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The paper gives an analysis of the system for implementing the regional policy in the Republic of Croatia. Proceeding from increasingly large development disparities in the Republic of Croatia, the paper evaluates the level of readiness of the territorial administrative system for conducting regional policy efficiently. Particular emphasis is being placed on the analysis of the three elements that are in a positive correlation with the efficient conduct of regional policy. They are: a legislation framework of regional policy, institutional structure with a special emphasis on the mechanisms of horizontal & vertical coordination, & the system of local & regional self-government. All three variables include relevant limitations that influence the efforts for additional improvement of the overall capacity for conducting regional policy & for stimulating the development of the country. The author analyses & justifies the need for adoption of a special regional development system act. He points to some basic issues that should be solved; he maintains an attitude that an institutional framework should be created & emphasizes the need for reform of local & regional self-government that should be transformed from a retarding element into a generator of development. Figures, References. Adapted from the source document.

Ireland, Portugal and Slovenia – three states with different historical legacies and institutional frameworks – promoted labour market flexibility and active labour market policies before and during the 2008 crisis. These policies were postulated as basic poli-cies on the EU level. However, a significant change came with the COVID-19 crisis when governments in all three states implemented measures much more resembling neo-Keynesian policies. In the article, we show that the crucial mechanisms for the various labour market poli-cy choices made in these three countries were due to the two crises being of distinct types, the (non)coincidence of interests of a range of actors and classes, and the dif-ferent policy frameworks promoted by the EU. Keywords: crises, flexibility, labour market, European union, semi-periphery, COVID-19

The existing empirical studies examined the impact of different variables, such as common language, economic, cultural and geographical factors, on migration. However, none of the studies deals with the social security systems including their coordination as a relevant explanatory factor. The paper focuses on the social security systems in Europe, their mutual coordination and their influence on international migration. The influence of social systems on economic migration can be twofold: influencing the labour migration, i.e. migrants who move for work, and also influencing the benefit migration, i.e. migrants who move in order to receive social benefits. We present the advanced migration model extended by the factors of social security coordination. The main finding is that the labour migration prevails significantly over the benefit migration. Role of social systems as social magnets was not proved to be statistically significant. Adapted from the source document.

Geographers play an important role in the announced & expected reform of the political & institutional system by introducing a second tier of local self-government. Their role is not only associated with preparing an appropriate subdivision of Slovenia into functionally closed areas, but also, considering contemporary social causal links between forming the regions & regional development, the effects of the polycentric settlement network layout & the decentralization of public institutions. The paper derives from an assumption that decentralization of institutions plays an important role in overcoming regional disparities. Together with appropriate organization, decentralization of institutions allows more efficient utilization of development potential. In contemporary development policy, institutions are a decisive instrument. In addition to technical innovations & a creative environment, institutions stand out as an impulse & central support point, for harmonious social development. This paper is clearly of a theoretical nature. It deals with the role, effects & consequences of the decentralization of institutions as an instrument for balanced sustainable regional development. The factors, which have an impact on the success of regionalization in a function of decentralization policy, are analyzed They are: especially formation of clear political & legal frameworks for starting the reform process, a clear indication of powerful and, if possible, interdepartmental responsible persons for management & coordination of the decentralization process, forming the concept of decentralized regionalization of Slovenia that aims at an even distribution of tasks & responsibilities such as clear forms of mutual (horizontal & vertical) coordination & mutual reciprocal inspections between different regional & state levels, an outline of state-level transfers where individual administrative & legal steps mean transfer of financial & personal competences & equipment to the participants in regional communities, & finally, measures for providing professional qualification of institutions in decentralized regional associations for taking on new tasks. Figures, References. Adapted from the source document.

Although the new international economic
order (NIEO) has mostly been assessed as a failure, its
ideas still seem relevant in today's crisis environment.
The new context clearly shows that the existing liberal
international order is ineffective and calls for deep
changes like in the times of the developing countries'
fight for the NIEO. The article considers whether its
principles remain of relevance today, which ones have
been amended and which should be newly introduced,
all based on NIEO-related lessons. Dilemmas between
international law or a rules-based order as a framework for global governance and whether the proposed
new inclusive global economic order is to be based on
values (and if so, which) are evaluated.
Keywords: new international economic order, new
inclusive global economic order, rules-based order, values, principles, international law, global governance,
lessons

Abstract. The purpose of the article is to open up epistemological space for revitalising the idea of democratic
economic planning as a viable alternative vision. It
argues that a proper development of the idea must be
preceded by a comprehensive critical interrogation of a
hegemonic multidimensional ideological mystification
of capitalism and its markets. By utilizing Marxist and
eco-socialist insights the article identifies and analyses
several central ideological mystifications that enact an
epistemic closure. These range from the obfuscation
of capitalism's role in creating the climate crisis as an
inherently unsustainable system, to the mystification of
its non-evolutionary origins, to the obfuscation of the
role economic planning plays in contemporary capitalism, to the mystification of markets as ideal spaces of
freedom and innovation obfuscating the ever present
market-related oppression, exploitation and environmental devastation, and to silencing concrete historical examples of democratic economic planning such as
project Cybersyn that should serve as an inspiration for
imagining an alternative order.
Keywords: climate change, ideological mystification,
democratic economic planning, capitalism, neoliberalism

Abstract. The article considers whether the EU's CSDP
missions are a suitable crisis management mechanism
for post-conflict situations, along with the EU's relevance in crisis management at all. For this purpose, the
EU's biggest CSDP civilian mission EULEX was chosen
as a research case study. The research results reveal that
EULEX has not implemented its mandate, not met the
expectations of security consumers, not made any difference on the ground, and cannot be seen as an example the EU should rely on in its future missions. Further,
EULEX shows that CSDP missions suffer from many
shortfalls and the EU CFSP from a capability–expectations gap. The article concludes that the EULEX mission
does not show the EU's relevance in the crisis management of post-conflict situations.

Notions of the power associated with the European Union's foreign policy and its role in international relations are mostly liberal in origin. This explains the EU's special role in the Cold War era and that it has since emerged more as a moral, ethical and normative power. The EU's lack of military capability has probably been the main cause that prevents it from acting as a great or superpower. The distinction between materialistic and immaterial elements of power has been a crucial point of contention between realists and liberal thinkers. In international relations, we are also witnessing the trend of the EU increasingly using the geopolitical approach (such as in the Ukrainian crisis) besides the normative one. In the article, different concepts of EU foreign policy regarding power in the light of realism and liberalism are compared where, alongside the descriptive method, a SWOT analysis is performed. Keywords: realism, liberalism, power, European Union, Ukraine, foreign policy, international relations

Abstract. Crisis response planning can never fully prevent a certain amount of improvisation given that, in some cases, it is necessary, if not even desirable. This article analyses the research question on the relationship between crisis planning and improvisation in theory and with respect to the Covid-19 epidemic in Slovenia. Despite existing systemic recommendations, normative and to some extent operational crisis preparedness, our analysis of the country's response reveals improvisation in several key elements: planning, decision-making, coordination and crisis communication. The quite considerable improvisation seen with the epidemic is the outcome of its unexpected dimensions, the absence of a comprehensive crisis management plan, and individual actors' insufficient crisis management competences. It has been reflected in the establishing of specialised ad hoc structures, overnight decisions and their sudden reversals, and often in inconsistent and inappropriate communication with the public. Keywords: preparedness, improvisation, planning, decision-making, coordination, crisis communication, Covid-19 epidemic

The public procurement volume amounts to 10.5% of GDP which represents a considerable part of the Slovene economy. Thus, public procurement remains an important generator of economic growth & one of the key agents for the public financial expenditure policy. The public procurement analysis shows that the public procurement structure & share did not essentially change in Slovenia from 2001 to 2006. The data analysis of the public procurement contracts awarded in 2006 showed that the public procurement contracts were non-uniformly distributed according to their values & the number of procedures. On the one hand, great fragmentation & dispersion of public procurement contracts manifest themselves in the small-value public contract segment & its 25.1% value share in all of the public procurement contracts, but on the other hand, there is concentration of the high-value public procurement contracts in merely few large-volume orders. Adapted from the source document.

Abstract. The neoliberal approach taken to the transition from socialism to capitalism in the six former Yugoslav republics has revealed its weaknesses in all spheres of economic activities, including food production. These countries have lost sovereignty with respect to regulating important national policy areas like food trade and production. Liberalisation of the food trade has adversely affected national economies by destroying many small-scale farmers and food producers. Corporate supermarkets have been taking over an ever bigger slice of the retail pie. Social movements are calling for direct democratic control over resources and food production to be regained. The article examines the prospects of these countries to overcome the increasing food insecurity by introducing food sovereignty. Keywords: former Yugoslav republics, food sovereignty, food security, right to food, economic democracy, trade liberalisation

Abstract. The Covid-19 crisis that hit the USA especially hard was accompanied by intensified anti-Chinese racism fuelled by the anti-Chinese rhetoric used by the Trump Administration. Although Trump's political opponents blamed him for having mismanaged the pandemic response, the anti-Chinese stance was a bipartisan issue. The article aims to analyse anti-Chinese racism in its systemic and historical dimensions. It examines the nature and strategic utility of antiChinese racism for past, the Trump, and future administrations as well as for America's elites generally. It is shown that anti-Chinese racism was substantially transformed during the pandemic and above all utilised to address the general destabilisation of the US-dominated socio-political and socio-economic order both at home and globally. China's growing importance around the world and the potential domestic destabilisation of the US mean that the strategic utility of anti-Chinese racism may well remain important for some time to come. Keywords: Covid-19 crisis, Trump's presidency, antiChinese racism, systemic racism, foreign policy

The article is concerned with typology of differentiated author's opinions on the world economy phenomena, as internationalization, integration and globalization. The author examines, from the international political economy point of view, their differences and formulates three phases of internationalization process. The author defines also the relation of these phenomena to the process of integration and regionalization in the world economy and pays attention to frequently discussed topic of global governance as well. The author further examines the possibilities of measuring globalization process intensity on both world wide and national economy levels. The article assigns a set of characteristic features or indicators making possible to define main limits of when a given national economy can be hold as being incorporated and in what rate into the globalization process. This step of identification of globalization intensity rate is very important, as starting point, when a strategy of adaptation to globalization trends is needed to be formulated, evidently, closely with the competitiveness growth and catching-up strategy elaboration. Adapted from the source document.

The local geodetic service systematically provides information that is relevant to the implementation of the strategic policies of the sustainable development & rational management of space, municipality environment & wider local communities. It is also important as a public service for supplying data to the professional & interested public in their further work, as well as for providing information at the state level & within the framework of the European integrations. The paper explains why the institute of the local geodetic service differs in individual local communities. The central part of the paper deals with some additional possibilities of using the services from the area of the local geodetic service. These services can essentially contribute to better political decisions of local communities in making strategically relevant decisions. Adapted from the source document.