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Socialism was born out of the belief in the bright future of mankind. Thus, the utopian vision of classless society occupied the minds of the early communist avant-garde. Yet, such hopes did not survive the initial revolutionary enthusiasm. As the social organization of the 'real socialism' turned out to be a rigid bureaucratic system, the visions of the 'bright future' were replaced by the 'picture of the golden age', namely the image of the revolution itself. Accordingly, rituals commemorating the 'founding fathers of socialism' substituted the ritualized commitments to building the 'ideal society of equals'. The ideological content of socialism vanished. Past memories occupied the present. With the breakdown of communism the present could for a moment release itself from the iron grip of the past. The "envelope of the unhistorical" seemed to be open for the deeds of new reformers. Yet, the present could not escape too far. It was almost immediately caught again either by the past or by the future. In the first case, post-communist nationalisms (Brubaker 1996) monopolized the political field; in the second case, the "scientists of the not yet" (Stark and Bruszt 1998: 1-11) disseminated their neoliberal visions of free-market economy. As a result, the present was defined either in terms of national myths going far back to history or by visions to be realized by imitation of the Western model of capitalism. The focus of this paper is the different paths taken by different countries in the region after the collapse of socialism. The paper distinguishes between the 'nationalizing alternative' as one basic direction, and the 'catching up option' as another one. The paper further argues that this dichotomy itself forms around two clusters of several potential stances which could have been taken in the process of transformations. The goal of the paper is to propose a general framework, with the help of which the interactions 'behind' the political decisions taken by political elites in the post-socialist countries ...

This article presents a detailed analysis of the Civic Forum as the most important vehicle of changes in the first stage of the development of the Czech party system. It aims at two interrelated goals: first, to describe & adequately elaborate processes within the Civic Forum, which should serve to explain internal divisions in this movement & the emergence of various streams within the Civic Forum as their immediate consequence. Second, it intends to outline ideological positions within the Civic Forum, thus identifying a logic of the future developments in the Czech party system & distribution of its subjects on the left-right scale. Moreover, the article traces back through the history of the Civic Forum influences of ideas of the non-political politics & their permanent clashes with attempts to establish Civic Forum as a hierarchical political party. The article concludes that the Civic Forum significantly contributed both to the establishment of the Czech party system just in the shape it acquired within its further development, & to the emergence of the major Czech parties of the right. 36 References. Adapted from the source document.

Simultaneously to the negotiating process the EU has also provided the pre-accession financial assistance to the EU candidate-countries. In this respect, every candidate-country with an ambitious goal of reaching a high development level for all of its regions and hoping to receive support from the structural funds must put a lot of effort into creating an efficient institutional framework that allows the successful management of future EU funding. Namely, the future institutional (full EU membership) ability of managing EU structural and cohesion funds is largely influenced by the capacity to manage the pre-accession assistance programmes. This paper focuses on the institutional challenge of establishing competent authorities at Slovenian national level with responsibility for co-ordination and management of EU regional issues. Accordingly, the main aim of this paper is to analyse the processes of managing the EU pre-accession assistance programmes in Slovenia. ; Simultaneously to the negotiating process the EU has also provided the pre-accession financial assistance to the EU candidate-countries. In this respect, every candidate-country with an ambitious goal of reaching a high development level for all of its regions and hoping to receive support from the structural funds must put a lot of effort into creating an efficient institutional framework that allows the successful management of future EU funding. Namely, the future institutional (full EU membership) ability of managing EU structural and cohesion funds is largely influenced by the capacity to manage the pre-accession assistance programmes. This paper focuses on the institutional challenge of establishing competent authorities at Slovenian national level with responsibility for co-ordination and management of EU regional issues. Accordingly, the main aim of this paper is to analyse the processes of managing the EU pre-accession assistance programmes in Slovenia.

The aim of the article is to outline the theoretical grounds of regionalism &, in particular, to explain the basis of this new phenomenon, its forms (stages) & historical development. The core of the explanation is a "new" regionalism as the third wave of regionalism in the world economy: its interpretation, causes, diversity & cases of regional integration. Furthermore, trends in regional development of trade initiatives have been outlined (from the "old" to "new" regionalism, from a "looser" to "deeper" integration, from individual cases to "global" regionalism.) In the conclusion, areas requiring further examination in connection with the impact of regionalism on the Czech economy have been defined. Graphs, References. Adapted from the source document.

Im Verlauf des Transformationsprozesses verändert sich die Siedlungsstruktur besonders augenscheinlich im Umland von Groß- und Mittelstädten durch Siedlungswachstum in den Außenbereichen. Dieses Siedlungswachstum führt in untergeordneter Form zur Zersiedlung der Landschaft. Es erhöht das Verkehrsaufkommen und belastet die Luft insbesondere durch steigenden Individualverkehr. Gleichzeitig kann diese Stadtrandwanderung ausgewählter Bevölkerungsgruppen zur Verödung der Kernstädte und Gefährdung etablierter Versorgungssysteme beitragen. Diese brisante und aktuelle Problematik der Suburbanisierung wurde von der ARL als Thema ihres dritten transnationalen Planerforums im Rahmen des CADSES INTERREG II C-Projektes aufgegriffen, um den gegenseitigen Wissenstransfer zwischen Wissenschaftlern und Praktikern in den Ländern Mittel-, Ost- und Südosteuropas zu grundlegenden und aktuellen Fragen der Regionalentwicklung fortzusetzen. Seine Ergebnisse sollen mit dieser zweisprachigen Veröffentlichung Nutzerkreisen in Tschechien, der Slowakei und Deutschland vorgestellt werden.

The article aims to review the political developments in African states throughout their recent post-colonial past. Uprooting political violence & anchoring a stable structure based on a society-wide consensus being just two of the several prerequisites for solving so many other problems which trouble Africa today, this article aims to diagnose at least some root causes & consequences of the generally unsatisfactory political situation on the continent. Having identified a set of political instability symptoms (coups d'etat, civil wars, failed putches etc.) the author first ranks African states according to their political instability rate. On the basis of statistical correlation analysis, the author then investigates the relation between political instability in Africa & a number of quantifiable geographical, demographical, military & economic variables. The author has identified some dispositions increasing -- though with only small statistical significance -- the probability of instability in African states. In order of importance, these include: large territory, high illiteracy rate, low urbanization, high number of ethnic groups living within the territory, & large population. Also, there is a close link between political instability & governmental military spending. It probably has a negative impact on a number of key economic indicators, be it GDP growth, GDP per capita levels, domestic savings, or price level developments. In the final part of his article, the author makes a brief summary of political developments in African countries in the 21st century. Tables, Appendixes, References. Adapted from the source document.

This article describes core changes, both theoretical & practical, of DC's action unity & its new features after the globalization acceleration during the 90's & the beginning of 2lst century. Following re-defintion of basic terminological issues the authors show that the "unity of purpose" famous in the 70's has not yet evaporated as predicted by some authors in the late 80's. The case is analyzed & illustrated by the failure of 5's WTO Summit in Cancun, September 2003 & also negotiations connected with the creation & activities of Group 21. The problems of agricultural subsidies are in the centre of attention with possible impact on international trade as mainly EU & its new members (including the Czech Republic) is concerned. However, the authors predict that the new LC's "unity of purpose" will be more volatile & fragile than before. Graphs, References. Adapted from the source document.

The article aims to describe & analyze the phenomenon of the EU regional policy in the Czech Republic. For the purpose of the article, the regional policy of the EU is described as a relation between the independent Czech regional policy bound by Czech laws & regional support of the EU. The article describes the actual preparation (legislative, institutional) of the Czech Republic for the effective utilization of regional support in the context of EU enlargement. The article also analyzes possible problems & conflict areas in the implementation structure of Joint regional operational program. 14 References. Adapted from the source document.

The aim of the article is to provide readers with general information on nanotechnology & possibilities of its use, as well as to refer to some of its relevant security risks. The author currently mentions claims of some scientists & NGOs warning against possible misuse of nanotechnology due to the insufficient control over the research & the application. So far, less anticipated consequences of nanotechnology, converging with genetics, robotics, informatics & cognitive science, on all branches of the economy & social & other relations require that sufficient information should be given not only to the Czech experts but to general society as well. The real threat of the misuse of nanotechnology towards the research, development & the production of the new types of chemical, biological & nuclear weapons & other security risks increase that need. In spite of the long-term knowledge of nanotechnology, the possibilities of its use in a revolutionary way increased from 80th of the last century. It was due to the new types of microscopes enabling for the first time precise manipulation of the nanoscale particles. Results of nanoscale exploration are more & more visible eg., in various consumer products & according to the views of some scientific circles we could witness dramatic transformation of the economy in the near future. The article points out the rapid increase of spending on basic nanoscience research, growing number of governmental, private & multinational corporations & various national nanoinitiatives dealing with this kind of research & development, accepted mainly in the high-industrialized countries. In the article there are mentioned some reservations & concerns of the prominent American scientists & NGOs in association with the important goal of the nanotechnology research focused on the process of self-reproduction, self-repair & self-assembly. Various arms control & disarmament experts pay attention to the connections of the nanotechnological research with the possibility of production of the new types of nuclear weapons of the 4th generation. In conclusion the author expresses his view on the usefulness to create efficient system of the governmental & public control of this sphere of the scientific research & the need to devote sufficient attention by the appropriate officials & experts to the security aspects of nanotechnology. Adapted from the source document.

The paper tries to show that the East enlargement was realized under partly changed conditions and strategies. It is focused on the enlargement waves formation including the European Commission position. The paper analyzes the classical method of EU enlargement and compares these principles with the undergoing EU expansion. In the end the attention is devoted to the special conditions in common agricultural policy they were offer to the candidate countries as the result of financial costs of the enlargement to the East.

Gradual narrowing of the gap between consumer & investment demand was one of major achievements of 2003, supporting the long-term sustainability of Czech economic growth. In the first half of 2004, industry & construction witnessed strong growth, retail trade showing a considerable slowdown. Growth in industry has continued to be more rapid in the sector of foreign controlled companies. After a slight weakening of deflation tendencies in the third quarter of 2003, last quarter of 2003 & first half of 2004 confirmed a resurgence of inflation. Growth of industrial prices was more rapid than the growth of consumer ones, predominantly due to increasing world prices of oil & metals. The labour market & public finance continue to be the main macroeconomic problems of the Czech Republic. The improvement may come only after adoption of fundamental reforms in both these areas. 9 Tables, 5 Graphs, 6 References. Adapted from the source document.

Despite the massive scale of voucher privatization, there still remain a substantial number of companies in which the state is involved. Residual state property is quantified from the point of ownership & ownership rights that enable control over the assets of privatized companies. By the beginning of 1999, the state was able to control 76% of assets of the companies in the portfolio of the National Property Fund. This means that the state controls quite a significant part of the Czech economy & interferes with the concept of property rights. The results thus question the achievement of voucher privatization. There exists a clear consensus that further privatization of residual state property is both necessary & inevitable for further economic growth. 3 Tables, 5 Charts, 7 References. Adapted from the source document.

Language is one of the most important elements of cultural identity, but also an expression of economic & political structures & relations. This article is mostly dealing with the role of languages in political processes on three levels: national, regional & international. Presently, all of them are changing together with the structure of contemporary international politics. However, the process of economic globalization does not mean the end of the traditional role of national languages in the process of nation-state building. Nation states are traditionally against policies of multilinguism & against political rights for minority languages. These processes are still quite visible, particularly in Asia. Nevertheless, globalization is also connected with new regionalism, on intrastate as well as international levels. The new role of languages on the regional level often reflects, especially in developed countries, processes of political decentralization. On the international level there is a special role for imperial languages. However, processes of integration in developed countries, particularly in Europe, in contradistinction to some other regions, are haunted by problems & limits because of language diversity & the lack of one unifying language. 10 References. Adapted from the source document.