Since the end of the Cold War, political and geographical realities have changed considerably. One such reality was the balance of power between East and West, which was especially visible in Europe. The contest between rivals, the Warsaw Pact and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), was over. Ultimately, NATO found itself the pre-eminent security organisation in Europe. The new post-cold war environment forced questions about the appropriate role for NATO. However, that changed with both the process of NATO expansion into former Warsaw pact countries and the ethnic conflicts throughout the former Yugoslavia. NATO found a new purpose during the violent dissolution of Yugoslavia as ‘peace-enforcer’ in the Balkan region. The focus of this thesis is NATO’s role in peace-enforcement in the former Yugoslavia. It examines how NATO dealt with the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Warsaw Pact. Specifically, how NATO managed to re-establish its relevance as a security organisation. NATO’s military intervention in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo were crucial in securing the end of hostilities in both those regions. NATO’s Implementation Force (IFOR), Stabilisation Force (SFOR) and Kosovo Force (KFOR) all played significant roles in subsequent peace-enforcement and peace-building roles in the region by suppressing violence through power projection and institution building. In 2001, NATO undertook a third operation in the Balkans, that time of a more limited nature, disarming ethnic Albanians in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. NATO’s presence there also encouraged stability. This thesis argues that, ultimately, NATO maintained its relevance by the establishing a new role for itself after the Cold War through Eastward expansion and in suppressing ethnic conflict in the Balkans. Both these roles have been successful. The decisive interventions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and FYROM forced the belligerents to stop fighting. NATO’s subsequent enforcement of the peace has stopped each conflict from flaring up again. With NATO membership now including most of Europe, it remains the only viable security organisation on the continent. NATO’s effectiveness as a security organisation was demonstrated with its ability to end the conflict in the Balkans and providing a stable environment for the people of the region. This intervention was crucial to the definition of a new role for NATO in the post-Cold War world. / http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url= http://library.adelaide.edu.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1320482 / Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of History and Politics 2008

Ce travail de thèse intitulé : « Les débuts du Paléolithique supérieur dans l'Est de Balkans. Réflexion à partir des études taphonomique et techno-économique des ensembles lithiques des sites de Bacho Kiro (couche 11), Temnata (couches VI et 4) et Kozarnika (niveau VII) » consiste en un bilan documentaire et une critique concernant les industries lithiques des trois gisements de référence, situés sur le territoire actuel de la Bulgarie du Nord. Les ensembles archéologiques étudiés, datés par 14C entre 45 000 et 31 000 BP, sont au coeur des discussions concernant la transition du Paléolithique moyen au Paléolithique supérieur, qui voit la disparition des Néandertaliens et l'apparition des premiers Hommes anatomiquement modernes en Europe. Localisés entre le Proche-Orient et l'Europe, les sites balkaniques jouissent d'une position privilégiée dans les voies de passages qu'ont pu emprunter les Hommes anatomiquement modernes dans leur peuplement de l'Eurasie. De plus, ces sites ont souvent été interprétés comme les plus anciennes manifestations de l'Aurignacien (le « Bachokirien »), habituellement associé à l'arrivée de l'Homme moderne, premier technocomplexe du Paléolithique supérieur, dont les caractères auraient ainsi été acquis « au cours de la route » vers l'ouest. Ce modèle est accepté par de nombreux archéologues depuis plus de 20 ans. Cette thèse a consisté à le tester. L'attribution culturelle des ensembles lithiques de Bacho Kiro et de Temnata à la mouvance aurignacienne a été remise en cause, au profit d'un rattachement aux traditions techniques innovantes et hautement variables de la fin du Paléolithique moyen centre européen et proche oriental. Le troisième site étudié, en cours de fouille a livré une industrie inédite à l'échelle régionale. Cette industrie, appelée « Kozarnikien ancien », et jusqu'à présent rapprochée plutôt du Gravettien, se caractérise par la production des armatures lamellaires destinée à la chasse à longue distance. Ses caractéristiques technoéconomiques montrent que le Kozarnikien ancien s'intègre comme un élément de la variabilité des plus anciennes industries lamellaires qui se développent dans le Sud-Ouest de l'Eurasie entre 38 000 et 36 000 BP, comme notamment l'Ahmarien ancien et l'Aurignacien archaïque du pourtour méditerranéen. Compte tenu des données disponibles, ces résultats montrent que d'une part l'origine de l'Aurignacien, si ce concept correspond vraiment à une réalité anthropologique au sens large, n'est probablement pas balkanique, et que d'autre part, le Paléolithique moyen dans cette région montre des tendances à un développement autonome vers le Paléolithique supérieur.

C'est au travers du prisme nationaliste qu'on a tâché de comprendre et de résoudre les conflits en ex-Yougoslavie, étudiés souvent comme des conflits entre Serbes, Croates, Bosniaques, Albanais, etc. Mais qui sont au juste les fameux « groupes nationaux » dont il est question? Le sociologue américain Rogers Brubaker dirait qu'on a fait acte ici de groupisme (groupism) en prenant pour acquis des groupes dont les clôtures sociales sont loin d'être incontestées. Pour reprendre une idée d'Etienne Balibar, il a bien fallu « instituer dans le réel cette unité imaginaire contre d'autres unités possibles ». Ce mémoire se propose de relire comment se sont construites les clôtures sociales nationalistes dans les Balkans occidentaux tout au long du XIXe et du XXe siècle et contre quels autres types de clôtures sociales concurrentes. L'objectif est de jeter un regard nouveau sur le nationalisme à partir d'une approche moderniste, tout en dépassant ses limites habituelles que sont les modèles trop généraux et la réification des groupes nationaux. Pour ce faire, notre démarche combine l'approche de Rogers Brubaker avec celle de la théorie des relations sociales de propriété. Une hypothèse centrale est que ce processus est intrinsèquement lié aux conflits sociaux autour de l'appropriation des surplus politiques, économiques et culturels. Nous voulons repenser l'imbrication dynamique des institutions, des rapports de pouvoir, des relations sociales d'appropriation et de la constitution d'une identité collective. Les communautés imaginées nationales ont progressivement pris la place prépondérante face à d'autres formes d'appartenance. Tout d'abord inexistantes dans l'Empire ottoman, d'un côté elles se sont par la suite constituées sur la base des Églises auto-céphales serbe et grecque. De l'autre, elles ont permis à la petite noblesse et la bourgeoisie croate de s'affirmer face aux nationalistes hongrois. Sous la première Yougoslavie, les discriminations vécues principalement par les populations non-slaves cristallisent pour la première fois le sentiment d'appartenance nationaliste chez les classes dominées. Ainsi, à la création de la deuxième Yougoslavie, une structure fédérale sur des bases nationalistes est négociée et c'est le long de ces lignes qu'elle finira par imploser, du fait d'inégalités politiques et économiques. Durant la période couverte, les définitions des divers groupes nationaux ont connu maintes transformations, que ce soit au niveau des marqueurs de la nationalité (langue, religion, ethnicité, etc.), des populations incluses et exclues et des objectifs poursuivis par la clôture sociale nationalitaire. Aujourd'hui, après avoir redéfini les clôtures sociales au profit des élites locales, les catégories nationales sont la référence douloureuse à un passé récent qui a reconfiguré la région en homogénéisant le territoire, mais aussi le sentiment d'appartenance. ______________________________________________________________________________ MOTS-CLÉS DE L’AUTEUR : Balkans, Brubaker, catégories nationales, communautés imaginées, nationalisme, relations sociales d'appropriation, sociologie historique, Yougoslavie, XIXe siècle, XXe siècle.

Šiame magistro baigiamajame darbe nagrinėjami viešojo administravimo reformos įgyvendinimo procesai Vakarų Balkanų šalyse – Albanijoje, Bosnijoje ir Hercegovinoje, Juodkalnijoje, ir Serbijoje. Šios reformos tikslas – kokybiškas visuomenės interesų tenkinimas. Valstybės buvo pasirinktos siekiant išsiaiškinti, kaip viešojo administravimo sistemos tobulinimas vyksta "ekstremaliomis" sąlygomis, kaip jaunos demokratijos valstybės sugeba adaptuoti pagrindinius viešojo administravimo principus. Analizuojant teorinius temos pagrindus, išryškėjo aktualiausi reformos elementai: marketizacija, decentralizacija, piliečių dalyvavimas, žmoniškųjų išteklių valdymas ir informacinės technologijos. Pirminė hipotezė suponuoja prielaidą, jog tyrimo metu bus nustatyta: viešojo administravimo reformos elementų įgyvendinimo lygis pasireiškia skirtingai kiekvienoje valstybėje ir egzistuoja priklausomybė tarp ekonominio šalies išsivystymo ir viešojo administravimo reformos įgyvendinimo lygių. Darbo mokslinis naujumas atsiskleidžia per šiuos aspektus: bus galima gauti apibendrinančias išvadas apie viešojo sektoriaus padėtį tiek kiekvienoje šalyje, tiek visame regione; šių reformos elementų įgyvendinimas tiriamas jaunos demokratijos šalyse; remiantis atvejo analizės tyrimo būdu, parengtas tyrimo modelis leis gauti duomenis, kurie pagilins ir praplės teorinį viešojo administravimo supratimą. Magistrinio darbo rezultatai gali būti naudingi ir kitoms po-komunistinio bloko valstybėms (pvz. Lietuvai)... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / This master's thesis analyses the process of implementation of the public administration reform in the Western Balkan countries - Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia. The aim of this reform – qualitatively meet public interests. These states were selected to examine how the public administration system improvement is going in "extreme" conditions, how young democracy countries are able to adapt the basic principles of public administration. The analysis of the theoretical foundations highlighted the most relevant elements of the reform: marketization, decentralization, citizenry participation, human resource management and information technology. The primary hypothesis presupposes that this study will ascertain: the implementation level of the public administration reform elements vary in each country and there is a correlation between the country's economic development rate and the level of public administration reform implementation. The scientific novelty is revealed through the following aspects: it will be available to get the summarized findings of the public sector reform both in each country and across the region; the implementation of the reform elements is studied in young democracies; the developed design of the study allows to get data, which will deepen and enrich the theoretical understanding of public administration. The results of master work may be useful in other post-communist bloc countries (e.g. Lithuania), where the formation of a... [to full text]

Cette étude aborde la manière dont l’Orient-Express a été décrit, perçu et imaginé, et s’efforce de mesurer l’écart entre les représentations communes et ce qui se dégage d’un corpus de textes très divers à travers trois grands axes de réflexion :les évocations des itinéraires de l’Orient- Express, les discours tenus sur le train et ses voyageurs, les thématisations et récupérations littéraires dont il a fait l’objet.L’idée directrice du propos est de montrer comment l’Orient-Express, rêve programmé par de très efficaces campagnes publicitaires et suscité par un imaginaire géographique, historique et littéraire puissant, n’a pu pleinement convaincre les voyageurs, mais aussi les écrivains et les lecteurs qui, semble-t-il, ne cessent de déplorer la disparition d’un train et d’un voyage qui n’ont peut-être jamais existé ou qui ne sont jamais vraiment ceux qu’ils imaginaient. / Doctorat en Langues, lettres et traductologie / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Doctoral dissertation presents an analysis of the Serbian economy in the mutual relations between the European Union (EU) and the Western Balkans. The assumption that the EU and Serbia, as an integral part of the Balkan region, have interests in the partnership and cooperation is the baseline of the research. The following aspects have been singled out, by method of ranking, which is based on achieving the highest turnover in the last six years: trade, foreign direct investment and energy. Gravity model was used to analyze routes of trade and energy. A models of trade import and export between Serbia and the EU 28 member countries and the countries of the Western Balkans, as well as models of imports and exports of energy between Serbia and the EU 28 member countries and the countries of the Western Balkans, were used in order to assess the potential of trade and energy trade. Method of trend line and trend extrapolation of foreign direct investment (FDI) was used in order to determine the degree of the presence of FDI in Serbia and their predictions, which could be an indicator of investment climate in Serbia. The conclusion is that Serbia has strategic importance as a candidate for membership in the EU because of its regional importance. Entering the Western Balkan countries in the EU should not happen without Serbia, because Serbia has a regional importance, which arise from the economic, historical, cultural, infrastructural and geopolitical links with countries in the region, of which some are already members of the EU.

Brain drain, or human capital flight, is a phenomenon which represents a society-wide problem in the post-Dayton Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). At present, more than half of the people claiming BiH nationality live abroad, out of which a significant part possesses tertiary education. Loss of human capital carries negative socio-economic consequences which hinder the country's development. On the other hand, brain gain, i.e. return of highly skilled migrants to their country of origin, might reverse some of the unfavourable effects. Nevertheless, the phenomenon of the return of highly skilled migrants remains under researched not only within the region of the Western Balkans, but also on a global scale. Although this type of migration has increasingly attracted the attention of many scholars from various academic and non- academic fields, contemporary literature on this topic suffers from limitations and tends to oversimplify the returnees' motivations to purely economic incentives. This study attempts to describe the complex factors leading the highly skilled migrants to return to BiH. Based on the 33 respondents' subjective preferences from the spheres of career, family and lifestyle, this work provides an insight into the decisions of returnees in the context of the developing Western Balkan country.

The overall purpose of this thesis is three folded; to analyze Turkey's constantly changing influence since the 1990s in the Western Balkans, consider the failed 2016 coup attempt in Turkey and the anti-Gülenist campaign by Erdogan in the region (with Kosovo as the focus), and to delve into the international and local media discourse surrounding the deportations of suspected Gülenist from Kosovo with the help of Turkish intelligence on March 29, 2018. Employing a mixed methodology approach, the author evaluated existing sources in an attempt to answer the research question; "In what ways has the 2016 Coup d'état attempt in Turkey resonated in the Western Balkans, and how did the local and international media discourse portray the 2018 Gülenists extraditions from Kosovo to Turkey?" The research holds that while the media discourse displayed Kosovo and Turkey's actions as being in violation of numerous international laws, the issue was quickly swept away from the spotlight. Since 2012 (the beginning of the Erdogan-Gülen rift) and especially following the 2016 failed coup attempt in Turkey, Erdogan has been emboldened by his growing personal relationships with key Balkan politicians. This has led to continued demands (thus far met with little success) that Western Balkan states arrest and deport...

The dissertation is aimed at the analysis of various strategies and approaches of the international community in solving conflicts having originated due to the dissolution of former Yugoslavia since 1991. It is divided into two sections - the former being devoted to the historiographical description of events taking place in the particular countries with main focus on various peace plans and other initiatives proposed and suggested by the international community, while the latter emphasizes potential security threats that might be faced by the region. At the same time it is trying to offer lessons from the mistakes and failures made in the past, since these could become relevant for the international community when dealing with potential new conflicts. Current probability of the origin of new security threats in the form of ethnic conflicts was selected as the main criterion for the selection of countries analyzed in the dissertation - this is also why Croatia is excluded; although it was a significant player of ethnic conflict in 1991-95, due to considerable elimination of Serbian minority representation as a result of the Operation Storm this country does not further constitute a relevant melting pot, where ethnically motivated tensions could rise again. Hence, the analysis is targeted at two...

The work deals with interethnic contexts in the traditional Bulgarian music, which in the past were often neglected or marginalized for various reasons. Convergent processes which take place as a result of cultural interaction between the Balkan ethnicities are assessed. A role of the long-term affiliation of the Balkan region with one state structure (the Ottoman Empire) is examined as one of the factors, which could significantly help mutual contacts between involved ethnicities. The author's starting points are based on the philological concept of the Balkan Linguistic Union, in which a set of phenomena and convergent tendencies in genetically unrelated languages of the Balkan area are researched. The author raises the question whether it is possible to formulate a similar thesis in the field of music and to define a notional Balkan Music Union based on the assessment of the main converging processes. For this purpose, two distinctive phenomena, which are both present in the Bulgarian folklore as well as, to certain extent, in a broader Balkan context, are selected. Musical and cultural interaction between two ethnic groups is examined at the ceremony of the Nestinarstvo/Anastenaria, folk mysteries which culminate with a dance on hot coals and is practised by small communities of Bulgarians and...