Suchergebnisse

This article uses archival and newspaper sources along with basic secondary literature to examine legal proceedings conducted against Stjepan Radic', the leader of Croatia's strongest opposition party - The Croatian People's Peasant Party (HPSS). During 1919 and 1920, Radic was held in custody without trial, released, then rearrested and given a harsh sentence for politically opposing the creation of a unitaristic and centralized state under the Serbian Karadjordjevic dynasty. Radic wanted the distinctiveness of the Croatian nation to be recognized, so he sought automony for Croatia as the basis for its economic, political, and cultural development. Radic's trial, carried out inspite of the fact that some jurists felt it was unlawful, revealed the crux of the conflict between the regime and the HPSS, in effect, the Croatian opposition. Radic worked to ensure that the internal organization of the state would be based on national self-determination. For him, the upcoming election of a Constituent Assembly was all-important because it would determine the nature a Slovene-Croat-Serb state. Contrary to this, the Karadjordjevic regime assumed all the main national and constitutional questions had been settled on December 1, 1918, when a common kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes had been proclaimed. As far as the government was concerned, only the formality of writing a constitution had to be handled by the Constituent Assembly. Even though he was released on the very day of the election, Radic's trial showed that the Karadjordjevic' regime intended to solve political problems by the use of force, and not according to the rule of law. (SOI : CSP: S. 126f.)

The author argues that in the debates about "democratic transition" of post- socialist societies the importance of development of state of law for the formation of democracy has not been sufficiently accounted for. The absence of state of law results in the formation of authoritarian structures of politi power which in the long run obstruct the process of democratization. Those structures include the concentration of political power in the hands of charismatic leaders, the transformation of political into economic power, the formation of clientelist structures, the development of a system of privileges and corruption, and the break-down of the state monopoly of the means of violence, resulting in the "refeudalization" of political power. In conclusion the author describes two developmental options for the post-socialist societies: the formation of a "Latin American" type of authoritarian-populist regimes or the gradual transformation towards a Western type of state of law and liberal democracy, initiated by the pressures from the international environment and internal forces. (SOI : PM: S. 85)

A few years after the collapse of communist regimes, it is evident that the confidence about the ultimate triumph of liberal democracy was premature. This waking up to the reality is not only the consequence of the hardships in the transformation of post-communist societies, but of the intellectual scepticism regarding the normative potential of liberal democracy in the developed western societies. The problem might in most general terms be formulated as the incapacity of liberal democracy to generate and reproduce the normative requirements for its own survival. The author thinks that the solution to this paradox can nevertheless be found within the institutional framework of liberal democracy: if the traditional moral concepts on which liberal democracy was founded in the past are worn out indeed, and no civil- religious substitute for that tradition has emerged as yet, then its only possibility is to create its own, modern or post-modern, morality by means of the public discourse mechanism and the political participation of citizens. The normative dimension of liberalism must not be reduced to the theory of private ownership, market and competition, but be envisaged as a constitutional theory of human rights and restricted government and the egalitarian distribution of goods and opportunities. (SOI : PM: S. 30)

Democratic consolidation of post-authoritarian and post-totalitarian societies is looked into at the levels of (1) basic political institutions; (2) chief proponents of representative democracy (political parties and interest associations); (3) behaviour of powerful informal political actors (army, church, entrepreneurs, etc); and (4) civic culture. Democracy is stable only after it has been consolidated on all four levels. This "maximalist concept" of democratic consolidation excludes the explanation of a breakdown of democratic systems by voluntaristic and non-conceptualized descriptions of "deconsolidation". (SOI : PM: S. 150)

The maintenance of peace and stability in the post-cold-war world in the circumstances of cooperation and partnership requires an appropriate approach and manner of resolving the crises triggered off by the collapse of communist federations. Imperial policies and regimes must be eliminated while the process of the geopolitical consolidation and the creation of independent and sovereign states in Central and Eastern Europe (and in Euro-Asia on the whole), built around the democratic and market principles, must be wrapped up. The new political leaders (mostly leftist) in the countries that for over fifty years (and now through the Kosovo crisis) have been developing the trans-Atlantic alliance within the military-political framework of NATO (based on the same values, principles, and goals), are now developing appropriate strategies for the post-cold-war hotspots (based on the accumulated experiences). (SOI : S. 89) + The author analyses the process of democratisation of international relations and the future configuration of international order following the end of the era of bipolar confrontation and the establishment of cooperation in the world which has witnessed the change in the key actors' roles regarding their approach to the resolution of the post-cold-war crises which jeopardise the world's peace and stability. First, the author provides a short outline of the genesis of the evolution of the US foreign policy, from the end of World War II to the beginning of the cold war and the formation of NATO. He points out that today's agenda of the international order, its structures, interventionism, and use of force in achieving political objectives, were already shaped at that time. The suggestions put forward constituted the framework and the foundation for the world politics until the late 80s; the cumulative effect of these responses on today's attempts at solving post- cold-war crises enables us to evaluate the roles and behaviour of individual actors in the resolution of the Kosovo crisis

More than a decade has passed since the momentous events of 1989 that changed the world order and redefined the geopolitics of Central Europe. This is just the right moment to assess the results of these changes and discuss the future of that region. Based on the past comparative studies or those currently going on, we may say that Central Europe differs from the post-communist East (the former Soviet Union) and the South-East (the former Yugoslavia with the exception of Slovenia) and Albania. First, Central-European states overthrew their communist regimes earlier and in a more decisive manner than the USSR; second, the economic transformation of Central Europe, though not completely smooth, is nevertheless much smoother than the transformation of the member countries of the CIS; third, the post-communist societies differ in the pattern by which their systems of social stratification have changed after the collapse of their communist regimes; fourth, there are big differences between the Central-European post-communist states, including the Baltic states on the one hand, and the CIS members and Serbia/Montenegro-Yugoslavia on the other regarding their international orientation. The author highlights three significant events that are going to leave their trace on the regional geostrategic situation: NATO's eastern expansion, NATO's campaign against SKY and the election of Vladimir Putin for president of Russia. The regional geopolitical picture may become more stable with closer ties between the states of Central Europe and Germany. (SOI : PM: S. 11)

There have been a number of philosophical, legal and political concepts dealing with the issue of peace. The most famous discourse on the topic of peace is undoubtedly Kant's writing "Perpetual Peace" not only for the cogency of its ideas but also for the applicability of the majority of them in practice, particularly in terms of collective security. Kant's starting point was that peace is a rational and moral imperative of human nature, realized solely through human efforts. Though written two hundred years ago, his ideas have found acolytes in the post-coldwar period since they are, to a large extent, considered as emancipatory. Kant finds the guarantees for the realization of peace in the moral doctrine and thus rejects the use of force in the creation of peace. The relations among states are based on cooperation, not competition so that some elements of his project are reminiscent of the solutions applied in the system of collective security. The author looks into the viability of Kant's ideas in the post-coldwar period. (SOI : PM: S. 69)

The history of nuclear energy, as one of the possible ways out of energy crisis and the transition into the post-oil period is analysed Since its discovery, nuclear energy has been used for military purposes and consequently shrouded in mystery and volatility. The coalition formed during World War II found the new legitimacy for the continuation of nuclear power use via its programme "Atoms for Peace". The atomic bomb has evolved into atoms for peace, a complementary means by which the USA have been trying to secure global domination through nuclear technology. The programme has not achieved its objectives, although external conditions should have warranted that. (SOI : PM: S. 260)

In the introduction, the author analyses Clinton's approach to Europe and the European NATO allies, particularly his wish to develop the partnership and to expand the Alliance. The new post-cold-war relations in Europe contributed to the stronger American-European ties - the foundation of atlantism. This new model of relations is discussed in relation to the emerging challenges that pose the key questions: the creation of a new joint strategy, the problems of NATO's "out of area" interventions and the creation of such European relations that will not provoke uncalled-for Russian reactions. Seen within such a framework, NATO is going to remain the chief proponent of military-political actions of the developed world in which US is to play the leading role. (SOI : S. 102)

Plessner's study "The Belated Nation" is very topical for Croatian readers since it (via comparing the constitution of the French and the German national community) shows how different types of polities within which national communities are formed (the state and the Reich) are central for the constitution of national awareness. German history proves how international community, primarily of Europe, immediately upon its constitution as a system of national states, forced the "belated" nations to give up on the concept of empire and constitute themselves as national states. Plessner's book is also topical in the post-communist regimes because it superbly proves the significance of both the process of modernisation and bourgeoisie as the social class in building national states. (SOI : PM: S. 20)