Suchergebnisse

The article looks into the process of "building" the monetary union of the EU member-countries and the creation of the European currency, EURO. Following the lengthy negotiations, the Euro-system era commenced on 1 January 1999, when the Euro was launched, marking the beginning of the third phase of the monetary union. At first, EURO will be virtual money and function as a dual currency, and only in 2002 will it get its physical form for everyday usage. In the first half of that year, local currencies will be replaced by the Euro in eleven EU countries that have satisfied the stringent criteria of "suitability" for joining the monetary union. (SOI : PM: S. 69)

Due to their strategic position, the Baltic peoples throughout their history have always been a kind of a buffer-zone, which has to a large extent affected their development. In the new European environment, the Baltic region is today somewhat marginalized, but because of its proximity to Russia it has an important strategic position. They want to join NATO and the EU because the Baltic states in this see a guarantee of their security and stability. This may alo be an opportunity for solving the very delicate relationship with Russia, still an important actor influencing the Baltic states. (SOI : PM: S. 59)

The author is of the opinion that with the fall of the Berlin wall not all obs the free circulation of goods and people were eliminated - neither in Europe n other regions of the world, since there are numerous other walls standing in the way of establishing a global world or European order. In that context, the agreement among the members of the European Union on the comprehensive control of "its borders" towards the non-member European countries, is conside by the author as a specific form of a new "curtain", not "iron" any longer, but electronic. Its function, the author claims, is to divide Europe into the Union and the Non-Union, which is harmful for the promotion of the European idea in the spiritual and the material sense in many ways. (SOI : PM: S. 30)

Mediterranean cooperation is dealt with in the context of the creation of the Euromediterranean zone. The European Union has been developing various modes of cooperation with non-member Mediterranean countries by signing association agreements or cooperation agreements. The new European states, created after the disintegration of former socialist federations demonstrate interest for the Mediterranean cooperation, though they tend to have different attitudes towards it. Their interest is solely based on the fact that the Mediterranean cooperation has not been standardized and that it has a poorly developed institutional framework. To these countries this enables and facilitates to tune in from time to time, when it suits their purposes. Regarding the role of the new states, the author distinguishes between two types of cooperation: (a) autonomous regional cooperation, which is not beneficial for the new states (e.g. those on the Balkans) and (b) occasional, specialized and dispersed cooperation which might attract the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. (SOI : PM: S. 176)

When analysing the role of the individual in society or even in international relations, there are two polar opinions, and neither can be documented or corroborated with definite and irrefutable evidence. According to the first opinion, the history of mankind is, in fact, the result of the exploits of several prominent individuals, while the other views history as the outcome of social, political, and economic circumstances and processes, which are basically unalterable. The reality and practice of today's international political relations are, naturally, much more complex than might be gathered from these two contrary approaches. In searching for a consensual attitude towards the role of the individual in international relations, there are still many more unanswered questions than acceptable answers, the reason which makes this topic a subject of vigorous and persisting debates among today's theoreticians of international political relations. (SOI : S. 192)

The author analyzes the process of the NATO expansion in Europe following the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact. Paradoxically, after the end of the cold war, the security conditions in Europe have not improved. On the contrary, the danger of military conflicts has increased. That is why most former communist countries, including the newly created states which emerged after the disintegration of Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union, have been trying to eliminate this danger and strengthen their security by joining NATO. The Russian Federation is the main opponent of the NATO expansion in Eastern Europe, particularly on the states which came into being after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The author describes in detail the geostrategical and geopolitical implications of the admittance of the first group of Eastern-European countries into the NATO (Poland, Czech Republic and Romania), as well as the prospects of the NATO expansion onto the other countries in the region. He sees the American initiative for the cooperation in Southeastern Europe as a complement to the process of the NATO expansion. In the end he criticizes NATO's process of selection of new members, the process which has left Croatia (for the time being) in a sort of a geostrategical void. (SOI : PM: S. 118)