Thesis--Leyden. / Summaries in Dutch and Croatian. Includes bibliographical references (p. [346]-353) and index.

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Drawing on insights from social psychological literature on identity formation, and on social movement and contentious politics literature, this research focuses on elite strategies to gain from or survive a crisis. The research specifically looks at strategies to foster popular support and mobilisation. It explores the use of divisive and ethno-centric discourses and policies aimed at mobilising supporters in times of instability or crisis. More specifically, it studies why some elite mobilising appeals have traction. To do so, the research examines social and psychological mechanisms behind group solidarity. A heightened sense of group solidarity is what leads individuals to think in terms of the group, a necessary step for mobilisation. From there, they can be made to feel appeals for collective action are warranted. Three mechanisms in particular are discussed: opposition, politicisation and simplification. Opposing entails enhancing feelings of attachment by creating a sense of antagonistic relations with another group. Politicising consists in ascribing to group identities a political nature, more conducive to contentious relations. The final strategy is simplification. It amounts to simplifying interpretations of the situation and environment so as to make them more readily internalisable. This framework is applied to contemporary Rwanda and to the lead-up to the wars in Yugoslavia. In the Rwandese case, cultural and historical references were repeatedly used by ruling regimes to foster a Hutu uprising against the Tutsi population. This tactic eventually played a fundamental role in triggering the 1994 genocide. In the former Yugoslavia, Croatian and Serbian elites antagonised group relations by agitating nationalist rhetoric. Though this was a strategy to stay in power or gain support, it also led to the break-up of Yugoslavia and to wars in Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Drawing on insights from social psychological literature on identity formation, and on social movement and contentious politics literature, this research focuses on elite strategies to gain from or survive a crisis. The research specifically looks at strategies to foster popular support and mobilisation. It explores the use of divisive and ethno-centric discourses and policies aimed at mobilising supporters in times of instability or crisis. More specifically, it studies why some elite mobilising appeals have traction. To do so, the research examines social and psychological mechanisms behind group solidarity. A heightened sense of group solidarity is what leads individuals to think in terms of the group, a necessary step for mobilisation. From there, they can be made to feel appeals for collective action are warranted. Three mechanisms in particular are discussed: opposition, politicisation and simplification. Opposing entails enhancing feelings of attachment by creating a sense of antagonistic relations with another group. Politicising consists in ascribing to group identities a political nature, more conducive to contentious relations. The final strategy is simplification. It amounts to simplifying interpretations of the situation and environment so as to make them more readily internalisable. This framework is applied to contemporary Rwanda and to the lead-up to the wars in Yugoslavia. In the Rwandese case, cultural and historical references were repeatedly used by ruling regimes to foster a Hutu uprising against the Tutsi population. This tactic eventually played a fundamental role in triggering the 1994 genocide. In the former Yugoslavia, Croatian and Serbian elites antagonised group relations by agitating nationalist rhetoric. Though this was a strategy to stay in power or gain support, it also led to the break-up of Yugoslavia and to wars in Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

This thesis demonstrates the powerful relationship between ethnicity, culture, nation and state in the Basque Country and the Former Yugoslavia. In placing Basque and Yugoslav sub-state nationalism in comparative relief this study argues that political state or autonomy seeking behavior on the basis of an ethnically defined or imagined community continues to have powerful contemporary salience. Furthermore when situated within the literature on nationalism, these two cases suggest that the theoretical literature needs to be reworked beyond the positions of Anthony Smith and Ernest Gellner. The endurance of cultural claims to a political state suggests that the connection between ethnicity and the nation is stronger then many contemporary observers have suggested. It is argued that the cultural, political and territorial rights of sub-state nations are likely to remain highly divisive sites of historical, cultural and political contestation. As a force, nationalism is by no means relegated to the past by cosmopolitanism or a ‘post-national’ shift as a number of high profile commentators in the contemporary social sciences have argued. Rather, it remains an active and powerful idea that will continue to shape the sociopolitical landscape of human societies into the twenty-first century as it has the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

The purpose of this thesis is to present and explain Greece's foreign policy towards former Yugoslavia within the context of European Political Cooperation (EPC) during the period of June 1991-December 1992. This aspect of Greece's foreign policy was primarily defined by the dispute with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), that essentially constituted the more recent manifestation of the Macedonian Question. The analysis of Greek foreign policy within EPC will be based on the theory of institutionalism, which claims that international regimes can influence state behavior towards cooperative actions. The application of institutionalism requires the existence of common interests and the presence of at least one regime. This thesis shows the significant interests shared by Greece and FYROM, as well as how EPC can be viewed as a regime. Crucially, EPC was primarily responsible for dealing with issues arising from the disintegration of Yugoslavia during the months covered in this thesis. It will be demonstrated that until mid- January 1992, the Greek government pursued politics of cooperation and flexibility, often contrary to perceived national interests. These politics were primarily regime-produced and related, and hence explained by the theory of institutionalism. After 17 January 1991 however, Greece practised politics of limited cooperation within EPC and confrontation against FYROM. The issue of the new republic's exact name gradually became of paramount importance, provoking popular passions and subordinating all other issues and concerns connected to former Yugoslavia. Such developments were ultimately the result of domestic and partisan politics that were entirely unrelated to EPC, thus causing the decline of institutionalism's explanatory power. Given this record, the thesis will argue that the specific expansion of the conditions required for the application of institutionalism would allow the theory to retain its explanatory and predictive relevance. Finally, specific lessons on the conduct of Greek foreign policy will be discussed.

No description available.

This thesis demonstrates the powerful relationship between ethnicity, culture, nation and state in the Basque Country and the Former Yugoslavia. In placing Basque and Yugoslav sub-state nationalism in comparative relief this study argues that political state or autonomy seeking behavior on the basis of an ethnically defined or imagined community continues to have powerful contemporary salience. Furthermore when situated within the literature on nationalism, these two cases suggest that the theoretical literature needs to be reworked beyond the positions of Anthony Smith and Ernest Gellner. The endurance of cultural claims to a political state suggests that the connection between ethnicity and the nation is stronger then many contemporary observers have suggested. It is argued that the cultural, political and territorial rights of sub-state nations are likely to remain highly divisive sites of historical, cultural and political contestation. As a force, nationalism is by no means relegated to the past by cosmopolitanism or a ‘post-national’ shift as a number of high profile commentators in the contemporary social sciences have argued. Rather, it remains an active and powerful idea that will continue to shape the sociopolitical landscape of human societies into the twenty-first century as it has the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.