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The paper begins by considering the difficulties which are confronting the process of European integrations. The reluctance of the European Union to pursue its politics of enlargement, which has lately become visible in several vetoes blocking the start of accession negotiations, has provoked disappointment in the countries which are candidates for membership or on their way to becoming it. Among them are a few states of our region, which seem to be doomed to remain at the periphery of Europe. At the same time, the European Union is faced with the old problem of its own, the so-called democratic deficit. This paper seeks for a perspective in which these difficulties on both sides could be dealt with. It discusses three paradigmatic ways of representing Europe, which serve as a basis for different strategies of legitimizing the European Union. The first of them is idealist, since it elevates Europe to the rank of a philosophical concept which transcends the empirical definition of Europe as just one continent among others. This view reflects the representation of Europe as a unique, privileged part of the world and assumes that the rest of humanity should accept and pursue Europe's fundamental values. The second, more realistic conception envisages the European Union as an empire which is legitimized in terms of de facto arguments, such as the estimates of the costs of renouncing the Union, which would allegedly surpass those of its survival and continuation of the integration process, or by the need of preserving peace. A critical examination of these ways of legitimizing Europe reveals their factual unfoundedness and ideological character. The heritage of colonialism looms behind the idealist view of European supremacy, while the concept of the European Union as a sort of benevolent empire has paternalistic implications. The last part of the text, dealing with the problem of the European civil war (theorized by Carl Schmitt and Ernst Nolte), suggests that these shortcomings could be addressed in a conception of European politics which would not aim at pacifying or neutralizing conflicts but, on the contrary, at exposing the very conflictual component of politics. The example of ancient Greek democracy shows that preventing the civil war does not consist in eliminating all conflicts from politics but rather in their transposition to a superior level or their sublimation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

U članku se razmatra delatnost Centralnog jugoslovenskog biroa pri Centralnom komitetu Ruske komunističke partije (boljševika) u završnoj fazi Građanskog rata u Rusiji. Prema tvrđenjima sovjetske i jugoslovenske istoriografije socijalističkog perioda, jugoslovenske komunističke organizacije su se 1920–1921. godine uglavnom bavile omogućavanjem povratka u domovinu Jugoslovena koji su učestvovali u Građanskom ratu na strani kako crvenih, tako i belih. Dokumenti korišćeni u članku omogućavaju da se tvrdi da ove organizacije nisu toliko doprinele repatrijaciji sunarodnika, koliko su pokušavale da po svom nahođenju odlučuju ko je od Jugoslovena „proleterski element“ i kao takav može računati na povratak, a ko, poput „svih bivših srpskih i crnogorskih podanika bez izuzetka“, podleže zatvaranju u koncentracioni logor, kako bi kasnije mogli da posluže i kao taoci. U zaključku, autor nudi svoje viđenje razloga za ukidanje ovih organizacija jugoslovenskih komunista.

Slom ustanka u Srbiji u jesen 1941. otvorio je i pitanje sudbine njegovih učesnika koji su u prethodnom periodu uzeli učešća u aktivnostima protiv nemačkih snaga i srpskih vlasti pod okupacijom. Manji deo pripadnika partizanskih odreda odstupio je sa Vrhovnim štabom u Sandžak, dok je onima koji su ostali u nekadašnjim žarištima ustanka predstojala teška borba za opstanak na terenu. Dok su aktivnosti partizana koji su produžili gerilsku borbu ili po raspuštanju svojih odreda bili uhapšeni i odvedeni u logore detaljno rekonstruisane, pitanje onih koji su tada položili oružje ostalo je u senci istorijskih istraživanja. U istoriografiji se pod pojmom „legalizacija“ 1941. podrazumeva prelazak dela vojno-četničkih odreda u okvire vojnih struktura Srpske vlade pod okupacijom. Povratak primarnim istorijskim izvorima, pre svega arhivskoj građi, ali i pojedinim memoarskim zapisima ukazuje nam da se i jedan deo partizana i komunista na sličan način legalizovao pri kolaboracionističkim formacijama. Njihova legalizacija imala je nešto drugačije karakteristike. Opšta pojava na prelazu 1941/1942. bila je i njihovo privremeno sklanjanje i prelazak u jedinice JVuO. U ovom radu analiziramo karakteristike tog procesa.

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Copyright of Sociološka Luča is the property of Socioloska Luca and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article aims to provide an explanation for appropriate categorization of the violent conflicts in Bosnia and Herzegovina 1992-1995. Author defines the conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina as a civil war based on the scientific definition and categorization. Later on, the author points to the differences in perception of the war origins based on ethnicity, as Serbs perceive war as a civil war, Bosniaks as an external aggression of both Serbia and Croatia, while Croats perceive it as an external aggression of Serbia. Finally, the author suggests that the conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina can be perceived as an intercommunal ethnic conflict and internationalized civil war [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper shows the development of consociational democracy in Lebanon from independence until today, and mutually intertwined internal and external factors that affected (and still affect) the Lebanese political system. The paper is divided into three sections. The first section is focused on the independence from France in 1943, and the establishment of the "First Republic". That same year, leading Lebanese Christian and Muslim politicians came to an unwritten understanding, a kind of Lebanese gentlemen's agreement, which later became known as the "National Pact". This agreement was not aimed at establishing the foundations of Lebanese confessional democracy, but despite that, it established the foundations for a political system, which regulates the interconfessional relations in Lebanon even today. The second section of the paper deals with the crises of 1952 and 1958, which tested the Lebanese state and society, and the Civil War of 1975-1989 that tore Lebanon apart. The 1989 Ta'if Accord officially ended the war and marked the beginning of the "Second Republic". The conclusion is a short discussion focused on the future of Lebanon, taking into consideration the current state of the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fifty two years ago, the Kingdom of Cambodia became an independent state. A former colony of French Indochina i.e. an associate member of the French Union, Cambodia gained sovereignty in 1954 at the Geneva Conference. Since then Cambodia has been trying to build stable political institutions, but from the long-term perspective this process has been hampered by the internal conflict, directly at first and later indirectly and generated by several foreign-policy actors. The multi-stage civil war of 1970-1991, characterized by the autogenocide of the Khmer Rouge regime (1975-1979) ravaged the country and cost it several million lives. International community led by the UN brokered the Paris Peace Agreement in 1991 and in 1993 organized the most complex and expensive elections in history. Since then, Cambodia has held multiparty elections in regular electoral cycles in 1998 and 2003; nevertheless and despite the fifteen years of peace, the country has just begun its democratic transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates which one of two competing theories -- balance of power theory or power preponderance theory -- better explains war on the territory of former Yugoslavia. The main finding is that military preponderance in favour of Serbia fostered aggression of this state on Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Furthermore, relative balance of power, which was established in 1995, was the main reason for the termination of hostilities and for the Dayton peace agreement. Consequently, this article concludes that case study of the war on the territory of former Yugoslavia is an additional argument in favour of classical balance of power theory and that power preponderance theory cannot explain neither outbreak nor ending of this war. This article also challenges previous interpretations of war in former Yugoslavia, which claimed that this war was a civil war based on ethnic hatred. In contrast, this article argues that conflict on the territory of former Yugoslavia was primarily an interstate war based on rational calculations of main actors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]