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Switzerland's major contribution to the shaping of neutrality as an institution of international law lies in its centuries-old practice & its international recognition. However, Swiss neutrality still conforms to the classical military/political conflict, since in the past, it proved to be a successful security/political instrument in the protection of independence & territorial integrity. In the contemporary international/global constellation, there is almost no room for a neutral stance due to the global interdependence within the international community & the collective security, on the one hand, & the new threats & dangers lacking a classical military dimension, on the other. All this is conducive to the solidarity & cooperation whose purpose is protection, which requires international security/political efforts in securing peace. The Swiss government is of the opinion that participation in a collective security system such as the UN does not run counter to its permanent neutrality, since the UN Charter forbids war & does not recognize it as a means of the international regulation of conflicts. Also, the UN Charter does not oblige member countries to participate in any coercive military measure. Finally, by the admittance of the permanently neutral Austria into the UN, the practice has proved that neutrality & the collective security are compatible. On several occasions, the Swiss have raised the issue of UN membership; in the 1986 referendum, the Swiss citizens voted against this proposal, while on 3 Mar 2000, they voted in favor of it; the only other country besides Switzerland not in the UN is the Vatican. 32 References. Adapted from the source document.

The Sarajevo Convention, at which the Sarajevo Declaration & the Pact on Stability were adopted, represents a finale to the ten-year conflict in the Balkan region. The most important elements in the dynamic process of Europe's preparation for accepting the countries of Europe's Southeast have been the Brussels study by the Center for Political Analyses, the German "new politics," & US support. The analyses of the goals & mechanisms of the Pact show that it is a major political instrument, though hailed as a mixed blessing. If all the actors -- states, nongovernmental organizations, associations, & individuals -- are provided with long-term conditions for creating affiliations, joint views, & projects, the process of building better relations may be initiated. The Europeanization of Southeast Europe is going to be a lengthy & complex process, & the Pact on Stability may become an important form of building new relations in this region. Adapted from the source document.

The author suggests that the Dayton peace accord is primarily an expression of the West's (particularly America's) strategic interests, both regional & global. Numerous political constellations that have surrounded the conflict in the former Yugoslavia can be explained away if this proposition is accepted. The lamentations that the recognition of Slovenia & Croatia was premature is an expression of the disgruntlement over the failure to incorporate the entire Yugoslav territory within the Western interest sphere & the consequent relinquishment of Serbia to Russia. In southeastern Europe, Russia has proved to be America's sole strategic ally. Americans, realizing that their strategic interests became vulnerable due to the European rivalries, decided to strike on its own. The Dayton constitution of Bosnia & Herzegovina as a multicultural state is built on current political principles in line with the requirements of the moment, which include antifascism, anticommunism, antiterrorism, human rights, & multiculturalism. The author concludes that Croatian politics should fall in line with the strategic preferences of the West, which would enable it to accomplish its national interests. Adapted from the source document.

The article discusses some aspects of continuity and change in Croatian society. The first part, entitled "A Synoptic View of the Croatian Society Today", gives a bird's-eye-view of the Croatian society -- its social structure, dominant values, main repetitive processes: cooperation, competition, conflict, and main processes of social change: modernization and re-traditionalization. It shows the simultaneous effect of forces of continuity and tendencies to change. The second part, entitled "Dominant Values of Croatian Society", presents dominant values on three levels of centeredness: individual (individualism and utilitarianism), national (the "heroic codex") and societal (radical egalitarianism, authoritarianism and solidarity). The war has not introduced significant changes into the value system, apart from a more prominent and generalized "heroic codex" and solidarity. Adapted from the source document.

This article investigates which one of two competing theories -- balance of power theory or power preponderance theory -- better explains war in the territory of former Yugoslavia. The main finding is that military preponderance in favor of Serbia fostered aggression of this state on Slovenia, Croatia, & Bosnia & Herzegovina. Furthermore, relative balance of power, which was established in 1995, was the main reason for the termination of hostilities & for the Dayton peace agreement. Consequently, this article concludes that case study of the war in the territory of former Yugoslavia is an additional argument in favor of classical balance of power theory & that power preponderance theory can neither explain the outbreak nor the ending of this war. This article also challenges previous interpretations of war in the former Yugoslavia, which claimed that this war was a civil war based on ethnic hatred. In contrast, this article argues that conflict on the territory of former Yugoslavia was primarily an interstate war based on rational calculations of the main actors. 50 References. Adapted from the source document.

This research deals with the stages of development of the political order of Florence, focusing on the changes of the republican order. Starting from Machiavelli's Florentine Histories, which set forth a criticism of the first period of republican government until the establishment of the Medici seigniory, the author also analyses the other two stages of republican government in Florence. He thus puts together a periodization of three republican models of Florence during the Renaissance, which he refers to as the First, Second & Third Republics. The period of the First Republic stretches from 1250 to 1434, until the establishment of the first Medici seigniory. The period of the Second Republic, which lasted from 1498 to 1512, is assessed here as the period of a mature republic, which also witnessed a clear-cut defining of the theory of civil republicanism, primarily through the works of Machiavelli & Guicciardini. The Second Republic ended with the Medici restauration, when the republican government was once again suspended, & the republican institutions were abolished, although the state formally retained the designation of republic. After the fall of Rome in 1527, the Medici rule in Florence also collapsed, & the period of the Third Republic began; it lasted from 1527 to 1530. This short stretch of time saw a radicalization of the Florentine republicanism, but the social antagonism within the city-state was also radicalized. For this reason, the Third Republic did not manage to withstand the internal tensions & conflicts, & thus to face a deteriorated international state of affairs. The republican government collapsed again & made way for the second Medici restauration. The author describes & analyses in the text the republican institutions & their metamorphoses from the First Republic to the Third Republic, as well as the attempts to stabilize the republican government & realize Machiavelli's theory of the mixed form of government. The Florentine political order is therefore outlined as a development from communal democracy to civil republicanism with strong democratic elements, which, as a result of historical circumstances, was superseded by oligarchic forms of government. Adapted from the source document.

The article discusses some aspects of continuity and change in Croatian society. The first part, entitled "A Synoptic View of the Croatian Society Today", gives a bird's-eye-view of the Croatian society -- its social structure, dominant values, main repetitive processes: cooperation, competition, conflict, and main processes of social change: modernization and re-traditionalization. It shows the simultaneous effect of forces of continuity and tendencies to change. The second part, entitled "Dominant Values of Croatian Society", presents dominant values on three levels of centeredness: individual (individualism and utilitarianism), national (the "heroic codex") and societal (radical egalitarianism, authoritarianism and solidarity). The war has not introduced significant changes into the value system, apart from a more prominent and generalized "heroic codex" and solidarity. Adapted from the source document.

Leaving aside Hobbes's ideological preferences in the conflict regarding the structure of the English political body in the 17th century, the text deals with the way in which democracy is valued in his key theoretical-political works. The author does this on two levels: first, he examines the status of democracy within the framework of Hobbes's doctrine of state forms. In spite of some of its shortcomings, in none of the three variants of his science of politics does Hobbes deem that there is a rational justification for discarding democracy as one of three equally ranked forms of state. Second, the author inquires into the more general thesis of the democratic character of Hobbes's understanding of the state regardless of its form. Various elements of Hobbes's science of politics are thereby taken into account: legal equality of parties to the social contract, their status as authors of sovereign power, their freedom as subjects and the duties of the sovereign. The analysis thereof points to the necessity of a differentiated answer to the question regarding the democratic character of Hobbes's theory of state. Adapted from the source document.

This article reconstructs and interprets Bakaric's views on the causes of reproduction of extensive economic development in Yugoslavia in the historical context. Emphasis is put on Bakaric's political-economic criticism of the ideology and practice of Yugoslav socialism. His research into the causes of the economic structure's lack of balance and the consequences thereof starts from the etatist relations of production, which were the basic framework and an insurmountable obstacle to the possibility of their liberalization. He found the causes of imbalance in the bureaucratic relations and in the basic motives of the governing stratum to ensure -- through incessant new big investments -- mass employment, improvement of the standard of living, additional influx to the budget and preservation of the monopoly of party power. A long process of gradual, slow and uneven development of self-government in an unequally developed multiethnic community did not make it possible to break out of the vicious circle. Frequent normative and organizational changes concealed constant political debates and conflicts regarding budget distribution and fiscal solidarity among the republics and regions. Bakaric was critical towards the governing stratum, which focused on distribution instead of fulfilling prerequisites for far-reaching changes of the economic and social system, and this resulted in a general crisis and in the collapse of the Yugoslav model of socialism. Adapted from the source document.

EU's agrarian policy has always been -- & remains -- a complex issue of the Union's overall economic policy. Although agrarian policy was at first central for the Union & served as a cohesive & integrating factor, in time it became a bone of contention, a source of conflicts & feuding within the EU. Solving the problem of agrarian policy on the eve of the third millennium is one of the EU's priorities. The problems of agricultural subsidies in the EU, its Eastern expansion, & the demands of the WTO are far from being easy tasks. Besides, agrarian policy is not solely an economic matter, but also a social (particularly rural), ecological, cultural, & political problem. The problem of agriculture has always been considered a political problem & resolved as such. 1 Table, 15 References. Adapted from the source document.

It had undoubtedly been the inadequate political & legal structure of the ethnic status & relations in the Socialist Republic of Bosnia & Herzegovina as well the unwillingness of the political elites to make a compromise that created a rather favourable potential for destructive shaping of the Bosnian-Herzegovinian social conditions. Immediately before the outbreak of war in BH (1992-1995) the preconditions had been created for a comparatively peaceful settlement of the unresolved political issues within the republic. Taking into consideration that the international community had assumed to act as a mediator its role could have been very important. However, with its "pre-war" position to BH it did not take advantage of the opportunities that were offered to settle or simplify the internal Bosnian & Herzegovinian political disputes, but, on the contrary, it contributed to the outbreak of war, its destructiveness & long duration, getting itself into a rather awkward position. Map, References. Adapted from the source document.