Suchergebnisse

Već dulje vrijeme u europskom javnom prostoru traje sekuritizacija uspostave vojske Europske unije. Europski federalisti sekuritiziraju uspostavu vojske EU kao jedino rješenje pri zaštiti europskog društva i europskog identiteta pred egzistencijalnom prijetnjom ruske revizionističke politike i neizvjesnog međunarodnog sigurnosnog sistema. S druge strane euroskeptici, dužnosnici Sjedinjenih Američkih Država, Velike Britanije i NATO-a sekuritiziraju uspostavu vojske Europske unije kao egzistencijalne prijetnje suverenitetu država članica Unije i opstanku NATO-a. Motiv SAD-a za sekuritizaciju uspostave vojske EU jest očuvanje trenutačnog stanja stvari u međunarodnom sigurnosnom sustavu budući da EU smatraju svojim konkurentom. Putem teorije sekuritizacije rad dokazuje sekuritizaciju uspostave vojske EU od strane dužnosnika SAD-a analizom dijelova sekuritizacije te kritičkom analizom diskursa govornih činova i službenih američkih sigurnosnih dokumenata. ; The securitisation of the establishment of the European Union military has been undergoing in European public space for a significant amount of time. European federalists securitize the establishment of the EU military as the only solution in protecting European society and European identity from the existential threat of Russian revisionist foreign policy and the uncertainty of international security system. In contrast, Eurosceptics, officials of the United States of America, the United Kingdom and NATO, are securitizing the establishment of the EU military as an existential threat to the sovereignty of the member states of the Union and the survival of NATO. The US motive for securitizing the establishment of the EU military is to maintain the current state of affairs in the international security system as they consider the EU to be a competitor. Using the Theory of securitization, this paper proves the actuality of the securitization of the establishment of the EU military by US officials by analysing elements of the securitization and critically analysing the discourse of speech acts and official US security documents.

U radu se naglašava potreba za novom regulacijom upravljanja zapisima u Republici Hrvatskoj. Opisuje se i analizira primjer Slovenije, koja je nakon osamostaljenja tri puta osuvremenjivala propise u tom području. Uspoređuju se hrvatski propisi i međunarodna norma, prihvaćena od Hrvatskog zavoda za norme kao nacionalnog normizacijskog tijela Republike Hrvatske. Naglašava se potreba primjene specifikacije MoReg – Model requirements for the management of electronic records, koja se primjenjuje u Europskoj uniji. Naznačuju se konkretne mjere koje treba ostvariti u okviru napora za modernizacijom propisa o upravljanju zapisima u Hrvatskoj. ; The necessity of new legal regulation of the records management in Croatia is stressed in the paper. The Slovenian example is described and analysed, having in mind that Slovenia modernised the respective legislation three times in the period after gaining independence. Current Croatian legislation and international standard on records management are compared. The Croatian standardisation institute and its role as national competent body are mentioned. There is a need for accepting MoReg – Model requirements for the management of electronic records, applied in the European Union. The author suggests the concrete measures that should be realised within efforts to modernise the respective Croatian legislation.

Pri analizi dvaju suprotstavljenih narativa povezanih s temom uspostave vojske Europske unije (EU) u europskom medijskom i političkom prostoru u ovome radu upotrebljava se teorija sekrutizacije te se temeljem analize diskursa i javnog mnijenja dokazuje da suprotstavljeni narativi ispunjavaju uvjete da ih prema definiciji Kopenhagenske škole svedemo pod pojam sekuritizacije. Prema autorima Kopenhagenske škole, sekuritizacija je govorni čin kojim provoditelj sekuritizacije do tada nepolitizirani odnosno politizirani predmet debate prikazuje kao egzistencijalnu prijetnju prema referentnom objektu koja zahtijeva hitne mjere. Prvi narativ koji rad analizira je neizvjesna sigurnosna situacija u Europi i oko nje koja bi mogla prerasti u egzistencijalnu prijetnju društvu Europske unije i europskom identitetu zbog nepostojanja vojske Unije. Drugi, tome oprečni narativ pak interpretira uspostavu vojske Europske unije kao egzistencijalnu prijetnju NATO savezu i suverenitetu država članica Unije. Rad postavlja pitanje je li sekuritizacija upotrebljiva poluga u nastojanju provođenja odnosno blokiranja čvršće intergracije EU na području obrane. Analizom diskursa glavnih aktera, provoditelja sekuritizacije i sigurnosnih strategija EU, Velike Britanije i Sjedinjenih Američkih Država te analizom prihvaćanja narativa od strane publike, rad zaključuje da su ti oba narativa činovi sekuritizacije. Prvi narativ, sekuritiziran od strane europskih federalista na čelu s predsjednikom Europske komisije Jean-Claudeom Junckerom, kao referentne objekte koji se pod hitno moraju zaštiti postavlja društvo EU i europski identitet. Egzistencijalna prijetnja referentnim objektima dolazi od ruske politike, ali i neizvjesne sigurnosne situacije u neposrednom susjedstvu EU-a. Ovaj narativ kao rješenje nameće uspostavu vojske EU-a. Drugi narativ, sekuritiziran od strane euroskeptika, NATO saveza te političkih elita Velike Britanije, SAD-a i Rusije, kao referentne objekte koji se pod hitno moraju zaštititi postavlja suverenitet država članica EU i opstanak NATO saveza koji se nalaze u egzistencijalnoj prijetnji od strane uspostave vojske Europske unije, čija bi uspostava oduzela nacionalne vojske tj. suverenitet država članica u području obrane, a postojanje NATO saveza učinilo izlišnim ; The thesis proves that around the establishment of the European Union army, we can infer two opposing narratives in European Union's media and political space and that both meet the conditions to be called a securitization. The first narrative (positive securitization) that the thesis analyses argues that the precarious the security situation in and around Europe could become an existential threat to the society of European Union (EU) and European identity because of the paucity of the EU army. The second narrative (negative securitization) that the thesis analyses interprets the establishment of the EU army as an existential threat to the North Atlantic Alliance (NATO) and the sovereignty of EU member states. Securitization is defined through the Theory of Securitisation by the scientists belonging to Copenhagen School (Barry Buzan, Ole Wæver and Jaap de Wilde) as a speech act by which an actor (securitizing actor) presents a specific issue, until then only politicised in the political or public space, as an existential threat to the referent object that requires extraordinary measures. For a speech act to be an act of securitization and not just an attempt of securitisation, public (or a target group) needs to accept the speech as such. Thus, the Theory of Securitization affirms that the chosen narratives are acts of securitizations through discourse analysis and public opinion analysis. Elements of securitization are before mentioned securitization actor, referent object and public, as well as functional actors, which indirectly affect security decisions by lobbing or directing the securitization actors, and context, as a speech act cannot be an independent factor in the securitization process but is dependent on historical, political, societal, economic, geographic, and other variables. The principal difference between Theory of Securitisation and the mainstream security theories: Traditional Security Studies (TSS) and Critical Security Studies (CSS), is that Theory of Securitization is not concerned if the issue that a speech act wants to present as a security issue, really is a security issue, but how a speech act presents the issue as a security issue. Unlike the Theory of Securitisation, TSS is a realistic security theory that examines is the issue a real security threat while CSS is a constructive security theory that examines the reality of security threat. Both, TSS and CSS, analyze already present security threat, while Theory of Securitisation analyses the creation of the security threat. Positive securitisation, the precarious security situation in and around Europe that could become an existential threat to the society of the EU because of the paucity of the EU army, is securitised by European federalists headed by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and HR/VP Federica Mogherini. Referent objects that are in urgent need of protection are the EU society and the European identity (values and principles) that are in the existential threat of Russia and uncertain security situation in the immediate neighbourhood of the EU. As a solution for the existential threat, securitising actors impose the establishment of the EU army. Functional actors of positive securitisation are stakeholders in the European defence industry who have a purely economic reason for the backing of positive securitisation, and European elite which advocates the federalisation of the European Union. The prime public, core target group, for the positive securitisation should be the Heads of 28 EU member states who make decisions concerning Common Security Defence Policy (CSDP). As the decisions concerning CSDP must be unanimous, and some member states, mostly United Kingdom (UK), steadily use the instrument of veto to block further development of the CSDP, the thesis assumes that the securitising actors of positive securitisation decided to expand the target group for their securitisation onto European Union society as a whole. Reasons behind the expansion of the target public, which thus makes the whole society of the European Union a the public is a pressure onto the Heads of EU member states since the citizens of the EU have a very favourable opinion about the further development of the CSDP and mostly positive opinion regarding the establishment of the EU army. Negative securitisation, which interprets the establishment of the EU army as an existential a threat to the NATO and the sovereignty of EU member states, is a complex form of securitisation. Instead of one securitising actor or one group of securitising actors with the same motive (European federalist with Juncker as champion in positive securitisation), negative securitisation is securitised by several securitising actors without the leading champion with sometimes the same and sometimes different motives: Eurosceptics, NATO, decision-makers in the United Kingdom, the United States (US) and Russia. Furthermore, negative securitisation accumulates the referent objects that are in urgent need of protection: the sovereignty of the EU member states and the survival of the NATO alliance. The only element of the negative securitisation that is unambiguous is the existential threat from the establishment of the EU army whose establishment would take away the national armies, i.e. the sovereignty of the EU member states and made the NATO alliance vulnerable. Hence, for the sake of simplicity of understanding the elements of negative securitisation and their synergy, the thesis uses the Classical Security Complex Theory (CSCT) for the proper consideration of the patterns of the security connections. Using discourse analysis of the speech acts and official documents the thesis shows how the decision-makers in the US (regardless of their political affiliation) securitise the establishment of the EU army as an existential threat to NATO and future of Atlantic security cooperation. Same is evident with the NATO as a securitising actor. The decision-makers in the UK (mostly conservatives) securitise the establishment of the EU army and further development of CSDP as an existential threat to the national sovereignty of EU member states. Russia too securitises the establishment of the EU army as an existential threat to the national sovereignty of EU member states but does the deed backstage financially supporting nationalist and Eurosceptic EU parties and via cyber-attacks and disinformation campaign. Functional actors of negative securitisation are stakeholders in the non-EU defence industry and other industries which prosper due to unstable global security situation, private military organisations, non-independent think thanks, etc. The public for the negative securitisation is the Eurosceptic part of the EU society, but the core target group are the citizens of the UK. Securitising actors of the negative securitisation narrowed the public of their securitisation for the same reason why the securitising actors of the positive securitisation broaden theirs – decisions concerning CSDP must be unanimous. Consequently, the securitising actors of the negative securitisation to be successful in their securitisation need to persuade only citizens of the UK that their narrative is correct. As already mentioned, the Theory of Securitisation analyses the creation of the security threat, so very important for the understanding of the results of discourse analysis is the context behind the construction of the securitisation. In the case of the securitisations analysed in the thesis, the contexts of both narratives have foundations in the conflict between neorealist and neoliberal doctrines in foreign politics, different security strategies of the countries, and change in a global security system, as well as historical, political, societal, economic, geographic and other variables. No EU member state can be a superpower on its own in today's world. This notion and aim to hinder the possibility of another armed conflict in Europe prompted the creation of the Union. After more than 60 years of enlargement and integration, the EU is an economic superpower. Nevertheless, to protect its economic superiority as well as to impose its doctrine in foreign politics and expand its multilateral security strategy, the EU needs to be and defence union. This idea is not a new one but exists and was attempted to be implemented from the beginning of the EU existence. The securitising actors of the positive securitisation believe that with the establishment of the EU army, the EU can keep the US hegemony in the global security system and the Russian renewal of bloc-system aspirations under control. Some securitising actors of the positive securitisation also believe that the further integration of the EU is necessary to prevent the disintegration. Above all, is the strong desire of the EU elite for the federation of the EU. Expectedly, not least because of the postulate of the security dilemma, the US and Russia are afraid of the military-strong EU which could change the current global security system, while the UK believes that with the strengthening of the EU its military and political strength will wane or disappear. As the UK is the EU member state and its citizens are the most Eurosceptic the public in the EU, both and the US and Russia focused most of their securitisation's efforts toward the UK's citizens. The US also uses the UK as a tool of disruption in the EU – it's right to veto decisions about the further development of CSDP, integration of the EU in the defence field and the establishment of the EU army. The thesis hypothesises that the two opposed narratives that the thesis considers to be securitisations have generated the status quo in the development of CSDP. Through the discourse analysis of speech acts and the official documents of securitising actors of both narratives as well as analysis of the acceptance of narratives by the audience (public opinion analysis), the thesis positively answers the research question: Is the securitisation theory usable the instrument in the effort to implement/block more effective EU integration?

Djelatna uloga Međunarodnoga odbora Crvenoga križa (MOCK) do izražaja dolazi u ratnim okolnostima u provođenju aktivnosti utemeljenih na međunarodnom ratnom pravu da bi se osigurala pomoć za sve ratne stradalnike. U osiguravanju uvjeta rada tijekom Drugoga svjetskog rata MOCK je pokušao uspostaviti službene odnose sa svim zaraćenim državama, odnosno svim vojnim snagama bez obzira na to je li im bio priznat status zaraćene strane. Stoga su u radu prikazani i napori koje je MOCK uložio u pokušaje da pripadnici Narodnooslobodilačke vojske i partizanskih odreda Jugoslavije steknu službeni položaj zaraćene strane, odnosno službeni status ratnih zarobljenika, te da se na njih dosljedno primijene odredbe međunarodnoga ratnog prava. Usprkos prethodnim kontaktima MOCK je tek nakon imenovanja stalnoga predstavnika u Nezavisnoj Državi Hrvatskoj (1943.) započeo opsežne aktivnosti u korist pripadnika partizanskoga pokreta Jugoslavije, od kojih su najvažnije bile praktična primjena odredaba međunarodnoga ratnog prava na zarobljene pripadnike partizanskih jedinica te osiguravanje raznih oblika pomoći. S istom je nakanom predstavnik MOCK-a uspostavio kontakt i s Vrhovnim štabom Narodnooslobodilačke vojske i partizanskih odreda Jugoslavije, a suradnja je olakšana tek nakon potpisivanja sporazuma Tito-Šubašić, što je rezultiralo uspostavom službenih odnosa krajem 1944. godine. Na temelju izvornoga arhivskoga gradiva, objavljenih izvora i literature autor pokazuje i neke aspekte suradnje do završetka rata te u neposrednom poraću. ; The active role of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) comes to the fore in wartime circumstances, in carrying out activities based on international war law (the Geneva and Hague Conventions) regarding providing assistance to all war victims. In securing working conditions during World War II, the ICRC attempted to establish official relations with all belligerent parties regardless of whether they were or were not recognised as belligerent parties. Therefore, the author presents part of the ICRC efforts made in the process of recognising the international war law-regulated status of belligerent party to members of the People's Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments of Yugoslavia, i.e. the status of prisoners of war. Despite some earlier contacts, after the designation of a permanent representative to the Independent State of Croatia (1943), the ICRC launched extensive activities in favour of members of the Yugoslav Partisan movement, the most important of which was the practical application of the international law of war. Permanent representative Schmidlin constantly intervened in the ministries and the prime minister of the Independent State of Croatia through the Central Office of the Croatian Red Cross and as well through prominent figures in the political and social life of the State. However, although the Partisans de facto achieved the position of a belligerent party in their relations with the German military forces, this status was strongly opposed by the ISC authorities. Due to the change in the British attitude towards the Yugoslav Partisans, in the summer of 1943 the ICRC leadership ordered its permanent representative in Zagreb to establish contact with members of the People's Liberation Army of Yugoslavia as soon as possible. Very soon, Schmidlin contacted the Supreme Headquarters of the People's Liberation Army and Partisan detachments of Yugoslavia. In late November 1943, shortly after the beginning of the Allied Conference in Tehran, the ICRC leadership also received an Allied recommendation on the same subject. The existence of the Yugoslav Committee of the Red Cross in London, which had legitimacy and was the only recognised Yugoslav national Red Cross society, was a major problem in establishing relations between the ICRC and the Yugoslav Partisans. The ICRC leadership remained committed to not recognising the new societies created during the war. After the signing of the Tito-Šubašić agreement in mid-June 1944, the ICRC leadership changed its position, and representatives of the Yugoslav government and Marshal Tito sent several letters to the ICRC Permanent Delegation in London in late September and early October 1944. In those letters, they informed the ICRC leadership of the establishment of the Central Committee of the Yugoslav Red Cross on the island of Vis. At the same time, the Royal Yugoslav Red Cross Society in London was dissolved. All of this resulted in the unification of the national organisation of the Red Cross in Yugoslavia, which led to the establishment of official relations between the ICRC and Yugoslav Partisans at the end of 1944. Based on original archival sources and literature, the author points to some aspects of cooperation until the end of World War II and in the early post-war period. One of the main aspects of the ICRC's work during this period was the practical application of the provisions of the international law of war to prisoners of war in Yugoslavia. Tito himself made the same promises, though the Yugoslav Ministry of Social Policy made this conditional: they would be applied only if it was proven that captured members of the Partisan movement had been treated in the same way during the war. The treatment of prisoners of war in Yugoslavia could only be speculated about, and the authorities immediately refused to allow foreign diplomatic or ICRC representatives to gain insight into the treatment of prisoners of war. It is clear that the ICRC faced the same problems in its relations with the authorities of the Independent State of Croatia and the German Reich during the war and the Yugoslav authorities at the end of the war and in the immediate post-war period.

Uspostava nadnacionalnih autoriteta regulacije banaka izravno je pridonijela boljem razumijevanju ponašanja i utjecaja bankovnog sektora na ekonomske tokove u cjelini. Institucionalna povezanost nacionalnih regulatornih tijela u kontekstu globalizacijskih odnosa pridonosi željenoj standardizaciji podataka koji su temelj za svaku validnu ekonomsku analizu. Napose, tržišna disciplina kao uporište suvremene regulacije reducira prostor neprozirnosti bankovne tvrtke, dok s druge strane dostupnost relevantnih baza podataka širi horizonte modelskog pristupa analize bankovnog sektora. Dominacija istog sektora kao izvora eksternog financiranja na zajedničkom europskom tržištu ishodište je traženja rješenja izlaska iz stagnacijskih pritisaka na gospodarska kretanja. Dinamičnost kauzalnih ekonomskih odnosa nameće potrebu sve veće pouzdanosti u izvore podataka, stoga reprezentativnost uzorka ne samo da usmjerava pojedino istraživanje već i determinira spoznajni proces. Analiza javno dostupnih podataka bankovnih tvrtki suvremenim ekonometrijskim alatima svakako je velik iskorak u pokušaju uspostave jasnog i transparentnog metodološkog okvira monitoringa reaktivnog djelovanja bankarskog sektora na nužnu promjenu regulatornih uvjeta u funkciji postkriznog pokretanja kreditnog ciklusa. Model empirijske analize usklađivanja bankarskog sektora s novim kapitalnim zahtjevima ovim će se radom testirati na uzorku od 35 bankovnih grupacija koje posluju na području EU-a za razdoblje od 2000. do 2016. godine, odabranih po veličini aktive. Analizom panel modela izvršen je odabir dinamičkog panela generaliziranom metodom momenata (engl. Generalized Method of Moments – GMM) jednim korakom. Rezultati istraživanja dali su dokaze da najava povećanja regulatornog kapitala utječe na rast ukupnih bankovnih aktiva odnosno dolazi do značajnog porasta udjela bezrizičnih aktiva u imovini banaka, dok s druge strane dolazi do kreditne kontrakcije koja olakšava zadovoljenje regulatornih zahtjeva. Konačno, upravljačke strukture preko neto kamatne marže kao instrumenta kreditno-depozitne politike, realociraju vlastita i tuđa sredstva u funkciji očuvanja likvidnosti i solventnosti banke u cjelini. ; The establishment of supranational banks regulatory authorities has directly contributed to a better understanding of the behaviour and impact of the banking sector on economic flows comprehensively. Institutional linkage of national regulatory bodies in the context of globalization relations contributes to the desired standardization of data, which are the basis for every valid economic analysis. The market discipline as the backbone of modern regulation reduces especially the banking firm opacity area, while on the other hand the availability of relevant databases expands the horizons of the model approach to banking sector analysis. The dominance of the same sector as a source of external financing on a common European market is the starting point in seeking solutions of emersion from stagnant pressures on economic trends. The dynamism of causative economic relationships imposes the need for ever greater reliability in data sources, hence the representativeness of the sample not only directs an individual research but also determines the cognitive process itself. The analysis of publicly available banking firm data using modern econometric tools is certainly a significant step forward in the attempt to establish a clear and transparent methodological framework for monitoring the reactive activity of the banking sector to the necessary change of regulatory terms in the function of post-crisis launch of the credit cycle. The empirical analysis of the banking sector alignment with new capital requirements will be tested in this paper on a sample of 35 banking groups operating in the EU area for the period from 2000 to 2016, selected by size of assets. The selection of the dynamic panel was performed through panel modelling analysis using Generalized Method of Moments (GMM). The research results have provided evidence that the announcement of the increase in regulatory capital affects the growth of total banking assets, namely there is a significant increase in the share of non-risky assets in bank assets, while on the other hand there is a credit contraction that facilitates the regulatory requirements compliance. Finally, the management structures over the net interest margin as a credit and deposit policy instrument reallocate their own and other resources in the function of preserving the liquidity and solvency of the bank in general.

Hrvatski sabor donio je 25. lipnja 1991. Ustavnu odluku o suverenosti i samostalnosti i Deklaraciju o proglašenju suverene i samostalne Republike Hrvatske, čime je objavio i formalizirao volju hrvatskoga naroda i građana Republike Hrvatske izrađenu na referendumu održanom pet tjedana prije. Usvajanjem navedenih dokumenata, a u nemogućnosti postizanja novog političkog dogovora kojim bi se razriješila jugoslavenska državna i politička kriza, Hrvatska je ušla u završnu fazu procesa osamostaljenja. No, unutarjugoslavenske i međunarodne prilike i odnosi nisu predstavljali povoljan okvir hrvatskoga osamostaljenja, nego je u tom procesu Hrvatska nailazila na brojne prepreke, opstrukcije, nerazumijevanja, pa i otpore. Dio međunarodnih aktera, pritisnut odlučnošću hrvatskog političkog vodstva kao i brutalnošću srbijanske oružane agresije, postupno je gradio afirmativan stav prema odluci o izlasku Hrvatske iz SFRJ kao jedinom racionalnom odgovoru na jugoslavensku krizu i rastući velikosrpski nacionalizam i ekspanzionizam. Tri desetljeća nakon sudbonosnih odluka Hrvatskoga sabora prigoda je da podsjetimo na ključne državno-političke i međunarodnopravne akte koji su doveli do priznanja te međunarodne i diplomatske afirmacije Republike Hrvatske, kao i da ukratko ukažemo na one unutarnje i međunarodne dionike koji su se tom procesu odupirali, ali i na one koji su ga podržavali. ; On June 25, 1991, the Croatian Parliament passed the Constitutional Decision on Sovereignty and Independence and passed the Declaration on the Establishment of the Sovereign and Independent Republic of Croatia. In doing so, the Parliament declared and formalized the will of the people and citizens of the Republic of Croatia, which was expressed at a referendum held five weeks earlier. By adopting these documents, and without the possibility of reaching a new political agreement that would dissolve the Yugoslav state and solve the political crisis, Croatia entered the final phase of its independence-gaining process. However, inner Yugoslav and additional international circumstances and relations did not provide a favourable framework for the Croatian independence. In this process, Croatia had to overcome a number of obstacles, an overall lack of understanding, even resistance. Having understood the pressure of decisive Croatian political leadership and the brutality of the Serbian armed aggression, a number of actors on the international stage gradually built their acceptance of the Croatian decision to leave the SFRY. They saw it as the only rational answer to the Yugoslav crisis and the growing Greater Serbian nationalism and expansionism. Three decades after these historic decisions of the Croatian Parliament, it is now a good time to remember the key national political and international legal acts that have led to the international and diplomatic affirmation, as well as the recognition of the Republic of Croatia. This is an opportunity to highlight the local and international stakeholders who resisted this process, as well as those who supported it.

The author analyzes the process of democratization of international relations & the future configuration of international order following the end of the era of bipolar confrontation & the establishment of cooperation in a world that has witnessed changes in the key actors' roles regarding their approach to the resolution of the post-Cold-War crises that jeopardize the world's peace & stability. First, the author provides a short outline of the genesis of the evolution of US foreign policy, from the end of WWII to the beginning of the Cold War & the formation of NATO. He points out that today's agenda of the international order, its structures, interventionism, & use of force in achieving political objectives, were already shaped at that time. The suggestions put forward constituted the framework & foundation for world politics until the late 1980s; the cumulative effect of these responses on today's attempts at solving post-Cold-War crises enables us to evaluate the roles & behavior of individual actors in the resolution of the Kosovo crisis. The maintenance of peace & stability in the post-Cold-War world in the circumstances of cooperation & partnership requires an appropriate approach & manner of resolving the crises triggered off by the collapse of communist federations. Imperial policies & regimes must be eliminated, while the processes of geopolitical consolidation & the creation of independent & sovereign states in Central & Eastern Europe (& in Euro-Asia on the whole), built around democratic & market principles, must be wrapped up. The new political leaders (mostly leftist) in the countries that for 50+ years (& now through the Kosovo crisis) have been developing the transatlantic alliance within the military-political framework of NATO (based on the same values, principles, & goals), are now developing appropriate strategies for the post-Cold-War hotspots (based on cumulative experience). 25 References. Adapted from the source document.

The protracted conflict in Kosovo has led to the European Union's special concern on the issue, specifically its special activities in the entire area of the Western Balkans with the aim of fully Europeanizing the area and bringing it closer to European integration. The period from the 1980s was a kind of turning point for Kosovo, given that the changed constitutional possibilities in the then state gave the opportunity for independence and the establishment of the state of Kosovo. The understanding of the entire Kosovo issue needs to be observed from the historical aspect and the role of the international community. In general, the state of Kosovo was created mainly based on international action, which laid the foundations for the establishment of a modern European state. In this process, the Ahtisaari Plan and Resolution 1244 from 1999, from which the European Union derives its activities, played a particularly important role. Until now, Kosovo has gone through three periods – that of political unrest until the 1990s, the intensive actions of the international community until the 2000s, and the period of the European Union, which is still ongoing, more precisely, only beginning since Kosovo has signed the Stabilization and Association Agreement. The European Union has a significant impact on the further development of the state of Kosovo in terms of the rule of law, the establishment of democratic standards, and the strengthening of transparent government. Profiling itself as an important global factor in peace and stability, the European Union in Kosovo has achieved the results that are visible through the EULEX mission and the actions of the High Representative of the European Union in Kosovo, as well as all other European Union institutions. At the end of the second decade of this century, the influence of the United States of America in Kosovo, which has never lost interest in establishing peace and stability in this area, is growing again. That is the reason why joint action by the United States of ...

The author analyzes the concept of balance of power in International Relations through critical overview of Realist tradition (both Classical and scientific), and its horizontal understanding of balancing of power as a principle per se. The first part analyzes the pessimistic phase (Classical Realism), with the emphasis on the works of H.J. Morgenthau, who promoted the balance of power as a principle per se in the hands of international power politics. In the second part, the scientific phase (Neorealism) empirically establishes the value-free balance of power concept in International Relations. By examining materialism and empiricism of Realism, in the third part the author indicates the limitations of the horizontal approach as a consequence of permanently ignoring the vertical aspect: ideational approach and norms and rules as the first principle of international system of society of states. Adapted from the source document.

The author looks at the development & significance of the modern constitution. According to him, except for institutionalization of politics, the modern constitution affirms the goals of the political order. Constitutional concerns dwell mostly on the valorization of human rights, a commitment to democracy, & the legal & social state. The modern constitution remains the object of constitutional studies, & precedes the establishment of other forms of law. At its foundations, the modern constitution represents a political union, demarcating a political regime, & citizens remain free to pursue their own interests in social, economic, & political spheres. The two underlying conceptions of the constitution are distinct: on one hand, Thomas Paine established the philosophical underpinnings of the American-European constitutional order (rational & voluntary); on the other hand, the English model licenses constitutional rights in the institutions. Relativized are the differences between the two visions: the instrumental & symbolic functions of the constitution. The former is the outcome of political processes that specify laws & establish limits to political power. The latter is a symbolic function of a good & just society. It is concluded that the constitution requires responsible citizens, & that its symbolic functions emerge over time. A. Siegel

Taking into consideration all the benefits & pitfalls of its political, economic, military, & cultural legacies, the People's Republic of China has adopted a policy of reliance on rapid economic growth & improvement of the standard of living conducive to political & social stability of Chinese society & state. This goal has been accomplished only temporarily & partially, while the final result depends primarily on the ability of the Chinese leadership to find the golden mean between the two opposites: the closed political system & the need to maintain an open economy. In its search for a place in today's world, China is faced with the central choice of equitable participation in the global community: full acceptance of its mechanisms & principles (beginning with the UN) & international trade norms, the protection of human rights, armament control, environmental protection, etc. However, the Chinese see in this a threat of the erosion of Chinese independence & the possibility of choice & political independence of the Chinese state. Adapted from the source document.

NATO's military action in Yugoslavia is a pivotal event that is going to leave an indelible impact on the future direction of international relations. The author first analyzes the underlying causes of the campaign, among which were the international community's resolve to finally punish Milosevic, be instrumental in eliminating his regime, drive out Russian interests from the Balkans, & espouse a positive stance toward Muslim countries, as well as the internal political American reason: the desire to strengthen President Clinton's position. This action has also had a manifold significance for the new world order, since it poses the questions of the world order's content, nature, leadership, & norms in a new light. In the process of establishing the new post-Cold-War relations, various tendencies that will pave the way to the new millennium will clash. On the one hand, there will be the exclusive approach based on force & interests, & on the other, the desire to establish the relations in which human rights will be the fundamental criterion for assessing the suitability of a country for a full membership in the newly unified international community. Adapted from the source document.

The article opens with an introduction to the key aspects of the globalization debates and their controversies, while it later deals with the crisis of the national model of citizenship. Since the 1990's the debate is between the advocates of two conflicting theses. According to the first camp of authors, citizenship has proven resistant to the globalization changes in the economic, political and cultural sphere, and even capable of revival. On the other side, it has been argued that the identity of a person, as a member of a national community, was gradually separated from its human and civil rights. That led to the establishment of a 'postnational model of membership' -- individual and group rights independent of citizenship. According to the second camp, the nation state was fundamentally transformed and it has become an instrument for implementation of the international conventions and norms of human rights understood as personal instead of citizenship rights. There are also attempts to reconcile the two standpoints. These authors recognize the challenges to the conventional national mode of citizenship, but argue that the processes of citizenship transformation are primarily an internal issue for the liberal democracies. Some authors try to step out of the narrow and exclusive conceptual frameworks of the nation state and postnational membership, attempting to explain the conflicting transformation processes of citizenship rights. There are also proposals for new concepts of citizenship -- a multicultural and a supranational, for example -- as a response to the challenges of globalization and international migration. Finally, postmodern writers talk about postmodern or a cosmopolitan citizenship that is not immediately tied to the nation-state. Adapted from the source document.

The article opens with an introduction to the key aspects of the globalization debates and their controversies, while it later deals with the crisis of the national model of citizenship. Since the 1990's the debate is between the advocates of two conflicting theses. According to the first camp of authors, citizenship has proven resistant to the globalization changes in the economic, political and cultural sphere, and even capable of revival. On the other side, it has been argued that the identity of a person, as a member of a national community, was gradually separated from its human and civil rights. That led to the establishment of a 'postnational model of membership' -- individual and group rights independent of citizenship. According to the second camp, the nation state was fundamentally transformed and it has become an instrument for implementation of the international conventions and norms of human rights understood as personal instead of citizenship rights. There are also attempts to reconcile the two standpoints. These authors recognize the challenges to the conventional national mode of citizenship, but argue that the processes of citizenship transformation are primarily an internal issue for the liberal democracies. Some authors try to step out of the narrow and exclusive conceptual frameworks of the nation state and postnational membership, attempting to explain the conflicting transformation processes of citizenship rights. There are also proposals for new concepts of citizenship -- a multicultural and a supranational, for example -- as a response to the challenges of globalization and international migration. Finally, postmodern writers talk about postmodern or a cosmopolitan citizenship that is not immediately tied to the nation-state. Adapted from the source document.

Commenting on the article by R. Badinter (1996, this issue), the author contends that experts in international law are not broad-minded regarding the establishment of a state. Most legal experts take for granted the statements of the international judiciary on the existence of certain rules of general international law & consider them validated & indisputable. This fiction has been given support by states, since they uphold only those legal statements that suit their interests. The author analyses the Opinions of the Arbitration Committee on the process of the disintegration & the Criteria for the dissolution of the former Yugoslavia as well as the criteria for the creation of the new states. He considers this precedent as central for international judiciary law. Adapted from the source document.