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Is there a concept of the enemy? To what discursive sphere would it belong? Or, if there is no concept of the enemy, what are the factors that could have prevented its articulation? Following the reflections of Carl Schmitt and Jacques Derrida on the theologico-political, and reading canonical texts from the Western philosophical, political, and religious traditions, the author seeks to account for the absence of a history of the enemy.The question of the enemy emerges in this book as contingent on the way Europe has related to both Jew and Arab as concrete enemies. Moreover, the author provocatively argues that the Jew and the Arab constitute the condition of religion and politics. Among the many strengths of the book is the timeliness of its profound study of contemporary actuality: the volume provides a basis for a philosophical understanding of the forces at work that produced and kindled current conflicts in Europe, the U.S., and the Middle East.
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Balkan. Somewhere between a tragedy and a myth, a place and a condition, the term is perhaps best understood as a metaphor. It has been used and abused in academia by proponents of opposing political views. Multiculturalism has appropriated it, as have postmodernism and postcommunism. It is used pejoratively to refer to excessive specialization and nostalgically to refer to Europe’s lost people—its wild warriors and passionate geniuses. This book explores the idea of the Balkan as metaphor and the meaning of Balkan identity in the context of contemporary culture. Focusing on Balkanism both as a body of knowledge and as the critical study of that discourse, this book does for the Balkans what Edward Said’s Orientalism did for "the Orient."The sixteen authors, most of whom were born and educated in the Balkans, apply the Western academic tools of postmodernism, poststructuralism, deconstruction, psychoanalysis, and critical multiculturalism to topics as varied as the rhetoric of Balkanization, the war in Kosovo, Western demonization and erotization of the Serbs, Balkan film, human rights legislation, Byzantinism, the vampire as an image of Balkan violence, envy of the political and moral capital of victimhood, the tendency of the Balkan psyche toward depression, Serbian machismo and homosexuality, and wartime rape. The book both lays the groundwork for a new field of study and serves as an act of resistance against the many forms of representation that break the Balkans into fragments such as NATO army bases and digital maps in order to wire them into the global market.
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I am very pleased that this collection of my papers, edited by Obrad Savic, is appearing in Belgrade. Work of this kind positively calls out for translation and publication in a new context. I hope that the fact that I come at familiar questions from an unfamiliar angle might be helpful to some readers. And even more, I hope that the reactions to and criticisms of this highly partial work will eventually help me to think about these matters more effectively. I think of this publication as one move in an ongoing exchange, which I hope we will one day be able to continue through meetings and other publications. I am of course aware of the difficult times and struggles which Serbian society is now going through, and I know that the experience of those who are working there for democracy and human rights, however dismaying to them, will have something to say to all of us. (Charles Taylor, Introduction)
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It is necessary to make an effort to capture the perceptions and their implications on policy and discourse by objective research. This study will first try to summarize for a non expert audience the list of main issues that condition that relationship between these two neighboring countries focusing on contemporary debates. A note for the objectives of the report is included before presenting the main conclusions from the national poll carried out in Albania in 2013. // A parallel study has been conducted by the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP). Comparisons between perceptions were the subject of the two conferences organized in the context of this project and discussed in Tirana and Athens respectively in November and December of 2013. // A comparative analysis will be the subject of a forthcoming joint report of AIIS and ELIAMEP. (Published by: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Office Tirana)
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The aim of this paper is to modestly contribute to the development and sustainability of relations between Albania and Serbia, by shedding light on current relations in the political, economic and cultural realms and potentials for future improvements. The initiative therefore aims to overpass often wrong perceptions that impede normal political, economic and cultural relations between the two countries. The paper is divided into five parts: Initially we draw attention to the historical background of relations between Albania and Serbia during the past twenty years; the second part is dedicated to the methodology adopted for the study; the third chapter deals with quantitative findings from media monitoring in both Albania and Serbia, and the fourth chapter focuses on qualitative findings retrieved from interviews both in Tirana and Belgrade; finally the paper ends with respective conclusions and recommendations that might serve to the future improvement of relations and, subsequently, perceptions on both sides.
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Pred vama su tekstovi koje je Vladimir Gligorov napisao za Peščanik, Blic, NIN, Helsinšku povelju, Ekonomist, Politiku, Danas, časopis Banka i Cord Magazine. Tekstovi su nastali između dva septembra, 2006. i 2010. godine. Na kraju knjige je izbor od devet eseja prevedenih na odličan British engleski, ljubaznošću The Bosnian Institute iz Londona i našeg prevodioca Ivice Pavlovića iz Novoga Sada. Naslov knjige je preuzet iz teksta Talog, napisanog u aprilu 2009, u kojem se analizira koliko rasizma i mržnje prema Albancima staje u jednu rečenicu Dobrice Ćosića.Ovo je knjiga sa poukom. Ona dokazuje da su ekonomija i politika povezane. Da društvo obilja naseljavaju slobodni ljudi. Najzabavniji deo su citati kojima autor počinje neke od tekstova. Tajno središte knjige je u eseju Identitet. Učite i uživajte: It is the thought, the smile, and the sound of the piano that matter.
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Sense of nationality continues to be extremely powerful, and in today's globalized world, is getting even stronger. At first glance, the most obvious sign of the nation's community are language and origin, but too many nations seem to have no common ancestry, or even using only one language. Moreover, the most violent clashes burst out between people, professing the same religion and belonging more or less to the same culture. What makes most people to anticipate their national affiliations as an integral element of his/her own "I", and to invent their own past to find "worthy" place for their community? What can cause an ethno-national community or at least its elite to deny their relationship with another nation and to claim themselves as belonging to a completely different community, deliberately ignoring the "uncomfortable" facts? The purpose of this book is to make a critical review of some deep-rooted cliches and generally accepted axioms. The Bulgarian, Balkan and Slavic national passions are considered in the context of ethnogenesis and the formation of European nations and the world.
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The purpose of this research was to identify common and distinct factors of resilience or vulnerability to violent extremism in Bosnian communities as well as the influence of key actors on those factors. Cantons selected as case studies had the highest number of parajamaats and foreign fighter departures, such as Sarajevo Canton (SC) and Zenica-Doboj Canton (ZDC), or had no parajamaats or departures, such as Bosnian-Podrinje Canton (BPC). The research sought to answer three main questions: 1) What are key factors of community resilience or vulnerability, and what factors are linked to the development of violent extremist beliefs by individuals and groups and the choice to join foreign violent extremist groups? 2) Which key actors influence community vulnerability or resilience to violent extremism, and how do they shape such dynamics? 3) What is the impact of existing PVE programmes and initiatives in BiH on factors of community vulnerability or resilience to violent extremism? Researchers also wanted to determine: What are the primary entry points for PVE programming and response in BiH? And what crossover exists between PVE activities and peacebuilding and reconciliation efforts in BiH? This research identified several factors and actors that contribute to the degree to which certain communities in BiH have been affected or unaffected by radicalisation. The history of the 1992–1995 war has especially played a decisive role in shaping post-conflict radicalisation processes. This is true both in terms of how wartime actors and activities sowed the seeds of the Salafist movement in BiH and how wartime networks in certain communities increased the likelihood of investment by specific foreign actors in the post-war period. While researchers found that all these communities share some characteristics, including a lack of trust in institutions and a sense of uncertainty about the future, the main differences between affected and unaffected communities are linked to the war.
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Srđa Popović's analysis in détail of Serbia's way into the wars and conflicts of the 1990s
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Serbia is once again at crossroad that calls for the engagement of its entire society. The steps the government has made toward EU accession are insufficient, the more so since the government itself is not unanimous about the course. This is more than evident in the implementation of the Brussels Agreement. The great majority of citizens knows nothing or knows little about what a membership of EU implies. Besides, most major national institutions such as Serb Orthodox Church, parts of the Serbian Academy of Arts and Sciences (now trying to change its course), influential intellectuals and parts of the civil sector are not committed to the values on which EU rests. Turbulence within EU itself and disorientation of some member-states play into the hands of EU opponents and fuel their resistance. Human rights and freedoms have regressed considerably over the past three years, the backsliding itself escalating during the state of emergency declared because of floods (May 15-23, 2014) and in the aftermath. Requiring expertise and, above all, preventive measures, the crisis situation itself revealed the government’s weaknesses and its attitude toward key issues of further democratization.
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The book “Framed Trials of Kosovo Albanians” is a product of the author’s three-year coverage of some of hundreds of proceedings against Kosovo Albanians from the autumn of 1999 till mid-2001. As the only Albanian journalist and longstanding Belgrade correspondent for the media in Albanian, the author was keeping the Albanian public posted on those trials via the Radio Voice of America and the Pristine-seated Zeri daily. Though not in detail such political trials usually necessitate, the book factually and authentically speaks of the legal processes instituted against prisoners of war – actually 2,000 Albanian hostages who were lucky enough to survive. The others met their death in prisons. The author finished his manuscript in May 2001 when all trials were practically over and the great majority of prisoners released under the Amnesty Law. However, for objective reasons, it was only in May 2002 that the book came out of print in Albanian. On March 26, 2002, the last group of 145 prisoners was transferred from Serbian prisons to Kosovo under the agreement between the Serbian authorities and the UNMIK administration. Thus, as mother of the well-known political prisoner Nait Hasani put it, “the doors of Serbian prisons were finally and forever closed for Albanians.” The book also reveals the nature and philosophy of Serbian public prosecutor offices and trial chambers that have been moved from Kosovo to Serbia. They did all but administer justice. They were nothing but mouthpieces of the then criminal regime symbolized in Slobodan Milosevic. The Albanians – including numbers of juveniles and women – they took hostage were indicted of terrorism either as members or supporters of the KLA labeled a terrorist organization. Without a single argument and evidence supportive to the charges, they meted out draconian punishment to those people. Many legal experts, independent intellectuals and human rights organizations from Serbia raised their voice against court decisions, calling those trials “the biggest defeat of the Serbian judiciary ever disgracing not only the legal profession but also the Serbian nation as a whole.”
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Although each of these stories relates to different experiences and misfortunes, the stories of Serb refugees from Dalmatia are not very different from the destiny of the Serb population, who were forced to leave their homes during the last war. New environment and people gave them just enough to stop fearing for their lives. But as the time passed, the feeling of not belonging to the new environment would not leave them. The feeling of longing for their ancestral homes and a piece of land they could call their own with certainty kept attracting them towards a new beginning.
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Hate speech in right wing media, angry shouting at stadiums and hate graffiti in the streets, public gatherings of Ustasha supporters as well as discriminatory and revisionist statements by senior state officials, became a part of political reality in Croatia in 2016. What is truly wor¬rying for the security of certain individuals and groups, and especially for representatives and members of the Serb community, is that the number of verbal and physical attacks against them rose last year and that hatred against Serbs and other individuals and groups of liberal and leftist orientation became more intense.
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This book comes from a large research endeavour of the European Union’s 6th Framework Programme, called ‘Microcon’, standing for the micro-foundations of violent conflict. In its entirety, Microcon consists of 28 component projects undertaken by 22 research centres across Europe, under the coordination of Sussex University. The Microcon website (www.microconflict.eu) gives a full account of participants, objectives and results. The project runs from 2007 to 2011.This book addresses the greatest source of societal tensions and violent conflict in contemporary Europe, involving people from minority groups of Muslim culture. Six country case studies – on Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Spain, Russia and the United Kingdom – give a comprehensive account of Islam-related tensions and violence, from the jihadist terrorist acts seen in Europe in the aftermath of 9/11 in the US, through to the urban riots of the type seen in France in 2005. These events are analyzed with a common typology together with detailed accounts of the social context in each country. Also included is an interpretation of the fundamental nature of the Islamist terrorism in Europe, with the outline of a strategy to repel it. The book is a unique source for those seeking to understand the nature of ethno-religious violence in contemporary Europe.
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The Western Balkans (WB) have come into the international spotlight as an arena for big power competition. In their foreign policy orientation, the region’s six countries — Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia — all share Euro-Atlantic affiliations, although the degree of affiliation varies. Internally, functional and structural weaknesses — whether Albania’s legacy of an isolationist communist dictatorship or the consequence of the violent dissolution of Yugoslavia in the other countries—open doors for hostile foreign actors to project their influence. The environment is rife with ethnic tension, border disputes, and neighbourly disagreements. All of these countries are developing democracies that have yet to fully recover from the aftermath of the Yugoslav wars. Their Euro-Atlantic orientation is currently a matter of tense debate. While Albania, Montenegro and North Macedonia have become NATO members, Serbia oscillates between East and West, its EU candidate status notwithstanding. Although EU membership is still uncertain for the Western Balkan countries, all six have expressed their willingness to join the Union but are advancing down this path at different speeds.
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The Israel – Palestine conflict has now been a hot topic in the news ever since the brutal attack by Hamas on the kibbutz and surrounds, located just outside the south of the Gaza strip on 7th October last year. The whole strip was penned in by a strong safety fence which had been put up by Israel a few years earlier, such that the Palestinians were reminded that they were in a kind of prison dependent on power and water, and so that PM Benjamin Netanyahu could keep them apart-- apartheid. Hamas, while still controlling the strip, although much in the minority, wanted to show the vulnerability of the fence. They did but went much too far.
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