Why are Southestern Regional Approaches Unacceptable for Croatia?

The article presents a critical view of the two concepts of the resolution of the conflicts on the territory of southeastern Europe and particularly on the territory of the former Yugoslavia. They are the American initiative SECI and the European Union’s regional initiative. The author finds the American initiative of the cooperation between the states on that territory unrealistic. It means linking the unlinkable (similar to the former COMECON) and serves American Eastern interests and plans. The EU regional initiative is more logical since there is nothing hidden behind it, unlike the SECI. The author thinks that both proposals are unacceptable for Croatia. Croatian interests lie with Western Europe - economic as well as others, particularly political, so EU would do better to forge ties with Croatia

Misappropriated Property of Former Yugoslavia: Economic Basis of the Serbian Aggression against Croatia

In his essay, the author deals with two topics: disadvantageous effects of the common Yugoslav state on the Croatia economy and misappropriation of the Yugoslav federal state property by Serbia. In the first Yugoslavia (between the two World Wars) Croatia was economically handicapped through different political practices; the monetary reform, taxing imparities, Sebian colonization in Eastern Slavonia and disadvantageous treatment in infrastructure construction. In the socialist Yugoslavia this handicap was continued primarily through a policy of industrial disinvestment. The economic reforms by Prime Minister Ante Marković in the late 1980s could not save the Yugoslav federation, they even attempted to increase centralization, which was inacceptable for Croatia. In the second part of the article the author offers a calculation of federal state property (mainly foreign currency reserves and military property) misapproriated by Serbia. On the basis of IMF methodology in calculating Croatian state share in the Yugoslav GNP the author estimates that the net value of the Croatian part of the federal property amounts to 17 billion USD

Misappropriated Property of Former Yugoslavia: Economic Basis of the Serbian Aggression against Croatia

In his essay, the author deals with two topics: disadvantageous effects of the common Yugoslav state on the Croatia economy and misappropriation of the Yugoslav federal state property by Serbia. In the first Yugoslavia (between the two World Wars) Croatia was economically handicapped through different political practices; the monetary reform, taxing imparities, Sebian colonization in Eastern Slavonia and disadvantageous treatment in infrastructure construction. In the socialist Yugoslavia this handicap was continued primarily through a policy of industrial disinvestment. The economic reforms by Prime Minister Ante Marković in the late 1980s could not save the Yugoslav federation, they even attempted to increase centralization, which was inacceptable for Croatia. In the second part of the article the author offers a calculation of federal state property (mainly foreign currency reserves and military property) misapproriated by Serbia. On the basis of IMF methodology in calculating Croatian state share in the Yugoslav GNP the author estimates that the net value of the Croatian part of the federal property amounts to 17 billion USD

Is a new “Iron Curtain” reemerging in Europe?

The author is of the opinion that with the fall of the Berlin wall not all obstacles to the free circulation of goods and people were eliminated — either in Europe or in other regions of the world, since there are numerous other walls standing in the way of establishing a global world or European order. In that context, the agreement among the members of the European Union on the all-out control of “its borders” towards the non-member European countries, is considered by the author as a specific form of a new “curtain”, not “iron” any longer, but electronic. Its function, the author claims, is to divide Europe into the Union and the Non-union, which is in many ways harmful for the promotion of the European idea — in the spiritual and the material sense

Breakdown of the Transitional Model for the Passage from Socialism to Capitalism

The article deals with transitional countries that, after initial successes, found themselves beset by a plethora of predicaments, among which massive foreign loans are only the tip of the iceberg of the exigencies they have to cope with. The author argues that due partly to subjective reasons and partly to inapt advice, there has occurred the deliberate devastation of manufacturing capacities and the indiscriminate capital influx that has on the one hand stimulated economic recovery, but on the other created considerable quandaries, so that the professed achievements are increasingly dubious. The author places the transitional countries’ foreign debts into the context of universal excessive borrowing in the world that exceeds 2,000 billion dollars. The author is trying to shed some light on this global problem by means of the theory of the “third way”, that has been gaining legitimacy in the debates on the future of world industry and society

The American View on Reforms to the International Monetary Fund and World Bank

Međunarodni monetarni fond i Svjetska banka već dulje vrijeme trpe prigovore da su iznevjerili osnovne ciljeve i da bi ih trebalo ukinuti, jer su umjesto kanala za pomoć zemljama u razvoju postali kanal za njihovo discipliniranje. Na drugoj strani Sjedinjene Države protive se tim prijedlozima, umjesto ukidanja predlažu njegovu reanimaciju i čvrsto završavanje zadaća koje su im u osnivanju postavljene.The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have been exposed to criticism for quite some time now for having betrayed their basic goals. Thus, it is claimed that they should be dissolved because they have turned out to be a mechanism for bringing developing countries under discipline instead of rendering them assistance. The United States, on the other hand, strongly object to such proposals, suggesting furthermore their reanimation and thorough fulfilment of the tasks, as identified and defined at their foundation