Suchergebnisse

Abstract. The aim of the article is to examine the relationship between the state, democracy and the Carl
Schimitt's concept of the political. That is going to be
done by reconstructing the concepts of Schmitt's political theory and finding out whether they can be used
to explain the ideology of the new right-wing populism
and illiberal democracy. As it turns out, the Schmitt's
reduction of the political to the friend/enemy antagonism makes the core of the illiberal democracies' ruling
narrative. The Schimtt's understanding of the political doesn't defend the state as a political space but by
cancelling of the liberal elements of democracy ruins
the state institutions. The analysis shows that Schmitt's
notion of the political cannot be used to build effective
democratic state institutions. Namely, in his definition
of the political, politics actually exists only on the outwards, towards some other nation, some other political
unity, but not within the state itself.
Keywords: state, the political, Carl Schmitt, illiberal
democracy

Abstract. The purpose of the article is to explain the creation of the Slovenian debt state and its transformation
into a consolidation state after the crisis of 2008. When
the crisis struck Slovenia in 2009, the banking system
was near collapse. Through the recapitalisations of the
banking system the public debt began to grow. After a
couple of years and under the structural pressures of rating agencies and pressures from the EU, the Slovenian
state had to adopt austerity measures to consolidate its
public finances, while limiting the scope of democracy.
The main finding of the article is that the crisis of 2008
fundamentally changed the Slovenian state.
Keywords: capitalist state, consolidation state, debt,
Slovenia, democracy

Abstract. In this article, we argue that social sciences generally
and political science in particular are faced with
a peculiar epistemological challenge while researching
the state in the 21st century. Namely, the state has often
been either naturalised, seen as a static and ahistorical
entity resistant to changes in the environment, or naïvely
rejected as a form of political organisation that is
with neoliberal globalisation withering away. In either
instance, the processes of redefining and redistributing
of the state, and hence its de-/reterritorialising and rescaling,
have largely gone unnoticed. Our analysis reassesses
the hegemonic theories of state and shows that in
the mainstream of political science research on the state
is still anchored to the (geographical) assumptions that
limit or even define the state and its exercise of power
to a geographically demarcated and fixed territory.
Drawing on recent approaches to space, scale and territory,
this article calls for a heterodox and pluralist methodology
in further research on state as well as non-state
spaces.
Keywords: the state, non-state spaces, globalisation, territory,
political geography

The decision by the Council of Europe to ter minate the Russian Federation's membership of the Council of Europe on 16 March 2022 makes the issue of legal certainty for aliens actively participating in the war in Ukraine as part of the Ukrainian Armed Forces completely unpredictable. The academic literature and the case law of the European Court of Human Rights in the field of the legal status of alien combatants is limited, and the International Criminal Court has not complet ed any cases on this topic. This article addresses the prin ciple of case law and, above all, the principle of legality with regard to aliens and their active participation in the armed forces of Ukraine. This issue has become cen tral since the Russian Federation may or may not grant these persons the status of prisoner of war according to the Third Geneva Convention, relating to Protocol I, or may characterise them as criminal offenders or terro rists. Keywords: aliens, combatants, mercenaries, prisoners of war, war, armed conflict, terrorists

Abstract. The article addresses the question of the role of the state in the protection of human rights and freedoms. Like states, rights and freedoms are also created on the basis of social conventions, and any reference to the universal nature or natural character of rights and freedoms is only an ideological moment in the pursuit of political goals. The basic prerequisite for the protection of rights and freedoms is the establishment of organised coercion in the form of state power which brings under its authority the multitude of different interests and diverse ways of implementing justice. The conclusive findings show that for its successful introduction into the lives of individuals, the moral discourse of universal human rights and freedoms needs effective state authority that embeds these rights and freedoms into the foundations of the legitimacy of its own existence. Keywords: Constitutionalism, the state, human rights and freedoms, Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes

Abstract. The article considers whether the EU's CSDP
missions are a suitable crisis management mechanism
for post-conflict situations, along with the EU's relevance in crisis management at all. For this purpose, the
EU's biggest CSDP civilian mission EULEX was chosen
as a research case study. The research results reveal that
EULEX has not implemented its mandate, not met the
expectations of security consumers, not made any difference on the ground, and cannot be seen as an example the EU should rely on in its future missions. Further,
EULEX shows that CSDP missions suffer from many
shortfalls and the EU CFSP from a capability–expectations gap. The article concludes that the EULEX mission
does not show the EU's relevance in the crisis management of post-conflict situations.

The war in Ukraine is the most significant threat to the peace of the Euro-Atlantic area in decades. After 4 years of Trump's weakening of transatlantic relations, Biden's presumed foreign policy doctrine includes their quick renewal, or re-Atlantisation. The article problematises the 'new' strategy of containment given Russia's aggression, the state of transatlantic relations, and the current global order's configuration, whereby the transatlantic bond is being strengthened and the formation of Biden's foreign policy doctrine is being followed by a 'grand-strategic' shift. Four different models of transatlantic relations (mutual autonomy, strategic autonomy, strategic partnership, situational partnership) are discussed where variables include the approach taken by the USA to transatlantic relations, and the approach of Europe's EU and NATO members to transatlantic relations are addressed. The main argument is that transatlantic relations during Biden's mandate have constantly oscillated between a stra-tegic partnership, especially related to common goals of democracy promotion and containment and situ-ational partnership. Situations like the war in Ukraine have simultaneously acted to strengthen the American–European partnership based on the shared security and political interests.Keywords: transatlantic relations, reatlantisation, USA, Europe, Biden doctrine, war in Ukraine, strategic part-nership, situational partnership

Abstract. The neoliberal approach taken to the transition from socialism to capitalism in the six former Yugoslav republics has revealed its weaknesses in all spheres of economic activities, including food production. These countries have lost sovereignty with respect to regulating important national policy areas like food trade and production. Liberalisation of the food trade has adversely affected national economies by destroying many small-scale farmers and food producers. Corporate supermarkets have been taking over an ever bigger slice of the retail pie. Social movements are calling for direct democratic control over resources and food production to be regained. The article examines the prospects of these countries to overcome the increasing food insecurity by introducing food sovereignty. Keywords: former Yugoslav republics, food sovereignty, food security, right to food, economic democracy, trade liberalisation

The focus of this article is on the rise of populism and Euroscepticism in the context of the crisis of
liberal internationalism and of the EU in particular.
The article considers the view that the weak integration
of Slovenian–EU politics makes the country vulnerable
to this trend. Modern-nationalist, postmodern-cosmopolitan and faux-modern-partially modernised variations of populism are explored. The research draws on
public opinion surveys, party manifestos, focus groups
with party supporters, and interviews with mediators
in elite and popular debates. The dominant modern
economist/functionalist view of the EU is shown to have
fed into different framings in line with the underlying
thick ideologies. On the right, this has been a retro-modern nationalist reaction to the EU's overly progressive
policy and polity, with certain illiberal faux-modern elements like authoritarianism and ethno cultural exclusivism. On the left, it has reinforced the already existing contradictions with (neo)liberalism on the level of
politics, leaving the post-modern post-nationalist framing detached from the EU's polity and policy. The article
offers some proposals for better integrating the EU politics in Slovenia.
Keywords: EU, Euroscepticism, populism, illiberalism,
Slovenia, public opinion, political parties

The article examines agenda-setting factors in Kosovo concerning the war in Ukraine. Due to the complex situation in the Western Balkans and the context of the tensions between Kosovo and Serbia, the presented research explains the role played by television in the hybrid media environment as the most important source of information in the crisis. The research looks at how television has impacted how the public views the war in Ukraine, and how it has covered the situation both before and after the invasion. A mixed methodology consisting of a questionnaire, television monitoring, content analysis, and desk research was thus adopted on the empirical level. On this level, 716 news stories were analysed between 1 February and 31 March 2022 and a survey with 1,312 respondents from Kosovo was conducted in April and May 2022 to identify different agents in the agenda setting and how that works with respect to the war in Ukraine. The research results show that the war in Ukraine has dominated the agenda of television stations in Kosovo, while the effects of their reporting vary according to the audience's demographic characteristics. Keywords: agenda setting, framing, Kosovo, public opinion, Ukraine, war

Abstract. In this article we present findings from focus
groups (FGs) consisting of academics and practitioners in
the higher education (HE) field from different parts of the
world, who debated their perceptions of the current state
of the art in the HE field. The main findings, which call for
further research, as well as activities of academics, practitioners
and policymakers at various levels, are as follows: 1)
there is a gap between basic academic research and applied
research (with the latter often not meeting the appropriate
conceptual level), which needs to be closed; 2) this gap is
expressed also in the global context of the HE field; 3) multidisciplinarity,
interdisciplinarity, transdisciplinarity, methodological
quality of both basic and applied research need
to be developed and 4) scholars', practitioners' and governments'
(policymakers') responsibilities need to be addressed.
Keywords: higher education (HE), research, academics,
practitioners, government, policy

The current debate on the crisis of democracy needs firm epistemological premises for the interpretation of election results and the manifestation of power as consent. In the article, a biopsychosocial model of hegemony is presented as a tool for the manifestation of power in the human mind. Hegemony as conceptualised by Gramsci is developed with the concept of power as both repression or spontaneous generation, as proposed by Foucault. The concept is developed with the paradigm of the embodied mind and insights from psychology and neuroscience about memory formation and meaning creation, stressing the role played by emotions in the process. Keywords: hegemony, morality, emotions, elections, biopsychosocial model, mental representations, embodied mind

Abstract. The objective of the article was to evaluate
the relationship between the Covid-19 pandemic and
globalisation (GLO) and de-globalisation (de-GLO) tendencies.
Based on a theoretical evaluation of this relationship
as well as historical development, it concludes
that Covid-19 is not the mother of de-GLO but its child,
born in a completely new global context facilitating the
pandemic. The roots of the pandemic's conception are
more deeply embedded in the capitalist system, in its
principal elements (market system, consumerist development
model…). GLO as a global division of labour is
not over; the factors enhancing GLO are winning over
those slowing it down, provided that GLO becomes more
egalitarian and more human. A fully-fledged de-GLO
would be inefficient and painful. While the pandemic
is not a black swan, it could have been predicted. Such
an unprecedented crisis impersonated by the pandemic
also offers an opportunity to fundamentally rethink of
our theories, way of life and development paradigm
and, not the least, the whole system to be better prepared
for future similar crises.
Keywords: Globalisation, de-globalisation, Covid-19,
development model, anthropocentrism, system, history
of GLO, future of GLO, post pandemic

Abstract. This study considers how today's growing consumer culture affects political trends in representative democracies. In recent years, a significant populist
upsurge has been seen around the world. While political approaches are vital, to properly understand populism it is also necessary to take sociological perspectives
into account. The questions considered in the study are therefore examined from both political and sociological perspectives. The results of the study show that today's
increasing consumer culture is paving the way for the rise of populism in representative democracies. Should the consumer culture experience a significant crisis, populism is likely to become stronger through the support provided by abstaining, blank and pragmatist voters.
Keywords: Populism, democracy, consumer society,
consumerism, politics

Although the new international economic
order (NIEO) has mostly been assessed as a failure, its
ideas still seem relevant in today's crisis environment.
The new context clearly shows that the existing liberal
international order is ineffective and calls for deep
changes like in the times of the developing countries'
fight for the NIEO. The article considers whether its
principles remain of relevance today, which ones have
been amended and which should be newly introduced,
all based on NIEO-related lessons. Dilemmas between
international law or a rules-based order as a framework for global governance and whether the proposed
new inclusive global economic order is to be based on
values (and if so, which) are evaluated.
Keywords: new international economic order, new
inclusive global economic order, rules-based order, values, principles, international law, global governance,
lessons