Conclusion: Balkan Paramilitaries

2020 ◽  
pp. 235-242
Author(s):  
Dmitar Tasić
Keyword(s):  
Organized Crime ◽  
War Crimes ◽  
Former Yugoslavia ◽  
Public Attention ◽  
Strong Ties ◽  
Civilian Population ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
The World ◽  
Violent Acts ◽  
Contemporary Context

It summarises previous chapters and their conclusions about very alive legacies of paramilitarism in the Balkans, and how it is possible to invoke paramilitary traditions and embed them into contemporary context. By the rule these attempts proved to be simple misuse either by political or structures close to the secret services. Up to now modern paramilitarism and its relations with Balkan paramilitary traditions didn’t attract public attention apart of several journalists who published several works and one documentary on different Serbian paramilitary formations during the wars of Yugoslav succession. What is raising concerns and can be qualified as alarming is that paramilitaries were perpetrators of most horrible war crimes and different violent acts against civilian population especially during the latest wars in former Yugoslavia during the 1990’s, and that during that period some of them created strong ties with the world of international organized crime.

Briefly Noted

2019 ◽  
Vol 58 (3) ◽  
pp. 664-667
Keyword(s):  
International Criminal ◽  
International Criminal Tribunal ◽  
War Crimes ◽  
Trial Chamber ◽  
Former Yugoslavia ◽  
Crimes Against Humanity ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
Life Sentence

On March 20, 2019, the Appeals Chamber of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals set aside Radovan Karadžić's prior sentence of forty years and imposed a life sentence. Karadžić was convicted of genocide, crimes against humanity, and violations of the laws or customs of war in March 2016 by a Trial Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and sentenced to forty years in prison. His crimes relate to war crimes he committed during the 1990s conflicts in the Balkans, in particular the 1995 Srebrenica massacre of 8,000 Bosnian Serbs and the three-year long siege of Sarajevo. The Appeals Chamber reversed part of Karadžić's convictions related to the Overarching JCE and dismissed the rest of his appeal, while also dismissing most of the Prosecution's appeal, aside from the sentence. The Appeals Chamber judges found that the Trial Chamber “committed a discernible error and abused its discretion in imposing a sentence of only 40 years of imprisonment,” and consequently imposed a life sentence.

Breakup of Yugoslavia Portrayed by Serbian Alternative Comics Scene - The Case of Aleksandar Zograf

2020 ◽  
Vol 60 (2) ◽  
pp. 16-25
Author(s):  
Natalia Nowińska-Antoniewicz
Keyword(s):  
Everyday Life ◽  
Former Yugoslavia ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
Foreign Culture ◽  
The World ◽  
Comic Art ◽  
Scientific Standards

The article presents phenomenon of emergence of Serbian alternative comics scene during the period of breakup of Yugoslavia. The analysis is focused on anthology of works “Regards from Serbia” by Aleksandar Zograf who is considered the founder of the new direction in comic art. The works drawn over the nineties were portraying everyday life in Yugoslavia during its breakup. This period has been considered a strong taboo since and is not being willingly taken up by scientist from former-Yugoslavia what makes it difficult to gain knowledge that would meet scientific standards. Zograf’s comics were being published both in his country and abroad, what made them source of knowledge on situation in the Balkans of the world. In the article comic art is also being treated as anthropological evidence that enables understanding of foreign culture and processes related to attempts of rejection of the old ideological, moral, and axiological order.

scholarly journals TERRORIST THREATS BY BALKANS RADICAL ISLAMIST TO INTERNATIONAL SECURITY

2014 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 291-326
Author(s):  
Darko Trifunović ◽  
Milan Mijalkovski
Keyword(s):  
Armed Conflict ◽  
International Security ◽  
Political Islam ◽  
Former Yugoslavia ◽  
Al Qaeda ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
The World ◽  
Territorial Claims

The decade-long armed conflict in the Balkans from 1991 to 2001, greatly misrepresented in the Western public, were the biggest defeat for the peoples of the former Yugoslavia, a great defeat for Europe - but a victory for global jihad. Radical Islamists used the wars to recruit a large number of Sunni Muslims in the Balkans (Bosnian and Herzagovina and Albanian) for the cause of political Islam and militant Jihad. Converts to Wahhabi Islam not only provide recruits for the so-called “White Al-Qaeda,” but also exhibit growing territorial claims and seek the establishment of a “Balkan Caliphate.” Powers outside the Balkans regard this with indifference or even tacit approval. Radical Islamist activity is endangering the security of not only Serbia, Macedonia, Montenegro and BosniaHerzegovina, but also Europe and the world.

Conclusion

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louis Corsino
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Social Networks ◽  
African Americans ◽  
Organized Crime ◽  
Strong Ties ◽  
New Approaches ◽  
The Social ◽  
New Ideas ◽  
Contemporary Context

This concluding chapter presents a more general discussion of the interrelationships between ethnicity, organized crime, and social capital, especially as it may apply to the contemporary context in Chicago Heights. This study connected the decades-long ‘success’ of the organized crime operation in Chicago Heights to the persistent balancing act between the resources of closure, violence, and brokerage. Too much or too little of one or another would be potentially damaging to this long-term success. Closure brings value to the organization because it promotes a familiarity and assumed level of trust between individuals. However, when there are strong ties binding groups together, certainty and predictability triumph over variability and innovation. Individuals are unaware of or reluctant to think through or even see new opportunities because the social networks place a premium on routine beliefs and behaviors. An antidote to the excesses of closure is violence. New ideas and new approaches were pushed forward by force and the elimination of opposition. Today, although Italian organized crime presence in Chicago Heights has significantly diminished, organized crime in Chicago Heights persists. African Americans and Latinos have largely taken over the vice operations.

scholarly journals Wikipedia and culture of remembrance: The problem of naming war crimes in Yugoslavia

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (48) ◽  
pp. 91-131
Author(s):  
Stefan Janjić
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
War Crimes ◽  
Former Yugoslavia ◽  
Global Memory ◽  
World War ◽  
The World ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Online Encyclopedia ◽  
Intergroup Conflicts ◽  
Degree Of Similarity

The aim of the research, based on content analysis, is to identify the model of naming articles on war crimes in the former Yugoslavia on the Serbian, Croatian and Bosnian versions of the online encyclopedia Wikipedia, which we observe in this context, following C. Pentzold, as ". global memory place". The sample covers topics that (a) appear on two or three versions of Wikipedia and that (b) are dedicated to war crimes committed during the World War II and the breakup of Yugoslavia. A comparative analysis of the titles of these articles was conducted with the intention of determining the degree of similarity, as well as to consider the potential causes of the difference. The degree of similarity of the titles on war crimes is bigger in the articles concerning the joint struggle of the three nations in the World War II. In contrast, articles dealing with intergroup conflicts during the breakup of former Yugoslavia are characterized by far lower similarity of titles, which are sometimes completely contradictory. The titles of articles on these three versions of Wikipedia do not only serve to indicate a certain term or event, although it is their basic and most common function, but also to emphasize the interpretation of a sensitive topic.

EU ties will outweigh Moscow meddling in east Europe

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Former Yugoslavia ◽  
Strong Ties ◽  
Private Initiative ◽  
Content Type ◽  
East Europe ◽  
Central Eastern Europe ◽  
The World ◽  
Business Opportunities ◽  
The Baltic

Subject Moscow’s influence on eastern EU and its fringes. Significance President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Budapest on August 28, his second in 2017 and formally occasioned by the World Judo Championship, underscores Russia’s strong ties with Hungary and some of its neighbours. Except for traditionally hawkish Poland, the Baltic republics and Romania, Moscow sees potential friends in Central-Eastern Europe (CEE), including the former Yugoslavia, especially Serbia. Impacts CEE governments will court Moscow for business opportunities. Russia will exploit domestic weaknesses to drive a wedge between EU members and assert its commercial interests. Russian meddling can also be a matter of private initiative.

scholarly journals Participation of Allah's Warriors in the War in Former Yugoslavia (1992 - 1995)

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 483-500
Author(s):  
Danuta Gibas-Krzak
Keyword(s):  
War Crimes ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Former Yugoslavia ◽  
Muslim Community ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
The Social

The main aim of this paper is to show the participation of mercenaries in the war in former Yugoslavia who fought on the Muslim side. The author presents the thesis that they were recruited to participate in the defense of Muslim community, which they believed was threatened by Serbs. However, their goal soon became to conduct jihad. Muslim mercenaries, also known as warriors of Allah (warriors of God) or Garibi, often proved to be cruel and committed war crimes. Among them were veterans of the war in Afghanistan, the Mujahideen. After the end of hostilities, many of God’s warriors remained in the Balkans, and their settlement brought a lot of negative changes to the social and political life of the region. The Garibi contributed greatly to the strengthening of influence of Islamic states and institutions in the Balkans, as well as to the development of Wahhabi sects supporting terrorism.

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