Facing the future : the Balkans to the year 2010

Part one of this paper examines the geopolitical context in which the Balkans are located at the end of the 20th century. It therefore assesses, in turn, the international environment, the regional parameters, and specific country developments. The bulk of the analysis projects and examines three alternative scenarios for the Balkans during the next decade: regional regression, secure development, and progressive integration. The first scenario envisages a major breakdown in the region’s development, marked by accelerating domestic devolutions, spiralling regional rivalries, and growing international isolation. The second scenario depicts a minimal constructive evolution characterised by domestic stabilization, regional cooperation, and increasing international involvement. The third scenario posits a maximal constructive development for the Balkans, involving major domestic transformations, regional Synchronization, and international integration. It is in order to help promote the latter scenario that this paper is offered

Balkan Pitfalls. ACES Working Papers, 2011

The Western Balkans are becoming increasingly mired in political conflicts, social disquiet, ethnic disputes, and state fragilities that can precipitate a new phase of regional instability. At the same time, the major international players may be unprepared and ill equipped to manage or resolve the emerging conflicts. While the U.S. and NATO have scaled down their presence in the region, the EU’s capabilities and effectiveness are coming under closer scrutiny

Prawo zobowiązań : materiały dydaktyczne

Do Czytelników "Oddawane w ręce Czytelników materiały dydaktyczne przygotowane zostały z myślą o studentach prawa. Prawo cywilne jest bowiem przedmiotem, którego opanowanie sprawia im zazwyczaj sporo trudności. Często programy studiów przeznaczają na nie więcej godzin zajęć dydaktycznych aniżeli na inne ważne przedmioty. Wynika to po części z obszerności materiału normatywnego, orzecznictwa i literatury, a po części z miejsca, jakie prawo cywilne, a zwłaszcza jego część ogólna i prawo zobowiązań, zajmują w kształceniu prawników. Skłania to do podejmowania starań zmierzających do ułatwienia studentom przygotowania się do wykładów i ćwiczeń oraz zaliczeń i egzaminów. Na rynku znajduje się obecnie sporo publikacji, z których można korzystać, w tym kilka dobrych, mających szereg wydań podręczników oraz komentarze do kodeksów. Jednakże, jak pokazuje doświadczenie, nie wszyscy studenci sięgają po nie dostatecznie chętnie. Niektórych odstrasza sama ich objętość. Zespół pracowników Katedry Prawa Cywilnego Krakowskiej Akademii im. Andrzeja Frycza Modrzewskiego przystąpił więc do przygotowania programu z tego przedmiotu i wypróbował go w ciągu paru lat."(...

The Cold Peace: Russo-Western Relations as a Mimetic Cold War

In 1989–1991 the geo-ideological contestation between two blocs was swept away, together with the ideology of civil war and its concomitant Cold War played out on the larger stage. Paradoxically, while the domestic sources of Cold War confrontation have been transcended, its external manifestations remain in the form of a ‘legacy’ geopolitical contest between the dominant hegemonic power (the United States) and a number of potential rising great powers, of which Russia is one. The post-revolutionary era is thus one of a ‘cold peace’. A cold peace is a mimetic cold war. In other words, while a cold war accepts the logic of conflict in the international system and between certain protagonists in particular, a cold peace reproduces the behavioural patterns of a cold war but suppresses acceptance of the logic of behaviour. A cold peace is accompanied by a singular stress on notions of victimhood for some and undigested and bitter victory for others. The perceived victim status of one set of actors provides the seedbed for renewed conflict, while the ‘victory’ of the others cannot be consolidated in some sort of relatively unchallenged post-conflict order. The ‘universalism’ of the victors is now challenged by Russia's neo-revisionist policy, including not so much the defence of Westphalian notions of sovereignty but the espousal of an international system with room for multiple systems (the Schmittean pluriverse)

Facing the Future: The Balkans to the Year 2010. ZEI Discussion Papers: 2001, C 86

[Introduction]: The Balkan Burden. "The Balkans" have both geographic and geopolitical significance. Geographically, it refers roughly to the region bounded by the Adriatic Sea, the southern Carpathian mountains, the Black Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea. Geopolitically and even geo-historically, “the Balkans” have accumulated numerous and often contradictory connotations, sometimes patronising, sometimes wistful, but often disparaging. For example, the Balkans have been described as the major crossroads between Europe and the Middle East and as a battleground between the major empires. The region has been depicted as a rich conglomerate of cultures and religions and as an ethnic and religious conflict zone. In recent years, the Balkans have been viewed as both a critical security zone and as an unstable non-European periphery. Since the Collapse of communist Europe, the "Balkans" have once again captured the headlines in the American and West European media and the attention of foreign policy makers. The concept of "Balkanisation", following the disintegration of the Soviet Bloc and the collapse of the communist Yugoslav federation, has again entered the security vocabulary. It has come to signify, much as it did at the beginning of this century, a simmering inferno of conflict and instability that no outside power can control and no local power can evidently escape. As a result, all the countries of this geographic region have been collectively framed into a geopolitical framework that no state can purportedly surmount. The pejorative "Balkan" image thus allegedly explains the often bloody "ethnic conflicts", the unreformable authoritarian regimes, the rampant criminality, the customary corruption, and the incurable economic backwardness. Ironically, it has suited two specific parties, one interested and one disinterested, to perpetuate these Balkan myths. On the one hand, the forces of nationalism, authoritarianism, and ethnic division active in parts of the region have thrived on this peculiar image of non-redemption to consolidate their positions and to try and forestall any outside interference. On the other hand, trans-Atlantic policy makers lacking sufficient strategic vision and commitment to pan-European integrity have manipulated the Balkan image to justify inaction and the assignment of South Eastern Europe to the permanent status of an outsider. It is against such powerful myth making and image generation that both the domestic reformers and foreign sympathisers have struggled to transform the Balkans and to propel the region toward the European mainstream. Their task during the past decade has been profoundly complicated by the wars within and between the Yugoslav successor states, by the repression perpetrated by Serbia’s Milosevic regime, by the collapse of the Albanian economy and the subsequent armed uprising, and by the uphill battles of all Balkan states to complete their transition from totalitarian communism to democratic capitalism. At the start of the 21st century, the time is ripe for a major reassessment of the Balkan region: for a sober analysis of the present condition and for an informed projection of alternative scenarios of development during the next decade. In this analysis and projection of Balkan instabilities and opportunities, the following states and quasi-states have been included: Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Kosovo, and Montenegro. Part one of this paper examines the geopolitical context in which the Balkans are located at the end of the 20th century. It therefore assesses, in Facing The Future: The Balkans To The Year 2010 turn, the international environment, the regional parameters, and specific country developments. The bulk of the analysis projects and examines three alternative scenarios for the Balkans during the next decade: regional regression, secure development, and progressive integration. The first scenario envisages a major breakdown in the region’s development, marked by accelerating domestic devolutions, spiralling regional rivalries, and growing international isolation. The second scenario depicts a minimal constructive evolution characterised by domestic stabilization, regional cooperation, and increasing international involvement. The third scenario posits a maximal constructive development for the Balkans, involving major domestic transformations, regional Synchronization, and international integration. It is in order to help promote the latter scenario that this paper is offered

Back to the Front: Russian Interests in the New Eastern Europe

The Donald W. Treadgold Papers publication series was created to honor a great teacher and scholar. Donald W. Treadgold was professor of history and international studies at the University of Washington from 1949 to 1993. During that time he wrote seven books, on of which - Twentieth Century Russia - went into eight editions. He was twice editor of Slavic Review, the organ of the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, and received the AAASS Award for Distinguished Contributions to Slavic Studies, as well as the AAASS Award for Destinguished Service. Professor Treadgold molded several generations of Russian historians and contributed enormously to the field of Russian history. He was, in other ways as well, an inspiration to all who knew him. The Treadgold Papers series was created in 1993 on the occaision of Professor Treadgold's retirement, on the initiative of Professor Daniel Waugh. Professor Treadgold passed away in December 1994. The series is dedicated to the memory of a great man, publishing papers in those areas which were close to his heart