Suchergebnisse

This article examines some issues related to the visions of the ancient Greeks on the polis, the emergence of (classical) Athenian democracy and the transition from Greek democracy to Roman (republican) democracy. It supports the idea that in the analysis of the evolution of the democratic phenomenon, a logical succession of distinct stages is noticed - from ancient democracy, to modern democracy and, finally, to the democracy of the future. Particular attention is paid to the understanding of the ancient Greeks on the fortress, because the city-state, being a form of organization specific to Ancient Greece, fulfilled several roles - military, political, economic and religious. But the main function was the political one, represented by certain leading institutions of the inhabitants of the polis. It is shown that the concept of democracy was created to describe an evolving reality, a type of city-state in which the citizens govern themselfs. The Athens was, in fact, not the only democracy of the ancient Greek world, but it manifested itself most fully through its stability and durability for about two centuries. Considering that the glory moments of the (classical) Athenian democracy comprise three prominent figures - Solon, Clistene and Pericle, the institutions of this democracy are identified and at the same time described. It is concluded that the Athenian polis aimed at a systemic interrelation between the state and society, andthe participation in the governance of the citizen-governors assumed that the people (the demos) would engage in legislative and legal functions.

Since its origins, in the context of the Cold War's beginning, NATO has been a robust defensive alliance, acting in accordance with UN Charter, as a collective defence structure based on solidarity and mutual trust. Nowadays it has 28 member states and one can say that it fulfilled its main role: to protect the West against communist/Soviet threats using the deterrence and containmemt tools. Neither USSR nor its main instrument, the Warsaw Pact dare to attack the Euro-Altantic area. Our main assumption is that because the specific national interests of each member state, because of the domestic-constitutional issues and bureaucratic obstacles, the Alliance cannot yet forge a common strategic culture for all its members and also lacks a common lens for detecting real risks and therats, be they nation states or non-states actors. Nowadays, Russia and Islamic State are the main adversaries for the Western states, thus NATO should be more effective in dealing with them. And there is a need for reform and transformation. Divergences between adepts of territorial defence and those of pro-active "out of area" missions go in addition to divergences concerning the neeed for increased defence budgets for all members and especially concering the attitude towards Russia. Moscow used economic and energy tools trying to divise some allies like Hungary, Greece and Bulgaria and it partially succeeded. Using some theories of alliances and of democratic peace, resorting to recent facts and figures related to NATO's activities and plans, will help the reader understand the problem of increasing the power vs. increasing the security dilemma and the prospect of future conflicts.