Although it is not the primary reason for Russian economic collapse which occurred in August of 1998, the permanent crisis of Russian political system after 1991 had contributed to this breakdown. A major role in all this was played by the process of privatisation by which Russian natural and economic resources remained in the hands of the political/economic elite. The crisis of the political system in Russia has another consequence - bringing into question not only the attained degree of democratic development but also the future of democracy in Russia. (SOI : SOEU: S. 117)
A number of contemporary states have undergone a transformation of their constitutions. One of the reasons is the process of increasing tensions between the majority democracy and constitutionalism. In a special way, this tension is the lot of the new democracies having problems both with a lack of democratic experience and a lack of genuine constitutionalism. Although the Republic of Croatia's 1990 Constitution apparently uses the paradigm of constitutional democracy, it is becoming even more obvious that its ontology is to a large extent determined both by the general and the particular aspect of the tension between democracy and constitutionalism. (SOI : PM: S. 136)
Seljacka Sloga (Peasant Unity) was the most important organization for cultural advancement and education among peasants in Croatia during the interwar period. The idea for such an organization was first conceived in 1920, but for political reasons, was not established until 1925. In spite of insufficient financial resources, the results proved to be overwhelming. For the four years of the organization's existence, 216 branches were founded throughout Croatia which numbered over 9000 members. Seljacka Sloga's most important activities included. courses in literacy, general lectures on varied subjects, and cultural and folkloric activities. Politically, the organization was a part of the Croatian Peasant Party, by far the most important political party at the time. With the coming of King Aleksandar's dictatorship, Seljacka Sloga was forced to disband. This was a huge blow to the Croatian peasantry. (SOI : CSP: S. 378)
The significance of the positive political theory is recognized in the text and a special emphasis given to the theory of public choice and the theory of voting. The main reasons for the study of political, particularly electoral processes from the viewpoint of the positive theory are listed. The author further questions certain fundamental postulates of the normative theories of democracy and their unviability. He goes on to analyse the phenomenon of the so called electoral or voting paradoxes and their possible influence on electoral results and, ultimately, on the democratic norms themselves. The existence of the voting paradoxes and their theoretical rationale is considered unequivocal and is mathematically proved. The author also gives a review of the most significant works on voting paradoxes and the theory of public choice. (SOI : PM: S 225)
When analysing the role of the individual in society or even in international relations, there are two polar opinions, and neither can be documented or corroborated with definite and irrefutable evidence. According to the first opinion, the history of mankind is, in fact, the result of the exploits of several prominent individuals, while the other views history as the outcome of social, political, and economic circumstances and processes, which are basically unalterable. The reality and practice of today's international political relations are, naturally, much more complex than might be gathered from these two contrary approaches. In searching for a consensual attitude towards the role of the individual in international relations, there are still many more unanswered questions than acceptable answers, the reason which makes this topic a subject of vigorous and persisting debates among today's theoreticians of international political relations. (SOI : S. 192)
The Bosnian Hercegovinian society, which immediately after the World War II was predominantly peasant, has undergone since 1953 some social transformations. In this article, the author attempts to explain ideological premises and basic features of economic policies, following transformations in agriculture and industry. At the end of the WW II, 80 per cent of the population of Bosnia and Hercegovina lived in villages, and only 2 per cent worked in factories. Communist regime, inspired by the Soviet economic policies, forced industrialization of the country, a process which placed the agriculture in the background. A low technical education of workers, however, did not allow significant changes of the agrarian society of BiH, even though some progress in industrial production was noted since 1953. This is the main reason why under the aegis of industrial development we witness a development of agrarian society. (SOI : CSP: S. 376)
These assertions are corroborated with the statistical data on the trends in Croatian trade and other economic relations, before and after Croatia's independence. The author also pleads for the necessity of Croatia's economic co-operation with its neighbouring states, in line with its interests - the real measure of the relations among sovereign states. (SOI : PM: S. 54) + The real reasons which run counter to the conclusion that "the Balkan market" is essential for the economic development of Croatia are discussed. The author's thesis is that the Westeuropean market (particularly Italian and German markets) is crucial for Croatia and that it has always been so, even when Croatia was a part of the former Yugoslavia. That is why it is thought that Croatia's acceptance of the American notion of an economic integration of Southeasteuropean states would be detrimental to Croatia. The same applies to the European Union's "regional approach" which links EU's co-operation with Croatia to Croatia's co-operation with the states on the territory of the former Yugoslavia
The Republic of Slovenia, having obtained independence and sovereignty in the June-July war of 1991, launched the intensive buildup of the system of nationa security. As guidelines it used the experiences of other states, its own historical experience and the attitudes of the public and the political parties. The analysis of Slovenian national security shows that the threats to it come in the forms of military threats, internal threats and the threat to the living space. This was the reason that the system of national security was outlined as including the defense system, the security system, and the system of protection and preservation. Though encountering momentous problems in the build-up of the system of national security (particularly its military aspect), Slovenia has made remarkable shifts in order to embrace the NATO standards. However, it was not enough and Slovenia was not among the countries that were admitted to this organisation in the first wave - Poland, Czech Republic and Hungary. (SOI : PM: S. 102)
NATO's military action in Yugoslavia is a pivotal event that is going to leave an indelible impact on the further direction of international relations. The author first analyses the underlying causes of the campaign, among which were: the international community's resolve to finally punish Milosevic', be instrumental in eliminating his regime, drive out Russian interests from the Balkans, espouse a positive stance towards Muslim countries and, finally, the internal political American reason: the desire to strengthen President Clinton's position. This action has also had a manifold significance for the new world order since it poses the questions of the world order's content and nature, its leadership and norms in a new light. In the process of establishing of the new post-cold-war relations, various tendencies that will pave the way to the new millennium will clash. On the one hand, there will be the exclusive approach based on force and interests, and on the other, the desire to establish the relations in which human rights will be the fundamental criterion for assessing the suitability of a country for a full membership in the newly unified international community. (SOI : S. 24)
The author's assumption is that a regular rotation of the left and the right in power has been a long-standing feature of stable European democracies. In most East European countries the collapse of communism was followed by the electoral defeat of leftist parties. However, in the last two years these regions have witnessed a return to power of more or less transformed leftist parties and leaders. This does not mark the return of communism, which has definitely become a thing of the past, though some of these leftist parties nurture certain revisionist traits. In less developed countries, former communist elites are being transformed into national political elites, while in more developed countries of Eastern Europe the transformation of leftist parties into social-democratic parties has been completed. The author underlines the prominence of the national element in the political programmes of leftist parties. He goes on to conclude that the main reason for the resurgence of the left in East European countries lies in the social repercussions of the transition and the fact that the right has been turning a blind eye to these problems. (SOI : PM: S 41)
In this article, which is based primarily on unpublished Swiss diplomatic sources, the development of relations between the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) and the Swiss Confederation is brieflv described, especially with regard to the question of diplomatic recognition of the NDW. Available archival Sources do not support the conclusion that Berlin or Rome was advocating recognition of NDH by any means possible. but that Croatian authorities were seeking dejure recognition for a variety of reasons. Officially, Bern rebuffed these requests, partly due to its traditional policy of neutralit,, and partly because the British embassy pressured the Swiss by warning them that recognition of NDH could be construed as open allegiance with the Axis. Consequently, the result of Croatian-Swiss discussions, in which the Swiss consulate in Zagreb played an important part, was an oral agreement extending informal relations between the two states. especially economic and financial relations. Nevertheless, Croatia was allowed, through the auspices of the permanent trade delegation in Zurich, to carry out limited consular activities. In this regard, it is impo[tant to mention that Croatian interest in Switzerland was motivated by a desire to form a possible bridge to the western allies. (SOI : CSP: S. 278)
The author approaches Malcolm's book analytically and synthetically. The strength of Malcolm's book lies in the fact that it is not burdened with controversies of the Balkan historiography and chauvinistic mentality. Malcolm succeeded in demystifying the Kosovo battle (1389) and the "Great Migration of Serbs" (1689), the themes that Serbian historiography is burdened with. Malcom's book successfully exposes the causes of Balkan war, especially of the last one (1991-1999), as a consequence of Serbian hegemonistic ideology and policy. Malcolm's book will help both Serbian and Albanian historians to abandon a romantic approach in writing their histories. However, author could not aree with some of Malcolm's conclusions, such as assumed lack of oppressive measures of the Ottomans over local population in Kosovo or the argument that there is no Muslim fundamentalism among Albanians because they have an Albanian Christian Democratic Party. Likewise, Malcolm seems to accept the idea that there was a process of "albanisation" of Serbs in Kosovo based on the names of certain number of Albanian population, while at the same time denies that there was an identical process in the opposite direction. The reason for this confusion probably lies in the fact that Malcolm overlooks that it is a question of "albanisation" of Vlachs and not of Serbs. Inspite of these shortcomings. the autor highly recommends the book. (SOI : CSP: S. 571)
The author discusses the works by Croatian and foreign theologians and historians (Ivo Pilar, Alois Hudal, Janko Simrak, Krunoslav Draganovic, Fran Grivec and Dragutin Nezic) about the Serbian Orthodox Church which appeared in the inter-war period. These authors posed a series of questions which are still open for debate today. Pilar describes the Serbian Orthodox Church as an institution which has an important role in the process of Serbian national integration. Hudal analyzes the reasons for the decline of Catholicism in the Balkans, discussing the negative consequences which befell the Roman Catholic Church in the Yugoslav Monarchy, which supported the expansion of the Serbian Orthodox Church. The works of Simrak, Nezic, and Draganovic deal with the complex process of attempting a union between the Roman Catholic Church and orthodox Christians. The author mentions that these writers and their works are not well known to the Croatian public, and that only during the 1980s was more intensive research undertaken by Croatian academics on the topic of the political and cultural activity of the Serbian Orthodox Church. The author concludes the article by suggesting that these works by Croatian and foreign historians and theologians can serve as the basis for further research on this topic. (SOI : CSP: S. 573f.)
At the end of 1944 NDH was in a very difficult military and political position. Not only were strong Tito's Partisan forces operating on its territory, but at the same time Soviets and Partisans occupied Serbia and advanced to the eastern border of NDH. This was the reason for the NDH authorities to reorganise their existing armed forces, and also to organise a nation-wide mobilisation. This organization, which was under control of the civilian authorities, was intended to be filled with men not serving in the armed forces and women. Its main purpose was to help war efforts with various labor activities (agricultural works, construction of fortifications). There were also plans to create armed units of people's defence, but NDH was short of infantry weapons even for its armed forces, so these plans were never materialized. Because of the difficult military situation, people's defence units were never organized in most parts of the NDH. At the same time NDH armed forces organized the People's Uprising Corps under the command of general Metzger. This unit, which was much more effective than the people's defence, was active in Slavonia, Srijem and northern Bosnia and filled with around 40 000 civilians living in that area. Its main duties were agricultural works on farms abandoned by their owners (Volksdeutsche) who were evacuated to the Third Reich, repairment of roads, construction of field fortifications, guard duties, etc. (SOI : CSP: S. 49)
