Suchergebnisse

The end of the "cold war" brought about the emergence of geopolitics which has not been to such an extent burdened with the former international geopolitical views. One of the most significant shifts has been the recognition that geopolitical events cannot be limited to national states and their borders. Of course, states are still central for the world's geopolitical map, but no longer as the sole factors in the global geopolitical system. On the one hand and under the influence of globalization, new conditions have arisen, influenced by geopolitical factors; on the other, new entities are emerging whose influence is very similar to that of the central factors - contemporary states. These similarities are primarily reflected in the claims of sovereign control over a certain territory, the organization of government on it, the shaping of a particular national identity by the majority population, and so on. It is these new territorial and political units that contribute to the deconstruction of the geopolitical order; the disintegration of the Soviet Union is the best illustration. (SOI : PM: S. 88)

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)

In this paper, the author deals with some institutional and structural elements of the emerging European post-cold war security environment. In the early 1990s, at the level of institutionalization of European security, a plethora of institutions came into being whose purpose has been to gradually incorporate the former communist states into an integral security structure. Also, international security was formalized in international organizations covering Europe. Thus one of the key challenges to the European security system has been the need for melding its central components into a consistent system. The author also describes some current processes and developments within the European security setting that will shape the European security structure in the future as well. This setting has been and will undoubtedly be affected by various international (regional and global) and national factors in the European economic, political, and security space as well as by the joint efforts of European states (their leaders) and international security organizations to provide common security in Europe. The author concludes that the European international system today includes many organizations and institutions that, with an appropriate division of labour and cooperation, may help set up a common and integral European security system which would efficiently ensure the security of individual states as well as the security of entire Europe. (SOI : S. 55)

"Globalism" and "globalization" are suggestive and vague terms so that extreme caution is required when using them to define phenomena. There is no doubt there are certain actual issues due to which the world on the whole is becoming an object of attention to a bigger extent than it used to be. However, when the consequences and implications of these issues are concerned, it is easy to give free reigns to imagination and overestimate their farreaching repercussions, just as it is possible to underestimate them, believing "there is nothing new under the sun". (SOI : PM: S. 8)

After World War Two there have been opposing views of the role and the importance of the state in international affairs. Some think that the importan the state is slowly decreasing, since the increasing interdependence of the wo has an enormous influence on internal and foreign policies of a state. On the hand, some point out that the state has not lost any of its importance and tha the contrary, this importance will only be enhanced since the world community has not as yet come up with a model by which to replace sovereign state entities. States generate the structure which has a significant influence on individual group security. This particularly applies to the post-cold-war period since th problems and the threats of the present-day world - economic collapse, politic oppression, poverty, ethnical conflicts, nature degradation, terrorism, crime diseases - directly affect many other elements of security. It is these very problems that turn our attention to the state as the most important institution of the day world which still has at its disposal the resources for reducing or eliminating these threats. (SOI : PM: S. 43)

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)