Suchergebnisse

This article examines the relationship between transitional justice and reconciliation in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The author aims to answer the question how, to what extent and on the basis of what mechanisms transitional justice contributes to reconciliation. In the first, descriptive part of the article she introduces the term and the mechanisms of transitional justice, and in the second, analytical part she examines their concrete form in Bosnia and Herzegovina and their contribution to the process of reconciliation, which is understood here as a renewal of relationships between individuals and a recognition of one's own responsibility for past wrongs. The author concludes that transitional justice contributes to the reconciliation process only in a limited way because of its low trustworthiness, its low visibility and the overly small investments in its measures. To bring about a societal change transitional justice needs to be implemented better, in a more thorough and sensitive way and especially visibly, above all in terms of restorative justice and truth telling. Adapted from the source document.

The present study deals with mediation as a possible tool for peaceful conflict resolution. Mediation is a non-violent intervention of a third party in a conflict. It is aimed at finding a solution to the conflict that would be acceptable for both sides, which are incapable of finding such a solution on their own. The existing theoretical frameworks of mediation analyse mainly its static aspects. Thus the author seeks to analyse its dynamic aspects and define the necessary conditions which may lead to a peaceful resolution of a conflict. As an example, the article presents a case study based on the civil war in Liberia, which lasted more than six years. It took several rounds of mediation and thirteen signed peace accords until a peace resolution of the first civil war was finally achieved. Through his qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) of these peace accords, the author concludes with a general assessment of mediation for peace resolutions of African conflicts. Adapted from the source document.

Drawing upon earlier work by the author, the text seeks to help answering the question of the sources of fear regarding the future integration of Slovakia. By looking at the roots & substance of this fear, the author aims to evaluate whether it has become unsubstantiated since the 2002 general election. Even though Dzurinda's 1998 government has fallen short of the voters' expectations, this has never been true in the foreign & security policy where the government delivered on its promises. The first chapter aims to identify the key factors, having the greatest effect on the policy- & decision-making of Slovakia's political elite between 1998 & 2002. These factors have been crucial in extending the country's image as being the most problematic out of the Visegrad group. The second chapter deals with Slovakia's internal political watershed: the 1998 general election. The problems weakening & ultimately threatening the ruling coalition from within are analyzed as well. The third chapter discusses economic & social aspects of Slovakia's post-1998 domestic development. The rather unbalanced performance & the lack of achievements are examined as the causes of doubts about the translation of Slovakia's integration ambitions into practical outcomes. Finally, the last chapter describes the societal perceptions in Slovakia as reflected in public opinion polls prior to the 2002 general election, summing up the election results. In answer to the question posed at the beginning, the author closes his analysis claiming that the current level of preparations for Slovakia's integration into both the European & Trans-Atlantic structures guarantees that the country will successfully join both. Despite the lack of any bulletproof guarantee of the stability of the country's post-2002 political scene, & in spite of potential change of the government or early elections, Slovakia's full integration into the European & Euro-Atlantic institutional structures in mid-2004 cannot be prevented. Slovakia will join along with its Visegrad partners. References. Adapted from the source document.

This article focuses on the transition to democracy in South Korea in 1987. The aim of this work is to explain the causes & processes of this transition, using the theory of transition to democracy as well as the classification of transition in typologies developed by Samuel P. Huntington, Phillippe C. Schmitter, & Terry Lynn Karl. For this purpose, author deals with the role of mass mobilization in the process. Adapted from the source document.

The article deals with the third resource of the EU budget, which is a certain percentage of VAT returned by Member States. It focuses on correlation between average propensity to consume & Member states' GNP per capita. It is a response to critical assessments of alleged regressiveness of the third resource resulting from presumed higher relative consumption in poor vis-a-vis rich countries. Correlation analysis confirms relatively high negative interdependency of both variables. However, the author does not recommend to link VAT payments to average propensity to consume. The results indicate that besides economic prosperity there are also other factors influencing the average propensity to consume. This is even clearer from the EU-13 model not comprising Greece & Luxembourg, which significantly codetermine the intensity of measured dependency. Comparison of average propensity to consume & GNPpc with the average figures for EU-I5 shows four Member States where the negative correlation does not hold. The author also estimates the position of individual Member States towards further existence of VAT as an EU budget resource, including its possible abolition. While proportional payments are among realistic possibilities, introduction of progressive elements into EU budget payments is considered politically unacceptable. Despite the discussed disadvantages, VAT is found as the most appropriate tax revenue for the common EU budget. Tables, Graphs, References. Adapted from the source document.

The paper is concerned with the Czech privatization. According to the author, there was no economic theory of privatization in 1989. Therefore, decision makers in transition economies had to improvise & solve a dilemma: a fast, or slow privatization? The Czech literature on privatization as well as the strengths & weaknesses of privatization methods in the Czech Republic, including of the voucher one, are discussed. The paper argues against the pessimistic view on the Czech privatization, which predominated in the literature in the second half of the nineties. Tables, References. Adapted from the source document.

During the last few years we have observed great changes in the oil market along with the growing tendency to use oil as a means for international politics. There is a need for analyzing this situation. In this study the author shows how the "oil weapon," functions as a mechanism which may influence foreign policies of the USA & European countries. The text lists the basic circumstances & conditions that turn oil as a commodity into a successful mean for economic war. It also shows possible restrictions & obstructions of such use of oil. Graphs, References. Adapted from the source document.

This article tries to analyze the evolution of the Norwegian political and party systems which are considered to be exponents of the so-called Nordic model of political system. Besides describing attributes and trends of the political and party systems in Norway, the author deals with the election to the Stortinget held in September 2005. This electoral contest has brought new elements into the Norwegian political system, e. g. a new form of government composition and possibly new patterns of party competition (restructuring competing party-blocs, reinforcing cooperation between left-wing political parties). Adapted from the source document.

The author aims to evaluate Regional Security Complex Theory (RSCT) with regard to another theoretical approach to security -- Network Actors Perspective (NAP). The evaluation will focus on how RSCT takes into account the influence of non-state actors on regional security dynamics & their growing deterritorialization. Firstly the regional level of analysis approach will be sketched, & the emphasis will lie on RSCT as defined by Barry Buzan & Ole Wcver. It's important characteristics & features will be critically compared with those of NAP. The result will be further illustrated through a case of a regional security complex -- the Horn of Africa. Adapted from the source document.

This article offers a critical review of the few existing scholarly attempts to conceptualize & theorize the study of peacekeeping operations. It reveals that even though the study of peacekeeping operations is burgeoning, most of the available literature is idiosyncratic & atheoretical. Although some authors have recently utilized various concepts from international relations theory for analysis of peacekeeping operations, the potentially diverse international peacekeeping theories are yet to be fully integrated into international relations theory. After inspecting future research agendas outlined by the leading experts in the field, the author critiques the recent calls for a "macrotheory" of international peacekeeping. Adapted from the source document.

The case study deals with the issue of the European Union as an actor in international relations. While based on an analysis of the first common EU naval military mission, EU NAVFOR Somalia, code-named Atalanta, the article intends to shed more light on how the EU paves the way to its getting recognized as an international actor. The author assumes that the EU aims at facilitating the process in two key dimensions: the virtual (i.e. material) and the intersubjective (i.e. idealogical) dimension. The consultation is meant to contribute to the epistemo-methodological debate about the essence and origins of the international recognition of the EU. Adapted from the source document.

Non-governmental organizations participate more than two decades on post-conflict reconstruction & peace-building. They participated on reconstruction of Bosnia & Herzegovina, Angola & Haiti. Existing experiences with post-conflict reconstruction shows that NGOs play a positive roles in the process. On the basis of analysis of post-conflict reconstruction in various countries the author thinks that the positive relationship between NGOs & governments by the post-conflict reconstruction & peace-building is weakening. Why after more than decade of successful evolution of relationship between NGOs & governments in the process of post-conflict reconstruction the skepticism about this relationship emerges? On the case study of post-conflict reconstruction of Afghanistan the possible answer will be offered. Adapted from the source document.

This paper provides a framework for the analysis of social movements, drawing on political process theory (PPT). The author argues that the concept of political opportunity structure is still adequate, although it has to be re-conceptualized at various points. Firstly, when analyzing contentious politics or collective action, it is much more suitable to handle the social movement as the unit of analysis rather then the protest event. Attention should also be paid to how the concept is applied. Finally, cultural aspects & the context of multilevel governance are implemented into PPT. This framework is used in the second part of the paper to analyze the Czech women's movement between 1989 & 2006. Adapted from the source document.

The author uses the concept of reconciliation processes/reconciliation issues, which is usually used in the environment of churches or in applied theological discourses respectively, in connection with the specific contribution of Christian churches to the historical settlement & reconciliation among the European states & nations after the 2nd World War, especially in Central Europe. He analyses & compares in detail the Polish-German & Czech-German issues. While thanks to the important position of the Church (or churches) in the Polish & German societies, these activities (or initiatives) met with a great response as early as the 1960s -- and gained a great importance also on the official level of the (West-)German-Polish relations, in the Czechoslovak-(West-)German relations, this factor long remained absent or entirely marginal. But after the political change(s) of 1989 the churches became involved in the shaping of the newly formed bilateral relations between the unified Germany & the successor states of former Czechoslovakia & greatly contributed to their having a deeper anchorage in Europe. The author backs up in a detailed way the relevance of this phenomenon, especially in Czech-German relations (or generally in church initiatives/activities with a German participation), but less so in the mutual relations (and initiatives) between the Central European churches. On the contrary, the previously highly visible church engagement in the Polish-German case fell off in the 1990s. The Central European churches gradually naturally realized again the advantages & difficulties of their role as a trans-national/non-state actor -- and as one of the important players of the so-called public diplomacy. This role culminated in the 1990s in connection with their social & political emancipation in the post-communist states -- and at the same time it started to dwindle in importance as a consequence of the secularization processes which accelerated considerably & often a surprisingly during the 1990s (and also in the subsequent years) in this part of Europe. Adapted from the source document.