Je li hrvatska vlast 1990-ih bila antisemitska?

Author(s): Andrijana Perković Paloš / Language(s): Croatian Issue: 2/2016

The main goal of this paper is to discuss whether the first President of the Republic of Croatia Franjo Tuđman and the Croatian leadership in the 1990s were anti-Semitic. The minimization of the number of Holocaust victims and Holocaust denial, which includes statements that the Holocaust was a myth or a hoax produced by the Jews, are considered to be driven by anti-Semitism. These theories were present in historiography and later in politics. The outburst of political anti-Semitism, according to Western historians, can be found in Eastern Bloc countries after the collapse of their communist regimes. Croatia began its journey towards democracy and independence within this framework. Even before he became Croatian president, Tuđman was a controversial person due to his book Horrors of War: Historical Reality and Philosophy, which some circles described as anti-Semitic. Some of his statements were misinterpreted and his policy of national reconciliation, which meant ironing out the half-century-old political divisions between the Croats, was perceived as the rehabilitation of the Ustasha regime and its Independent State of Croatia (NDH), which carried out genocide against the Serbs, the Jews, and the Roma during World War II. Such widespread perception, supported by Serbian propaganda, prolonged the establishment of the diplomatic relations between the Republic of Croatia and the State of Israel until 1997. The relations between the Croatian leadership, Croatian people in general, and the Jewish community in Croatia in the 1990s were, however, very positive. Some established members of the Jewish community held high-ranking positions in the Croatian leadership. An appeal made by Nenad Porges, president of the Jewish community of Zagreb, to all the Jews in the world, in which he claimed that the Croatian Government was not anti-Semitic, proves the stability of those relations and the support of the Jewish community to Croatia during the Greater-Serbian aggression.

Judgment of the Hague tribunal against Radovan Karadzic - confirmation of the greater Serbian Ideology, policy and practice in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Author(s): Rasim Muratović / Language(s): English Issue: 5/2016

It has been a well-known fact that Radovan Karadzic as the President of the Republic of Srpska and Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, was an exponent of the ideology of Serbian hegemony of the Serbian political, military and police regime. That regime was planned, organized and he carried out the aggression against the internationally recognized state, the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the aggression and destruction of the constitutional order of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina . Radovan Karadzic gave repeated impetus and organized political and armed rebellion against the constitutional order of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina having been given the support by the Army of Yugoslavia, which represented the most serious offence in all socio-political systems. The main objective of the aggressive war-mongering campaign, led by Milosevic and Karadzic as his assistant in charge of Bosnia, was the war with the purpose of conquering the territory, expulsion and physical liquidation and elimination of non-Serbs from criminally conquered space. It was committed under the flag of fascist ideological fanaticism of the “national threat”.

Crimes against children in Gorazde during the siege 1992-1995

Author(s): Muamer Džananović / Language(s): English Issue: 5/2016

Children in war benefit from the general protection of international humanitarian law as civilians or combatants in any sort of conflict. Despite that fact, it is obvious that the Army of the Republic of Srpska during the war against the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina 1992-1995, highly violated fundamental rights of children by depriving them of the right to life, education, of electricity, water and food supplies, having them wounded and their home destroyed.The aggressor knew that by the commission of crimes against children a multifaceted crime was committed. In addition to the crimes against children, the crimes were committed against their parents, brothers, sisters, relatives, friends and everyone who had children and against those who could realize the gravity of such crimes.

Инновация систематической теории и пути к социалистической рыночной экономике: Судьбы и себестоимость в сопоставлении исследований Китая и Советского Союза

Author(s): Huang Lifu,Zhao Xuli / Language(s): Russian Issue: 1-2/2015

There are three basic principles of Karl Marx’s theory of traditional socialism: the elimination of private ownership and the bourgeois, the abandonment of market economy. In spring of 1921 Soviet Russia began to implement the New Economic Policy (NEP), which had contradiction with the three principles of traditional socialism due to the use of market economic mechanisms: 1. Market economy=capitalism? 2. Socialism=public ownership? 3. Private owners and managers=bourgeois=should be eliminated? Lenin only had a half theoretical innovation on the topic of whether market economy=capitalism, leaving the two and a half theoretical questions, the market economy is still considered as capitalism, the NEP had been cast away. After China Socialism Market Economic Reforms in 1978, Chinese government made a systematic theoretical innovation to two and a half theoretical questions left by Lenin. Thus, Chinese market economy got legitimate socialistic identity, and from then on it developed rapidly. However, systematic theoretical innovation needs to pay cost. Chinese Cultural Revolution started in 1966, which continued a decade made China pay the cost of comprehensive unrest in all areas of society. Finally, “the road of Cultural Revolution can not be allowed to continue” that almost became the consensus of all people and Communist Party of China, which provided a thorough preparation for carrying out a systematic theoretical innovation. In comparison, Soviet War Communism was a partial crisis occurred in the economic sphere and peasantry, so it became a wide consensus of Soviet Communist Party and society to continue to still follow the traditional road of socialism, resulting in the lack of conditions for theoretical innovation.

Трансформации в Центральной и Восточной Европе и в Болгарии: точки зрения китайских ученых

Author(s): Zhang Dan / Language(s): Russian Issue: 1-2/2015

The transformation (or transition) in East-Central Europe was one of the major events in human history in the twentieth Century. During the past 20 years, Chinese intellectuals have normally been focusing in a macro view on the synthetic study on the transformation in East-Central Europe. The study has four following distinct features: excessive academic papers on the fixed time study and review, abundant academic works, identical topics on study, notable limitations. Comparing with paying attention to the overview of study on East-Central Europe, the Chinese intellectuals have fewer achievements in the study on individual countries, and in the study field of the transformation in Bulgaria, it has three following features: few achievements, gradually progressive study, and gradually widened topics.

Болгаро-российские отношения после перестройки Болгарии

Author(s): Xing Yuanyuan / Language(s): Russian Issue: 1-2/2015

The current focus of Bulgarian foreign policy is the “separation from Russia and joining Europe,” joining the “Europe-Atlantic” system. It will deal with the formation of the “big space” of Russian geopolitics. For Bulgaria it is necessary to balance the interests of Russia, the US and find a better initial position to protect its own security and interests. As a “geopolitical center”, in front of big countries Bulgaria is often in a passive position, but Bulgaria still has a chance to occupy a dominant position, and therefore it only needs to take flexible, careful and practical diplomatic policies.

Аграрный вопрос в Болгарии в 1989–1990 г.

Author(s): Venelin Mihailov / Language(s): Russian Issue: 1-2/2015

This research deals with the problems of Bulgarian agriculture during the first two years of transition to democracy and market economy, namely: the state of agriculture in the late 1980's, the attempts at reform in the recent years of Todor Zhivkov’s rule, the ideas for solving the agrarian question submitted by the Bulgarian Socialist Party and the Union of Democratic Forces, the development of the agrarian question in the second half of 1990.

VDNKH Exhibition: Stalinist main propaganda venue and its transformations of today

Author(s): Olga Zinovieva,Alexander Lobodanov / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2016

The Moscow All-Union Exhibition of Agriculture (VSKHV) since 1939 or, as it has been known since 1959, the All-Union Exhibition of Economic Achievements, (VDNKH), has just reclaimed its second original name and is ready for another series of urban transformations. The current trend of the growing interest in Soviet cultural heritage, awareness among professionals and common people, together with the need to maintain and use the dilapidating propagandistic Stalinist “temples” and “palaces”, as well as its misused public space have convinced the City Administration to look for investors and balance between preservation and remodeling. This paper explores both professional and public attitudes toward this place, how bloggers and web-pages reflect on what is going on there, and asks whether the Exhibition is seen as a glorious history of the fallen regime or is it still a vision of a bright future, as once declared by the designers of the Exhibition.

Haunted landscapes. Post-socialist memory limbo of contemporary Poland

Author(s): Mariusz Czepczyński / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2016

Post-communist landscapes are undergoing continuous process of transformations, more dynamically than many others types of cultural landscapes. One interpretation is followed by another reinterpretation; from the early festive anti-communist cleansings, thought discreet minor re-interpretations, infused by local and national political transformations, to contemporary ‘deep peeling’ or second wave of landscape purges. It looks like, contrary to the progressive van Gennep model of liminality, tradition oriented Polish society has been stacked up in a liminal limbo, unable or/and unwilling to go further and forget or assimilate the real or alleged communist landscapes. Since the 2016 election and the rise of populist-right powers, the Polish landscape has been haunted by the ghosts of communist past and it became clear that the past is still lives here now. New landscape modes of interpretations has been imposed and the spectre of communism, as Marx said almost 170 years, is still haunting over Central and Eastern Europe.

25 години промени. Сборник статии. Съставител Михаил Груев. С., 2014. 340 с.

Author(s): Vladimir Migev / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 1-2/2015

Book review

Предстоящ юбилей на Татяна Викторовна Волокитина

Author(s): Elena Valeva,Iliyana Marcheva,Penka Peykovska / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 3-4/2015

Factors Influencing Political Apathy: Comparative Context of the Political Culture and Apathy

Author(s): Veton Latifi / Language(s): English Issue: 3-4/2015

Political apathy means lack of interest in politics and it plays a significant role in identifying the level of involvement of citizens in public policy issues and democracy. Interested citizens are familiar with numerous political issues and are more active than apathetic citizens. Apathy means a political indifference and the opposite of it is the political interest in democracy. Political apathy is an attitude, rather than only any lack of activity and it doesn’t mean only the ‘no vote’ situation. The mount of political apathy in some European countries eventually can be treated as specific peculiarity of political systems of those countries and as a consequence of specific political cultures of certain countries. But, in the case of the Balkan countries, aside these reflections, one may identify some other reasons that lead to the decline of interest to take part actively in the political processes, especially in terms of their declining percentage in the voting outcomes. In studying the political factors and simulation elements to the political apathy, apart of the premises that reflect with challenges of political participation and difficulties of political representation; and the issue of citizens’ political involving discouragement, however one should consider as well as the specifics of the political culture. The paper explores the core factors and challenges of the political scenes of the Balkan countries in the transition and it pretend to identify the systematic phenomena that reflect from these factors and challenges within the theoretical context of the political culture.

Geopolitical position of Poland - from time of partitions to the independence

Author(s): Jowita Brudnicka - Żółtaniecka / Language(s): English Issue: 23/2016

To understand contemporary geopolitics, especially Polish geopolitics you have to refer to the history. Polish geopolitical philosophy has flourished in a crucial period in the history of the country - the To understand contemporary geopolitics, especially Polish geopolitics you have to refer to the history. Polish geopolitical philosophy has flourished in a crucial period in the history of the country - the time of the fall of the First Republic and partitions. Sketch of Polish geopolitics is well composed into the broader plan of European thought. This is not just a simpple analitycal exercise. Article contains the suggestion, that the events, experiences and geopolitical configurations may exhibit amazing repeatability.

Wspólnoty pamięci lokalnej i narodowej. Kilka uwag o ich zbiorowym wytwarzaniu a la polonaise

Author(s): Joanna Kurczewska / Language(s): Polish Issue: 6/2016

Kurczewska explores how communities of local and national memory are formed. Working on the assumption that they are emotional communities, she diagnoses them from a socio-institutional perspective, drawing on numerous empirical studies on local communities and their basic collective agents, such as associations, clubs and other initiatives. She proposes that the years 1989-2015 (i.e. the Third Republic) saw the formation of communities of memory, which functioned on the meso level of Polish society. They shaped the content and forms of collective memory, becoming an essential social and cultural resource for Polish memory. Kurczewska points out that these communities are a necessary element to diagnose the national memory of Polish society as a complex structural entity. Last but not least, they are a factor in a ‘grassroots’ social and cultural interpretation on the level of the macrosociety of the state.

„Im się zdaje, że zapomnimy. O nie!” Rodowody rewolucji

Author(s): Marcin Zaremba / Language(s): Polish Issue: 6/2016

Zaremba demonstrates how insurrections and revolts were commemorated in the 1970s, how those traditions were reproduced, and who remembered them. The article begins with a description of the events of December 1970, which would become important reference points for ideas on oppositional activism. Discussing the Poles’ collective memory of March 1968 and October 1956, Zaremba emphasizes the significance of World War II: a code of resistance and cooperation has emerged as a long-term consequence, resounding most clearly and most frequently in the myth of the Warsaw Uprising. The article concludes with a discussion of what Adam Mickiewicz called książki zbójeckie (robbers’ books) – a term Zaremba applies to writers such as Bohdan Cywiński, Andrzej Kijowski and Marian Brandys. They were robbers’ books because they altered the atmosphere of public life in the 1970s, reclaiming memories of political thought that had no official place in the Polish People’s Republic.

How to Reckon with Past Evils? Rethinking Transitional Justice Strategies in Post-Authoritarian and Post-Conflict Environments

Author(s): Tomasz Lachowski / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2017

The Łódź PPSY International Seminar Transitional Justice: Between Redemption and Retribution. Łódź (June 6, 2017), University of Łódź, Professor Czesław Mojsiewicz International Cooperation Fund and the Editorial Board of the Polish Political Science Yearbook.The Łódź PPSY International Seminar Transitional Justice: Between Redemption and Retribution was the first scientific event co-organized by the Chair of International Law and International Relations (Faculty of Law and Administration, University of Łódź), Research Centre of University of Łódź "The Balkans at the Turn of the 20th and the 21st Century", Professor Czesław Mojsiewicz International Cooperation Fund, Adam Marszałek Publishing House and the Editorial Board of the Polish Political Science Yearbook. The idea that stood behind the organization of the academic seminar was to analyse the current scientific and practical trends witnessed in a global discourse on transitional justice. Deliberations on post-violence efforts and all closely related topics, especially the issue of politics of memory, gathered in the Polish city of Łódź 20 researchers, coming from 7 Polish universities and 8 foreign academic centres. It is worth mentioning that participants of the seminar represented 9 different countries, such as Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, South Sudan, Ukraine, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Establishment and Spread of the US Cultural and Information Spaces

Author(s): Simona Samuilova / Language(s): English Issue: 1-2/2016

This article explores the emergence and spread of American cultural and information centers and libraries around the world. The analysis shows that they were one of the first initiatives of the emerging American public diplomacy at the turn of the 20th century, which became an effective tool for reaching out to the outside audience, with a view to enhance the understanding and acceptance of the policies of the United States during the Cold War. In the mid–1990s the US Congress reduced their funding in an attempt to reduce the federal spending abroad. The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and the worsening of USA’s appearance abroad, however, served as an indication that their closure was a mistake. In an attempt to remedy that mistake, the federal government has created a dense network of governmental and the so-called American partner spaces of different size and type, but united by the mission of attracting foreign audiences through the development of numerous information, educational and training programs.

Международна научна конференция “The ‘State Artist’ in Romania and Eastern Europe”, Букурещ, 5 октомври 2016 г.

Author(s): Lina Gergova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 4/2017

Scholarly Conference

HISTORY TEXTBOOKS AS AND SOURCE OF SERBO-ALBANIAN CONFLICT: AN ALBANIAN POINT OF VIEW

Author(s): Ethem Çeku / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2018

The contents of school texts play an important role in the education of every new generation, but if the information the schoolchildren are receiving is distorted by nationalist propaganda or is politically coloured, the books in question can perpetuate ethnic conflicts, limit familiarity with the values and thinking of the other side, and impede opportunities to construct a better, common future. An analysis of history texts published in Serbian that deal with the Kosovo issue reveals that both the past and present are being wrongly transmitted. From the time of its establishment in 1999, the UN administration worked closely with international agencies and made great strides in including and integrating all the minority communities in education. It is apparent that the education system in this part of the Balkans is veiled in strong nationalist colours that are impeding the integration of the Serbian community into the education system of Kosovo. This paper endeavours to show how Serbian history texts present the present and past of Kosovo and of the Albanians. It offers information about the role that school texts can play in integration and co-operation, and in the development of the Balkans. It also highlights the great differences that exist between various history textbooks. The divergence of information presented to young people is making it difficult for the peoples of the Balkans to integrate, to work together and to develop as a region.

TUDJMAN AND CROATIA’S DISTANCING FROM EUROPE

Author(s): Irina Ognyanova-Krivoshieva / Language(s): English Issue: 4/2018

On 1 July 2013 Croatia became part of the European Union, but that happened nine years after Slovenia. The Croatian nationalism, flourishing in the 1990s was hostile to the very idea of united Europe. In 1991 – 1992 when a great part of the Croatian territory was under Serbian control, the Western countries supported and recognized the new state. But this positive image quickly changed after its participation in the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and especially after the military operation “Storm” in 1995, when around 300,000 Serbs were forced to leave the country. As a result, European politicians did not invite Croatia in 1997 to start negotiations for accession to the EU. In late 1990s the country was in complete international isolation. Tudjman was against every initiative for regional or European cooperation. Building its own independent state Croats were very suspicious to all mega-national projects and initiatives.