Notwithstanding a broad range of internal and external stresses, Macedonia was the only republic to attain its independence peacefully from the otherwise violent disintegration of the former Yugoslavia in the early 1990s. Subject of a timely and sustained international response, it was feted as a rare preventive success for the international community. Whilst not necessarily decisive, this mobilisation helped ensure a non-violent transition to independence. Yet, much to the surprise of outside observers, Macedonia would fall into conflict a decade after independence, when self-styled freedom fighters purporting to represent the local Albanian community launched an eight-month insurgency in the name of political and cultural equality. Triggered by a coalescence of political, nationalist, ideological and criminal interests, the insurgency had complex roots, as much an intra-Albanian putsch as a struggle for greater group rights. Regardless of their precise genesis, from the perspective of conflict prevention, the events of 2001 challenge popular assumptions of Macedonia as an international success story. Above all, they reinforce the need for external actors to incorporate short-term strategies of prevention targeting immediate sources of instability within a more comprehensive, long-term framework that addresses structural, underlying conflict causes. Indeed, whilst proximate threats to Macedonian stability were addressed, fundamental risk factors remained, namely social polarisation, a large ethnic minority disenfranchised with the state, economic under-development, high levels of organised crime and corruption, a weak rule-of-law and continuing regional uncertainty. These were partly aggravated by the mistakes of a complacent international community, whose engagement in the country, accordingly, receded over time. In particular, the dissertation is critical of the European Union for its initial failure to articulate a genuine pathway to membership for Macedonia and the broader western Balkans, as well as the handling of NATO's military intervention in neighbouring Kosovo. Of course, in any preventive endeavour, the international community can only do so much; in the first instance, responsibility lay with unresponsive Macedonian institutions, who failed to adequately address legitime Albanian demands dating from independence. Be that as it may, the international community was culpable for its failure to sufficiently apply the formidable soft-power leverage it wields over a weak Macedonian state to implement reforms that, conceivably, could have precluded the outbreak of armed conflict. As a case-study of prevention, Macedonia holds instructive lessons for scholars and policymakers. Yet it remains under-researched. Examining the period 1991-2001, this investigation analyses precisely why and how Macedonia avoided violence during the process of Yugoslav dissolution yet ultimately fell into conflict, and extrapolates broader lessons that may be applied to other at-risk societies. Its purpose is to advance understanding of a poorly understood country, and contribute knowledge to key on-going international security debates. Highlighting the inter-connectedness and trans-national character of contemporary security threats, it posits that the major powers have a practical interest in addressing emerging intra-state crises, even when the putative national interest appears marginal. To facilitate more timely multilateral responses, it calls for the de-nationalisation of security, and its conceptualisation in international - as opposed to strictly national - terms.

The process of region building and regionalization is an emerging phenomenon examined in the same time by historians, geographers, political scientists, economists diplomats and other scientific profiles. The concepts of region and regionalization could appear at different spatial scales, such as supra-state, sub-state or as a cross-border units and processes. Furthermore region and regionalization are complex for defining because they incorporate different narratives and categories as regional identity, spatial borders and delineating, cultural and social homogeneity, political and economic interdependence etc. Regions are invented, re-invented or constructed with purpose to reply to different functional, territorial and administrative purposes. In the era of ongoing globalization and deepening of the European integration, regions are becoming powerful tool for achieving different goals and interests. Nowadays regions, regional cooperation, regional identity are becoming a terms very often used in political and public discourses for different kind of mobilization. Western Balkan, similarly as Visegrad and Baltic regional formats is one of the emerging spatial formation that is appearing in the context of EU integration policies. In Macedonian political and public discourse these tendencies are...

This thesis examines how madness has been used in post-Yugoslav cinemas to facilitate thinking about experiences of the break-up of the SFRY throughout the 1990s and 2000s, its consequences and implications for the future. The study conceptualises post-Yugoslav film cultures as public spheres in which artistic and industrial practices are often combined to create meaning around the core themes of trauma and identity in post-Yugoslav cultures. Working with seven feature-length titles from a range of post-Yugoslav successor states (Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Macedonia and Kosovo) I illustrate how images of madness have been essential in the cultural processing of events of the 1990s. Whilst featuring individuals suffering mental instabilities and disturbances, and sometimes asylums or mental health institutions, I contend such films are not ultimately concerned – on a thematic level – with mental health, but instead focus on the use of such characters in a metaphoric capacity for engaging core themes of Yugoslav break-up, conflicts, and difficulties of subsequent transition. Using the semantic/syntactic approach to genre, I identify two common ways in which madness is used on a textual level to engage these core themes. The first of these, the ‘inside-out asylum trope of madness’, is concerned with the use of the asylum in films which assess critically the dominant political ideologies of the successor states in question at a time when political pluralism was not yet established by the transition process. Films discussed include Burlesque Tragedy (Marković, 1995), Marshall Tito’s Spirit (Brešan, 1999), and Kukumi (Qosja, 2005). The second trope is the ‘multiple realities trope of madness’ in which the presentation of diegetic reality on screen is adapted to reflect various conceptualisations of trauma and loss arising from Yugoslav break-up and transition. Here the films include Loving Glances (Karanović, 2003), Fuse (Žalica, 2003), Mirage (Ristovski, 2004) and Land of Truth, Love and Freedom (Petrović, 2000). Across the films selected, it is madness which ultimately provides a diverse pool of metaphors and images for an assessment of Yugoslavia’s traumatic demise and the ensuing process of picking through the debris of its ideology, cultural practices, values and ways of living for precisely what might be salvageable and what should be discarded.

I denna studie följer man fem olika personers erfarenheter av att ha flyttat från Nordmakedonien till Sverige för att arbeta. Studiens mål är att ta reda på vilka utmaningar individerna upplevde på den Nordmakedonska arbetsmarknaden samt orsakerna som lett till att individerna valt att lämna sitt hemland i hopp om en bättre framtid i Sverige. Fortsättningsvis så är även målet med studien att ta reda på hur flytten till Sverige har gått, vilka utmaningar de har stött på i det nya landet både socialt och i arbetslivet. Insamlingen av det empiriska materialet gjordes genom semistrukturerade intervjuer med mina fem intervjupersoner. Den metoden ansågs mest anpassad för att få fram ett individperspektiv och för att ge utrymme för individerna att berätta sina erfarenheter ur sitt egna perspektiv. Det empiriska materialet analyserades sedan med hjälp av Framing Theory som syftar på att få fram en definition av problemet ur individens perspektiv, även att se till orsakerna ur individens perspektiv, få fram deras moraliska bedömningar av problemet och orsakerna och till sist se vilka hjälpmedel som föreslås av individerna.  Resultatet av studien visade vissa samband och vissa olikheter bland individerna. Alla individerna beskrev en skillnad på om man arbetade inom den privata eller statliga sektorn på den Nordmakedonska arbetsmarknaden. Den privata sektorn beskrivs som mer rättvis där kompetens är det som avgör dina möjligheter för ett arbete. Medan den statliga sektorn beskrivs som orättvis och präglad av politisk korruption som begränsade möjligheterna framför allt för en av mina respondenter. Däremot är detta något som alla respondenter direkt eller indirekt har erfarenhet av. Andra utmaningar på den Nordmakedonska arbetsmarknaden som nämndes var dåliga arbetsvillkor och rädsla för arbetslöshet. En annan orsak som nämndes av två av respondenterna var helt enkelt att de hade tröttnat på sina yrken och kände att de behövde en förändring. Den absolut främsta orsaken som nämndes av alla respondenterna var viljan att ge sina barn en bättre framtid med friheten att kunna utforska sina intressen och kunna bli vad de vill utan att begränsas av arbetsmarknaden.  Väl i Sverige beskrevs språket som en stor utmaning av flera av respondenterna. Andra utmaningar som lyfts fram är kulturella skillnader. Att lära sig språket beskrivs som en stor hjälp både för att det gett fler möjligheter inom arbetslivet och för att komma in bättre i samhället och kulturen. Stöd från familj och vänner är även något som nämns vara till hjälp för att handskas med utmaningarna. / In this study you will follow five different people's experiences of moving from North Macedonia to Sweden for work. The aim of the study is to find out what challenges the individuals experienced in the North Macedonian labor market as well as the reasons that led the individuals to leave their home country in the hope of a better future in Sweden. Furthermore, the aim of the study is to find out how the move to Sweden went, what challenges they have encountered in the new country both socially and in the working life. The collection of the empirical material was done through semi-structured interviews with my five interviewees. This method was considered most suited as the goal of the study is to  highlight the individual’s perspective and to allow the individuals to tell their experiences. The empirical material was then analyzed with the help of the Framing Theory, which aims to obtain a definition of the problem from the individual's perspective, as well as explaining the causes from the individual's perspective, to obtain their moral judgements of the problem and the causes. Lastly the framing theory wants to find out what remedies are suggested by the individuals. The results of the study showed certain connections and differences among the individuals. All individuals described a difference in if you work in the private or the governmental sector in the North Macedonian labor market. The private sector is described as more fair where competence is what determines your opportunities for a job. While the governmental sector is described as unfair and characterized by political corruption, which limits opportunities especially for one of my respondents. However, this is something that all respondents directly or indirectly have experienced. Other challenges in the North Macedonian labor market mentioned were poor working conditions and fear of unemployment. Another reason mentioned by two of the respondents was simply that they are tired of their jobs and felt that they needed a change. The most common reason mentioned by all the respondents was the desire to give their children a better future with the freedom to explore their interests and become what they want without being limited by the labor market. When arriving to Sweden, the language was described as a major challenge by several of the respondents. Other challenges highlighted are cultural differences. Learning the language is described as a great help. Both when it comes to being given more opportunities in the work life and to feel more a part of the society and culture. Support from family and friends is also something that is mentioned to be helpful when dealing with the challenges.

À l’issue des deux guerres balkaniques, en décembre 1913, les consuls de Salonique reçoivent des mains du gouvernement hellène une circulaire annonçant la suppression des capitulations. S’achève alors l’histoire du consulat de France en Macédoine ottomane, commencée en 1686. Cette région de l’Empire ottoman, quasiment inconnue du grand public européen avant les événements du tournant des XIXe et XXe siècles, est pourtant emblématique du déploiement de la diplomatie consulaire française au cours du long du XIXe siècle. Malgré sa réorganisation théorique par l’ordonnance de 1781, le consulat de Salonique demeure longtemps à la marge de la machine diplomatique française avant de s’y intégrer progressivement. Les réalités locales conditionnent en effet autant, si ce n’est davantage, le quotidien de la gestion du poste, confrontant les consuls à l’expérience de l’altérité. / In December 1913, just after the two Balkan wars, the Hellenic Governor of Salonica communicate to all the consuls a circular announcing the abolition of the capitulations, ending the story of the French consulate in Ottoman Macedonia, started in 1686. Even if this region of the Ottoman Empire is mostly unknown in Europe before the events of the beginning of the 20th century, the case of the French Consulate in Salonica is emblematic of the deployment of the French consular diplomacy during the long nineteenth century. Despite its theoretical reorganization in 1781, the consulate of Salonica long remained at the margin of the French diplomatic machine before gradually become integrated. Much more than the diplomatic level, local realities precondition the daily running of the office, confronting the consuls to the common experience of otherness.

This thesis aims to interconnect a theory of normative power Europe with the activities of the EU and its affect on the Western Balkans. The theoretical concept of normative power is based on the assumption of the EU as a normative actor who is able through its norms, values and principles to become a major civilian actor in international relations, especially in the area of conflict management. The theoretical part of the paper therefore focuses on the concept of normative power EU (NPE) as it is presented by Ian Manners, and how its normative character is reflected in the common security and defense policy. It is analysed how the NPE is diffused in selected countries of the Western Balkans through four chosen transfer mechanisms by Manners that comprise the operationalization of the thesis at the same time. Therefore the aim of this work is to contribute to the further broadening the debate over the EU's role in the international system, but also to find out how the norms and values are transmitted in selected countries of the near neighborhood - Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia and Kosovo. All of this with regard to democracy, human and minority rights, peaceful settlement of disputes, good governance etc., which encompass the basic values of the EU. The selected operationalization has allowed...

The present master thesis focusses on the iconography of the decorative programme of Macedonian tombs dated from the second half of the 4th century BCE to the first half of the 2nd century BCE. The main objective is to detect the artistic principles of the Macedonian art applied to funerary monuments of local elites. To attain this aim it is necessary to adopt a complex approach which would allow for analysing in detail the various tomb decoration types; such an approach has never been applied so far. The main research tool used throughout this thesis is a profound analysis of individual elements of the tombs' decoration. The study is specifically concerned with the frequency of the individual motifs, their chronological development, and their possible meanings. Other questions include the iconographical differences between male and female tombs, variations between royal and aristocratic sepulchres, comparison of profane and funerary art, and last but not least, the possible transference of motives both from or to other cultural areas. Keywords: iconography, Ancient Greece, Macedonia, Hellenistic period, tumulus, tombs, wall-paintings

<p>The aim of this thesis has been to consider how Philip II of Macedonia presented himself to the Greek peoples after the Battle of Chaeronea in 336 BC. It examines the context and program of the Philippeion at Olympia in order to determine how Philip II negotiated his royal status in response to Greek opinion. This study takes into account the traditional role of the Macedonian kings, how they typically portrayed themselves, and to what purpose. It also explores Philip's propaganda specifically and the differing responses of various Greek peoples. <p lang="en-CA">Although Philip's role as Hegemon of the League of Corinth seems to be at odds with the Philippeion's classification as a victory monument and a display of the king's authority, further examination reveals that the Philippeion conforms with Philip's program of propaganda. It's message is also adaptable to the various perceptions of the Greek peoples as well as any Macedonian viewers. <p lang="en-CA"></p> / Master of Arts (MA)

<p>This thesis deals with cooperation between France, Germany and the United Kingdom within the area of foreign and security policy. Two case studies are presented, one of them concerning cooperation between the three states within and outside institutions in 1980 following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and the other dealing with cooperation concerning the crisis in Macedonia in 2001. In accordance with the approach of neoliberal institutionalism the primary hypothesis is that cooperation is primarily determined by the interests of states but it is also limited by norms and affected by the institutions of which the three states are members. The study describes the large variety of forms of cooperation that exist between France, Germany and the United Kingdom, in which the United States also plays an important part, and which also includes their cooperation within a number of international institutions. The study also points to the new forms of interaction between states and institutions that have come about since the Cold War ended, and which give a stronger role to institutions and the cooperation between them. Still, however, states retain a decisive role in cooperation within the field of foreign and security policy.</p>

This dissertation contributes to an increased understanding of democracy promotion. Empirically, the study focuses on the multi-faced democratisation process in Macedonia; the official Swedish policy for democracy promotion; and actual Swedish attempts to promote democracy in Macedonia in the period 2000–2006. Theoretically, the study advances an analytical framework, which serves to bring clarity to democracy promotion as a concept. It is argued that democracy promotion embodies six structural components, and should be understood as activities adopted and/or supported by foreign actors, as part of a relationship between the democracy promoter and the recipient country, based on a set of motives and shaped through the use of different strategies, methods and channels. Moreover, the issue of impact is investigated. The analytical framework is used to investigate the character of Swedish democracy promotion, and to develop a typology of the roles of democracy promotion in democratisation processes. It is argued that the Swedish policy for democracy promotion is permeated by a Swedish democratic self-image, eclectic theoretical reflection, and flexibility. In addition, it is argued that Sweden is primarily driven by altruistic and ideological motives, and acts to promote legal and societal democracy, and that the allocation of democracy promotion resources is based on theoretical as well as practical considerations. Macedonia’s democratisation process is analysed, and on the basis of the Swedish attempts to promote democracy in Macedonia, the study advances a typology of the roles of democracy promotion in democratisation processes, these being: educator, initiator, and supporter. Together with the analytical framework, this role typology provides new possibilities to study, and understand, democracy promotion. / Denna avhandling bidrar till ökad förståelse av demokratifrämjande aktiviteter. Empiriskt fokuserar studien på den flerdimensionella demokratiseringsprocessen i Makedonien, den officiella svenska policyn för demokratifrämjande aktiviteter, och de faktiska svenska försöken att främja demokratiutvecklingen i Makedonien under perioden 2000-2006. Teoretiskt bidrar studien med ett analytiskt ramverk, som ämnar ge ökad insikt om demokratifrämjande aktiviteter som begrepp. Det hävdas att dessa aktiviteter är uppbyggda av sex beståndsdelar, och bör förstås som aktiviteter verkställda eller understödda av utländska aktörer, som del av en relation mellan den demokratifrämjande aktören och mottagande land, baserat på en uppsättning motiv och format genom olika strategier, metoder, och kanaler. Betydelsen av effekt inkluderas även i studien. Det analytiska ramverket används för att undersöka den svenska policyn för demokratifrämjande aktiviteter, samt för att utveckla en typologi av de roller som sådana aktiviteter har i demokratiseringsprocesser. Studien visar att den svenska policyn för demokratifrämjande aktiviteter är genomsyrad av en svensk demokratisk självbild, eklektisk teoretisk resonerande, samt pragmatism. Studien visar även att Sverige som demokratifrämjare primärt driva av altruistiska och ideologiska motiv, och strävar efter att främja etableringen av en konstitutionell och samhällelig demokrati, samt att fördelning av demokratifrämjande resurser görs utifrån teoretiska såväl som praktiska överväganden. Makedoniens demokratiseringsprocess analyseras, och med utgångspunkt i de svenska försöken att främja demokratiutvecklingen i Makedonien utvecklas en typologi över de roller som demokratifrämjande aktiviteter kan ha i demokratiseringsprocesser, nämligen: pedagog, initierare, och understödjare. Tillsammans med det analytiska ramverket, skapar denna roll typologi nya möjligheter att studera, och förstå, demokratifrämjande aktiviteter.