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Crime and violence pose a serious challenge to Mexico. The problem appears to be growing worse, with 2011 on pace to become the most violent year on record. The rising violence in Mexico has resulted in a sharply heightened sense of fear among citizens, who now feel the presence of cartels in their every day lives. The use of extortion and kidnapping by cartels combined with a lack of trust in security forces terrorizes the population and makes them feel like they have no where to turn. Despite this fact, crime rates in Mexico remain lower than in other parts of Latin America. Venezuela, for example, has among the highest homicide rates in the world. Yet the pervasive infiltration of cartels into public life gives Mexicans a heightened sense of the severity of violent crime in their own country. Although accurate statistics are hard to come by, it is quite possible that 60,000 people have died in the last six-plus years as a result of armed conflict between the Mexican cartels and the Mexican government, amongst cartels fighting each other, and as a result of cartels targeting citizens. Mexico has been struggling with drug production and drug transit through its territory from South America to the U.S. for many decades, given the fact that it is the most important transit country for drug production originating from South America. In recent years, the escalating violence in Mexico has led to dramatic deterioration of the security situation. Recent wave of drug-war violence is associated with the beginning of the term of President Felipe Calderón in December 2006. The immediate implications of his assumption of the presidency and his hard-line policy, which he has applied against drug cartels and organized criminal groups across the country, were the deployment of Mexican army to fight cartels and the gradual weakening of the influence of local and state police at the expense of federal troops. This was done in order to combat corruption and collaboration of local law-enforcement institutions with drug trafficking organizations (DTOs). The consequence of such a policy, however, has been increased violence among rival cartels and between them and the federal police and military, resulting in a dramatic increase of the number of victims. The future of US-Mexican counter drug cooperation, as well as of the whole bilateral relation in the area of security, depends on the outcome of US presidential elections. As for Mexico, Enrique Peña Nieto takes the office on December 1, 2012 that will mark a comeback of his party PRI after 12 years in opposition. As far as the security strategy of the future Mexican President is concerned, there are no significant changes to be expected. Peña Nieto seems to be aware of the current situation and its consequences as well as of the inevitability of an extremely close and dynamic mutual cooperation with the US.

The often controversial discussions about the problem of the Jewish refugees from Central European countries since 1938 - held at the level of the Government of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, but also at different "lower administrative levels" (provinces, districts, and local municipalities), with the participation of various directly or indirectly interested parties, whose numbers grew considerably on the eve of the war in 1941 - including the issue of the status of several categories of persons with foreign citizenship (or with no citizenship at all). Apart from the "real refugees" and immigrants, these discussions also dwelled on the issue of the status of "Jewish tourists" from Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, the neighboring Yugoslav states as well as Palestine. The attempts to find the most favorable solution for the state of Yugoslavia reflected all the dilemmas of the Yugoslav authorities about how to "neutralize the problem" of the Jewish refugees from Germany, who after the National Socialists' rise to power, in 1933, began arriving to the Yugoslav borders, too.

The media policy of a country is a part of its overall policy and depends on the totality of socio-historical circumstances, the level of cultural and economic development, as well as the possible social consensus on the necessity for acceptance and implementation of experiences and standards from the democratic world in this field. Unlike other areas for which local/state politics is defined, the media field has only recently become interesting from this point of view and, as it is often the case in transition countries, it is still not recognized as a clearly defined position of the ruling circles. This paper analyzes the process of major changes in the media system of Serbia after the democratic changes and government actions, which in the long run cannot be considered a precisely constituted media policy, but whose consequences have an impact on the state of the public sphere and of the media, and thus receive political significance. The most important indicator of the will of political circles is undoubtedly the regulatory level, which is why this paper deals particularly with the preparation, adoption, and practical implementation of media legislation enacted from 2000 onward. Considering the official Serbian aspirations to join the European Union, the issue of state media policy is also seen through the prism of European media policy.

For the last few years, the German foreign policy has been under constant temptations and substantial reconsideration. The key role in resolving the difficult economic and financial crises in the EU, the development of close economic ties with the Russian and other rising world economic powers, the decision to sustain in the UN Security Council in deciding to authorise the use of force in Libya, as well as the dominant attitude towards the crises in Greece and Kosovo clearly shows the wish of Germany to pursue a more independent foreign policy. In spite of all these efforts and its huge economic power, Germany has failed to become a global political power. Moreover, in order to protect and develop its trade interests Germany must remain within the frameworks of the EU and the NATO. For a long time, Germany has been one of Serbia's most important economic and political partners. Since it is realistic to expect that Germany will be more oriented towards developing its economic ties with the new world economic powers, the Western Balkans and Serbia will not be in the focus of its foreign and economic policies. Therefore, for Serbia, it will be useful to concentrate on the cooperation with the mighty German provinces that have their interests in developing this cooperation. In the future, the Kosovo issues will remain the main obstacle to it.

Američka administracija zainteresovala se još pedesetih i šezdesetih godina prošlog veka za zemlje severne Afrike, kada su one stekle nezavisnost. Krajem Hladnog rata, američki zvaničnici pozvali su sve severnoafričke zemlje da se uključe u proces globalizacije svetske ekonomije, a posle događaja iz septembra 2001. godine u Sjedinjenim Američkim Državama, njihovi istraživački centri počeli su ozbiljnije da proučavaju islamske pokrete unutar i izvan islamskog sveta. Predmet istraživanja ove doktorske disertacije je određivanje američkih spoljno-političkih interesa i vrednosti prema islamskim pokretima na severu Afrike na početku XXI veka. Naučni cilj ovog istraživanja je naučno objašnjenje američke spoljne politike prema islamskim pokretima, posebno uzroka promene u američkoj spoljnoj politici i njen budući pravac kretanja prema političkim partijama i pokretima, nakon revolucija arapskog proleća i dolaska ovih islamskih partija na vlast u Tunisu, Egiptu i Libiji. To podrazumeva naučnu deskripciju i klasifikaciju značajnih islamskih pokreta na severu Afrike s naglaskom na njihov uticaj na američku spoljnu politiku. Društveni cilj ove teze je da ponudi naučno zasnovane osnove za razvoj odgovarajuće američke spoljne politike prema islamskim pokretima, uključujući i ulogu nezavisnih istraživačkih centara kao i sredstava informisanja u kreiranju američke spoljne politike. Najveću primenu u ovoj disertaciji imale su statistička i komparativna metoda, kao i analiza sadržaja dokumenata kao metoda prikupljanja podataka. Rezultat, odnosno naučni doprinos doktorske disertacije zasniva se na dva bitna činioca. Prvo, ova tema nije razvijena u naučno delo u našoj i savremenoj naučnoj literaturi, dakle radi se o originalnoj doktorskoj disertaciji. I drugo, zbog naučnog cilja odnosno naučnog objašnjenja američke spoljne politike prema islamskim pokretima, kao i njihovoj klasifikaciji. Društveni značaj i očekivani rezultati odnose se na sprovođenje američkih spoljno-političkih interesa i vrednosti, i proučavanja uticaja međunarodnog terorizma i radikalnih islamskih pokreta na američku spoljnu politiku, posebno u procesu globalizacije. ; The American administration has shown interest during the 1950-1960's for the North Africa countries, after their independence. By the end of the Cold War, the US officials has invited all North African countries to engage in the process of globalization of the world economy, and after the events during September 2001 in the USA, their research centers has begun more serious to study the Islamic movements inside and outside the Islamic world. The subject of this doctoral thesis is to determine US foreign policy interests and values towards the Islamic movements in the North of Africa at the beginning of the XXI century. The scientific objective of this research is the scientific explanation of US foreign policy towards the Islamic movements, particularly the causes of changes in US foreign policy and their trends towards political parties and movements, after the Arab spring revolutions and the arrival of these Islamic parties to power in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. It includes scientific description and classification of the significant Islamic movements in the North of Africa, with an emphasis on their impact on US foreign policy. The social objective of this thesis is to offer science-based foundation for developing the appropriate US foreign policy towards the Islamic movements, including the role of independent research centers and the media in the creation of American foreign policy. The most used methods in this doctoral thesis were statistical and comparative methods, as well the content analysis for collecting the data. The result, ie scientific contribution of this doctoral thesis is based on two important factors. First, this theme has not been developed as scientific work in our and modern literature, so this is an original doctoral thesis. And second, because of the scientific explanation of American foreign policy towards the Islamic movements, as well as their classification. The social significance and expected results relates to the implementation of US foreign policy interests and values, and studying the impact of international terrorism and radical Islamic movements towards American foreign policy, especially during the process of globalization.

Serbia's Law on Planning and Building has imposed the topics of energy efficiency in building sector, requiring adequate policy making and providing a starting point for improvement of the current situation in this field. Considering the fact that there are more than 3.200.000 housing units without any statistical classification a need arose for establishing a national building typology as a starting point for further decision making and appropriate activities definition regarding the existing housing stock.After joining EU TABULA (Typology Approach for Building Stock Energy Assessment) project, methodologies and approaches of the European countries have been analysed providing a common experience, at the same illustrating a need for identification and classification of local characteristics. In order to obtain adequate data a comprehensive survey has been conducted, providing a starting point for creation of typology. The National Typology has identified typical "model" buildings and defined the levels of improvement ranging from standard (according to the current law) to the low-energy level. The paper explains the methodology, procedures and local characteristics of the process and gives an insight in the activity describing the problems and potentials of the approach. ; Serbia's Law on Planning and Building has imposed the topics of energy efficiency in building sector, requiring adequate policy making and providing a starting point for improvement of the current situation in this field. Considering the fact that there are more than 3.200.000 housing units without any statistical classification a need arose for establishing a national building typology as a starting point for further decision making and appropriate activities definition regarding the existing housing stock.After joining EU TABULA (Typology Approach for Building Stock Energy Assessment) project, methodologies and approaches of the European countries have been analysed providing a common experience, at the same illustrating a need for identification and classification of local characteristics. In order to obtain adequate data a comprehensive survey has been conducted, providing a starting point for creation of typology. The National Typology has identified typical "model" buildings and defined the levels of improvement ranging from standard (according to the current law) to the low-energy level. The paper explains the methodology, procedures and local characteristics of the process and gives an insight in the activity describing the problems and potentials of the approach.