The author (of the book) examines the religious musical traditions of Jews from Central and Eastern Europe, especially from the regions situated within the borders of pre-WWII Poland. These traditions are presented in a broader historical context, from the biblical times until today, as well as a geographical context, with the author outlining the main musical idioms of the Jewish Diaspora. The source basis comprises sound material collected during field research carried out in Poland and other Eastern European countries (between 2002 and 2013).

This thesis examines the intersection of cultural discourse and economic policies of the Hungarian populist radical right party, Fidesz. It classifies the cultural discourse of the governing party as neo-traditionalist by examining how the party's leader, Viktor Orbán, rhetorically shapes his vision of the nation, espouses traditional values, and uses missionary politics to create a personalized moral code under the guise of cultural Christianity. It examines the government's economic policies of nationalization and re-privatization, crony capitalism, and national work program within a neo-feudalist classification. This research finds that the neo-feudalist economic policies of Fidesz serve as a reinforcement mechanism that legitimizes the cultural discourse espoused by Orbán. Furthermore, the neo-feudal economy is reshaping the social system into a highly centralized and hierarchical structure and having lasting macroeconomic effects, including demographic issues and increasing levels of wealth inequality. This emerging illiberal model of governance is not only reshaping Hungary's political, economic, and social systems, but also contributing to a larger movement away from the tenets of liberal democracy within CEE. Keywords Neo-traditionalism, Neo-feudalism, Delayed transformational fatigue,...

No / This article traces the changes in Anglo-Hungarian relations during the Second World War. Both official and clandestine dealings with the Horthy regime are explored, and put in the wider context of the shifting British attitude towards small states. It is argued that British officials came to endorse the fatalistic view of Sir Stafford Cripps that `smaller countries must fall under the sway of highly industrialised and rigidly controlled major powers¿. The Foreign Office was no longer willing to champion national causes in Central Europe; Horthy¿s Hungary was a case in point. Although Britain declared war on Hungary as late as December 1941, and only under strong Soviet pressure, from April 1941 the BBC was explicitly instructed to treat Hungary as an `enemy state¿. This hostile attitude changed in the spring of 1943, when the British government entered into secret negotiations with Regent Horthy and the Kállay government. Paradoxically, the Foreign Office was far more appreciative of any signs of independence and neutrality in Hungarian foreign policy than two years earlier, when such a policy held some promise. Hungary may have been branded as `an enemy country which will have to work her passage home¿, but British agents still played a pivotal role in the attempts by the Horthy regime to change sides in the war. A similar dichotomy can be detected in the British attitude towards the Soviet occupation of the country. Whilst the head of the British Military Mission was instructed to follow the Soviet lead in the Allied Control Commission in Hungary, he was also ordered `to resist any attempt by the Soviet authorities to encroach on Hungarian sovereignty or independence¿. This contradiction was the result of negative memories from the interwar years, when Britain failed to capitalise on her prestige and influence in Central and Eastern Europe.

This thesis examines factors that underscored higher education reforms in Central and Eastern Europe during the transition period from 1990 to 2005. The study explores higher education reforms in three national settings – Hungary, Romania and the Republic of Moldova, and presents a detailed analysis of the Moldovan case. Rooted in critical approaches to development, transition reforms and policy analysis in higher education, it addresses the new realities of global capitalism, inequitable distribution of power between the industrialized nations and the rest of the world, and the ways in which this power distribution impacts higher education systems in Central and Eastern Europe. Historical analyses, a qualitative cross-national analysis of HE systems in three nations, and interviews with Moldovan higher education policymakers provided rich data on higher education reforms in the region and selected nations. Higher education evolved from institutions serving very select elite in the Middle Ages to universities driving modernization in the 19th and the first half of the 20th century, and to diverse institutional types - universities, colleges, institutes - underscoring the massification of higher education after WWII. Policies pursued by Hungarian, Romanian and Moldovan leaders to expand higher education were informed by the national socio-economic, political and demographic contexts, the dominant global development agenda, and international institutional practices. The capacity of national leaders to carry out higher education reforms was limited by the colonial and post-colonial relationships that were established over centuries between each of these nations and stronger regional powers, such as the Habsburg, Ottoman and Russian Empires, the Soviet Union, and the European Union. Major regional powers had a significant role in the formation of nation states, educational institutions and higher education politics. At the same time, national elites used language and ethnic policies to shape social and higher education developments and build national identities. By bringing an international perspective to the analysis of reforms in Central and Eastern Europe, by focusing on Hungary, Romania and Moldova, and by drawing on critical theory and post-colonial studies, this research study contributes to the international scholarly discussion of higher education and development reforms, enriches methodological developments in the field of higher education, and advances the discourse of comparative higher education.

There are several advantages of capital markets integration, such as increasing overall market liquidity, improving the scope for diversification and risk sharing. Therefore, the European institutions try to boost capital markets integration among the member states. The aim of this empirical paper is to analyse the level of integration of the main equity markets in the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE): the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria from 2001 until 2010 using an integration score analysis. This methodology was proposed by Akdogan (1996; 1997) and later extended by Barari (2004) and by Birg & Lucey (2006). The paper focuses on the developments of regional and global integration of these countries. Findings from this research can be of interest to investors as well as policy makers because the degree of capital markets integration has important implications for cross-border capital flows, financial management, and for the conduct of monetary policy. The results from this paper suggest that the opportunities for portfolio diversification are diminishing in the CEE countries. The diversification benefits were mainly reduced by the accession to the EU, but they did not completely disappear. The findings showed that the global financial crisis in 2008 brought about a rapid change in integration. Global integration increased during the crises, whereas the regional started to decline after years of rising.

This dissertation analyses governance in the process of the formation of new regional alliances and spaces in Europe, by studying the case of the Central European Region - Centrope, which is both a region and a political project at the border area of Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary. This research aims at illuminating the historically founded relationship between emerging territories and new socioeconomic institutionalisations through unveiling the mode of governance in Centrope. It uncovers the progress and dilemmas of the institutionalization of a new region and regional alliances. The focus is on socio-spatial transformations, bringing in conceptual clarifications to unravel, among other issues, the ways in which actor's alliances are formed and mobilized to defend and promote particular interests grounded within already established, emerging, or potential state spaces. It thus sheds light on the mode of governance and regional development being fostered by the EU in new trans-border regions, as well as on the challenges involved in implementing new spaces in the EU under the absolute rule of a specific notion of competitiveness. This enabled sketching some alternative policy recommendations. (author's abstract)

The main aim of this thesis is to analyze EU-Western Balkans relations with regard to the prospective EU membership of the Western Balkans, and to make an analysis of the EU&rsquo / s Western Balkans enlargement strategy and the scope of membership conditionality imposed on the Western Balkans from post Dayton period (1995) to present (2006). This thesis examines how the EU membership conditionality worked in the Western Balkans&rsquo / preparatory stages for pre-accession, and to what extent it is different from the CEE enlargement process. Lastly, considering the discussions on rediscovered absorption capacity and the commitment of EU for further eastward enlargements after the CEE enlargement of 2004, it is looked into whether there has been a shift in EU&rsquo / s Western Balkans strategy. This thesis argues that the dominant factor determining the dynamics of the EU-Western Balkans relations are preferences, priorities and internal dynamics of the EU. The comparison between the CEE&rsquo / s and Western Balkans&rsquo / EU integration process reveals that EU tailored a long term and flexible enlargement strategy with increasing conditionality within SAP framework for the Western Balkans. Hence as long as the EU does not feel a sense of urgency straining the stability and EU integration of the region, a motivation for presenting an immediate enlargement platform will not emerge. In this sense, after the CEE enlargement, EU rediscovered its absorption capacity as a main membership condition and further differentiated the regional countries in terms of their own merits in fulfilling EU&rsquo / s conditionality and standards.

This thesis examines factors that underscored higher education reforms in Central and Eastern Europe during the transition period from 1990 to 2005. The study explores higher education reforms in three national settings – Hungary, Romania and the Republic of Moldova, and presents a detailed analysis of the Moldovan case. Rooted in critical approaches to development, transition reforms and policy analysis in higher education, it addresses the new realities of global capitalism, inequitable distribution of power between the industrialized nations and the rest of the world, and the ways in which this power distribution impacts higher education systems in Central and Eastern Europe. Historical analyses, a qualitative cross-national analysis of HE systems in three nations, and interviews with Moldovan higher education policymakers provided rich data on higher education reforms in the region and selected nations. Higher education evolved from institutions serving very select elite in the Middle Ages to universities driving modernization in the 19th and the first half of the 20th century, and to diverse institutional types - universities, colleges, institutes - underscoring the massification of higher education after WWII. Policies pursued by Hungarian, Romanian and Moldovan leaders to expand higher education were informed by the national socio-economic, political and demographic contexts, the dominant global development agenda, and international institutional practices. The capacity of national leaders to carry out higher education reforms was limited by the colonial and post-colonial relationships that were established over centuries between each of these nations and stronger regional powers, such as the Habsburg, Ottoman and Russian Empires, the Soviet Union, and the European Union. Major regional powers had a significant role in the formation of nation states, educational institutions and higher education politics. At the same time, national elites used language and ethnic policies to shape social and higher education developments and build national identities. By bringing an international perspective to the analysis of reforms in Central and Eastern Europe, by focusing on Hungary, Romania and Moldova, and by drawing on critical theory and post-colonial studies, this research study contributes to the international scholarly discussion of higher education and development reforms, enriches methodological developments in the field of higher education, and advances the discourse of comparative higher education.

The present master's thesis discusses the traditional textile technique of embroidery in the context of contemporary art and analyses the way in which this craft technique has evolved from its invention to this day. The historical development points at the inevitable link between this artistic technique and women's history in Western societies, where embroidery strove to maintain stereotypes on femininity. In the twentieth century, embroidery as well as other textile techniques take on a new, subversive quality which enables the beginning of a social dialogue through art. It becomes a part of the public space in the form of banners in demonstrations or craftivist interventions in city streets. It tries to free itself from stereotypes and become an accessible technique for which the artistic process is as important as the finished piece. The work of contemporary artists reveals the shifting position of textile art, which cannot be considered as a simple offshoot of artistic craftsmanship for it has turned into in an autonomous and widely used medium of expression in current artistic production.

Thesis is focusing on trends in foreign direct investment flows and stocks in Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia break down by country and activity. The main data analysis is for years 2000 - 2006. Recent trends from 2007 till H1 2009 are mentioned only in terms of total flows and stocks.