Online methods in geography educational research

Online methods in geography educational researc

POOLING SOVEREIGNTY, LOSING TERRITORIALITY? MAKING PEACE IN CYPRUS AND MOLDOVA

Whereas territory contains a platform for units to participate internationally, it should also have sovereignty to render relations legitimate. Sovereignty is not only dispersed or pooled but also accumulated. Territory makes sense as long as there are attempts to strive for new nation-states or to maintain the territorial integrity of the old ones. One may argue that the less important is territoriality nowadays, the more complex and multifaceted the issue of sovereignty becomes. This comparative paper draws on the parallel developments in partition processes, which gave birth to the Turkish Republic of North Cyprus (TRNC) and Transnistria (TMR). The paper then analyses factual sovereignty and federalisation attempts in Cyprus and Moldova, with the final focus on recent legitimising constitutional provisions proposed in the Annan Plan and the Kozak Plan. My argument here is that even with the best intentions to agree on shared sovereignty, territoriality remains of primary concern for involved parties in the conflicts. Copyright (c) 2006 by the Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG.

Nationalism and identity in post-Dayton accords: Bosnia-Hercegovina

The Dayton Accords, concluded in November 1995 following the recent bloody conflict in the former Yugoslavia, established Bosnia-Hercegovina as a country of two entities: a Croat-Muslim federation and Republika Srpska, dominated by Bosnian Serbs. The conflict created a substantial refugee problem and a transformation through ethnic cleansing of the mosaic of ethnically intermingled communities that was characteristic of pre-war Bosnia. Within this turmoil of dislocation, trauma and continuing distrust between the ethnic groups the new state is gradually being established. Reconstruction is progressing; new institutions are being created and new (or redefined) identities are emerging in response to the changing economic and political circumstances. This paper draws upon ethno-symbolic arguments and elements of banal nationalism to analyse contradictory aspects of evolving nationalist identities in Bosnia, especially within the Muslim (Bosniak) population. Drawing upon recent ethnographic field-work, it focuses both on visible elements of nationalism and identity within the urban landscapes of the capital, Sarajevo, and the city of Mostar to the south, and less tangible cultural signifiers as symbolised in the emergence of the term 'Bosniak' and the reconstruction of the national (formerly regional) museum. Copyright (c) 2006 by the Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG.