THE CHALLENGES OF NORMALIZING RELATIONS BETWEEN BELGRADE AND PRISTINA: IMPLICATIONS OF THE “AGREEMENT ON THE PATH TO NORMALIZATION“

Author(s): Mihajlo A. Vučić,Dragan Đukanović / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2024

The article analyzes the process of normalizing relations between Belgrade and Pristina after adopting the Agreement on the Path to Normalization. The analytical framework of neorealism was used to explain that the normalization process was accelerated due to the war crisis in Eastern Europe. The international legal aspects of the agreement were scrutinized, based on the method of content analysis and comparative studies, to argue that the agreement is a legally binding treaty between two sides that respect each other’s international legal personality. The authors concluded that the European Union and the United States attempted to create new momentum in the decade-long and rather unsuccessful process by adopting the Agreement and the Annex on implementation. Thus, these documents were put in the context of relations between Belgrade and Pristina and broader European and regional levels of complex relations. In addition, the analysis concluded that the documents serve as new impulses in normalization as a continuous legal formalization of relations between the two sides based on international legal rules.

GOOD GOVERNANCE AND RULE OF LAW EFFECT ON GDP GROWTH: LESSONS FOR EMERGING ECONOMIES

Author(s): Esat A. Durguti,Avni H. Alidemaj,Anatolijs Krivins / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2024

The overall aim of this article is to explore the effect of governance parameters on gross domestic product (GDP) in the 15 countries of the European Union (EU15) as well as the 6 countries of Southeast Europe (SEE6). The research employed the dynamic methodology generalized methods of moments (GMM) to explore the data gathered from the World Bank and the Global Economy database stretching 2000 - 2022, correspondingly 2008 - 2022. Our analyzed result for EU15 confirms that regulatory quality (RQ), government effectiveness (GE), and rule of law (RL) positively influence GDP; instead, control of corruption (CC) negatively influences GDP. The results obtained for SEE6 reveal that GE and CC positively influence GDP, but instead, the RL negatively influences GDP. Additionally, RQ in the SEE6 instance has shown an insignificant influence on GDP. Unfortunately, the study could not cover every country in both panel groups because of data limitations. Regarding the study’s conclusions, increased dedication to applying and undertaking reform measures for the key governance indicators for SEE6 countries would be helpful. These insights may raise the need to create specific mechanisms for the RL and CC. Compared to other research, the novelty and originality of the present research lies in the fact that it used panel data via the dynamic GMM approach to explore the role of improving government quality metrics in GDP.

EXAMINING THE GAP BETWEEN EU FUNDAMENTAL VALUES IN THEORY AND PRACTICE: A CASE STUDY OF MACEDONIA’S JOURNEY TOWARD EU ACCESSION

Author(s): Larisa Vasilevska / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2024

The objective of this paper is to assess the gap between the EU’s commitment to its values and the fairness of its accession process, in particular the Macedonian journey to the EU, which is not only contradictory to the EU’s core values but also contradictory to the principle of equal rights and self-determination. For this purpose, the methodology consists of conducting qualitative analysis based on two bilateral agreements and analyzing the evolution of EU requirements and their implications. The paper argues that rather than enforcing the Copenhagen criteria and making the country’s pre-accession progress contingent on the strengthening of the rule of law, the EU has expended enormous effort in what was essentially a political bilateral dispute between states, with the resolution of the dispute to be replaced as a pre-accession criterion. The paper concludes that the EU should return to its fundamental values and prioritize merit-based criteria in the enlargement process, not a politically based decision.

Съвременна регионална среда за сигурност и военните дисбаланси в Черно море

Author(s): Plamen Dyakov / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 2s/2024

The Black Sea is such a geographical region which due to its strategic location is a source of many military imbalances. The collapse of the Soviet Union and the subsequent confrontation between the Russian Federation and Ukraine which on February 2022 turned into a full-scale war that led to the creation of new military imbalances in the region. After two years of hostilities Russia’s Black Sea Fleet faces multiple challenges that are a mix of geographic, political and military factors which could lead to major changes in the military balance in the region. Turkey is one of the countries that can have a leading role in the new military and political situation in the Black Sea as it has a powerful navy, as well as the fact Ankara is pursuing specific interests of its own, despite its ties to military alliances or other countries. The US Navy does not have direct access to the Black Sea but the US alongside NATO countries can help rearming its allies in the region. Romania is one of those countries and Bucharest has ambitions to become a kind of NATO hub in the Black Sea. It remains to be seen how all of these factors will affect Bulgaria.

Политико-дипломатическите отношения между България и НАТО в периода 1992 – 1994 г.

Author(s): Hristian Yotov / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 2s/2024

The main goal of the present study is to show for the first time the nuances of the political-diplomatic relations between Bulgaria and NATO in the context of the difficult first years of the democratic changes in the country. The text is based on a large amount of newly released archives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Central State Archive, thus claiming a high degree of objectivity.

За книгата: Балканските култури: диалог, трансфер, метаморфози. Под ред. Орлин Събев, Лора Тасева, Антоанета Балчева.

Author(s): Fotiny Christakoudy-Konstantinidou,Kristina Stoyanova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 1/2024

Book review: Балканските култури: диалог, трансфер, метаморфози. Под ред. Орлин Събев, Лора Тасева, Антоанета Балчева. София, ИБЦТ – БАН, 2023, 234 с., ISBN 978-619-7179-38-5 [The Balkan Cultures: Dialogue, Transfer, Metamorphoses. Ed. Orlin Sabev, Lora Taseva, Antoaneta Belcheva. Sofia, IBSCT – BAS, 2023].

Zagraniczni bojownicy terrorystyczni z Azji Środkowej w szeregach ugrupowań dżihadystycznych na Bliskim Wschodzie

Author(s): Tomasz W. Grabowski / Language(s): Polish Issue: 1/2024

The aim of the article is to explain the phenomenon of radicalization and mobilization of foreign terrorist fighters (FTF) from Central Asia fighting after 2011 on the territory of Syria and Iraq. The author tries to answer the following questions: (1) What is the level of terrorist threat in the Central Asian countries? (2) What are the reasons for the mobilization of the Central Asian FTF? (3) What kind of threats do the Central Asian FTFs pose after the destruction of the Islamic State?

Recenzja książki: Safjański, T. (2023). Tak zwany Interpol. Studium uwarunkowań skuteczności zwalczania przestępczości transgranicznej i terroryzmu w ramach globalnej współpracy policyjnej. Difin. (ss. 503).

Author(s): Adrian Szumski / Language(s): Polish Issue: 1/2024

The reviewed monograph concerns determinants of Interpol’s effectiveness in combating cross-border crime and terrorism. The author focused primarily on a comprehensive analysis of the operational aspects of Interpol’s functioning, indicating both strengths and weaknesses of this organization that affect the effectiveness of international police cooperation. He also touched on legal, organizational and political issues concerning Interpol’s activities in the field of security. The results of research made it possible to confront the mechanisms of cooperation functioning within Interpol with the practice of their use. In this respect, the opinions of law enforcement officers of various member states of this organization who deal with instruments offered by Interpol in their activities, were also analyzed. The entirety of considerations contained in respective chapters made it possible to the Author to formulate and present accurate postulates that could eliminate existing shortcomings and increase the effectiveness of Interpol as a global entity organizing policecooperation in combating crime. The reviewed study is an extremely reliable source of knowledge about the opportunities offered to the member states by the Interpol and its limitations. The monograph expands, systematizes and deepens knowledge about operational activities of Interpol, and the recommendations contained therein are undoubtedly a valuable material for discussion on possible changes in this organization. Thus, the monograph is a valuable material not only from the point of view of its scientific value, but also contains important content, concerning practical dimension of international police cooperation

Recenzja książki: Bezpieczeństwo publiczne. (2023). (red.) Tomasz Grabowski. Seria: Słowniki Społeczne. Wydawnictwo Naukowe Uniwersytetu Ignatianum w Krakowie. (ss. 392).

Author(s): Tomasz Pawłuszko / Language(s): Polish Issue: 1/2024

A NARRATIVE OF THE JEWISH-PALESTINIAN CONFLICT: ISRAELI-JEWISH ACADEMIC VERSION – WHY? AND HOW?

Author(s): Daniel Bar-Tal / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2024

The article tries to shed light on the following three questions: what were the goals of the Jewish Zionist leaders in the conflict with Palestinians? What was the process of breaking out the conflict between Jews and Palestinians? What was the conflict over the years? The answerers come from Jewish Israelis, which I analyze based on the academic literature. The well-defined idea to settle Jews in their old homeland appeared with the emergence of Zionism. It was a revolutionary ideology since Jews left/were expelled from their country about 2000 years ago. But there was one problem that stood as a barrier. There were Palestinians living in the same place, some for centuries, who also began to develop their nationalism. This fact opened an intractable conflict between Jews and Palestinians that had lasted for over a hundred years until present time. The article points out to the most important events and processes that shaped the conflict from escalation to de-e scalation and again to re-escalation.

THE WAR IN UKRAINE AMONG CONTEMPORARY ARMED CONFLICTS

Author(s): Anton Bebler / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2024

The war in Ukraine is the biggest, bloodiest and longest war in Europe since 1945. Its initial stage holds similarities with several other armed conflicts and wars in the last 50 years on Cyprus and in the territories of the former Soviet Union and the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY). Among the cases in ex-Yugoslavia the greatest similarity is seen with the war in Croatia (1991–1995). These conflicts stemmed from almost simultaneous breakdowns of two multinational „socialist federations” and their communist regimes. The dissimilarity of the second stage of the war in Ukraine and the war in Croatia is primarily due to the processes of NATO and EU enlargement coupled with the USA’s policy of using NATO enlargement and Ukraine as tools to harm and weaken Russia. The conflict about Ukraine developed into an indirect war between Russia and the US-led West, where Ukraine is the West’s proxy and the main victim. The final outcome of the war in Ukraine will be decided on the battlefield and not around a diplomatic table. Still, it will be very different from that in Croatia. Responsibility for the war in Ukraine and its consequences must be shared between the two direct belligerents, the co-responsible USA and other NATO members.

PRESENT AND FUTURE GEOPOLITICAL ROLE OF RUSSIA IN PUBLIC OPINION AND MEDIA DISCOURSE

Author(s): Nataliya M. Velikaya / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2024

The problems of constructing a new national identity and preserving Russia’s influence in the post-Soviet space have become now particularly relevant in the framework of the global confrontation with the West and special military operation in Ukraine. The purpose of the article is to analyze public opinion and political discourse regarding the geopolitical future of Russia in the context of modern conflicts of a regional and international nature.The empirical basis of the article is the results of the sociological monitoring How are you, Russia (1992–2024) and the data of content analysis of mass media during 2014 and 2022. The sociological monitoring survey allowed to study the dynamics of citizens’ perceptions of the geopolitical future of the Russian Federation and to trace the connection of the main trends with the indicators of consolidation of society included in the toolkit. The mass media discourse showed the strengthening of neo-imperial topics and allusions. The preservation of the integrity of the Russian Federation and its sovereignty in the long term does not cause doubts among population, even in the conditions of a crisis and an uncertain future associated with the formation of a multipolar world. Optimistic scenarios are considered, emphasizing the strengthening of Russia’s role in the new world order, and pessimistic ones, reflecting isolation models of development. Russia’s powerful progressive development in the future is associated with arguments and ideologems about Russia’s special path, the uniqueness of Russian civilization, which became one of the main topics in the Russian political discourse.

CHINA VS THE UNITED STATES: STRUGGLE FOR HEGEMONY OR THUCIDYDES’S TRAP

Author(s): Roman Kuźniar / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2024

This article discusses the prospect of the transition of the Chinese-American rivalry into an open, all out war. The problem arises from the experience of history – two leading powers eventually refer to war in order to assume their, one of them, strategic and political primacy within the relevant international order of their time. The present situation – after a demise of the international liberal order – of confrontation between the US and China is being compared to the so-called Thucidydes’s trap, which is the reference to the Peloponnesian war. The author is challenging both the comparison and the inevitability of the war between the Big Two, without however totally excluding the possibility of some military demonstrations of their resolve to push for or to defend their global status. Reasons for such an assessment are based upon negative (nuclear capabilities) and positive (economy, development) interdependence factors between the only two superpowers and the nature of the contemporary international environment, complex and tight, which will be preventing the Big Two from sliding into the world war, disastrous for all.

THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO (DRC) AND THE INTERNATIONALIZATION OF INTERNAL CONFLICTS

Author(s): Peter Anyang Nyongo / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2024

From the time it was colonized to the present day, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has neither experienced democracy nor lasting peace and stability. Instead, it has all the qualitative attributes of a fragile state. Empirically, the beginnings of a fragile state are linked to rebellions which led to civil wars and thereafter took on a long-run trend with the capture and exploitation of resources. For example, diamonds in Sierra Leone, oil in Sudan and South Sudan and rare metals in DRC. Fragility stems from being in conflict repeatedly, a sign of a vicious cycle where conflict generates grievance and grievance generates further conflict. However recurring conflicts are also often driven by greed for resources whose control can fund a conflict ad infinitum especially if the resources are in demand globally. Hence the conflict becomes internationalized. The entry of international players is based on predatory opportunities to control commodity exports. Because the conflict also displaces people (and creates a rebellious diaspora), especially those with influence and money, these grievances fuel the discontent of diaspora which mobilizes funds to finance the conflict further.

ARMENIA AND NAGORNO-KARABAKH: THE HISTORY OF AN UNSETTLING RELATIONSHIP

Author(s): Stephan Rindlisbacher / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2024

The Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict has been a visible constant on the international stage since 1988. On the Armenian side, the commemoration of the genocide of 1915 and the Soviet decision to attach Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijan in 1921 appeared to be the main drivers to produce and reproduce „groupness”. Whereas Armenian nationalist narratives had first been silenced and then mitigated during the Soviet era, they have become decisive since the dissolution of the USSR. Armenian ethnopolitical entrepreneurs exploited them to establish a new political legitimacy. With the wars in 2020 and 2023, the tide turned in favour of Azerbaijan, as it managed to reconquer Nagorno-Karabakh and expel its Armenian population. Now, Azerbaijan appears as the main driver of the conflict when it utters claims for a corridor to Nakhchivan through the Armenian territory.

Shades of Darkness: Politics, Objects, and Displays in Sighet’s Dark Heritage Sites

Author(s): Teodora Lazar / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2024

This article explores the interpretation and communication of dark heritage in Sighetu Marmației, focusing on three sites: the Memorial of the Victims of Communism and Anti-Communist Resistance, Pauper’s Cemetery, and the Elie Wiesel Memorial House. We argue that these sites convey Romania’s dark heritage by being associated with events and histories of troubled pasts, namely the Communist oppression and the Holocaust. The analysis addresses how and to what extent objects, politics, and spatiality contribute to the making of a sense of darkness identified in these sites. The article argues that the darkness of these sites is shaped not only by their histories, but also by the narratives constructed around them through the museum exhibits and curation. The study reveals that while these sites aim to educate and memorialise, they also navigate complex political and social dynamics, influencing how their dark heritage is presented and perceived.

Медии и социални движения в битките за смисъла. Образът на медиите в разказите на протестиращи от лято 2020 г.

Author(s): Valentina Georgieva / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 16/2024

Текстът си поставя за цел да възпроизведе образа на медиите вразказите на участници в масовите протести от лято 2020 г. и стъпва върхуданни от 32 интервюта, проведени по имейл и онлайн конферентна връзкапрез есента на 2020 г. Основният въпрос е как протестиращите виждатролята на медиите в демократичния процес.Медиите нямат устойчив образ в представите на протестиращите задемократичния процес – те би трябвало да са там, но не присъстват,премълчават или създават изкривена репрезентация за действията напротестиращите.Анализът ще открои три фигури на медиите: а) медиите катоприсъстващ/отсъстващ партньор на протестиращите в битките засмисъла б) медиите като източник на изкривена репрезентация напротестиращите; в) медиите като „сянка на институциите“.

Рецензия за монографията "Процесуален подход в образованието. Развиване на ключови компетентности чрез философия и гражданско образование. Теория и практика"

Author(s): Svetlana Alexandrova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 16/2024

A review of the book "Process Approach in Education. Development of Key Competences through Philosophy and Civic Education. Theory and Practice" (published by the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences "Prof. Marin Drinov", 2024, 350 p. ISBN 978-619-245-430-2). The monograph examines the theoretical and practical aspects of the possibilities of forming the competencies of critical thinking, creativity, civic engagement and media literacy through the teaching of philosophy and civic education.

The India-US Security and Defense Cooperation under Narendra Modi: Challenges and Assessments

Author(s): Hue Quach Thi,Hang Nga Le Thi,Oanh Nguyen Thi / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2024

This article studied the reality of India-US security-defense cooperation during the period under Narendra Modi’s leadership in India. The article employed realism, liberalism, and constructivism to analyze how India and the US strengthened their security and defense partnership. Research results found that, under N. Modi’s leadership since 2014, India-US security and defense cooperation changed significantly in quantity and quality. The article concluded that security and defense became important pillars of India-US relations. It was deepened and broadened as well as became more comprehensive. India became the US’s “major defense partner”. Despite the solid security-defense cooperation with the US, India could not become the US’s ally. On the other hand, “strategic autonomy” became a prominent feature of India’s foreign policy under N. Modi.

The 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and Its 1967 Protocol (2nd Edition) Edited by Andreas Zimmermann, Terje Einarsen, and Assistant Editor Franziska M. Herrmann (Publisher: Oxford University Press 2024)

Author(s): Mohammad Ramin Hakimy / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2024

The second edition of “The 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and Its 1967 Protocol” is an authoritative and comprehensive guide to one of the most critical international legal frameworks on refugee law. This new edition, edited by Andreas Zimmermann and Terje Einarsen with contributions from internationally located experts of diverse backgrounds, builds on the foundation of the former and provides new and extended insights indispensable for scholars, practitioners, and policymakers in refugee protection. The interdisciplinarity of the editors also contributes to the international strengths of the work. The book significantly contributes to bringing out diverse perspectives by integrating 53 contributors from diverse fields and countries.