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Spinoza, Pufendorf and Locke all championed freedom of thought (including freedom of religion) and of speech; all three thinkers deserve credit for having forged the fundamental principles of the liberal tradition. Spinoza, in particular, was the first writer in modern times to articulate a systematic defence of democracy. He believed that the state should promote the welfare of its citizens, while maximising their freedom. Although he equated right with power, he also advocated respect for the moral law, stressing the importance of being good to other people. Keywords: Spinoza, Pufendorf, Locke, freedom of religion, freedom of thought, liberalism

Cover -- Contents -- Foreword -- Preface -- Acknowledgements -- Part 1 -- The Idea of a Hindu Nation -- Rediscovering National Icons -- Understanding RSS and Fringe Elements -- Nation from the Historical Lens -- Part 2 -- Being Muslim -- Jamaat and Religion -- Islam and Practices -- Not Being the Other -- Part 3 -- Everybody an Immigrant -- References -- About the Author.

This article is written on the occasion of the 500 years anniversary of the Lutheran reformation (siðbót) which started in 1517. The aim is to point out new perspectives worth considering in research on the main implications of the reformation in the political field (siðaskipti) and cultural and / or social field (siðbreyting). In this regard, it is pointed out that in researches of such a complex historical process is inevitable to assume pre-defined pardigms that can serve as prerequisites for the interpretation of the subject. It is also pointed out that, up to present time, a single one-sided paradigm which describes the reformation as a revolution has been assumed in Icelandic studies of the reformation which assumes that the transition from a catholic to a lutheran church in Iceland has been sudden and for more or less political reasons, ie. for the efforts of Christian the III:rd of Denmark to increase his assets, properties and power in the country. The article argues that the relationships between religion and politics was much more complexed at this time than has generally been expected, as well as that Christina the III:rd and his representatives in Iceland considered it as their duties as christians to promote the reformation in the country and in that way respond to the demand of Luther to the christian nobility to rescue the Church on the basis of the gospel. In the article it is assumed that the reformation in Iceland happened in the period 1539-1600 and the development took place on various religious, ecclesial, political and cultural fields. In that way it is meaningful to describe it as a viscous reformation.

V magistrskem delu smo raziskali dejavnike poslovnih pogajanj med partnerji iz Slovenije v odnosu s partnerji iz držav razpadle Jugoslavije. Opisani so dejavniki in karakteristike poslovnih pogajanj v splošnem pomenu, kot tudi vpliv dejavnikov kulture, ki se odražajo v sklopu mednarodnih poslovnih odnosov in pogajanj. Kulturna dejstva so temelj, na katerem slonijo poslovni odnosi, kadar se v procesu srečujejo poslovni partnerji iz različnih držav, kar pomeni, da moramo biti pozorni na razlike v komunikacijskem procesu, spoštovanju tuje kulture in njihovih navad, ponekod celo religije. Razlike med našimi in tujimi dejavniki kulture, oz. vsaj poznavanje in spoštovanje le-teh, so ključ za graditev in ohranjanje dolgoročnih poslovnih odnosov. Razlike so pravzaprav prisotne povsod, ne le na globalni ravni poslovanja, najdemo jih že tudi na lokalni ravni, saj so si podjetja, njihove usmeritve in cilji, drugačni. Potrebno se je prilagoditi drugim, če želimo doseči nekaj, kar nam predstavlja korist. Soočanje in osvajanje medkulturnih razlik nam pomaga pri razumevanju medkulturnih dimenzij, pri čemer se je potrebno zavedati, da se bomo tega učili skozi celotno življenje. Kultura je namreč širok spekter pojmov, družbenih norm in vrednot, da bi jih lahko popolnoma prevzeli in se z njimi popolnoma poistovetili. V magistrskem delu so zaradi tega razloga predstavljeni le določeni dejavniki in definicije. Teoretični del ob definicijah in opredelitvah poslovnih pogajanj in mednarodnih pogajanj vsebuje še predstavitev držav nekdanje Jugoslavije, v raziskovalnem delu pa smo povzeli še dejanske izkušnje respondentov poglobljenega intervjuja, ter pridobili pomembne informacije in smernice, ki bodo koristno predstavljene za druge poslovneže, ki že aktivno sodelujejo ali pa imajo namen v prihodnosti sodelovati s poslovnimi partnerji v raziskovani regiji. V sklepnem delu so povzete glavne ugotovitve, in sicer lahko zapišemo, da je za uspešna poslovna pogajanja z državami, ki so nekoč sestavljale mogočno Jugoslavijo, potrebno poznavanje oz. bolje rečeno spoštovanje njihove religije, ki je ponekod zelo izrazita, dejavnik, ki pa zagotavlja pristne in dolgoročne odnose z njimi, pa je faktor človečnosti. Odnosi namreč temeljijo na poznavanju ljudi na osebni in poslovni ravni, ki ju je potrebno usklajeno vzdrževati (tudi v času, kadar nismo v proaktivnem sodelovanju s partnerjem, je potrebno ohranjanje odnosa v obliki osebnega stika in poslovnih daril). Prav tako smo ugotovili tudi, da se način pogajanj iz držav nekdanje Jugoslavije ne razlikuje več močno od evropskega, saj aktivno stremijo evropskim standardom. ; In this work, we examined the factors of business negotiations between partners from Slovenia in relation to partners that came from the stats of former Yugoslavija. The factors and characteristics of business negotiations in the general sense are described, as well as the influence of cultural factors, which are reflected in the framework of international business relations and negotiations. Cultural facts are the foundation upon which business relations are based, when business partners from different countries meet in the process, and that means that we must pay attention to the differences in the communication process, respect for foreign culture and their habits, and sometimes even religion. Differences between our and foreign factors of culture, at least knowing and respecting them, are the key to building and maintaining long-term business relationships. The differences are actually present everywhere, not only at the global level of business, but also at the local level, as companies, their policies and goals are different. It is necessary to adapt to others if we are to achieve something that benefits us. Facing and conquering intercultural differences helps us to understand intercultural dimensions, and we must be aware that we will learn this throughout our lives. Culture is a wide range of concepts, social norms and values, so that they can be completely taken over and fully identified with them. For this reason, in this work only certain factors and definitions are presented. Theoretical part of this work contains the definitions of negotiations and the international negotiations. There is also the presentation of countries that form ex Yugoslavija, while while in the empirical part of this work we summarized the actual experiences of the employees, that have been conducted in the in-depth interview, and obtained important information and guidelines that will be usefully presented to other business people who are already actively involved or have the intention to cooperate with business partners in the research region in the future. The concluding part summarizes the main findings. We can say, that for successful negotiation in the countries of former Yugoslavija, you need to know ther religion and respect it, and that is the factor that will guarantee long term relationships with them. Most of all, they need you to be a person, a good man. Personal relations are more important than making business, relationships are based on knowledge of people on a personal and business level, which need to be maintained in a coordinated manner (even when we are not in proactive cooperation with a partner, it is necessary to maintain a relationship, to contact or to visit them, to bring them gifts). We can also conclude that the way of negotiations in the countries of the former Yugoslavia does not differ much more strongly than the European one, since they actively strive for European standards.