Around the Bloc: German Police Disprove Gang-Rape by Migrants
There is no evidence of a sexual offence against the 13-year-old girl from a Russian-speaking community in Berlin, German prosecutors said.
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There is no evidence of a sexual offence against the 13-year-old girl from a Russian-speaking community in Berlin, German prosecutors said.
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The purpose of the exposition is a critical examination of a reductionist understanding of the process of Europeanization and management of identity differences in the area of the Western Balkans, with a particular emphasis on the Bosnian and Herzegovinian context. Referring to the two dimensions of the problem - auto construction of European identity in relation to the Balkans as unconscious Otherness, and the existence of disciplinary matrix within the EU, which produces the logic of parallel worlds, seriously question the unquestionable applicability of the europeanization discourse in terms of overcoming the division relations in the case of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Deconstruction of the content of vanity of the europeanization discourse and proving its mythological character will be the focal point of the article. In other words, the axiology of European integration in most cases results in perverting outcomes of simulacral nature. In particular, the phrase "The Brussels Bosnia and Herzegovina" serves as a specter, that has, paradoxically, become a reference for valuation of reality to which political subjects refer to, even though they very well know that as such, it does not exist. Europeanization of Bosnia and Herzegovina serves as an ideological - absorption ballast of political passivity, incompetence, and even obstruction, with an indefinite shelf life in terms of providing the illusion of a better future. Special attention will be dedicated to a kind of "Stockholm Syndrome" as a reflexive reaction of the countries of the Western Balkans. Namely, the unconditional acceptance of bureaucratic narrative guidelines that the EU serves as a universal recipe for managing identity differences, which haven’t been achieved and proven efficient in numerous examples within the EU itself. To sum up, this exposition has a goal to strip naked and show the mythological character of the europeanization discourse, its political consequences and outcomes of identity, both in the EU and in terms of the Western Balkans.
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The search for the optimal integration model in a multinational, internationally recognized but innerly unrecognized country like Bosnia and Herzegovina, a country of “unfinished war and frozen conflict”, is doomed to failure if it is supported by old paradigm values (a policy without principles, bare or juridical and political violence, the politics of nullifying identity, etc.). Thereupon, it is justified, no matter how much audacious it might seem at first glance, in the search for the optimal integration model to involve the values and possibilities of the new paradigm (the change in the mentality and opinion, culture of nonviolence and the appreciation for all identities, including the unrecognized, the respect of individual human rights, and rights of ethnic and national group subjectivities). It could be possible to create with these values an integration model of a torn Bosnian and Herzegovinian society and the revitalization of a currently dysfunctioning and utterly non-existent country. It is about the recognition of the concession form necessities of political culture, which imply the will of relevant political subjects to implement in the organization (and decision-making) process in a multinational country like Bosnia and Herzegovina all the democratic methods of managing differences and conflicts. For this purpose, the paper also questions the premodern (primordial and perennial) approach to nation phenomena and the nationalism of dominant academic and political narrative, and the quasi-modern approach that denies Bosnia and Herzegovina´s multi-nationality or reduces it to its multi-ethnicity. At last, the paper answers the questions: why are “spins” produced instead of favourable ambient for inner integration and motion towards the European Union, i.e. the European family of countries and states it signifies. Through analyses and arguments, the paper suggests the necessity for the change of the cultural and political paradigm as the basic assumption for the europeanisation of inland policies and ambient, without which there is no bright future in Bosnia and Herzegovina and for Bosnia and Herzegovina.
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Protest is first full-day strike since Prime Minister Viktor Orban took power in 2010.
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Hungary prime minister further burnishes his anti-migrant credentials.
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This article centers on key difficulties that hamper the development of a civil society in independent Ukraine. A special emphasis is put on phenomena such as: lack of a homogeneous national identity, non-existence of the collective memory shared by all Ukraine citizens, the Soviet mentality, oligarchic structures, and failure to build social capital. The work is based on the scientific literature on a civil society in Ukraine.
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This publication deals with the current legal and social situation of women in Afghanistan. The author analyzes the process of formation of the legal position of Afghan women from the moment of the country’s liberation from under the Taliban occupation in 2001. She concentrates on indicating relevant legal regulations and guarantees, as well as – primarily – analyzes the degree of respecting them. Consequently, she discusses selected forms of violence against women which is persistently present on the territory of Afghanistan. The author elaborates on specific cultural phenomena and acts against fundamental women’s rights, such as baad, baadal, the so-called “honor” killings, and punishing women for running away. These points lead to the conclusion that the enacted laws are merely an empty shell and women’s situation is far from stable.
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This article presents historical processes that have created modern Switzerland and contemporary multilingual and multicultural Swiss society. The author underlines the role of the diversity as one of the main characteristics defining Switzerland as a country. Different languages spoken in various territories of the country are the very important part of this diversity. They contributed and contribute also today to the forming of the national identity of Swiss people. The multicultural structure of Swiss society helped Switzerland to become an open and tolerant society, but in the times of the globalization and the unification of Europe also the multicultural Swiss society goes through a deep crises of the own identity.
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The principles of intra- and intergenerational justice, which are intended to ensure the development not only of the present but also of future generations, are the basis of the new development paradigm. Formulated in such an overall way, the new paradigm of development in various fields of science is explained, interpreted and realized. In the current academic literature, the new paradigm of development is embodied by the idea of sustainable development, which is equated with ecological development, integrated development, and others. Both sustainable and integrated thinking in the context of the new development paradigm is an important part of the development strategies of international organizations, states, and local governments at the regional level. The issue of sustainable and integrated development seems particularly relevant at the level of local governments which are responsible for the implementation of socially relevant tasks, while having at their disposal much more limited resources and legal instruments compared to the state. Spatial policy, which must combine the current needs of municipalities with securing the prospects of their development in the future, seems to be particularly important in this context. The aim of the article is to analyze and evaluate the implementation of the sustainable and integrated development policy at the level of local governments, based on the strategies of entities at various levels of local government, on the example of the Silesian Voivodeship and the Metropolis GZM.
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With the concepts of rule of law, democracy and respect for human rights representing the most prominent values upon which the European Union is established, the EU accession process expectedly supplicates candidate countries to ameliorate the efficiency of their legal institutions. As a general rule, such fundamentals are habitually correlated with other equally relevant criteria concerning the EU accession process. Given that the Western Balkans are not ordinarily regarded as an exemplary model in terms of practically demonstrating the rule of law and economic well-being, this research paper analyzes the linear relationship between human rights and rule of law manifestations and corruption perspectives in some EU candidate countries as a potential mechanism for satisfying EU accession fundamentals. For that matter, a simple linear regression analysis was conducted in order to determine whether and how such correlation would benefit policymakers in some current EU candidate countries toward their paths to European integration.
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Families blessed with a child with developmental disabilities or a gifted child are not typical families. Such families are exposed to specifics in day-to-day function, establishing interpersonal relationships and fulfilling their family roles. The object of research and studies carried out so far are twice-exceptional individuals, thus excluding the families with one gifted child and another with developmental disabilities. Dually exceptional families have dual challenges in providing additional individualized support for children, in two completely different ways, in two different directions. Based on the results and the analysis of case study of two dually different families, areas in which additional support is required by such families and parents are identified according to family functions, as well as recommendations as to how to empower these areas.
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The democratic transition on the African continent has been accompanied by problems of poor governance, poor administration, third terms and centralized power, electoral administration conundrums, and corruption. This paper examines the overarching problems in Africa, including electoral challenges, the third term and centralization of power, societal, social, and economic governance, and the death of ethics. This is a desktop study, also known as a conceptual study, that is based on Asante's Afrocentricity Theory, which provides pedagogical thinking about power, dominance, racism, and the need to escape victimization. The findings of the article reveal that many African countries, including South Africa, Zimbabwe, Uganda, and Nigeria, face significant challenges due to poor governance and maladministration. The paper concludes by stating that to address the challenge of poor governance and maladministration in African countries, a multifaceted approach is necessary. One potential innovative solution is to increase transparency and accountability in government institutions using technology and data-driven decision-making. This could involve the implementation of digital systems for monitoring and reporting on government activities as well as the creation of independent oversight committees to ensure public officials are held accountable for their actions.
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The purpose of this article is to sound the alarm about Europe’s open door policy. The old continent deserves all the credit for its hospitable spirit towards migrants, but if the gates continue to be wide open, without prior pre-selection, we will wake up too late with the Trojan Horse within our walls. This article is against Islamophobia as much as it is against anti-Semitism or against the European extreme (radical) right. A balanced approach to the migration phenomenon is not the same as taking no stance. This phenomenon is like a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it gives you the impression that it can solve the aging of the European population and the labor force crisis, on the other hand, it risks destabilizing Europe’s identity.
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In this paper I will investigate different models of democracy for the European Union. I focus on the solutions that stress the importance of trust and mechanisms of democratic control at the supranational level. In that regard, I will consider different models of democracy for the European Union, both those that are state-centered and cosmopolitan. I defend the cosmopolitan model which includes the conception of deliberative democracy.
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In this paper I approach the issue of the legitimacy of deliberative democracy according to how the problem between deliberation and participation is resolved. The assumption is that the decision arrived at through deliberation is legitimate if all those impacted by this decision have parttaken in its making. However, it is believed that the deliberation of all whom the decision concerns is impossible. The representative model of deliberative democracy, proposed by John Parkinson, offers a solution to this problem, commonly named mini-forums strategy. The critique of all attempts at developing theory through mini-forums as institutionalized forms of decision-making, submitted by Christina Lafont, demonstrates certain flaws of such attempts, but it also showcases some valuable ideas Parkinson put forth. After presenting the critique offered by Lafont I will provide my own critique of Parkinson’s model, in which I indicate: 1) the relativism of his definitions, which creates issues regarding the application of his theory and 2) the inadequacy of strategies which offer solutions of the problem of the legitimacy of deliberative democracy through a representational model.
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It has been shown in this paper that deeper economic and political integration of the EU does not have to be a good in itself because the institutions of a super state most often do not function as a welfare state in a single country the set-up of which is aimed at solving the problem of negative externalities on the basis of a unique and coherent fiscal and social policy on a domestic level. The motivation for a research of this type has been initiated by the idea of „hidden federalism”. This expression is used in Bojan Kovačević’s book published under the same title with an aim to explain the fundamental problem in functioning of EU institutions which endangers the very existence of this super national political community. By leaving its contents unchecked by the wide European electorate, and by leaving simultaneously the question of ultimate political authority quite unresolved, the „founding fathers” of the EU let the final political goal of the EU remain under the veil of non-transparent political agreement. Their hope was that the economic integration of the European Community lead by technocrats would amount eventually to its harmonious political integration on liberaldemocratic grounds. This practice has been continued by later political elite of the EU except that non-elective policy-making group were also in charge for creating central European institutions that shaped its political content in a centralistic federal manner. Since these latter institutions and policies remained unchecked by a wider public, the question of the legitimacy of the EU institutions remains constantly unresolved leaving the EU in permanent crisis.
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Seen from the perspective of classical state theory (Bodin, Hobbes, Hegel), to appropriately confront the dilemma whether federalism and modern state are friends or enemies in the process of European integration necessitates previous clarifications of some key features of a modern state. In contrast to the pre-modern orders of personalized power, state implies impersonal sovereign rule as a condition of legal order establishing and subjectivation of man as legal person. In the process of European political community building continental Leviathan is not a barrier to federalist democratic integration of Europe as a republic but its precondition. Their common enemy is Behemoth as a symbol of not only civil war (in the sense of Hobbes and Schmitt) but also Nazi totalitarian regime as a non-state (Neumann).
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Bojan Kovačević’s book serves as a starting point for considering the major topic, which is the crisis of the EU’s prevailing model of governance. The author’s argument about „hidden federalism” constitutes a solid ground for fruitful theoretic discussion. The author’s approach explains a long lasting and well established project of integration that has developed within the framework of elitist and technocratic model of public affairs governing. By accepting this perspective in this paper the EU crisis is conceptualized as a process that leads from „hidden federalism” to „hidden hegemonism” as a constitutional outcome of concrete anti-crisis politics.
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After the Second World War a new idea of a European order was born in the minds of today’s EU founding fathers. The way it has provided statesman a rare opportunity for political action, the European integration has given to scholars a chance to learn something new about the old problem of building of an order. Still, maybe there is not anything new that the experience of the integration process among European states teaches us. Maybe, it is needed only to unveil the old truth that what it takes to establish an order is always a decision of a sovereign ruler unrestrained by society’s conflicting demands. Who to believe, Kant or Carl Schmitt? Is there anything historically new that the European integration tells us about political community building or are Bodin and his insights into the nature of state and law still all it takes for understanding the old problem? In this article we search an answer to these questions.
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This paper presents a outline for a new theory of politics, in terms of the offer of a new theoretical apparatus ie. new methodological pattern for a comparative analysis of political ideas and concepts. The paper presents the concept of the so-called Political Mechanics and explains its historical Dialectic due to which the different political ideas/ideologies can be classified by the place they occupied in the historical process. This allows new understanding of the political ideas/ideologies in a new way, no longer as an abstract ideas without any historical foundation but as a specific products of historical process, ie. only within a particular historical context in which they occurred. This context is determined by the Political Mechanics and its Dialectic, whose functioning is described in this paper.
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