Does proximity to conflict affect tourism: Evidence from NATO bombing

Although conflict, war, violence, and terrorism affect tourism, research that identifies possible channels of these effects is scarce. We explore if the adverse effects are channelled through proximity to conflict areas. We use the conflict in Kosovo in 1999 and the country Croatia as a quasi-natural experiment and take advantage of the specific north-west to south-east orientation of Croatian Adriatic counties to identify the effect of NATO bombing in Kosovo on tourism outcomes as well as the potential proximity channel. Using data on the population of Croatian firms and the difference-in-differences identification strategy we find that tourism companies’ revenues decreased significantly due to NATO bombing, especially in accommodation services and in companies with 50 or more employees. However, using a synthetic control approach we find that the adverse effect is only transitory. Analysing heterogeneous effects with respect to the distance of the firm from Kosovo—using a linear and a more flexible model—we find compelling evidence that within-country proximity to conflict is not a significant channel through which the negative effect propagates.

Philatelist from Pompeii. Spiritualization of Borders in the Work of Otto Tolnai

This essay is about the work of Otto Tolnai, a contemporary Hungarian poet and writer, living in Vojvodina, Serbia. In the focus of my analysis, there is his journal entitled “A Philatelist from Pompeii” which he started writing in the time of the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999. In this journal, as in his whole work, Tolnai transforms the political formula “spiritualization of borders” into an aesthetical concept. The formula “spiritualization of borders” spread among Hungarian politicians and intellectuals after the collapse of Kádár-regime. It was a new concept aimed to provide a good solution for the problems of ethnic Hungarian minorities in Romania, former Yugoslavia, and Slovakia. Since 1989 when the international borders in Central Europe have definitely become more transparent, it was hoped that after the Eastern enlargement of the EU, the transboundary cooperation could abolish the ethnic and cultural significance of state borders. Аеsthetic formula „spiritualization of borders” is connected with the concept of transitive identity in Tolnai’s autopoetic world. In this chapter, I study spatial and temporal aspects of transitive identity and analyse those literary tools (for example mythologisation of names, mixture of different genres, essayistic, commentaries of philosophical works, and political events), with the help of which Tolnai successfully deconstructs the opposition between the political categories of majority and minority.

The importance of anti-Serb propaganda and hybrid warfare in the process of the disintegration of Yugoslavia

The paper focuses on a synthesized image of the propaganda, engineered and coordinated by the totalitarian media of leading Western countries during the 1990s, which reduced the complex Yugoslav reality to spin-off propaganda images that laid the blame on only one side. The negative perception of Serbs was achieved by framing propaganda narratives, created by a strong campaign of well-organized and influential global media. By powerful stigmatization and demonization in political practice, Serbs were branded as responsible for all the conflicts and wars. Combining different methods and techniques of psychological, propaganda and armed activities at the operational or tactical level, Western strategists dedicated a significant part of their engagement to stifling alternative sources of information. This included even their physical destruction, which was realized for the first time in world practice with the NATO bombing of the building of the Serbian Radio and Television and over 300 relays and repeaters. Yugoslavia was gradually torn apart, in line with the interests of the new geopolitical environment, while the Serbs did not quickly understand the process in which, instead of the truth, manipulative notions of "new reality" spread through the global media.

U.S.-RUSSIAN RELATIONS IN THE SHADOW OF THE 1999 KOSOVO WAR

The paper examines the changing relations between the U.S. and Russia since the end of the twentieth century, shaped by the experience of NATO’s war with Federal Republic of Yugoslavia over Kosovo. The first decade after the termination of the Cold War brought about the American ‘unipolar moment’, and with it the attempt of Russian political elites to approach the unipole and find a sustainable modus vivendi with it: the relationship between Yeltsin and Clinton administrations is a vivid example of such endeavors. At the same time, policies such as NATO expansion induced suspicion on the Russian side with regard to the possibilities of achieving an understanding and allowing Russia to become a legitimate part of European security architecture. When, in March of 1999, NATO began with the attacks against FRY (a country perceived as traditionally friendly towards Russia) without the consent of the United Nations Security Council, a long shadow was cast over the prospects of a Russian – American rapprochement. All subsequent episodes of cooperation and competition between Russia and the U.S. have been observed through the lens shaped by the Kosovo war. Drawing from contemporary Russian and western academic literature and memoir materials (Primakov, Guskova, Narochnitska, Baranovsky, Tsygankov, Sushenkov; Wohlforth, Walt, Clarke, Hill, Galen Carpenter et al.) and building upon the traditional realist concepts of great power competition and balancing, the author assesses the development of U.S.-Russian security relations in the context the Kosovo war experience. It is argued that, in addition to being an attack against a country perceived as a traditional Russian friend or protégé, NATO bombing of FRY in 1999 posed a major concern to Russia because it was a signal that the alliance was ready to change its strategic posture and engage in out-of-area operations.

The role of international organizations in the development of security sector in Kosovo: Advantages and constrains

Pursuant to UNSC Resolution 1244, following the war and the NATO bombing campaign, Kosovo was placed under an international administration, by the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK). After the end of the war, the course of the security policies in Kosovo was directed mainly by international actors. Basically, the security sector was non-existent, whereas the international military and civilian presence was responsible for the security of Kosovo’s borders and the protection of public order. The responsibility for security thus belonged to the international community and was progressively transferred to the Kosovo security institutions. While in the beginning, the takeover of security by the international community was a necessity in order to provide peace and stability, the prolongation of the delegation of ownership to local institutions created disadvantages in terms of timely and professional development. During international administration, the undefined political status of Kosovo influenced the security sector as an area reserved for the international community.

Designing and realization of the control networks of the telecommunication tower Avala

The Avala telecommunication tower was destroyed during the NATO bombing in 1999. The construction of the new tower at the same place started in 2007. The new tower consists of reinforced concrete part, with a total height of 142 m, and the antenna part with the height of 70 m. The body shape of the construction is a triangular prism with the equilateral triangle base with sides of 7 m. Civil engineering experts defined structure tolerance of 10 mm in the horizontal plane and 2 mm in the vertical plane. The design was produced pursuant to the principles of surveying profession and the conditions set. The paper describes the complexity of designing the control networks for high-rise buildings. The main tasks presented in this article are as follows: choosing the position of the control network points, defining the measuring plan, the network datum and the precision of measurements, calculation of the network quality criteria, and technical conditions for the realization of measurement.

Redress for Victims of the NATO Bombing of the Radio Television of Serbia: The Example of Monuments

The year 2019 marked the 20th anniversary of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) intervention in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and the end of the Kosovo War. I take this as an opportunity to reflect on the role, importance and impact of the NATO bombing victims’ redress. This article unwraps the process of policymaking aimed at the redress for victims of the NATO bombing, exploring how policymakers formulated policies and, among other issues, what role the families of the Radio Television of Serbia employees who died in the NATO bombing have in the formulation of these policies.