STUDYING THE HISTORY OF THE BALKANS / SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE: RESEARCH TASKS AND PROBLEM FORMULATION

2021 ◽  
pp. 7-21
Author(s):  
Sergei Romanenko ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Problem Formulation ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Western Balkans ◽  
Interstate Relations ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
South Eastern ◽  
European Culture ◽  
South Eastern Europe ◽  
The Relationship

The new issue of the journal «Current Problems of Europe» opens with the problem-oriented article, dedicated to the analysis of the state of the Balkans / South-Eastern Europe region and its development in 2000-2020. The author gives a systemic description of the processes taking place in the intra-national and international intra-regional political, social and economic development of the countries of the region, and the problems generated by them. The changes are associated with a difficult transition phase, experienced by the states of the region, for the most part belonging to the post-socialist world (Bulgaria, Romania, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Kosovo and Albania). The exceptions are Greece, Turkey and Cyprus, however, these three states are also going through a difficult period in their history, associated with new problems both in interstate relations within this triangle, and in relations with NATO and the EU, as well as with Russia. The article discusses the specifics of translating the terms «people» and «national» into Russian, as well as the toponym Kosovo (Serb.) / Kosova (Alb.), and ethnonyms «Bošnjak» and «bosanac». The first part of the issue contains articles devoted to general problems of regional studies: the relationship between the terms Eastern Europe, Central Europe, South-Eastern Europe, Balkans, Western Balkans; comparative and political science subjects; the role of the European Union and China in the development of the region; the relationship of national Serbian, post-Yugoslavian and European culture and intellectual heritage as well. The second part of the issue examines the relations of the Balkan states with the states of Central and Eastern Europe (Czech Republic, Romania, Belarus), as well as the specifics of their development in the post-socialist period. Thus, there is the possibility of a multilateral - historical, political and cultural, as well as comparative analysis of the development of this complex region, which is of great importance for international relations worldwide.

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.

The EU's Transformative Power in Albania

2022 ◽  
pp. 229-243
Author(s):  
Lutjona Lula
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Green Light ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Western Balkans ◽  
Transformative Power ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
South Eastern ◽  
South Eastern Europe ◽  
Accession Process

South-Eastern Europe has always been a vital region with continuous socio-political changes. After the fall of communism and the wars that accompanied the disintegration of Yugoslavia, countries in the region turned towards the European Union. Upon signing the SAA, the countries of the Western Balkans, such as Albania, have had a green light to move forward in the EU's pre-accession process. As Albania works toward membership, how do domestic political actors in Albania (not) change their with agendas according to EU requirements? This chapter will address the puzzle of the transformative power of EU's conditionality in main political parties in Albania.

THE BALKANS / SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE: THE REGION OF MYSTERY AND MYSTERIES OF THE REGION

2021 ◽  
pp. 22-58
Author(s):  
Sergei Romanenko ◽  
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Political Development ◽  
Self Awareness ◽  
Western Balkans ◽  
Forward Movement ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
South Eastern ◽  
Interstate Conflicts ◽  
South Eastern Europe

Based on the study of various types of sources and analysis of Russian and foreign literature, the author conceptually substantiates an approach to the study of the Balkan region / South-Eastern Europe. One of the main problems considered in the article is the change in the course of the history of the 19 th-21 st centuries the ratio of the concepts of «Balkans/South-Eastern Europe», «Eastern Europe», «Central-Eastern and South-Eastern Europe», «Western Balkans», «Western Balkan countries» and «European Western Balkans». The author characterizes various historical stages of the development of the region in the context of world wars and revolutions of the 20 th century, shows the specifics of political and ethnic processes, the internal political situation in each country and relations between the states of the region, the correlation between the processes of regionalization and globalization. With the disappearance of Eastern Europe in the form in which it existed in 1949-1991, after the anti-communist social and national revolutions in the former socialist countries of Europe in 1989-1992, an integral part of the process of national self-determination was the change in the regional self-identification of each people, society and state. If in the 2000 s, positive dynamics prevailed both in terms of internal political development, intraregional and global international relations, then in the 2010 s, the forward movement has stalled in terms of both the internal economic, social and political development of the states of the region, and the settlement of interethnic and interstate conflicts in the region against the background of a general aggravation of international relations. The article examines the role of regional identification and self-identification as elements of national self-awareness. The author also characterizes the challenges facing the countries of the region in the short, medium and long terms and indicates that the choice of the Balkans / South-Eastern Europe, despite the specificity caused by their historical fate, and all the difficulties of development and conflicts, has already been made: the Balkans (like Russia as well) is an integral part of Europe.

A major study on Ottoman architecture in Hungary

1982 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-73
Author(s):  
Géza Fehérvári
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Europe ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Classical Period ◽  
East European ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
South Eastern ◽  
The World ◽  
Ottoman Architecture ◽  
South Eastern Europe ◽  
Art And Architecture

Recent years have witnessed an increasing interest in Turkish art and architecture, an interest that embraces not only the monuments in Turkey proper but also those which were erected in south-eastern Europe during the Ottoman occupation. Thus a few years ago, when in conjunction with the World of Islam Festival a symposium was held in Edinburgh dedicated to Islam in the Balkans, the participants dealt with Islamic monuments in Bulgaria, Rumania, Greece and Yugoslavia. The Ottoman monuments of Hungary are admittedly not as numerous as those of these south-east European countries; nevertheless,they represent the achievements of a period which is justifiably called the ‘classical’ period in Ottoman art.

scholarly journals Thracian

2020 ◽  
pp. 787-817
Author(s):  
Wojciech Sowa
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
The State ◽  
Roman Period ◽  
Entire Period ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
South Eastern ◽  
History Of ◽  
South Eastern Europe

Thracian belongs to the group of languages spoken over the entire period of Antiquity in the areas of south-eastern Europe (mostly the Balkans) and which, like other vernaculars spoken in this and neighbouring areas, had died out by the end of the Roman period leaving but scanty evidence. This chapter provides an introduction into the state of our current knowledge about the Thracian language and epigraphy and the perspectives of research of this language. Since our comprehension and understanding of grammatical system of Thracian is limited, the current knowledge of the language makes any translation of attested inscriptions impossible. It is however expected that the progress in studying development and history of the Greek script may provide us with new and relevant data for interpretation of Thracian.

scholarly journals ‘The skies are empty and the continent is overflowing with insoluble problems’ – The Covid-19 crisis in the western Balkans and the failure of the EU

SEER ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-18
Author(s):  
Jens Becker ◽  
Ina Kulić
Keyword(s):  
Health Services ◽  
South Korea ◽  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Western Balkans ◽  
South Eastern ◽  
High Incidence ◽  
South Eastern Europe ◽  
Political Realities ◽  
The Eu

Many societies are still in the stranglehold of the coronavirus. China, South Korea and Taiwan have apparently overcome the pandemic but problems that are almost impossible to resolve are piling up in Europe. Despite the joint vaccination procurement campaign, the EU in particular is struggling to regulate the crisis domestically. The states of the western Balkans which have been relying on an EU perspective for years and which have repeatedly been put off, have also been hit hard, piling problems on top of health services that are, for a number of reasons, already seriously jeopardised. In view of the worsening situation - countries in central and south-eastern Europe are over-represented among those with the highest numbers of Covid-19 related deaths - we take a closer look at current practicalities and political realities in these ‘high incidence areas’, as the region is currently known (according to the Ost-Ausschuss der Deutschen Wirtschaft). This article focuses on the role of the EU, and how views of this are changing in the region, as well as that being played by other, apparently more nimble and agile, powers.

Problematic Terminology in a Tentative Research Methodology for the Visual Culture of the Balkans

2021 ◽  
Vol 66 (Special Issue) ◽  
pp. 67-78
Author(s):  
Anita Paolicchi ◽  
◽  
Keyword(s):  
Visual Culture ◽  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Research Methodology ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
South Eastern ◽  
South Eastern Europe ◽  
Methodological Problems ◽  
Western European ◽  
Interpretative Framework

"The aim of this paper is to highlight and briefly discuss some of the most problematic terms and concepts that recur in art historiography: for example, the words Byzantine, post-Byzantine, Eastern, Western and Local. These concepts are used in a misleading way not only by American and Western European authors, but also by Eastern and South-Eastern European ones: in fact, the “Balkan” art historiography based itself on the Western-European one, adopting its periodisation, terminology and interpretative framework, which led to a number of methodological problems that researchers are now trying to identify, discuss and, if possible, solve. Keywords: art historiography, South-Eastern Europe, silverwork, Byzantium. "

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.

The eu’s Pathological Power: The Failure of External Rule of Law Promotion in South Eastern Europe

2015 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 318-346 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Mendelski
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
International Standards ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Pathological Effect ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
South Eastern ◽  
European Court ◽  
South Eastern Europe

What impact does the European Union (eu) have on the development of the rule of law in South Eastern Europe (see)? The author of this article argues and shows that the eu has: 1) a positively reinforcing (healthy) effect with regard to judicial capacity and substantive legality, i.e. the alignment of domestic legislation with international standards, and 2) a negatively reinforcing (pathological) effect with regard to judicial impartiality and formal legality (the inner morality of law). The author explains the pathological impact of eu-driven rule of law reforms by referring to the eu’s deficient reform approach and to unfavorable domestic conditions, which in their interplay reinforce certain reform pathologies (legal instability, incoherence, politicization) that undermine the rule of law. The main argument is supported by a mixed method study. A quantitative indicator-based analysis measures rule of law development across four key dimensions on the basis of a variety of data (e.g. survey-based indicators, cepej data, and a unique dataset on legislative output). Additionally, the author draws on a number of qualitative interviews that he conducted with magistrates from see and representatives from the eu, the European Court of Human Rights, and the Council of Europe. The author concludes from these findings that external rule of law promotion in weak rule of law countries is not transformative, but rather reinforces systemic deficiencies that undermine the rule of law.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document