After twenty five years since the introduction of the semi-presidential system in Serbia and in the region, this text attempt to reassess its performance, achievements and limits. It analyses the factors which the power of the directly elected president depends on (constitutional competences, manner of election, whether he is a party president, whether his party has majority in the parliament). The text explains the origin of the concept and institution, reasons for introduction, criteria for maximalist and minimalist understandings of semi-presidentialism. In new democracies the semi-presidential system faces additional challenges and temptations: 'the third mandate', absence of reelection-related incentives in the second mandate, manner of inclusion in/exclusion from the creation of politics and whether the directly elected president is in the same time the party president. Possible redesign of this political institution would require taking care that the manner of election is only one of the dimensions important for functioning of this system. The issue of the level of competences is of no less importance. The key is in the careful balance of power among the three branches of power, but above else between the president of the state and the prime minister.
The relations with Russia rank among the most important and most complex issues in the US and UK foreign policy. The years after the Second World War have been marked by an exhausting arms race between the Western and Eastern bloc that ended with the fall of the Berlin Wall, the break-up of the Soviet Union and the victory of the United States and its Western allies. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the relations between the US and the United Kingdom on the one hand, and Russia, on the other, during the mandate of President Trump and after Brexit and point to possible directions that these relations may take in the aftermath of Biden's victory in the 2020 US Presidential elections. The author proceeds from a hypothesis that the efforts of President Trump, who, contrary to his predecessors, felt that the relations with Russia should be based on interests rather than ideology, have failed. He has not been successful primarily due to the huge resistance mounted by the state structures, mainstream media and anti-Russian coalition forged by the Republican and Democratic parties. The relations between the UK and Russia remain cold after Brexit as well due to the severe problems between the two countries. The first part will deal with the strained relations between the United States and Russia following the West's victory in the Cold War, the efforts of President Trump to improve these relations and his failure to do so. The second part of the paper will address the relationship between the United Kingdom and Russia, which is in many respects even more complicated than that between Russia and the US. After Brexit, the relations between the two countries continue to be plagued by the activities of the Russian agents in Great Britain, the crisis in Ukraine and different views on the war in Syria. In the third part, the concluding part of the paper, the author tried to answer the question of how the relations between the US and Russia will develop after Joseph Biden won the 2020 US Presidential elections. According to him, the new President will continue to pursue the traditional policy towards Russia agreed upon by both US parties. It can be expected that Biden will, despite the policy of sanctions pursued by his predecessors, Obama and Trump, engage more in supporting the opposition and civilian sector in Russia. Given the cold and strained relations between these two states, it may be assumed that Great Britain will readily follow a new, tougher course of action pursued by President Biden towards Russia and Putin. It is especially important for UK politics that Biden returns to the ideas of liberalism because, as we have seen on previous pages, in London, in addition to the actions of Russian agents on the UK territory, Putin is most resented precisely for his activities to overthrow the ruling liberal order. Despite the good ties between Prime Minister Johnson and the former US President who supported Brexit, Biden's victory will bring relief to the UK because of his commitment, as opposed to Trump, to bring back America to the world political stage, where London is likely to expect to find space for its new global role after leaving the EU. On the other hand, Moscow will probably continue with its past foreign policy strategy in anticipation of the moves to be taken by the new US President without high expectations regarding the future relations between the two countries. Russia has even fewer expectations when it comes to relations with the UK, given the gravity of the problems that burden the relations between the two countries.
Crime and violence pose a serious challenge to Mexico. The problem appears to be growing worse, with 2011 on pace to become the most violent year on record. The rising violence in Mexico has resulted in a sharply heightened sense of fear among citizens, who now feel the presence of cartels in their every day lives. The use of extortion and kidnapping by cartels combined with a lack of trust in security forces terrorizes the population and makes them feel like they have no where to turn. Despite this fact, crime rates in Mexico remain lower than in other parts of Latin America. Venezuela, for example, has among the highest homicide rates in the world. Yet the pervasive infiltration of cartels into public life gives Mexicans a heightened sense of the severity of violent crime in their own country. Although accurate statistics are hard to come by, it is quite possible that 60,000 people have died in the last six-plus years as a result of armed conflict between the Mexican cartels and the Mexican government, amongst cartels fighting each other, and as a result of cartels targeting citizens. Mexico has been struggling with drug production and drug transit through its territory from South America to the U.S. for many decades, given the fact that it is the most important transit country for drug production originating from South America. In recent years, the escalating violence in Mexico has led to dramatic deterioration of the security situation. Recent wave of drug-war violence is associated with the beginning of the term of President Felipe Calderón in December 2006. The immediate implications of his assumption of the presidency and his hard-line policy, which he has applied against drug cartels and organized criminal groups across the country, were the deployment of Mexican army to fight cartels and the gradual weakening of the influence of local and state police at the expense of federal troops. This was done in order to combat corruption and collaboration of local law-enforcement institutions with drug trafficking organizations (DTOs). The consequence of such a policy, however, has been increased violence among rival cartels and between them and the federal police and military, resulting in a dramatic increase of the number of victims. The future of US-Mexican counter drug cooperation, as well as of the whole bilateral relation in the area of security, depends on the outcome of US presidential elections. As for Mexico, Enrique Peña Nieto takes the office on December 1, 2012 that will mark a comeback of his party PRI after 12 years in opposition. As far as the security strategy of the future Mexican President is concerned, there are no significant changes to be expected. Peña Nieto seems to be aware of the current situation and its consequences as well as of the inevitability of an extremely close and dynamic mutual cooperation with the US.
Shanghai Cooperation Organization was founded in 2001 under a Declaration signed by the leaders of five independent states from the territory of former Soviet Union and the President of the People's Republic of China. The Charter, adopted by the organization's member states as their basic document, emphasizes their commitment to strengthen their mutual trust and good-neighborliness and friendly cooperation; to keep and maintain the peace, stability and security of the region; as well as to fight together against all forms of terrorism, separatism and extremism. Although there are significant differences between the member states in almost all matters of social and governmental organization, over its ten-year existence the Shanghai Cooperation Organization has proved its vitality and has become respectable entity not only of the regional but also of international cooperation on the whole. In recent years all main actors of contemporary international relations have tried to establish and develop the cooperation with this important intergovernmental association. What the further development of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization will be like and where the organization will be positioned within the future world order is difficult to be definitely determined. Apart from the role of the two leading states of this organization - Russia and China, its eventual position will be greatly influenced by other major international factors as well, which, in the era of unstable energy and other forms of security, find the area of Central Asia ever more significant and attractive.
Predmet rada su činioci i struktura političke kulture mladih u Srbiji. Politička kultura shvaćena je kao sveukupnost političkih i politički relevantnih orijentacija među pripadnicima jedne političke zajednice koja obuhvata nekoliko tipova orijentacije: kognitivne, afektivne, motivacione, vrednosne i ponašajne. ; The paper explores the factors and structure of youth political culture in Serbia. Political culture is defined as a comprehensive sum of political and politically relevant orientations of the members of a political community and comprises several types of orientations: cognitive, affective, motivational, evaluative and behavioural. Accordingly, five components of youth political culture were distinguished and operationalised by a large number of indicators. The empirical basis for the thesis is a survey conducted in 25 randomly selected secondary schools from the city of Belgrade. The total of 788 students from four different types of secondary school participated in the research: grammar schools (N=202), technical (N=207), economic (N=211) and medical (N=168). The sample was restricted to students of the final year (average age M=18.10, SD=.40). Three-quarters of students (75%) in the sample attend urban secondary schools and one quarter suburban (25%). There were more female participants (58%) than male (42%). Research results indicate that the level of youth political knowledge is low. The majority are not informed about topical social and political issues nor acquainted with certain basic rules regarding the functioning of the Serbian political system, such as the election threshold, government composition or the number of MPs. The prevailing feelings towards numerous analysed political objects are negative. Young people are highly dissatisfied with the current socioeconomic situation. The President, the Government, the Parliament, police, judiciary, the European Union or NATO, are not much trusted. Political cynicism is dominant, while for the majority politics is not the field of interest nor is considered important in life. Most students believe that they cannot influence political affairs (however, surprisingly, they are ready to vote in the following elections) while their opinions on social activism are divided. The attitude towards pro-system values is often ambiguous and vague. The attitude towards democracy is predominantly positive. However, the majority of students do not perceive favourably the newly established mechanisms and institutions of market economy and are hence more inclined towards the socialist than (pro-)market orientation. It can be said that they do not support the freedom of speech, multi-party system and rule of law.
Vanredno stanje predstavlja neredovnu, izuzetnu situaciju u kojoj se mogu naći i najdemokratskije države. U takvim okolnostima obično se poziva na staro pravilo da je spas naroda (države) najviši zakon. Ipak, s obzirom na to da je tada, zbog višeg razloga (opstanak države), neophodan izvestan stepen koncentracije vlasti u rukama egzekutive, što neminovno otvara mogućnost zloupotreba, ustavotvorci moraju biti vrlo pažljivi prilikom normiranja ovako osetljivog pitanja. Centralni deo rada ukazuje na prednosti i mane sadašnjeg ustavnog rešenja u Srbiji, prvenstveno u odnosu na način uvođenja vanrednog stanja postavljen u Ustavu Srbije iz 1990. godine. U nekadašnjem srpskom ustavu predsednik Republike je bio ovlašćen za donošenje odluke o vanrednom stanju, što je danas u nadležnosti Narodne skupštine, koja je nesumnjivo najpotpuniji i najbolji reprezent narodne volje. Međutim, pitanje efikasnosti odlučivanja i brzine reagovanja u toj delikatnoj stvari i dalje ostaje sporno. Pored izvesnih nedoslednosti, pa čak možda i omaški, postojeći Ustav Republike Srbije iz 2006. godine ipak u osnovi pokazuje demokratska nastojanja da se donošenje odluke o uvođenju vanrednog stanja višestruko osigura, a pogotovo da se u vreme važenja vanrednog stanja u potpunosti poštuju ljudska prava u skladu sa preuzetim međunarodnim obavezama. ; State of emergency marks an irregular, exceptional situation, which potentially may hit the most democratic countries as well. Since ancient times, under those circumstances, the rule salus populi suprema lex (safety of the people is supreme demand) is applied and used as an excuse. However, as under those circumstances a kind of concentration of power within the executive branch is unavoidable, there is a need to have very cautiously measured constitutional norms regulating that balance. The main goal of this paper is to examine advantages and shortcomings of the current regulation of that issue in Serbia according to the 2006 Constitution, particularly in connection with the previous, 1990 Constitution and the experience of introducing state of emergency in the country. According to the previous Serbian Constitution, President of the Republic was engaged to introduce the state of emergency, while according to the current one, that decision was moved into hands of the National Assembly – which is undeniably the best and the most prominent representative of the will of the people. However, the issue of efficiency and properly quick reaction is at stake. Although the existing 2006 Constitution has some inconsistencies, and even more some omissions, it basically reflects democratic tendencies to secure in many ways the decision on emergency state introduction, and particularly to ensure respect of the human rights during the state of emergency in compliance with the established international obligations.
Početak dvadeset i prvog veka obeležio je najveći teroristički akt u istoriji čovečanstva, 11. septembar 2001. godine. Samoubilački napadi izvršeni tog dana na teritoriji Sjedinjenih Država su načinom na koji su izvedeni, svojom veličinom i posledicama, osigurali da početak novog milenijuma ostane upamćen u svetu po nagloj ekspanziji međunarodnog terorizma, koji je zbog neposrednih žrtava, materijalnih razaranja, i stalnog straha i nesigurnosti koje izaziva, gotovo sve šokirao i prestravio. Savremeni terorizam, dramatično oslikan kroz 11. septembar, danas predstavlja jedan od ključnih bezbednosnih problema i izazova globalizovanog društva, čiji sve češći, razorniji i smrtonosniji akti jasno ističu njegovu dominaciju nad drugim oblicima ugrožavanja bezbednosti. Ubrzo nakon 11. septembra, predsednik SAD Džordž V. Buš Mlađi objavio je sveopšti, prostorno i vremenski neograničen rat terorizmu, uz podršku većine zemalja u svetu kao i međunarodnih institucija, poput NATO i UN. Ovaj nekonvencionalni rat obuhvatio je mnoštvo vojnih, političkih i legislativnih akcija koje za glavni cilj imaju sprečavanje i suzbijanje terorizma na globalnom nivou. U tu svrhu donesene su posebne protivterorističke strategije kao i mnoštvo podstrategijskih dokumenata, kako u SAD, tako i u Evropskoj uniji kao i u njenim zemljama članicama. Američka nacionalna strategija za borbu protiv terorizma otklonila je propuste protivterorstičke prevencije i rezultirala podizanjem nivoa unutrašnje bezbednosti SAD. Glavni pokazatelj njene efikasnosti je činjenica da su Sjedinjene Države ostale pošteđene velikorazmernih terorističkih napada posle 11. septembra. To nije bio i slučaj sa Evropskom unijom, njihovim najvećim saveznikom, koju je u prvoj deceniji ovog rata Al Kaida prestravila sa dva velika napada (Madrid 2004. i London 2005. godine). Nažalost, EU je još uvek i meta i baza islamističkih ekstremista što predstavlja dokaz, a i najozbiljnije upozorenje, da je njena protivteroristička prevencija, za razliku od američke, u jednom ili više segmenata neadekvatna (propustljiva). ; The beginning of the twenty-first century was marked by the biggest terrorist act in the history of humanity, September 11, 2001. In the way that they were carried out, their size and consequences, suicide attacks committed on that day on the territory of the United States have ensured that the start of the new millennium will be remembered in the world by the rapid expansion of international terrorism, which has shocked and horrified almost everybody due to the direct victims, material damage, the fear and insecurity which evokes. Today, modern terrorism, dramatically portrayed through 9/11, represents one of the key security issues and challenges of a globalized society, whose frequent, more destructive and deadly acts clearly emphasize its domination over the other forms of endangering safety. Shortly after 9/11, the U.S. President George W. Bush Jr. announced an all-out, spatially and temporally unlimited war on terrorism, with the support of most countries in the world as well as international institutions, such as NATO and the UN. This unconventional warfare included a variety of military, political and legislative actions whose main objective is to prevent and combat terrorism on a global level. For this purpose, the special anti-terrorism strategies, and a number of other relevant strategic documents were adopted, both in the USA and in the European Union, as well as in its Member States. The U.S. National Strategy for Combating Terrorism has eliminated the glitches in American anti-terrorism prevention and resulted in raising the level of internal security of the United States. The main indicator of its effectiveness is the fact that the United States have been spared of large-scale terrorist attacks after the 9/11. This was not the case with the European Union, its biggest ally, which in the first decade of this war was terrified with two large attacks by Al Qaeda (Madrid 2004 and London 2005). Unfortunately, the EU is still the target and a base of Islamist extremists, which is an evidence and a most serious warning that its anti-terrorism prevention, unlike the U.S.'s, is in one or more segments inadequate (permeable).
Centralna hipoteza koja se kroz ovaj rad analizirala jeste da li municipalne obveznice mogu biti instrument lokalnog ekonomskog razvoja. Ovo pitanje je od velikog značaja imajući u vidu da u procesu pridruživanja Srbije Evropskoj Uniji, lokalna samouprava će imati puno obaveza u svojoj nadležnosti, a vrednost projekata koje bi lokalne samouprave na putu ka Evropskoj Uniji trebale da finansiraju (samostalno ili u saradnji sa donatorima, centralnim nivoom vlasti, privatnim sektorom.) se procenjuje na između 3 i 5 milijardi evra. Dosadašnji pristup finansiranju investicionih projekata svakako neće biti dovoljan da se izađe u susret gore pomenutim zahtevima, pa je i glavna tema ovog rada šta lokalne samouprave treba da učine da bi kvalitativno unapredile proces finansiranja investicionih projekata u njihovoj nadležnosti. Sa nekih 15% budžetske potrošnje na lokalnom nivou, Srbija spada u red srednje decentralizovanih zemalja (prosek za OECD članice je 21%), ali po drugom pokazatelju, broju zaposlenih na lokalnom nivou, Srbija spada u grupu izrazito centralizovanih zemalja sveta (16% državne administracije je zaposleno na lokalnom nivou, a 84% na centralnom nivou). Uvođenjem programske klasifikacije budžeta kao obaveznog dela odluke o budžetu za 2015. godinu, stvorili su se uslovi za povećanje transparentnosti rada lokalne samouprave u Srbiji, a samim tim i za povećanje njenih nadležnosti i njene samostalnosti. Za bolju i efikasniju lokalnu vlast direktan izbor gradonačelnika (predsednika opštine) čini se kao dobro rešenje. Ovaj model lokalne vlasti se uspešno primenjuje i u razvijenim zemljama sveta i u zemljama u regionu, a i Srbija ga je imala u periodu od 2002. do 2007. godine. Srbija spada u red relativno samostalnih lokalnih samouprava koje samostalno ubiraju oko 30% svojih prihoda (izvorni prihodi), dok ustupljeni prihodi čine još oko 50% njihovih budžeta. Kako bi se napravili dalji koraci u jačanju samostalnosti lokalne samouprave u Srbiji, neki prihodi bi mogli da iz kategorije ustupljenih pređu u kategoriju izvornih prihoda (porez na prenos apsolutnih prava i porez na nasleđe i poklon, kao i porez na dohodak građana), ili da iz kategorije prihoda centralne vlasti pređu u nadležnost lokalne samouprave (porez na dobit preduzeća). Efikasnost lokalne samouprave u procesu planiranja i izvršenja budžeta i investicija ima dosta prostora za unapređenje, a slična situacija je i sa zaduživanjem. ; The central hypothesis that the author in this paper tried to confirm is whether municipal bonds can be an instrument for local economic development. This issue is of great importance given the fact that the process of joining the Serbia to European Union, the local governments will have a lot of obligations under their jurisdiction, and the value of projects that local governments should finance (independently or in cooperation with donors, central level of government, the private sector .) on the path towards the European Union is estimated on 3 to 5 billion euros. The current approach to financing investment projects will certainly not be sufficient to meet the above mentioned requirements and the main theme of this paper is what local governments should do to qualitatively improve the process of financing investment projects in their jurisdiction. With around 15% of budget spending at the local level, Serbia is categorized as middle decentralized country (the average for OECD member states is 21%), but according to the second indicator, the number of employees at the local level, Serbia belongs to the group of highly centralized countries in the world (16% of the state administration is employed at the local level, and 84% at the central level). With the introduction of a program classification of the budget as a mandatory part of the Budget decision for 2015, conditions for increase of the transparency of local selfgovernment in Serbia were created, providing the conditions for increase of local selfgovernment authority and independence. For better and more effective local government, the direct election of the mayor (municipal president) seems like a good solution. This model of local government is successfully applied in developed countries and countries in the region, while Serbia had this set up from 2002 to 2007. Serbia is one of the countries with relatively autonomous local governments that independently collect about 30% of its revenues (original/own revenues), while shared revenues are about 50% of their budgets. In order to make further steps in the process of strengthening the autonomy of local selfgovernments in Serbia, some revenues could be transferred from the category of shared into the category of own revenues (tax on transfer of absolute rights and taxes on inheritance and gifts, as well as personal income tax), or from the category of central government revenues to the jurisdiction of local self-governments (corporate income tax).
