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Comparative politics is a political science discipline that has in its evolution continuously reflected developments in the field of international politics. The author outlines the genesis of this discipline, which boomed in the 1950s within the framework of American politology & then goes on to give an account of the evolution of the fundamental research principles, the expansion of the subject matter, & the importance of the key concepts that delineate this academic discipline (political power, political system, political regime). The author analyzes the role of comparative politics in the context of other disciplines of political sciences as well as its applicative potentials. Through an analysis of the history of this discipline he points to the connection between the shift of interest in & focus on practical politics & the thematically specialized subdisciplines within comparative politological research. In conclusion, the author points out the importance & value of this discipline for Croatia (as a country in the process of democratic transition) with regard to comparative analyses of the experiences of developed democracies & countries in transition. Adapted from the source document.

The author's assumption is that a regular rotation of the Left & the Right in power has been a long-standing feature of stable European democracies. In most East European countries, the collapse of communism was followed by the electoral defeat of leftist parties. However, in the last two years, these regions have witnessed a return to power of more or less transformed leftist parties & leaders. This does not mark the return of communism, which has definitely become a thing of the past, though some of the leftist parties nurture certain revisionist traits. In less developed countries, former communist elites are being transformed into national political elites, while in more developed countries of Eastern Europe, the transformation of leftist parties into social-democratic parties has been completed. The author underlines the prominence of the national element in the political programs of leftist parties. He goes on to conclude that the main reason for the resurgence of the Left in East European countries lies in the social repercussions of the transition & the fact that the Right has been turning a blind eye to these problems. 1 Table. Adapted from the source document.

The author's assumption is that a regular rotation of the left and the right in power has been a long-standing feature of stable European democracies. In most East European countries the collapse of communism was followed by the electoral defeat of leftist parties. However, in the last two years these regions have witnessed a return to power of more or less transformed leftist parties and leaders. This does not mark the return of communism, which has definitely become a thing of the past, though some of these leftist parties nurture certain revisionist traits. In less developed countries, former communist elites are being transformed into national political elites, while in more developed countries of Eastern Europe the transformation of leftist parties into social-democratic parties has been completed. The author underlines the prominence of the national element in the political programmes of leftist parties. He goes on to conclude that the main reason for the resurgence of the left in East European countries lies in the social repercussions of the transition and the fact that the right has been turning a blind eye to these problems. (SOI : PM: S 41)

The author points out that in postcommunist countries, there is a genuine danger of postfascism, which is identical neither to classical fascism nor to neofascism, but shares certain fundamental common traits. Like in classical fascism, expansionism is particularly dangerous in postfascism. The author shows that the project of Greater Serbia is the very roots of the war in the entire territory of former Yugoslavia. Based on the tradition of Croatian antifascism, the author claims that the response to postfascism can only be democratic politics. Globally, it means that democratic countries cannot be morally neutral or passive toward manifestations of postfascism. The historical experience with fascism shows that diplomatic means are insufficient to thwart postfascist projects. Adapted from the source document.

The dissolution of the former Yugoslav federation was, to a smaller extent, brought about by the national movements, & to a larger, by the breakdown of the old political order. The Communist Party was the only cohesive force of the Yugoslav & all other communist federations. Therefore, the collapse of communism provoked the breakup of federal multiethnic states in Eastern Europe. Democracy, political pluralism market reforms, & decentralization tendencies were the essence of the 1989-1991 revolution. Market reforms were the most powerful force of disintegration in former communist societies. Divergent different interests of developed & underdeveloped federal republics produced political confrontation, & stimulated nationalist movements. The new nation-states emerged as a continuation of the process of nation-building, which was interrupted by either multiethnic empires or communist federations. Serbia was an underdeveloped republic of former Yugoslavia, which depended very much on federal resources, Serbian leadership opposed to both the political & market reforms, & decentralization tendencies. That policy provoked a massive nationalist response in Serbia & propelled Serbia into war against all other republics & peoples of former Yugoslavia. Adapted from the source document.

The author considers Croatia's priority in foreign affairs to be the establishment of peace & reintegration of occupied Croatian territory. The international community lent its support to solving Croatia's problems only with certain conditions attached: respect for human & democratic rights, especially the rights of minorities; & respect for the integrity of other countries. The basic problem faced by the international community is that since the end of the East-West polar orientations, there is no concept for solving the conflicts that have erupted in postcommunist countries. In Croatia, the war was viewed (wrongly) as a civil war. The controversy in the Croatian policy, as seen by the author, is in the requirement for absolute adherence to democratic principles, which is difficult to realize in times of war, & in the acceptance of complete democracy as a precondition to peaceful reintegration of occupied Croatian territory. Adapted from the source document.

The disintegration of communist societies is a continuation of the processes that were interrupted when the communist parties came to power with their programs of radical changes aimed at erasing all the social relationships that had been developed within a civil society. The author does not contest the thesis that the development of bourgeois countries is a historical rule, but he stresses that the problems of postcommunism cannot be solved by simply imitating everything from the West. The East European countries will have to undergo the same historical processes as the West, but in their own manner. The phase in which national states are formed cannot be avoided, & it does carry certain risks. Potential conflict situations cannot be avoided by stopping the processes put into motion by the fall of communism because this would produce an opposite effect. The author contests the opinion of the advocates of large integrative wholes who assert that the communist federations have disintegrated as a consequence of the activities of the nationalists & the national movements. He shows that disintegration represented an inseparable part of the dissolution of the old political order. Adapted from the source document.