Projects on the establishment of world peace in the late Middle Ages were initially marked by religious views on the world. Christian church was the subject of war and peace and it did not make differences among peoples. It had universal aspirations. This dogmatic comprehension will be abandoned by the appearance of national states where the state becomes subject of war and peace. A division among nations appears and the possibility of their mutual recognition. In that way relations among states are being regulated from the point of view of international relations. His basic principle becomes the one of sovereign equality, this could happen after the termination of religious wars which got its peak by Westphalia peace. Starting from Dubois, Podjebrady, Penn, Duke of Silly, via Hobbes, Grotius end Puffendorf, it will be possible to determine how changes in society political systems and way of production influenced the developments of ideas on perpetual peace. The achievements of these thinkers were revolutionary and were still valid. It is worth mentioning the principles of sovereign equality of states, the presence of realism in international relations and the existence of judicial institutions such as the International Court of Justice.
From the very beginning the steps towards unification of European countries have been founded on the personal incentives of politicians, but not on broad democratic agreement of the people. That method has never been abandoned: even the huge administrative apparatus in Brussels that makes important decisions without any democratic control could be seen as natural consequence of such praxis. It is just because of such political behaviour where important political documents and decisions are made out of the eyes of the public, which the great political incentives, such as referendum on the European Constitution, have failed. If we ask ourselves where it has gone wrong the possible answer is that EU has been made according the needs of the rich and mighty countries. The states that are located on the periphery of EU have no political influence on the main decisions, and cannot decide about their own economic development. They are simply forced to adapt ourselves to the interests of the most advanced. But the protests all over EU show that the general economic concept of the EU is wrong and that it will generate crises in the long run.
Post-cold war concept of security is based on realistic postulates and emphasises a concept of state, forces,power and national interests. Military and political concept of security was dominant while the relations between the superpowers was based on the so called bipolar balance of power. Identity of states was realised by membership in military, political and economic organisations. The strategy of returning to the era of nuclear weapons reaches its full flowering. The crucial point of security after the end of Cold war consists of searching for giving answers to the threats coming from the outside and abilities of states to maintain their independent integrity against changed relations among the powers, which potentially may become enemies. Under such circumstances powers should not be ignored in any interpretation of any aspect of security, for realistic theories of international relations are still of great influence in the field of security. They will be modified in different conditions and will act in the sense of enlarged concept of security - instead of dominant concepts of political and military security typical for the Cold War era, economic, social and environmental factors will appear. Basic weakness of the realistic theories of security is in the lack of recognising the importance of cooperation between main factors in international community. This failure will be replaced neo realistic and liberal and institutional theories of security which emphasises the concept of cooperation in the first place. Concepts of power, forces and integral processes will be observed within the context of changes in the international relations.
The author constrasts the normativity of Europe with the center-periphery issue. He argues that the normativity of Europe has been challenged by the center-periphery problem. In the first part of the article, the author discusses the normativity of Europe and proposes a new concept – embeded normativity. In the second part, he presents several theories on the center-perifery relations and stresses the relevance of structural assymetries. In the third part, Central and Eastern Europe is compared to Latin America in three historic sequences. The last part is a summary of the arguemts and their relevance for the present crisis that can be understood as an ensemble of structural and systemic tendencies. ; U članku se kontrastira normativnost Evrope sa problematikom centar/periferija. Tvrdi se da je normativnost Evrope izazvana pomenutom problematikom. Shodno tome, u prvom delu se razmatraju elementi normativnosti u Evropi i pokušava se promisliti kategorija utkane normativnosti. U drugom delu se tretiraju teorije o odnosima između centra i periferije, te naglašava se relevantnost teorija koje artikulišu strukturalne asimetrije. U trećem delu se logikom komparativne metode stavljaju u odnos postignuća Srednje i Istočne Evrope i Latinske Amerike, i tematizuje se analitička relevantnost pomenute komparacije s obzirom na tri izabrane istorijske sekvence. U poslednjem delu se rezimira izvedena argumentacija s obzirom na sadašnju krizu i pokazuje da se reperiferijalizacija krize može razumeti kao sklop između strukturalnih i sistematskih tendencija.
The Paper observes the foundation and development of OSCE as the most important contemporary security organization from the perspective of historical and political dynamics and the interests of international subjects. Originally founded as Forum for the reduction of tensions between ideologically confronted East and West, OSCE (than: CSCE) has evolved into permanent security organization with diversified activities and jurisdictions. However, that evolution failed to be up to the new challenges, so the needs for further reforms of OSCE reemerged. Second part of the Paper follows the propositions of OSCE system reforms, made by its member states, by Panel (formed on Council of Ministers in Sofia, in December 2004) and by Russia that has even proposed 'Agreement of European security' as the basis for completely new remaking of European security out of the existing OSCE system. In the final part of the Paper, influences of contemporary political crises in OSCE member states on the possible reform of this security organization are being analyzed.
International police and other cooperation is a necessity of the modern world and imperative for the survival of human civilization. The goal of cooperation is that states and the international community unite in opposing crime as the greatest peacetime evil in the world. This is particularly in relation to organized crime, terrorism, and corruption and other most serious forms of crime in contemporary society. Cooperation takes place at the bilateral, regional and multilateral levels. Bilateral cooperation mainly has a trans-border character of neighboring countries, while the regional cooperation between states within certain areas such as the SEE region (Western Balkan) or Europe (e.g. Europol). Multilateral cooperation is mainly on a broader level, e.g. in the field of combating terrorism or through universal organizations (e.g. Interpol). International police cooperation in Europe has a long tradition. One part takes place today in this area through the OSCE, with the caveat that this is a global organization that deals with security issues. The Council of Europe is the next organization through which co-operation began in the past and is partly carried out to this day, given that it brings all European countries together (except Belarus). Cooperation is more intensive still throughout the European Union, its forerunners, the current forms of the organization and present mechanisms (EAW- European surrender and arrest warrant).53 The cooperation in the EU, that takes place through Europol as a specialized agency of the Union is especially current, but with minimal operational competencies. In the SEE region, a significant cooperation between countries of the former Yugoslavia and countries in its neighborhood has been achieved. This cooperation is not only based on bilateral and multilateral acts, but primarily regional documents of which the most important are the International Convention on Police Cooperation in SEE and SELEC Convention. According to these and other acts, all the countries in the region have taken part in regional cooperation, since the fight against crime is the common interest of all. This applies in particular to organized crime, terrorism, corruption and other most serious forms of crime. Extremely important shapes, forms and mechanisms of international police cooperation are: exchange of information, joint investigation teams, joint operational actions, liaison officers, contact points, regional centers for police and customs cooperation, joint police stations and others. To recap, international police cooperation in the world today is an expression of anti-criminal solidarity between states and its prospects are clear, because the danger of crime is global and requires a harmonized response at the international level.
The development of the regional cooperation in South-Eastern Europe was at its lowest in comparison with other European regions. The changes occurring in the attitudes of the international community (through increased sensitivity and familiarity with the situation in the field and the new democratic advances of Croatia) are now creating favourable conditions for the development of the regional cooperation. It can be further fortified through international efforts, as well as through the international community's presence, since with its economic, political and even police/military resources it has enough instruments to support these developments. Within the emerging sintagm, "through cooperation to security", South-Eastern Europe is expected to commence its transformation of the relationships by developing different forms of useful cooperation which should lead to increased security and more peaceful coexistence. In such context, by means of regional cooperation, it is possible to attempt torging links with Europe and incorporating this region into the Euro- Atlantic integrations. (SOI : PM: S. 78)
Wars and suffering in the 20th century, mostly the consequences of ethnic and religious antagonisms, have been typical for Europe's southeast. That is why the ethnic aspects of security are central to the understanding of the totality of this region's security, particularly in the 21st century. The security of southeast Europe can be analyzed using realistic, idealistic and neo-realistic approaches to contemporary security as its starting point. The security of this region is affected by the internal circumstances of the region's states and by the economic situation and inter-ethnic relations in particular. Similarly, significant influence is exerted by the relations among the states and nations living there as well as by the ethnic-based conflicts which are the outcomes of these relations. A series of problems caused by the east-European transformations includes the unresolved ethnic and minority issues. That is why no southeastern European state today has worked out the issue of the relations with its neighbors. This part of Europe is to remain a volatile region, fraught with economic difficulties and crises, nationalisms and xenophobia. In such circumstances, with the open sores of simmering ethnic feuds and the specter of various nationalisms, is it realistic to expect rational politics which is supposed to lead the countries of southeastern Europe towards the united Europe? This is the question the answer to which is sought not only by this region's states but also by the leading European states and the USA. (SOI : PM: S. 78)
Following the disintegration of the socialist system in Europe and the end of the bloc-based relations, American politics has changed the course of its operation. In present-day circumstances, Southeastern Europe is becoming increasingly prominent in American foreign-policy projections, particularly during Clinton's administration. Clinton has defined a clear-cut policy towards Europe's southeast due to its vicinity to certain neuralgic points of American engagement (Near East, the Caspian region, the Gulf, eastern Mediterranean). In this way American politics has proved its leading global role. At the time of scarcity of foreign-policy events, Clinton's team has thus been served on a platter a major foreign-policy arena, in which its engagement - which has all the symptoms of a long-lasting one - has not proved too costly. (SOI : PM: S. 20)
