Genocide and Population Displacement in Post‐Communist Eastern Europe

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cathie Carmichael
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Former Yugoslavia ◽  
The Political ◽  
Minority Populations ◽  
Religious Identities ◽  
The Caucasus ◽  
Population Displacement ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
System A ◽  
Mixed Populations

Between 1990 and 2010, the political map of the Balkans and Caucasus changed as Communist regimes collapsed and border disputes escalated. Some of the most bitter conflicts were in areas where there were mixed populations with large ‘minority’ populations that did not recognize potential changes in their borders (Russians in Chechnya or Serbs in Croatia, Bosnia, and Kosovo). Religious identities, heavily repressed during the Communist era, became a defining part of the rejection of that system. A revival of militant Islamism after the success of Ayatollah Khomeini in Iran in 1979 radicalized politics in both the Balkans and the Caucasus. In the former Yugoslavia, Serb nationalists claimed that they were fighting against Islamic encroachment, which became effectively a self-fulfilling prophecy after 11 September 2001. Successionists and politicians eager to redraw boundaries cynically exploited the idea of an ideological purpose and traditional identities under threat to motivate and legitimize armed resistance.

scholarly journals THE POLITICAL, ETHNIC AND RELIGIOUS ORIGINS OF THE CRISIS IN THE BALKANS IN THE LAST DECADE OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

2020 ◽  
Vol 65 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
M. E. Rustambekova ◽  
◽  
А.A. Ospanova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Radical Change ◽  
Historical Consciousness ◽  
Former Yugoslavia ◽  
The Political ◽  
Global Level ◽  
Soviet Government ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
Political Conflicts

The article discusses the prerequisites for the collapse of the former Yugoslavia, which was the "center" of conflicts at the global level, in particular, the onset of religious, ethnic, political conflicts in the Balkans in the last decade of the twentieth century, chronological and geographical conflicts. Specific characteristics are differentiated. The article also examines the situation in which the socialist states of Eastern Europe gained independence from the collapse of the Soviet government in 1991-1992, in particular, in the economic sphere. The epochal systemic changes that followed the collapse of the USSR and Yugoslavia predetermined a radical change in political, social and spiritual orientations and expectations in society. At the same time, the historical consciousness of peoples (like no other sphere of public, including ethnic self-identification) was involved in general transformational processes, reflecting in its development the well-known inconsistency and inconsistency of the socio-political evolution of the former republics in recent decades.

Essays on the Political history of the Countries of Central and south-Eastern Europe. From the Late Twentieth to the Early Twenty-First Centuries

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Political Development ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
Political Processes ◽  
South Eastern ◽  
Early Twenty ◽  
History Of ◽  
South Eastern Europe ◽  
Late Twentieth

This collective monograph is a comprehensive study of the causes, evolution and outcomes of complex processes in the contemporary history of the countries of Central and South-Eastern Europe, and aims in particular to identify common and special characteristics in their socio-economic and political development. The authors base their work on documentary evidence; both published and unpublished archival materials reveal the specifics of the development of the political landscapes in these countries. They highlight models combining both European and nationally oriented (and even nationalist) components of the political spheres of particular countries; identify markers which allow the stage of completion (or incompletion) of the establishment of a new political system to be estimated; and present analyses of the processes of internal political struggle, which has often taken on ruthless forms. The analysis of regional and country-specific documentary materials illustrates that the gap in the development of the region with “old Europe” in general has not yet been overcome: in the post-Socialist period, the situation of the region being “ownerless” and “abandoned”, characteristic of the period between the two world wars, is reoccurring. The authors conclude that during the period from the late twentieth to the early twenty-first centuries, the region was quite clearly divided into two parts: Central (the Visegrad Four) and South-Eastern (the Balkans) Europe. The authors explore the prevailing trends in the political development of Hungary and Poland related to the leadership of nationally and religiously oriented parties; in the Czech Republic and Slovakia the pendulum-like change in power of the left and right-wing parties; and in Bulgaria and Romania the domestic political processes permanently in crisis. The authors pay special attention to the contradictory nature of the political evolution of the states that emerged in the space of the former Yugoslavia. For the first time, Greece and Turkey are included in the context of a regional-wide study. The contributors present optimal or resembling transformational models, which can serve as a prototype for shaping the political landscape of other countries in the world. The monograph substantiates the urgency of the new approach needed to study the history and current state of the region and its countries, taking into account the challenges of the time, which require strengthening national and state identity. The research also offered prognostic characteristics of transformational changes in the region, the Visegrad Four, and the Balkans.

Out of Eastern Europe

2015 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 409-419 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jelena Subotić
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Social Change ◽  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
International Institutions ◽  
Former Yugoslavia ◽  
The Political ◽  
Difficult Case ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
Political Challenge

What is the contribution of Eastern European scholarship to the study of human rights and transitional justice? This essay takes stock of the most significant empirical and theoretical contributions of the study of Eastern Europe, specifically the study of the difficult case of the former Yugoslavia, to the scholarship on transitional justice. I identify three main challenges the scholarship on the former Yugoslavia has presented to the larger field of transitional justice: the political challenge of multiple overlapping transitions, the inability of international institutions to effect domestic social change, and the dangers of politicization of past violence remembrance.

Turkey’s policy in the Balkans in the light of transformations in South-Eastern Europe in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries

2021 ◽  
pp. 374-380
Author(s):  
Ilgar M. Mamedov ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Turkish Population ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
Cultural Rights ◽  
Peacekeeping Operations ◽  
Early Twenty ◽  
Peace Initiatives ◽  
South Eastern Europe ◽  
Late Twentieth

Europe in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries (Ilgar M. Mamedov) Concern for the political and cultural rights of the Muslim and Turkish population of the Balkans became the main reason for Turkish involvement in the region in the 1990s. Turkey secured its presence in the Balkans mainly within and through NATO. However, Turkey also took independent steps. The main means of Turkey's policy included condemnation of violence, calls for dialogue, peace initiatives, humanitarian actions, and participation in peacekeeping operations.

Eugenics in Eastern Europe, 1870s–1945

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Bucur
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Medical Profession ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
Social Elites ◽  
Persuasive Argument ◽  
The Baltic

Eugenics is a powerful tool used both for imperial control and for nationalist anti-imperial challenges from the Baltic to the Balkans. This article deals with the role of race theories and eugenics that has become a subject of scholarly engagement. Eugenics serves as a rationale for separating communities according to their national identity and to redistribute resources along ethnocentric lines as part of an imperial discourse. It presents an array of institutional developments connected to eugenics in this region. It shows that as the medical profession flourished in post-imperial eastern Europe, doctors of the new ethnic majorities saw opportunities open up—professionally, economically, and socially. Finally, it examines the importance of constructing a discourse that focuses on preserving and strengthening the potentialities of the underprivileged, poor, uneducated peasants for the purpose of making a persuasive argument with the political and social elites.

scholarly journals Bosnia and Herzegovina and changes to the international order: 25 years since the Dayton Agreement

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (20) ◽  
pp. 41-55
Author(s):  
Srđan Perišić
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Bosnia And Herzegovina ◽  
The United States ◽  
International Order ◽  
Former Yugoslavia ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Dayton Agreement ◽  
The Impact

The paper deals with the impact of changes to the international order on the position of Bosnia and Herzegovina over the period of 25 years, from the signing of the Dayton Agreement in 1995 to 2020. For a start, there is an analysis of all models of international order in that period. Furthermore, the paper analyses the unipolar international order as it existed until 2008 and its impact on the internal relations and political system in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as on the position of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Europe and the region of former Yugoslavia. In this respect, it particularly focuses on NATO's activities in Bosnia and Herzegovina in that period and the position of the Republic of Srpska. The second period begins after the year of 2008, and it represents the growth of a multipolar international order. It is the impact of that order on Bosnia and Herzegovina and its internal situation that is discussed in the paper, with Russia's return to the Balkans and its consequences analysed in detail. In addition, an analysis of the Chinese economic and geopolitical project entitled 'Belt and Road Initiative' and its impact on the region of former Yugoslavia, Bosnia and Herzegovina included, is given. In the presentation, as well as in the paper, one of the focal points is the respective position of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Srpska within the context of NATO enlargement. The influence of the structure of the international project (nejasno, potrebno je definisati koji projekat, iz prethodnog teksta to nije vidljivo) on the states can be seen on the example of Bosnia and Herzegovina - according to the scheme given by the theorist Kenneth Voltz. The unipolar order, influenced by the then US administration, is the creator of the Dayton Agreement in 1995, as well as of the political and legal order in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The political processes that took place after 1995 were also affected by the unipolarity and power of the United States. This power was focused on efforts to turn Bosnia and Herzegovina into a unitary socio-political structure, that is. to change its Dayton design. The culmination of the power of unipolarity and the United States in Bosnia and Herzegovina is the acceptance by political elites of Bosnia and Herzegovina of the NATO integration process in the period of 2005-2009. The emergence of a multipolar order is blocking the process of Bosnia and Herzegovina joining NATO, with the Republic of Srpska stopping the transfer of competences to the state level.

scholarly journals SECURITY CHALLENGES IN SOUTH EASTERN EUROPE

2013 ◽  
pp. 39-50
Author(s):  
ANTON BEBLER
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Former Yugoslavia ◽  
Western Balkans ◽  
Wars Of Religion ◽  
Interstate Relations ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
South Eastern ◽  
Security Challenges ◽  
South Eastern Europe ◽  
The Cold War

The purpose of this article is to identify the principal security challenges in South Eastern Europe. The mix of challenges has changed radically since the end of the Cold War and the wars in the former Yugoslavia, in favour of non-military threats. The era of wars of religion, ideology and redrawing of state borders in the Western Balkans seems to be over. The tranquillity in the region, imposed from the outside has been buttressed by two international protectorates. The suppression of armed violence did not add up to long-term stability as the underbrush of nationalism, in- tolerance and inter-communal hatred still survives in the Balkans. The potential for interethnic conflicts and for further fragmentation in the former Yugoslavia has not yet been fully exhausted in spite of much improved interstate relations. Prominent among the non-military threats to security are organized crime, corruption, natural and ecological disasters, climate change and weak energy security. The inclusion of the entire South Eastern Europe into Euro-Atlantic structures offers the best promise. There are thus good reasons for moderately optimistic expectation that the South Eastern Europe will eventually become a region of democracy, prosperity and stability.

Nesting Orientalisms: The Case of Former Yugoslavia

Slavic Review ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 54 (4) ◽  
pp. 917-931 ◽  
Author(s):  
Milica Bakić-Hayden
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Natural World ◽  
Former Yugoslavia ◽  
Cultural Institutions ◽  
The West ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
East And West ◽  
East West ◽  
Civilized World

This paper introduces the notion of “nesting orientalisms” to investigate some of the complexity of the east/west dichotomy which has underlain scholarship on “Orientalism” since the publication of Said's classic polemic, a discourse in which “East,” like “West,” is much more of a project than a place. While geographical boundaries of the “Orient“ shifted throughout history, the concept of “Orient” as “other” has remained more or less unchanged. Moreover, cultures and ideologies tacitly presuppose the valorized dichotomy between east and west, and have incorporated various “essences” into the patterns of representation used to describe them. Implied by this essentialism is that humans and their social or cultural institutions are “governed by determinate natures that inhere in them in the same way that they are supposed to inhere in the entities of the natural world.” Thus, eastern Europe has been commonly associated with “backwardness,” the Balkans with “violence,” India with “idealism” or “mysticism,” while the west has identified itself consistently with the “civilized world.“

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