The Czech and Slovak Republics. Twenty Years of Independence, 1993-2013

Author(s): / Language(s): English

The essays in the book compare the Czech Republic and Slovakia since the breakup of Czechoslovakia in 1993. The papers deal with the causes of the divorce and discuss the political, economic and social developments in the new countries. This is the only English-language volume that presents the synoptic findings of leading Czech, Slovak, and North American scholars in the field.The authors include two former Prime Ministers of the Czech Republic and Slovakia, eight leading scholars (four Czechs and four Slovaks), and eight knowledgeable commentators from North America. The most significant new insight is that in spite of predictions by various pundits in the Western World that Czechia would flourish after the breakup and Slovakia would languish, the opposite has happened. While the Czech Republic did well in its early years, it is now languishing while Slovakia, which had a rough start, is now doing very well. Anyone interested in the history of the Czech and Slovak Republics over the last twenty years will find gratification in reading this book.

Identităţile Chişinăului. Ediția a doua

Author(s): Sergiu Musteaţă,Ion Tentiuc,Mariana Şlapac,Sergiu Bacalov,Valentin Tomuleţ,Maria Danilov,Tamara Nesterov,Alexandru Roitman,Ivan Duminica,Lucia Sava,Iurie Colesnic,Adrian Crăciunescu,Bo Larsson,Giuseppe Tateo,Dinu Poștarencu,Ana Carp,Iulian Rusanovschi,Aurelia Carpov,Lucia Argint,Vasile Ernu,Daniela Vacarciuc,Sergiu Nistor,Dorina Onica,Sergius Ciocanu,Cătălin Botoșineanu / Language(s): Romanian

Collection of articles on history, culture, architecture, urban development of Chișinău

Identităţile Chişinăului. Materialele conferinţei, 12-13 septembrie 2011

Author(s): Silviu Andrieș-Tabac,Ion Tentiuc,Valeriu Bubulici,Mariana Vasilache,Livia Sîrbu,Sergiu Bacalov,Lică Sainciuc,Mariana Şlapac,Ivan Duminica,Lucia Sava,Iurie Colesnic,Valentina Ursu,Ludmila Coadă,Vasile Dumbrava,Adrian Crăciunescu,Dinu Poştarencu,Ion Gumenîi,Alexandru Roitman,Silvia Scutaru,Alexandru Popa,Bo Larsson,Sergiu Musteaţă,Alexandru Corduneanu,Sergius Ciocanu,Ion Ștefăniță / Language(s): Romanian

The collection of papers on history, culture, religious, architecture and urban development of Chisinau.

Knjigocid-Uništavanje kniiga u Hrvatskoj 1990ih

Author(s): Ante Lešaja / Language(s): Croatian

Postoje tekstovi – zbirke dokumenata, prikazi nekog događanja i sl. – kojima je potrebno pridodati »riječ unaprijed«. Razlozi mogu biti razni, a autor ih je dužan navesti. Svrha je ovog Uvoda da olakša čitaocu razumijevanje pozicije s koje sam prišao koncipiranju teksta i obradi konkretnog predmeta. A predmet kojim se bavim je uništavanje knjižne građe u Hrvatskoj od 1990. do 2010. godine, dakle, u razdoblju od dvadeset godina.Dva su osnovna razloga zbog kojih sam se tim fenomenom počeo baviti. Jedan, inicijalni, moja je osobna povezanost sa slučajem koji je kroz brojne napise postao poznat kao »bacanje knjiga u kontejner za smeće u Korčuli«, a drugi je iznenađujući intenzitet netrpeljivosti prema Drugome i isključivost – politička, nacionalna, etnička i ideološka – u vrijeme »prevrata devedesetih«, s pripadajućim i već puno puta u povijesti viđenim tragičnim posljedicama – ubijanjima, razaranjima imovine i uništavanjem spomeničke baštine. Stoga je i uništavanje knjižne građe u Hrvatskoj, u mjeri u kojoj ga je bilo i kao samo jedno u nizu sličnih povijesnih iskustava, zadobilo svoju »povijesnu obilježenost«.

Građanin Blagus

Author(s): Saša Blagus / Language(s): Croatian

Kontrarevolucionarni građanski rat iz devedesetih u Hrvatskoj još uvijek traje. Istina, vodi se drugim sredstvima, ali još uvijek traje. Znakova izlaska iz »olovnih vremena« ne da nema, nego je na djelu intenziviranje izuzetno regresivnih društvenih kretanja. Prije 14 godina sam počeo iskazivati neslaganje s rušenjem svih temelja društvenih odnosa i države koji su u sebi nosili klicu mogućnosti ozbiljavanja istinske ljudske zajednice, premda sami to još nisu bili. U njima je ipak bilo, kako je govorio Milan Kangrga, »nekaj ljudskog«. Svrha rata koji je Tuđman nazvao domovinskim bila je gušenje baš te mogućnosti. Imao sam potrebu protestirati ne samo protiv brutalne restauracije kapitalizma koja je eufemistički nazvana tranzicijom, nego i protiv naleta historijskog revizionizma kojemu je cilj rehabilitiranje i eventualno oživljavanje zločinačke NDH. I zaista, rat je imao sva obilježja nastavka »velikog čišćenja« koje u Drugom svjetskom ratu nije uspjelo. Radikalno zlo je ponovno eksplodiralo; ono prirodno, divlje, nagonsko, sirovo, surovo, još-ne ljudsko nadvladalo je slobodu, duh i um. Suočili smo se s materijaliziranim fantomom – ovdašnji, samonikli oblici nacizma i fašizma, ustaštvo i četništvo, ponovno su oživjeli kako bi zgazili duh evropskog moderniteta na ovim prostorima.

Hrvatska Seljačka Stranka u službi hrvatskog naroda

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English

The booklet, published in 1987 by "Središnji odbor Hrvatske Seljačke Stranke" (Central Committee of the Croatian Peasant Party) with office in Brussels (Belgium), is a report on the "World Meeting of the Croatian Peasant Party and Croatian Workers' Union" (Toronto, May 1987) with contributions by: Juraj Krnjević, Lovro Črep, Josip M. Torbar, Eugen Laxa, Tihomil Rađa, Mehmed Bašić, Đuro Đurković, Mirko Vidović, Dorothy Obradović, Krešimir Butković, Zvonko Mustapić, Stjepan Golubić, Juraj Boljkovac, Stjepan Košutić, Ivo Tomić, Ferid Salihović,

The State of the Donbass

Author(s): Nikolaus von Twickel / Language(s): English

The Donbass region of eastern Ukraine is among Europe’s most deadly modern battlefields on which more than 13,000 people have been killed since 2014. But it is also a propaganda war, where many shots are being fired not to kill somebody but send a message – not always across the frontline. And unlike other conflicts in eastern Europe, this one cannot be explained by regional ethnic or religious antagonisms. Tragically, the suffering people of Donbass happen to live at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Moldova: The Struggles to build a post-electoral Coalition

Author(s): Denis Cenuşă / Language(s): English

The Constitutional Court validated the mandates of the 101 new MPs (9 March, 2019), and the attention turns toward the formation of a viable coalition. The Democratic Party was the first to rush into negotiations on a future governing coalition. Led by the controversial oligarch Vladimir Plahotniuc, the party seeks to build a common platform with the Bloc ACUM which presents itself as the truly democratic party. But the latter rejects any kind of cooperation with the Democrats - their political enemy. Meanwhile the Socialists, with 35 MPs and highest number of seats, refrained from direct talks with the Democrats on a coalition agreement, but now instead invited ACUM to negotiations.

PACIFIK - Časopis za Kulturu MIra 1992/Broj_0

Author(s): Hamdija Demirović,Dimitrije Mitrinovic,Slobodan Blagojević,Vesna Pešić,Sonja Liht,Ljubomir Micić,Obrad Savić,Sonja Briski-Uzelac,Ivan Čolović / Language(s): Serbian

PACIFIK - Časopis za Kulturu MIra 1992/Broj_2

Author(s): Zdravko Grebo,Rada Iveković,Miško Šuvaković,Mirjana Miočinović,Bogdan Bogdanović,Svetozar Marković,Nataša Radovanović,Gordan M. Maričić / Language(s): Serbian

published in 1992 by "Centar za antiratnu akciju"

A LIBERÁLIS MEGOLDÁS. A SZABAD DEMOKRATÁK SZÖVETSÉGE GAZDASÁGI VÁLSÁGKEZELŐ PROGRAMJÁNAK TÉZISEI

Author(s): / Language(s): Hungarian

Zu wissen, dass du noch lebst. Kinder aus Tschetschenien erzählen

Author(s): Klaus Bednarz / Language(s): German

Herausgegeben von der Gesellschaft Memorial und der Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung. Edited by Foundations «Memorial» and «Heinrich Boell». Published in AUFBAU-VERLAG, Berlin 2006 Russian schoolchildren, like the vast majority of Russian society, know almost nothing about the history of Chechnya. And when a 15-year-old Russian schoolgirl asks the question, "I just want to understand why do we hate each other so much?" At the beginning of her reflections on Russians and Chechens, it may sound perplexed at first glance. But in truth it springs from the same spirit from which Heinrich Böll and Lew Kopelew once asked: "Why did we shoot each other?" Böll and Kopelew were finally able to state that there is no longer any hatred between Russians and Germans. To be able to say something similar about Russians and Chechens will probably remain a utopia for a long time to come. The statements gathered in this book by Chechen and Russian schoolchildren about war and peace between their peoples are a shocking document of contemporary history. But with overcoming speechlessness as the first step towards understanding, it creates hope at the same time. Maybe this generation has a better future after all.

Український незалежний культурологічний журнал «Ї» — № 64/2010

Author(s): Andriy Pavlyshyn,Iwan Monolatiy,Emil Brix,Václav Havel,Taras Wozniak,Vera Burdyak,Myroslav Marynovych,Zbigniew Gromadzki,Olga Vasilevska,Zbigniew Bujak,Alexander Sirtsov,Paweł Zalewski,Eugen Zherebetsky,Edward Lucas,Miroslav Čech / Language(s): Ukrainian

In order to make the thorough mendacity of Putin's rhetoric about "Ukraine as a State of Neo-Nazis" fully evident, CEEOL is offering the Ukrainian Jewish journal ”Ї“ as the strongest possible proof of a habit of "modern Ukrainian and world intellectual thought". The NGO "Ї", an independent cultural organization founded in the late 1980's in L'viv, focuses on modern Ukrainian and world intellectual thought. It offers periodic forums for discussion of issues concerning Ukraine and, among others, Europe, Russia, post-Byzantium, the Muslim Renaissance. It analyzes the current situation in order to develop future socio-political strategies. The organization also publishes "Ї", a quarterly journal dealing with European and Ukrainian issues in politics, philosophy, and culture. It also examines the relationship of Ukrainians with Russians, Poles, Austrians, and Jews and places Ukraine in a modern geopolitical sphere that can further Ukraine's identity as a modern state.

Georgian State Border – Past and Present

Author(s): Nikoloz Samkharadze / Language(s): English

This paper provides historical background to the formation of Georgia’s current borders in the course of 20th century and analyzes the stance of Georgian state on border delimitation after independence. In the first part of the article, the period of 1918-1921 when most border changes took place in the South Caucasus is examined. Then the Soviet period is discussed. The article moves on to examine the period of 1991-93, during which the successor states of the USSR reconfirmed the internal republican borders of the USSR. The second part of the article describes the process of Georgia’s negotiations with neighbouring states on border delimitation after the restoration of independence. Delimitation of the border cannot be achieved unilaterally. It is a bilateral process and the failure to reach the consensus should be attributed to both negotiating parties. The aim of this article is not the identification of the guilty party, but rather identification of the actual reasons for lack of progress in negotiations. It reflects a Georgian perspective of the past and present state of play, since it is mostly based on documentary analysis and interviews conducted in Georgia. This research argues that the lack of political will from all negotiating parties has been the main reason for protraction of the process of border delimitation. It is a first attempt to bridge the existing gap in research on the border delimitation issue in interstate relations. Unfortunately, border delimitation is a field which has not been extensively researched either by Georgian or by international scholars, which makes this article even more timely and relevant.

Brčko Arbitration: Proposal for Peace (ICG Bosnia Report No. 18)

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English

The Dayton Peace Agreement postponed a decision on the fate of the Brcko area, one of the peace talks’ most contentious and potentially explosive issues, until arbitration could take place. A decision is expected by 15 February. The arbitration award could have serious consequences. If Brcko were awarded to the Federation, Bosnian Serbs may lose faith in the DPA, strengthening hard-liners and potentially causing tens of thousands of refugees from western Republika Srpska to flee. If Brcko were awarded to Republika Srpska, heightened tension and brinkmanship would result in the short term, and renewed armed conflict in the long term. As a contribution to the arbitration process and in order to address the goals, needs and fears of all sides, thus preserving the precarious peace, the International Crisis Group offers some recommendations in this report.

Grave Situation in Mostar: Robust Response required (ICG Bosnia Report No. 19)

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English

The violent events in Mostar on 10 February -- and the failure of the International Police Task Force (IPTF) and the Stabilisation Force (SFOR) to either anticipate or control them -- constitute a mortal threat to the peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina and to the continued existence of the Bosniac-Croat Federation.

Zelenskyy’s Lustration Mistake

Author(s): Michael Emerson,Artem Remizov / Language(s): English

The term lustration (люстрація in Ukrainian) has its origin in Roman purification rituals. It came into use in contemporary politics in 1989-91 with the end of Communism in Europe, with several central and east European states banning former Communist regime officials from further public office. In Ukraine there was a lustration episode back in October 2014, to prevent top and mid-level officials who served during the Viktor Yanukovych’s presidency from taking the public office for a period of ten years.

The strategic potential of Ukraine’s Zelenskyy

Author(s): Michael Emerson,Artem Remizov / Language(s): English

Ukraine has wasted many years in episodes of deeply flawed government under its post-Soviet regimes, where the default condition was one of corrupt oligarchy. The results have been disastrous. In 1990, Ukraine’s income level was on a par with that of Poland. Now it is only one third. The first attempt to escape this condition was the so-called ‘Orange Revolution’ of 2004, which led to the feuding combination of Yushchenko as President and Tymoshenko as Prime Minister. The results were so poor that Yanukovych was able to win power, and restore corrupt oligarchy with a vengeance.

Georgia has another new Prime Minister: What does this mean?

Author(s): Ghia Nodia / Language(s): English

After just a year and two months serving as Georgia’s prime minister, Mamuka Bakhtadze resigned. He explained his decision by saying that he had accomplished everything he planned to do, whatever that was. He was replaced by Giorgi Gakharia, the former interior minister. Irakli Garibashvili, who, though prime minister from 2013 to 2015 had not held any government position since then, became minister of defence.

The ruling of the (Un)Constitutional Court of Ukraine: is there a way out?

Author(s): Mykhailo Zhernakov / Language(s): English

On October 27 2020, the Constitutional Court of Ukraine (CCU) adopted decision 13-p/2020 on the unconstitutionality of the art. 366-1 of the Criminal Code and the system of electronic declaration of assets. In doing so, the CCU dismantled in a blatant and unlawful manner a big part of Ukraine’s anti-corruption infrastructure. The constitutional submission that resulted in this decision was filed by 47 members of the Parliament, mainly pro-Russian “Opposition Platform for Life” faction.