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This modern translation of all the surviving literary compositions ascribed to Liudprand, the bishop of Cremona from 962 to 972, offers unrivaled insight into society and culture in western Europe during the "iron century". Since Liudprand enjoyed the favor of the Saxon Roman emperor Otto the Great, and traveled to Constantinople more than once on official business, his narratives also reveal European attitudes toward the Byzantine Empire and the culture of its refined capital city. No other tenth-century writer had such privileged access to the high spheres of power, or such acerbic wit and willingness to articulate critiques of the doings of powerful people. Liudprand's historical texts (the Antapodosis on European events in the first half of the 900s, and his Historia Ottonison the rise to power of Otto the Great) provide a unique view of the recent past against a genuinely European backdrop, unusual in a time of localized cultural horizons. Liudprand's famous satirical description of his misadventures as Ottonian legate at the Byzantine court in 968 is a vital source of information on Byzantine ritual and diplomatic process, as well as a classic of medieval intercultural encounter. Readers interested in medieval European culture, the history of diplomacy, Italian and German medieval history, and the history of Byzantium will find this collection of translated texts rewarding. A full introduction and extensive notes help readers to place Liudprand's writings in context.
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The article discusses the functioning of NATO in 2018. It describes thedeterminants of relations between the allies in this period, especially the impactDonald Trump’s first year as President and growing populist tendencies in Europehave on transatlantic ties. It also discusses the key points of dispute between theallies (e.g. the debates over burden-sharing between NATO members) and assessesthe most important reforms of the Alliance that are meant to increase its operationalreadiness particularly in the context of deterrence and collective defence. NATO’soperational activity was also analyzed as well as the changes in relations with theorganization’s external partners.
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The article discusses the evolution and functioning of the Common Security andDefence Policy of the EU in 2018. The authors start with an analysis of externaland internal determinants of cooperation within CSDP, with particular attention tothe impact of transatlantic relations and US approach to the European initiativesas well as of internal tensions in the EU. Then they discuss the implementation ofthe decisions from December 2017 on the initiation of PESCO, which constitutesthe central topic of the paper. The functioning of European Defence Fund is alsoanalyzed, as well as the essence and implications of the French proposal of EuropeanIntervention Initiative (E2I). In the last part of the article, operational engagementof the EU is briefly presented, including a discussion of modifications of CSDPand ways of implementing them, namely Civilian CSDP Compact (CCC), and thedebates over the future of maritime activities of the EU in the Mediterranean. Theauthors conclude with an assessment of the results of the development of PESCOand EDF in the last year and of the perspectives of future cooperation.
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The article presents the activities of the UN Security Council in 2018 in lightof the Secretary General’s statements concerning the state of the world. The firstpart is devoted to drafts of resolutions on the Middle East, which were vetoed bypermanent members of the Security Council. The second one is focused on decisionsconcerning African states such as the Republic of Central Africa, Sudan, SouthSudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, and Somalia; as well as on thematicresolutions concerning peacebuilding, protection of civilians and children in armedconflicts, the role of youths for peace and security. In the third part, basic data on peacekeeping are presented and some violations of peacekeeping rules described.A separate part is devoted to Poland’s activities within the SC and in particular itsengagement in promoting international law.
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The aim of the article is to present the major armed conflicts – the wars in threeMiddle East countries: Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan. The selection criteria includenot only geographic factors, but also the nature of the conflicts, i.e. they are allcivil wars and have become internationalized as a result of involvement of externalpowers, i.e. the military forces of several countries. In Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan the enemy has been the so called Islamic State; in Syria it was the main enemy. Thethree countries were the most impacted by terrorism.
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2018 was a year of substantial internal reconfigurations in the EU. In the article,the author focuses on three processes with the biggest potential for change. There isgrowing awareness of practical difficulties of leaving the EU in an orderly fashion,especially in light of the severe political crisis in Great Britain. Chancellor AngelaMerkel declared her plan to leave (in an orderly way) and the opinion polls beforethe European Parliament elections suggest there is a possibility of a relative successof Eurosceptic parties, which would result in anything but order. The power gamewithin the EU starts with the May 2019 elections and it will take up a better part ofthe year. The consequences of 2018 political decisions are still unknown – growinguncertainty being the only certain factor.
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The second year of Donald Trump’s presidency was not a time of breakthroughs orevents of historical significance. However, there have been some signs foreshadowingsignificant changes for the US.After Trump’s two years in office, the economy is still booming, although afteryears of prosperity one could expect slowdown in the nearest future. In domesticpolitics, the President focused on fulfilling his campaign promises and supportingthe Republicans in maintaining the majority in Congress after the midterm elections.The greatest obstacles for accomplishing Trump’s election goals include: growingconflicts between the President and Democrats, problems related to the investigationby the special prosecutor R. Mueller’s commission, instability and rotation at the toppositions in the administration, and the President’s war with the news media.The “America First” approach continued to dominate in the field of foreignpolicy. The President concentrated his efforts on disposing of Obama’s legacy andimplementing initiatives aimed at protecting the interests of the US and of Americancitizens. However, the lack of a clear vision and consistency in foreign policy,disputes within the administration, a stiffer position and tightening of dialogue withforeign partners led to a further drop in confidence and loss of US credibility on theinternational arena.In general, in fulfilling the vision of Making America Great Again, D. Trump usesmethods and means which are far from the standards previously known in Americanpolitics. As a result, the nature of American domestic and foreign policy is changing.It is an open question, however, whether the processes will prove permanent, to whatextent, and, if so, how will it affect the US political system and international order.
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The article aims to analyze the region of Eastern Europe and South Caucasusfrom the perspective of the EU Eastern Partnership programme. Ten years afterits initiation, the region remains unstable both politically and militarily. It is stillstruggling with post-Soviet heritage, such as corruption and authoritarian tendencies.While some countries (Armenia) try to counter these challenges, in others (Moldova)there was a significant deterioration of democratic standards. Such a situationseems to indicate the weakness of the EU’s policy mechanisms towards its Easternneighbourhood.According to the EaP assumptions, the cooperation with the countries of theregion is conducted on the case by case basis. This results in the separation of theEastern neighbours of the EU into two subgroups: the first one is made up of Ukraine,Moldova, and Georgia, which in 2014–2017 concluded association agreements withthe EU, providing for the creation of Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Areas,and were offered a visa-free regime; the second one gathers Belarus, Armenia, andAzerbaijan, with which cooperation is more limited.Russia’s policy remains a key challenge both for the countries of the region and theEU. The Russian Federation is striving both to increase its influence in the countriesof Eastern Europe and South Caucasus, and to limit their cooperation with the EU.An important instrument, though not the only one, of the expansive Russian policyin the region are the frozen conflicts affecting Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia,and Azerbaijan. In the case of Belarus, progressive integration of this country withRussia should not be excluded.
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After several years in which the reports from the Middle East were dominated bynews on the fight against the Islamic State, in 2018 there was a significant change.A series of failures of IS in 2016-2017 led to the situation in which the basic questionconcerning the Middle East focussed not so much on the way to overcome theorganization, but rather on the essence of the new international order, shaped asa result of clashing interests of different states and political forces. In Syria, plungedinto civil war since 2011, the scale of victory clearly shifted to the side of the forcesfaithful to President Bashar al-Assad. In Iraq, after a period of cooperation of differentpolitical forces faced with IS expansion, ethnic and confessional divisions revivedagain. At the same time, mechanisms for seeking effective ways to eliminate threatsto the stability of the country have been introduced. Conflicts in Libya and Yemenare still far from settled. Both countries have no governments that can effectivelycontrol the situation in their territories and external actors get involved to furthertheir particular interests. Local conflicts thus become a playing field for competingregional and global powers, hindering stabilization processes.
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After the end of the Cold War, the international order began its transition, bothon a global and a European scale. As a consequence of these changes and underthe influence of a series of crises in the EU, two opposing tendencies have beenstrengthened. On the one hand, intensified questioning of the current directions ofintegration, and on the other, the desire to reinforce the management in the EU bythe European core, represented primarily by France and Germany. The aim of thearticle is to show power politics in the EU on the example of internal market changeshappening at a time of transition of the international order.
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The aim of the article is to analyze the evolution of India’s strategy in the Asia-Pacific region after 2014, i.e. after the Indian People’s Party (Bharatiya Janata Party,BJP) came to power and the post of prime minister was taken over by NarendraModi. The article characterizes and discusses the main assumptions, directions, andinstruments of India’s foreign policy in the Asia-Pacific region.The article attempts to answer two main research questions: whether and, if so,why has India adopted a more active strategy in the Asia-Pacific region; and whether,in its strategy in the political-strategic and security sphere, it has opted for an alliancewith the USA in the Asia-Pacific region.Answers to these questions will allow us to verify hypothesis stating that,especially under the influence of the dynamics of intra-regional relations in foreignpolicy in 2010s, India has redefined its role and position on the Asian continent andhas strived to implement a balancing policy in order to limit China’s increasinglyimportant role and to prevent the shift of power on the Asian continent in favour ofBeijing. To achieve its goals, India advocates a political and strategic alliance withthe USA and its allies as one of the pillars of a democratic, liberal order in the Indo--Pacific region (as an alternative to the order proposed by China).The theoretical tool used in this case study of India’s regional strategy is thecategory of balancing policy. This research tool was selected for its cognitiveand explanatory values which emphasize the importance of the anarchism of theinternational system and the fact that the rules of relations between states area function of the balance of power between them.
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Please let me extend my gratitude to the Faculty of International Economy and Politics of the University of National and World Economy and to the Bulgarian Association of Political Science for the invitation and the opportunity to exchange withyou on the important topic of the European perspective and connectivity of the Western Balkans as a specific priority of the first Bulgarian Presidency of the Council 2018.
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As in previous times, nowadays processes in Southeastern Europe (the Balkans)have been swirled into the maelstroms of world geopolitical clashes. Following theunprecedented "new world order", initiated by the superpower that has prevailed atthe end of Cold War era, the main features of the current international system havebeen molded within the clashes among new centers of power, declaring ambitions tobe paramount factors in a dynamically changing world.
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Today’s challenges of the Balkan countries are largely a result of the fact that the national model of statehood is very difficult to operate in a region where the Ottoman Empire existed for many years. This left a strong footprint on the culture and traditions of the population. All these formed the contemporary political culture of the Balkan countries. Thus, the present research focuses on the Balkan states’ political culture. It aims at making a general description ofthe political culture of the Balkans, identifying the common features of the countries, using historical approach and comparative analyses.. Also a comparison is made with the political culture of "full democracies". The analysis covers indicators and builds on data from the European ValuesStudy, 4th wave. The results show that the countries indeed have common characteristics but stillthere are variations. Although the Balkan countries are close to full democracies on some of theindicators, on others – significant differences are observed.
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This study was prompted by the strong academic and research interest in President Donald Trump’s governance and rhetorical style, which is atypical of any senior government official holding a high post in the state administration. Another major motivation for selecting thisresearch object is the topicality of political discourse, and its linguistic and pragmatic aspects, inthe era of post-truth politics. Yet another reason was the typically negative image of the Balkans ina historical perspective. The findings in this study largely confirm those established in previousresearch with regard to Donald Trump’s foreign policy priorities. Even though Trump is differentin form – in language and rhetoric – in his foreign policy, he shows continuity with his post-ColdWar predecessors in substance, especially in the Balkans and South-eastern Europe.
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The European Commission (EC) and Romania ensure a shared management of European funds and the principles governing the current financial framework are those of sound financial management. For each operational program, European regulations make mandatory the existence of the following authorities: the management body (MA), the certifying body (CA) and the audit institution (AA), which must operate independently of each other. Each Member State has the freedom to create its own institutional framework, if the three authorities mentioned in the European regulations are clearly defined and delineated.The present article aims to present whether the management and control system (MCS) implemented at the Romanian level is too bureaucratic if too many authorities have been created on the European Commission's cash flow. At the same time, some of the main causes will be identified, which may lead to a lack of beneficiaries' interest in accessing the funds allocated to certain programs. Some of these cases originate from the 2007-2013 programming period where Romania was sanctioned by the European Commission with many financial corrections due to systemic irregularities identified in the process of public procurement procedure, the evaluation and selection process projects. At the same time, the lack of funding due to the failure to complete some projects in time in December 2015 will be considered, as it is compulsory to ensure the necessary public and private financial resources from the own local budgets or from the state budget in order to be able to be finished.
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The development of a country (economic and social) is one of the key issues in modern society. For this reason, it is an object of increased research interest - with different research goals and objectives, as well as with a different methodology used for this research. One of the categories often used in modern economic life is competitiveness. It is the focus of the present study, which has as its main objective the analysis, assessment and comparison of the competitiveness with which the Bulgarian economy functions in the context of its membership in the European Union.
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The report analyzes the structure and convergent processes of employment in the Bulgarian and Romanian economies for the period 2000-2020, and examines the dynamics of relative shares and rates of change for the respective period. In order to quantitatively measure the degree of convergence/divergence, a divergence index and a difference index were calculated, comparisons with other EU countries with similar characteristics were used, and some possible explanations and consequences of the structural changes that took place were also derived. Overall, the results show a slow process of convergence of the sectoral structure of employment of the Bulgarian and Romanian economies with that of the Eurozone, which continues throughout the period, regardless of some specifics before and after the global recession.
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