This paper will assess the results of transition in the Yugoslav successor states using objective and subjective criteria. Four objective criteria related to economic growth will be used to compare economic performance in Yugoslavia and its successor states; 1. Speed of recovery after war/change in system, 2. Absolute growth rates, 3. Relative growth rates, 4. Place in world development. This will be supplemented by a survey of public opinion conducted by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.All the four objective criteria show that the Yugoslav economy performed much better than the economies of its successor states. The survey shows that only 20 percent of population are happy with the results of transition in South Eastern European countries, while 64 percent are unhappy and 16 percent are undecided. In the former Yugoslavia much less than 20 percent of population are happy with the changes brought by the transition.
In this paper, we consider the relationship between the entrepreneurial state and the crisis (caused by economic and non-economic reasons and vice versa). Thus, it is about the interactive attitude of the entrepreneurial state in resolving the crisis and the impact of the crisis on the further development of new economic competencies and competencies of the state in the economy. The entrepreneurial state is seen as an entrepreneur and one of the most important economic actors, which accepts long-term investment risks, bearing in mind the broader picture and the common good. The development of new technologies and new technology companies in the United States and other developed countries has been possible, thanks to the investment of the American entrepreneurial state and its agencies. We start from the assumption that the American crisis, in 2008. caused by high debts, the private sector, not the US public debt, which today is enormously high and skyrocketing. At the heart of this consideration is the thesis that the classical economic theory of non-interference of the state in economic life, which stands aside in the recent era of the development of global capitalism, does not hold water. On the contrary, it turns out that government risky investment in the long run is the basis of a modern economy in which the private sector can develop only on the premises of this huge investment in the development of modern new technologies. Most innovation today and research institutes in the United States are due to the investments of the American state. The paper discusses the impact of the crisis on the understanding of the entrepreneurial state and its role in innovation, the role of new technologies and innovations in economic growth, entrepreneurial state and risks, entrepreneurial state and knowledge economy, entrepreneurial state in "pushing" versus "pulling" the green industrial revolution and the cost of investment, innovation, and development of the American entrepreneurial state. ; U ovom radu razmatramo odnos preduzetničke države i krize (izazvane ekonomskim i neekonomskim razlozima i vice versa). Dakle, riječ je o interaktivnom odnosu preduzetničke države u rješavanju krize i uticaju krize na dalji razvoj novih ekonomskih ingerencija i nadležnosti države u ekonomiji. Preduzetnička država se posmatra kao preduzetnik i jedan od važnijih ekonomskih aktera, koji prihvata rizike ulaganja na dugi rok, imajući na umu širu sliku i opšte dobro. Razvoj novih tehnologija i novih tehnoloških kompanija u SAD i drugim razvijenim zemljama bio je moguć zahvaljujući investiranju američke preduzetničke države i njenih agencija. Polazimo od pretpostavke da su američku krizu 2008. godine izazvali visoki dugovi privatnog sektora, a ne javni dug SAD, koji je danas enormno visok i vrtoglavo raste. U osnovi ovog razmatranja stoji teza da klasična ekonomska teorija o nemiješanju države u privredni život, koja stoji po strani u najnovije doba razvoja globalnog kapitalizma, ne drži vodu. Naprotiv, pokazuje se da je državno rizično investiranje na dugi rok u osnovi savremene ekonomije u kome privatni sektor može da se razvija samo na premisama tog golemog ulaganja u razvoj modernih novih tehnologija. Većina inovacija danas i istraživačkih instituta u SAD duguje ulaganjima američke države. U radu razmatramo uticaj krize na shvatanje preduzetničke države i njene uloge u inovacijama, ulogu novih tehnologija i inovacija u privrednom rastu, preduzetničku državu i rizike, preduzetničku državu i ekonomiju znanja, preduzetničku državu u "guranju" nasuprot "podbadanju" zelene industrijske revolucije, koristi i cijene investiranja, inovacije i razvoj američke preduzetničke države.
After the cold war, when the Eastern block collapsed, considerable changes were made in the world security architecture. Althought it seemed like a beginning of more certain and secure era, cold war ending didn't fulfill expectations neither the main actors in the cold war conflict, nor the expectations of the rest of the world. Besides, collapse of one block, didn't stop growth dynamic of new power centers. Tendencies for power are not new and unfamiliar to human. When bypolar system collapsed, other subjects started fighting for the positions. PRC role with her enormous people potential, growing economy and strengthened military is evident. Soviet Union, accordingly Russian Federation, believed that there was no more need for strenghtening the other block, especially when the opposite doesn't exist. But, former partners included the opposite side, and that made more tensions between Russia and United States. Rest of the world didn't get better chance to create own future. On the contrary, especially for the peripheral and semiperipheral countries, new threats appeared that destabilized individual and collective security. Efforts to make human community rational, were always idealism and those efforts were considered utopian, but under the given circumstances, for the international stability, the most accseptable model is model of global triangle - China, Russia, USA. Reason why this three countries is ther specific potention: USA is powerful technological, military and political center, RF is worlds warehouse' and China is the worlds manufacture. In the globalism domination over nationalism era that model could be the optimal 'braking and balance' system in the international relations- political ideal that all liberal schools wanted to acchievestarting Lock, Montesquieu, Rousseau till today.
United States participation in international politics during the period between the two world wars, come not only from the general and often declarative interest in peace, but was also a consequence of extremely rapid expansion of their foreign trade and overseas capital investments. It was a period of intense financial diplomacy, when efforts to maintain the gold standard, to determine the amount of reparations and the manner of payment of war debts, brought confusion not only in relations between victors and vanquished, but also in relations between the United States and its former European allies. Abandonment of the gold standard and the creation of the tripartite agreement between the United States, Britain and France, in the 1936, was a milestone in the development of international monetary cooperation and the role of United States in international economic relations. .
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.
This article analyses the weaknesses of contemporary democratic orders which stem from the use of modern manipulation techniques employed by those who manage to win the trust for making the government in democratic elections. Contemporary democracies are under the threat of populist promises which are most often unrealistic. The combination of populism and democracy is usually a product of the powerlessness of political elites, i.e. political parties, in states to solve citizenry's most important problems – to increase the growth and development of the economic system, to introduce the rule of law, and to rehabilitate political institutions so they could rationally and efficiently function within the political system. Contemporary democracies are not equally developed, nor do they have equal chances for developing. The facts demonstrate how in many societies and states – formally oriented towards establishing a democratic governance and towards starting the democratisation of societal and political life – democracy gets misused and diminished to democratic phraseology with the help of populism, while in the institutional aspect being diminished to creating a façade of democratic institutions. It has been demonstrated that the patterns of dominance follow and are characteristic for democratic governances to a larger or smaller degree. The essence of democratic governance are politically responsible decisions, rather than mass participation in making political decisions which are not realistic, while being dangerous in terms of their consequences. Democracy means making good decisions for the benefit and good of all citizens, while hierarchy must not be challenged when it is necessary that institutions function in a rational and efficient way. Introducing equality where professionalism, competence and accountability are needed is devastating for the functioning of institutions, therefore for the functioning of democracy as well. Democracy can be tricked with the help of authorities'populism, as was the case with Nazi Germany. After Nazis took power, not all institutions of the Weimar Republic were dismantled nor challenged, nor was the Weimar Constitution changed. However – parallel to state authorities, Constitution and laws – dozens of new orders and laws were enacted, creating an illusion that nothing is changed in German state. What Nazis did was developing a new mechanism, party mechanism, parallel to the state mechanism. The two functioned next to each other. Such patterns lead to the parallelism of power and democracy, which usually led to the totalitarianisation of democracy. In contemporary states – especially those in the process of democratic transition – such parallelism shows how party leaders do not forfeit party leadership once they get elected to state offices. In that way democracies become submissive and captured by political parties, especially their leaderships and leaders. The relation of freedom and democracy has also been analysed. Experiences show that democracy is founded more successfully in places where people managed to gain their liberties, rather than in those places where democracy is yet to provide liberties to citizens. Dangers for democracy tied with the abuse of democratic conditions are being discusses in the last part of the article. Each condition necessary for the functioning of a democratic order can be simulated through manipulative ways. A special danger for contemporary democracies comes from circumstances in which those who come to power do everything so that society and state are riled by anti-political principles: indifference, fear and trepidation, and powerlessness. Anti-political principles jeopardise democratic order, and those who use them demolish democracy. Democracy is facing constant challenges and temptations for scraping democracy in the name of democracy.
Autor se bavi odnosima Sjedinjenih Država i Venezuele zaključno sa aktuelnom predsedničkom krizom ne bi li odgovorio na pitanje kako i zašto je Venezuela postala problem za spoljnu politiku SAD koji zahteva pojačanu pažnju i radikalne mere. Analiza ovih odnosa u toku 20. veka pokazuje da su oni zasnovani na naftnoj međuzavisnosti dveju država. Kada je krajem veka višedecenijsko loše upravljanje naftnim bogatstvom u Venezueli izazvalo društvenu i ekonomsku krizu koja je dovela na vlast Huga Cháveza, spremnog da koristi prihode od nafte protiv interesa regionalne hegemonije SAD, ove su Venezuelu označile kao problem. Američki establišment je prema tom problemu nastupio oportunistički – naftna međuzavisnost je sprečavala da sukob eskalira sve dok aktuelna ekonomsko-politička kriza u Venezueli nakon Chávezove smrti nije dala Washingtonu priliku za konačni obračun sa režimom, po cenu privremenog prekida u trgovini naftom. Godinu i po dana od izbijanja predsednička kriza u Venezueli još nije razrešena, jer se čavistički režim održao, a SAD odustale od vojne intervencije, pa autor nastoji da ukaže na perspektive problema i mogućnosti njegovog prevazilaženja nakon što tekuća pandemija korona virusa bude obuzdana. ; The author deals with the United States and Venezuela relations up to the current presidential crisis, in order to answer how and why Venezuela became a problem for U.S. foreign policy which requires increased attention and radical measures. The analysis of these relations during the 20th century shows that they were based on oil interdependence of the two states. When a decades-long mismanagement of oil riches in Venezuela at the end of the century caused a social and economic crisis that brought to power Hugo Chávez, who was ready to use oil revenues against U.S. regional hegemonic interests, it marked Venezuela as a problem. American establishment treated the problem with opportunism – oil interdependence prevented the conflict from escalating until the current economic and political crisis in Venezuela after the death of Chávez gave Washington an opportunity for the final clash with the regime at the price of a temporary break in the oil trade. A year and a half after the presidential crisis in Venezuela erupted, it has not been resolved yet, for the chavista regime remained in place, while the U.S. gave up on military intervention. The author points to the perspectives of the problem and the possibilities of its overcoming once the current coronavirus pandemic gets contained.
Konvergencija dohodaka je više od polovine veka predmet mnogih teorijskih i empirijskih istraživanja. Brojni istraživači su posvetili veliku pažnju ovom pitanju na koje, do sadašnjeg trenutka, ne postoji jasan odgovor, niti jedinstven rezultat. Iako je strana literatura bogata radovima čiji je predmet istraživanja konvergencija dohodaka među zemljama Evropske unije, kao i uticaj različitih faktora na konvergenciju dohodaka, u domaćoj literaturi ova oblast nije dovoljno istražena. Osim toga, još uvek je mali broj radova koji se bave ispitivanjem postojanja i brzine konvergencije dohodaka između zemalja Evropske unije i zemalja Zapadnog Balkana. S tim u vezi, predmet doktorske diseratcije je dohodovna konvergencija zemalja Zapadnog Balkana i članica Evropske unije u kontekstu evropske ekonomske integracije. Cilj istraživanja u doktorskoj disertaciji je da se pruži odgovor na pitanje da li postoji konvergencija dohodaka među zemljama Evropske unije. Takođe, cilj istraživanja je utvrđivanje razlike u brzini konvergencije dohodaka između razvijenih zemalja Evropske unije, s jedne strane, i Novih zemalja članica Evropske unije i zemalja Zapadnog Balkana, s druge strane. Pored toga, cilj istraživanja u doktorskoj disertaciji je i utvrđivanje faktora koji utiču na konvergenciju dohodaka. Rezultati empirijske analize pokazuju postojanje dohodovne konvergencije među zemljama Evropske unije. Osim toga, dokazano je da Nove zemlje članice Evropske unije i zemlje Zapadnog Balkana, s jedne strane, imaju bržu konvergenciju dohodaka od grupe razvijenih zemalja Evropske unije. Analizom smera i intenziteta delovanja različitih faktora na konvergenciju dohodaka, dobijeni su rezultati koji ukazuju na pozitivan uticaj bilateralne trgovine na dohodovnu konvergenciju, pozitivan uticaj stranih direktnih investicija na dohodovnu konvergenciju centralnoevropskih tranzicionih zemalja u pretkriznim godinama, kao i pozitivan uticaj prisutnosti ekonomskih sloboda u godinama posle Globalne ekonomske krize. Reformski procesi nisu pokazali snažan i kontinuiran uticaj na dohodovnu konvergenciju centralnoevropskih tranzicionih zemalja. ; Income convergence has been the subject of many theoretical and empirical research for more than half a century. Many researchers devoted great attention analyzing income convergence among countries. However, there is still no clear answer, nor a unique result about this topic. Although foreign literature has vast number of papers that examine income convergence among the European Union countries, as well as the effect of various factors on income convergence, this field has not been sufficiently explored in domestic literature. In addition, there is still a small number of papers that test the existence and speed of income convergence between the developed countries of the European Union and the Western Balkan States. In this regard, the subject of the doctoral dissertation is income convergence of the Western Balkan States and European Union member states in the context of European economic integration. The aim of the research in the doctoral dissertation is to determine the existence of income convergence among the European Union countries. Also, the aim of the research is to determine the difference in the speed of income convergence between developed countries of the European Union, on the one hand, and New Member States and Western Balkan States, on the other. In addition, the aim of the research is to determine factors that affect income convergence. The results of the empirical analysis show the existence of income convergence among European Union countries. The results also show higher speed of income convergence of Western Balkan States and New Member States, compared to developed European Union members, depending on the observed subperiod. By analyzing the direction and intensity of various factors on income convergence, results indicate positive impact of bilateral trade, positive impact of foreign direct investment in the pre-crisis years, and positive effect of presence of economic freedom in the years after Global economic crisis. Reform processes haven't shown a strong and continuous effect on income convergence of Central European transition countries.
