian outcomes. A second pivotal goal is to identify factors which shaped the shift in the transatlantic perceptions on the wars in Former Yugoslavia and examine them as developments within the transatlantic discursive constructions. The examination of such developments will focus on: from war occurring in an age-old ethnic conflict trapped territory (Bosnia) towards a war and humanitarian catastrophe at the “heart of Europe” (Clinton’s term); from the equivalence of guilt (as explained by Tom Gallagher), in the case of Bosnia, towards the imperative of identifying and targeting aggressors, in the case of Kosovo; from deployment of ground troops and neutral peace-keeping towards air-strikes and peace enforcement.

Around the Bloc: Romania’s Ailing Former King Retires From Public Life

Author(s): TOL TOL / Language(s): English Issue: 03/15/2016

King Michael led Romania during the darkest days of its modern history, overcoming a controversial past to become a revered elder statesman.

Conclusion - Excerpt from The Demon in Democracy

Author(s): Ryszard Legutko / Language(s): English Issue: 03/2016

The new barbarians of liberal democracy […] were the products of the West which at a certain stage of its history turned against its own culture; the respect for its achievements was gone, being replaced by contempt, and the rules of civility and propriety derided. To put it simply, the vulgarity of the communist system was pre-cultural while that of liberal democracy is post-cultural.

Geopolitical Geworfenheit: Northern Europe After the Post-Cold War

Author(s): Henrik Breitenbauch / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2015

The ‘greater Nordic space’ between Great Britain, Germany and Russia has over time varied with the balance of power. The Baltic States e.g. have been in and out of the space, rejoining by regaining sovereignty after the end of the Cold War. Russia’s actions in Ukraine and beyond during 2014 mark the end of the Post-Cold War period and its aspiration to peaceful integration. The small states of the greater Nordic space are now rediscovering their inescapable geopolitical nearness to Russia. Drawing on RSCT and Nordic-Baltic integration literature, the article contributes to understanding the Northern European part of the Euro-Russian Regional Security Complex. Theoretically, the article links RSCT and integration logics through the twin concepts of a ‘security region’ (given outside-in as one part of a negatively defined RSC), and a ‘political region’ (created inside-out under the shield provided by the security region). To link the two concepts, Heidegger’s idea of Geworfenheit, or thrownness, is employed to capture how the states of the greater Nordic space are always already subject to the dynamics underlying that space and how this condition affects the states’ interpretation of their changing surroundings, including translation into political regionality. Empirically, the article therefore argues that Russia’s new foreign policy has created a greater Nordic space ‘security region’ – supported by the United States – that is paving the way for new integration initiatives to a strengthened ‘political region’ inside the space, possibly as a ‘greater Nordic region’.

Politika Hrvatske demokratske zajednice Bosne i Hercegovine od osamostaljenja Republike Hrvatske do međunarodnoga priznanja Bosne i Hercegovine (listopad 1991. – travanj 1992.)

Author(s): Domagoj Knežević / Language(s): Croatian Issue: 1/2016

The paper describes the policy of the Croatian Democratic Union in Bosnia and Herzegovina from October the 8th 1991 when the Croatian Parliament reactivated their decision on the Croatian independence, until April the 6th 1992 when the international community recognized Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is written on the basis of the party documents, testimonies and media appearances by the party leaders. The Croatian Democratic Union of Bosnia and Herzegovina was the party which had won the absolute political support of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina at the first democratic elections, and then together with coalition partners – Party of Democratic Action and Serbian Democratic Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina they established a joint government on all levels. Consequently, without the reconstruction of their activities in the period which is the theme of this paper, it is not possible to understand the sequence of historical events that had led to the international recognition of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The paper therefore attempts to clarify the attitude of the party towards many important political issues of that time, such as the question of the aggression of Serbia, Montenegro and the Yugoslav National Army on Croatia, the collapse of communist Yugoslavia, the cooperation with coalition partners who had different opinions on the future of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the relation to the party headquarters in Zagreb, but also the reasons of the conflict between the two fractions within the party, which had developed over time due to the different views on the political future of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Everyday Nation-Building In The Post-Soviet Space

Author(s): Oleksandra Seliverstova,Emilia Pawlusz / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2016

This article presents a methodological approach to the study of nation-building in everyday life in the post-Soviet region. Although bottom-up and informal mechanisms of creating identity have been acknowledged in the literature and methodology of nationalism studies, they have seldom been applied to studies in the post-Soviet countries. This article discusses the strengths and limitations of such an approach, using the example of two studies – on consumption and national identity in Ukraine and on music and nation-building in Estonia.

După Legea Florian, Legea Oprea

Author(s): Marius Oprea / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 11/2016

Even though 2016 marks ten years since communism was declared as an illegitimate and criminal regime, no notable things happened for real condemnation of the atrocities committed by this regime. For a long time, the Institute for the Investigation of Communist Crimes and the Memory of Romanian Exile was amputated by government decision on its ability to literally investigate crimes and abuses committed during the communist regime. Recently, this ability was given back. Unfortunately, we still cannot speak of the condemnation of communism, but only about one conviction of a single torturer. Otherwise, justice remains blind in terms of both perpetrators and victims of the communist regime and yet Parliament remains mute. For this reason, I thought of drafting a law that could not be counted nor unconstitutional by restricting the rights of certain categories of people, but nor „dedicated” to one man. It is a similar law to the Law no. 217/2015, which will regard the prohibition of organizations and symbols of communism and also the prohibition on the promotion of the cult of persons guilty of the establishment and functioning of the communist regime and its repressive apparatus in Romania, and the adoption of stipulations leading to restriction of their rights, and also some measures of accountability in relation to their own repressive activities of the past and the victims.

De la istorie naţională la istorie europeană în şcolile româneşti

Author(s): Emilian COLCERU-MIHUL / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 11/2016

As of 1989, Romania officially separated itself from communism, expressing its option for democracy. This meant a new change of paradigm, in which education for democracy and European values (Romania expressing its wish to join the European Union) were preferred to the old nationalistic point of view. The contents of the discipline switched to an integrated study of Romanian and universal (mainly European) history. This new approach encountered a great deal of obstacles, discussed in this paper. Another challenge which the study of history has been confronted with is that the outburst of new informational media, as well as the development of technology, has put classical education in a difficult position: in order to continue to fulfill its goals, it has to adjust to the new realities. The teaching of history is, therefore, confronted with a methodological dilemma: should it continue to offer students a series of undeniable truths which contribute to the development of civic and patriotic personalities or should the history class be seen as an environment of “daring”, of provocations in order to encourage the student to discover himself those aspects from the past that allow him to understand the present?

THEORY and ANALYSIS — Gedanken über die nächste Zukunft

Author(s): János Kis / Language(s): German Issue: 10/1982

The shock of 13 December 1981 (martial law in Poland) also left deep marks in the Hungarian opposition. The newly created situation for Eastern European dissenters and the dissident movements was analyzed by János Kis in an article for the third issue of the magazine »Beszélő«

Stosunki Indii z Unią Europejską w okresie transformacji porządku międzynarodowego

Author(s): Jakub Zajączkowski / Language(s): Polish Issue: 1/2009

Dekomunizacja i przemianowywanie ulic w Polsce – próba wykorzystania analizy danych ilościowych w badaniach pamięcioznawczych

Author(s): Bartłomiej Różycki,Katrin REDER-ZIRKELBACH / Language(s): Polish Issue: 47/2024

The decision on street renaming is not merely an organizational issue, but it is also motivated politically and depends on the will of political actors to promote certain aspects of historical and cultural heritage. As a result, toponymy constitutes an important aspect of the symbolic landscape, indicating what kind of historical narrative dominates in particular area. In this study, the quantitative data of Statistics Poland (GUS) is to be used in order to indicate certain tendencies regarding street renaming in Poland, especially in the context of the second wave of decommunization after 2016.

Suffering into patrimony: dealing with communist repression in postcommunist Romania

Author(s): Claudia-Florentina Dobre / Language(s): English Issue: 4/2023

Analyses of communist repression in post-communist Romania focused on anti-communism and its totemic figures. Laws, institutions and people promote this perspective,transforming the suffering of the formerly politically persecuted into a patrimony meant tobe preserved and passed on. On the official level, the anticommunist paradigm gained mo-mentum in December 2006 when the communist regime was condemned as ‘criminal andillegitimate’. However, a majority of the population have not embraced the official approachto communism as the fallen regime still acts as a ‘millieu de memoire’ (as defined by PierreNora). My article deals with the main institutions and laws which aimed at promoting andtransmitting the memory of repression in post-communist Romania. Analyzing the memorypolitics as regards the communist repression might provide fresh insight into the ongoingprocess of building a cultural memory through selection, reconstruction and adjusting fig-ures, deeds, and memorial items.

Kakva Srbija: Simtrična ili asimetrična?

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 026/2009

A public debate on constitutional revision begun even before Serbia’s new 2006 Constitution was declared. Dissatisfied with the constitutional frame for Vojvodina’s autonomy, the province’s autonomists mostly insisted on the issue. At the Third Vojvodina Convention last December they once again emphasized the need for constitutional amendment. Some speakers at the convention even said that autonomy was no longer a frame that could satisfy citizens of Vojvodina. Inability of the ruling coalition to reach a consensus on the draft Vojvodina statute just fueled their frustrations. In addition, the problems hampering parliamentary and governmental proceedings, and the imperative need to buffer political and economic effects of the global crisis brought constitutional amendment to the fore.

Symmetric or Asymmetric Serbia?

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English Issue: 026/2009

A public debate on constitutional revision begun even before Serbia’s new 2006 Constitution was declared. Dissatisfied with the constitutional frame for Vojvodina’s autonomy, the province’s autonomists mostly insisted on the issue. At the Third Vojvodina Convention last December they once again emphasized the need for constitutional amendment. Some speakers at the convention even said that autonomy was no longer a frame that could satisfy citizens of Vojvodina. Inability of the ruling coalition to reach a consensus on the draft Vojvodina statute just fueled their frustrations. In addition, the problems hampering parliamentary and governmental proceedings, and the imperative need to buffer political and economic effects of the global crisis brought constitutional amendment to the fore.

Srebrenica – Trajna opomena

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 034/2009

This year the world marked the anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide with more consideration than before. This only logically follows the messages sent to the region, and particularly to Serbia over past months. US Ambassador to Bosnia-Herzegovina Charles English said, “The world failed to act, failed to protect the innocent of Srebrenica…The massacre was a stain on our collective consciousness.” Having hesitated for 20 years the EU – and US in the first place – finally realized that there could be not stability in the Balkans without a stable Bosnia-Herzegovina. In a few months only, the new US administration’s engagement in the Balkans produced visible results – and they are mostly visible in the new dynamics in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Pritisak strateških Izazova

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 035/2009

Notwithstanding the persistent anti- NATO propaganda Serbia’s membership of NATO has become the most important geostrategic agenda that is being daily discussed notably by the so-called expert circles. Several crucial domestic and international factors have contributed to such intensified discussion. At home, the global economic and financial crisis pressurizes the incumbent government to rationally decide the country’s geostrategic orientation. Such rational decision would simultaneously open Serbia the avenues of EU assistance in overcoming economic and social problems.

The Pressure of Strategic Challenges

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English Issue: 035/2009

Notwithstanding the persistent anti- NATO propaganda Serbia’s membership of NATO has become the most important geostrategic agenda that is being daily discussed notably by the so-called expert circles. Several crucial domestic and international factors have contributed to such intensified discussion. At home, the global economic and financial crisis pressurizes the incumbent government to rationally decide the country’s geostrategic orientation. Such rational decision would simultaneously open Serbia the avenues of EU assistance in overcoming economic and social problems.