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The article puts forward an answer to the following question: why is Iran, thirty years after the 1979 revolution, still at the center of world politics, & why is it, on top of that, a legitimate candidate for the status of one of global powers in the new, multi-polar international order. The author stresses that Iran has been the main obstacle to global ambitions of liberal democracy since 1989, & that it has developed a specific ideological & political system based on the idea of theocratic-republican dualism. Furthermore, after the end of the Cold War, it was convenient to the West to have Iran as the Antagonistic Other (and vice versa). The relative American failure in the war against Iraq (2003-) opened up for Iran the options of connecting on a wider basis with Russia, China, Venezuela & the countries of "Old Europe" (Germany & France). Since the relatively prosperous neighboring countries -- China & the four Asian tigers -- are also founded on dualistic principles, Iran did not have to be liberalized in the way that Eastern Europe was liberalized after the Cold War. As the author concludes, the election of Barack Obama for American president presents a new opportunity to normalize relations between Iran & the West, but the opportunity will be seized only if the USA is willing to accept the multi-polarity of international relations & to renounce the doctrine of liberal interventionism. Regardless of the outcome, however, there is still a very real danger of a conflict between Israel & Iran. Adapted from the source document.

The article puts forward an answer to the following question: why is Iran, thirty years after the 1979 revolution, still at the center of world politics, & why is it, on top of that, a legitimate candidate for the status of one of global powers in the new, multi-polar international order. The author stresses that Iran has been the main obstacle to global ambitions of liberal democracy since 1989, & that it has developed a specific ideological & political system based on the idea of theocratic-republican dualism. Furthermore, after the end of the Cold War, it was convenient to the West to have Iran as the Antagonistic Other (and vice versa). The relative American failure in the war against Iraq (2003-) opened up for Iran the options of connecting on a wider basis with Russia, China, Venezuela & the countries of "Old Europe" (Germany & France). Since the relatively prosperous neighboring countries -- China & the four Asian tigers -- are also founded on dualistic principles, Iran did not have to be liberalized in the way that Eastern Europe was liberalized after the Cold War. As the author concludes, the election of Barack Obama for American president presents a new opportunity to normalize relations between Iran & the West, but the opportunity will be seized only if the USA is willing to accept the multi-polarity of international relations & to renounce the doctrine of liberal interventionism. Regardless of the outcome, however, there is still a very real danger of a conflict between Israel & Iran. Adapted from the source document.

Ethnic minorities & minorities-related conflicts have always been one of the most important security issues for the international community. The durability of ethnic conflicts in certain regions & the difficulties in their resolution, have resulted in the outbreak of many armed conflicts, the collapse of multi-ethnic states, the changes of borders & of demographic relations. Despite the increasing number of security challenges & needs, it is still not possible to talk about a certain uniform & universally accepted model of solving the problems among ethnic minorities. It is obvious that in the post-Cold War period this is going to be an increasingly pressing need of international community. The paper deals with most basic security problems that are caused by the unsettled relationships between ethnic minorities & majority; it also covers the policies of their resolution. By analyzing the model of resolving ethnic conflicts in South Tyrol, two groups of ethnic conflicts' resolution policies are looked into: the policy of the elimination of differences & the policy of managing differences. 20 References. Adapted from the source document.

The paper deals with the political crisis of dualism in multi-ethnic Austria-Hungary caused by the strengthening political opposition of Hungarian magnates in the Hungarian Parliament, who demanded the introduction of the Hungarian language as command language of the Hungarian troops. The implication thereof was a separation of the joint army and a disproval of the joint supreme commander, Emperor Franz Josef. The Hungarian language issue was therefore primarily political, and in the final instance it meant further weakening of connections with the Western part of the Monarchy until the final Hungarian secession, but also a possibility of further Hungarisation within the Hungarian borders. The Emperor opposed this by announcing a new electoral law aimed at depriving the Hungarian minority of its supremacy over the non-Hungarian majority in Hungary. He was supported by the liberal party led by Istvan Tisza, who rightly estimated that dualism was first and foremost protective of Hungarian interests in Hungary. Fear of the new electoral law sobered up the Hungarian nationalists and they gave up on the revision of the Austro-Hungarian compromise. Subsequently, the Emperor, driven by immediate political interests, decided not to enact the law on universal suffrage in Hungary despite the fact that, under certain favourable political circumstances, which were, unfortunately, lacking, precisely such a law could potentially have become the foundation not for bringing down, but for preserving Austria-Hungary. Adapted from the source document.

There are various assessments, occasion-related & partial analyses, & even empirical evaluations of the recent collective protest of Croatian students, but there is hardly any attempt of a theoretical clarification & comprehension thereof. Having in mind the largely disparate definitions of social movement, the author is of the opinion that, from the standpoint of theory, the demands of rebelled students, the blockade of the faculty, the plenum decision-making & other forms of collective student activity can best be perceived as a form of student movement. For this reason, he first presents various theories of social movements: the classic American theory of collective behavior (ie., its two versions -- the breakdown theory & the theory of relative deprivation), the theory of resource mobilization, the theory of new social movements (especially Touraine's model of understanding new social movements), the theory of networks, the theory of solidarity, & the political-process analysis. Second, the author attempts to apply each of the enumerated conceptual perspectives to the Croatian student movement for charge-free education. Although the presented theories of social movements are critical of one another, this article points out their complementarity. It goes on to show that not all of them are equally adequate for clarification & comprehension of the central issue. In the author's judgment, one of the key reasons why a multi-perspective approach is necessary is the exceptional, hybrid character of the Croatian student movement, as a mixture of old & new social movements. Adapted from the source document.

This essay is a continuation & an addition to the analysis of the structural dynamics of the Croatian Parliament (Sabor), carried out by the end of the third mandate of the Upper Parliament House. Certain features of the party & social composition of the fourth Croatian Parliament are analyzed & compared to the formerly observed tendencies. The Croatian Parliament has been set up along moderate pluralist lines, which means that Sabor is moderately fragmented party-wise. It seems that the processes of non-electoral parliamentarization & the party factioning have continued in the new Sabor, although in a weaker form, since there is a smaller number of parties & representatives. Having the nature & the intensity of the party factioning in mind, as well as the fact that the constitutional changes have removed the risk of a possible destabilizing influence of one branch of government, the fragile relations within the ruling coalition are recognized as the main potential threat to the stability of the Croatian Sabor. There have been no significant changes in its social structure: educated middle-aged male Croats still predominate in Sabor. Nevertheless, there has been a shift towards a greater representation of women. At the same time, the disproportion in the generational distribution of power has deepened, & finally, due to the relatively brief existence of a multi-party Sabor, & the cyclical changes in the strongest parties' mandates, the Croatian Parliament does not yet possess a stable core of seasoned & competent representatives. 6 Tables, 4 Graphs, 1 Appendix, 34 References. Adapted from the source document.

The understanding and clarification of important social events as themes must be derived from the hermeneutic code of the epoch. The millennial threshold was marked by processes of integration and particularisation, which were observed, as constitutive principle or principle of legitimate refutation, also in the bringing down of socialist orders and the establishment of supranational associations. Thus a discussion of the (empirical) position and (normative) status of ethnic minorities must as well be positioned in a universal European context, in which the predominant role is played by liberal theory and liberal practice. In societies going through transformation from ideological to legal state, answers to multi-ethnic needs must be sought in the patterns of liberal philosophy, taking into account (a) the delusion of Western theory that the change of regime brings about a spontaneous springing up of liberal institutions from the socialist ruins, and (b) the possible disproof of the assertion that the recognition of collective rights of ethnic minorities violates the liberal principle of universal equality of citizens as abstract members of the state. On the other hand, it is necessary to understand and acknowledge the historical heritage when solving the issue of ethnic minority rights in the countries of Eastern and Central Europe, since the issue was absorbed in their authoritarian past by the ideological supranational programme. All the falsity of the "state of peoples and ethnicities" was fully exposed at the outset of transition, when the regime crisis arose coupled with the crisis of state identity. The states which divided themselves and seceded did fall apart exactly along the lines of the ethnic components. It is precisely in view of the described experience (along with the "surplus of violence" syndrome) that the post-Yugoslavian consolidation necessarily requires institutional guarantee and practical recognition of particular ethnic identities. Adapted from the source document.

The understanding and clarification of important social events as themes must be derived from the hermeneutic code of the epoch. The millennial threshold was marked by processes of integration and particularisation, which were observed, as constitutive principle or principle of legitimate refutation, also in the bringing down of socialist orders and the establishment of supranational associations. Thus a discussion of the (empirical) position and (normative) status of ethnic minorities must as well be positioned in a universal European context, in which the predominant role is played by liberal theory and liberal practice. In societies going through transformation from ideological to legal state, answers to multi-ethnic needs must be sought in the patterns of liberal philosophy, taking into account (a) the delusion of Western theory that the change of regime brings about a spontaneous springing up of liberal institutions from the socialist ruins, and (b) the possible disproof of the assertion that the recognition of collective rights of ethnic minorities violates the liberal principle of universal equality of citizens as abstract members of the state. On the other hand, it is necessary to understand and acknowledge the historical heritage when solving the issue of ethnic minority rights in the countries of Eastern and Central Europe, since the issue was absorbed in their authoritarian past by the ideological supranational programme. All the falsity of the "state of peoples and ethnicities" was fully exposed at the outset of transition, when the regime crisis arose coupled with the crisis of state identity. The states which divided themselves and seceded did fall apart exactly along the lines of the ethnic components. It is precisely in view of the described experience (along with the "surplus of violence" syndrome) that the post-Yugoslavian consolidation necessarily requires institutional guarantee and practical recognition of particular ethnic identities. Adapted from the source document.

In this article the author analyses the innovations in the Treaty of Lisbon, in particular the ones related to the status of European citizenship, i.e. European citizens. Accordingly, he points out the fact that many authors who investigate the significance and reach of the Treaty of Lisbon as a constitutional surrogate fail to see the important innovations related to consolidation and development of the concept of European citizenship. In the first part, the author sketches out the evolution of the European citizenship concept from the first founding treaties of the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Community. He concludes that the Treaty on European Union and the constituting of the EU as a supranational political community sui generis marked the beginning of practical realization of the European citizenship concept. This was carried out primarily through policy-measures and pilot-programmes, and then the discussion on the European Constitution incited the shift to a higher level of affirmation of European citizenship. The problem of European citizenship as a political project of construction of an European demos encounters many difficulties and contradictions, and the Treaty of Lisbon links the realization of European citizenship with the spreading of democracy, which has been at the roots of the European integration process from the originally projected model of representative democracy to the model of participative and immediate (direct) democracy. For this reason, the "European citizens' initiative" is an important innovation which provides a new stimulus to the realization of the European citizenship concept. It remains uncertain, however, how firmly this political idea can be established if in some of the EU member-states citizens are still treated as nationals, i.e. if they do not participate in public affairs of their nation-state as much as they should participate even at the very top of the pyramid of a multi-level governance system such as the EU. Adapted from the source document.

The author looks into the relation between politics, state and religion from the political-science perspective, as part of an analysis and evaluation of tasks, achievements and failures of polity, policy or politics from the standpoint of normative-constructive philosophy of equity. At present the central task of policy is to stimulate and strengthen the Western political culture based on the fundamental distinction between "reasonable" and "unreasonable" pluralism. "Reasonable" pluralism rests on the assumption that the state is a just power, the sovereignty of which can be recognized in distinguishing the "public" and the "private", the just and the good, and, in connection therewith, it is almost self-understandable that such a liberal guaranteed private sphere must be the primary arena of religious practice and religious freedoms. The crucial trait of the relation between state and religion is manifest in the fact that only the legal state and the liberal constitution are competent to state what the freedom of individuals consists of within the framework of norms of what is just. The author defines "religion" in the comprehensive sense as central to the processes of forming cultural identity, and he deems that cultural policy (which, in principle, has to do with relations between state and religion), as policy of equitable integration of multi-culturally shaped political unities, must be oriented toward stimulation of those attitudes and values which make possible the reasonable pluralism defined according to Rawls. Since the political encompasses also the possibility to make enemies, the author advocates the cultural policy of "weakening the feelings of enmity" (N. Elias). In this way, a systematic concept of policy would be created, one which would reflect and preserve the conditions of reasonable pluralism. On the policy level and, in particular, on the politics level, cultural policy is a very demanding project. Perhaps it is precisely Switzerland, with its special prospects of civil democracy, that offers promising cultural-policy opportunities for activity, which are as yet still insufficiently researched. Adapted from the source document.

Using as his starting point Hegel's explanation of the principled differentiation between the "manner of studying" & acquiring actual knowledge in the Antiquity & the Modern Age, the author demonstrates that both Hegel & Husserl, each in his own philosophical fashion, try to link the substantiality of Antiquity & the subjectivity of Modernity as well as to deepen &, consequently, put an end to the one-sidedness, both in the ancient tradition of multi-formity ("des sinnlichen Daseins") & in the modern "abstract form" of the manifesting subjectivity. The notion of "the actual knowledge" as actualization and "spiritualization" of the universal, with Hegel ends in "Selbstbewusstsein" & with Husserls in "phanomenologisches Residuum," representing "das Feld einer neuen Wissenschaft," which Husserl calls "die Phanomenologie der Lebenswelt" & Hegel "die Phanomenologie des Geistes." Hegel & Husserl evolve actual knowledge in the "form of science," which is -- as "Wissenschaft von der Erfahrung des Bewusstseins" -- different from the dogmatic metaphysics, empiricism, & positivism of sciences. "Erfahrung" cannot be reduced to sensory experience; it -- as the source of "des neuen wahren Gegenstandes" -- also represents the experience of human thought & understanding. This already envisions in Hegel's works the rehabilitation of different kinds & ways of genuine knowledge conceived by Aristotle in his Nichomachean Ethics. The author emphasizes the significance of practical knowledge, as extrapolated by Hegel in his philosophy of objective spirit &, particularly, in the notion of "Geist-Kapitel" in his Phenomenology of Spirit -- not in the form of metaphysical definitions taken over by Hegel from the practical philosophy into the speculative one, but for the sake of developing the abilities of the spirit as "reality" in the historical world & its own historical "logic." This peculiar logic of The Phenomenology of Spirit differs from the later Science of Logic like metaphysics. While the latter represents the thinking of the world prior to the creation of the world, The Phenomenology of Spirit makes for the practical philosophy of the historical world of life & requires the development of various kinds of knowledge, especially modern spiritual sciences appropriate for the contemporary reality & world history. Adapted from the source document.