This thesis is a study and evaluation of Russian foreign policy in the Balkan Wars, 1912-13. Its primary purpose is to seek out and define the goals and aspirations of Russian diplomacy at this time and evaluate them in terms of success or failure.

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This thesis is an exposition on the British traveller Mary Edith Durham and her various activities in the Balkans from 1900 to 1914. Durham earned a reputation as an ethnographer, traveller, reporter, political activist and relief worker. First, the thesis documents her experiences between 1900-1908 as a traveller in the Balkans. In this period Durham developed a keen interest for the history and cultures of the peoples of the Balkans. She also gained a solid knowledge of Balkan politics and became a familiar face in Montenegro and the Albanian territories of the Ottoman Empire. The study then describes her relief work in Albania and her efforts to lobby for the Albanian cause from 1910 to 1914, when she returned to England. / The research consists of both published works and unpublished sources, some of which have not been used for studying Durham. These include Durham's personal manuscripts, correspondence from other personal papers, and documents from the British Foreign Office archives. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

This dissertation explores the factors shaping American foreign policy toward secessionist crises since the end of the Cold War. The main research puzzle is the following: Why is it that, facing the resurgence of secessionist movements in the last 15 years, the United States reacted to it by supporting the territorial integrity of central states in some cases (Serbia, Somalia, Moldova), while recognizing the independence of secessionist states in other cases (Croatia, Eritrea, East Timor)? How can this apparent inconsistency be explained? This dissertation argues that regional stability is the main U.S. interest when responding to secessionism. It asserts that, when facing a secessionist crisis, the American government will choose the option (i.e. supporting state integrity or secessionism) that provides the greatest expected gain of regional stability depending on the evolution of the crisis. This explains why the American government's response to secessionism fluctuates from one case to another. / The performed qualitative analysis, which includes cases taken from two regional settings, the Balkans and the Horn of Africa, confirms the effect of the regional stability factor on the formulation of U.S. foreign policy. It shows that the fluctuation of the U.S. response is not caused by political inconsistency but by a coherent set of regional stability interests. The research also proceeds to the measurement of two competing arguments---namely ethnic politics and business interests. Case studies show that these domestic arguments fail to account for the research puzzle under investigation and that the regional stability argument consistently offers better explanations and predictions. Thus, this dissertation challenges liberal claims that domestic politics define foreign policy.

Originally presented as the author's thesis (Ph. D.)--Ankara Üniversitesi, Turkey, 2002, under the title: Osmanlı-İngiliz ilişkilerinde Balkanların yeri (Bosna-Hersek ve Bulgaristan'daki ayaklanmalar, 1875-1876). / Includes bibliographical references (p. 187-198) and index.

The thesis deals with the Czech community of musicians who play so-called "Balkan music". The research deals with those coming originally from the Czech Republic and who do not have any obvious links to the Balkan peninsula. The emphasis is put on their stereotypical notion about Balkans. The content of the music works they produce and the way how are performed are considered as the key moments how the musicians express their feelings and visions about Balkan. The most of the thesis originates from my personal experience with the "Balkan music" in the Czech environment and from my participation in the Džezvica band. This band is also utilized as an reference model of the "western idea"about the Balkan. The work comprises of both theoretical part denoting the stereotypization and balkanism and the field research carried out during years 2010-2012 in Prague. As an integral part follows the analysis of semi-structured interviews with selected musicians on the (general) topic "balkan music". As the main outcome, the thesis captures and analyses whether we can evaluate the "czech balkanism" with the balkanism and if and how are such musicians' concepts being made.

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This thesis is concerned with main cultural discourses of the second phase of Communism in Romania (1964-1989), period largely identical with that of Ceauşescu’s rule. A secondary aim of the thesis is to look at the post-1989 continuations of these publicly influential discourses with the aim of understanding how the educational system (HE, in particular) is positioned in relation to the cultural domain. With regard to the Communist period, the main assertion of the thesis is that analysis of these discourses reveals an underlying cultural mechanism equivalent with a central mode of governance employed by the Communist party. According to this assertion, the mission of this cultural mechanism, with origins in Lenin’s drastic distinction between the party and the proletariat and in the idea that the party must bestow consciousness on the proletariat, is to create and regulate positive avatars (heroes imbued with the best of humanity) for each social category so as to fulfill and safeguard the aims of the Party. For this reason, this device has been entitled the hero-mirror mechanism. The device has also been linked with religion and theology. This perspective has found that the mirror-mechanism corresponds to the notion of “imago Dei,” and its axes to the notions of “kenosis” and “imitatio Dei.” The assessment of these cultural discourses via the mirror-mechanism results in three dimensions of research, each with its own universes of investigation, and each with its own findings. In the first dimension, the mirror-mechanism deals with discourses as identity, and thus with the deconstruction of Romanian identity. If, as observed, the mirror-mechanism receives its first major blow in the 1980s and begins to crumble after 1989, what has replaced it since and with what implications for Romanian identity? The second dimension views the same discourses as mainly intellectual. Here, the notion of ‘inner utopia’ is highlighted as a dominant and recurring theme, and, therefore, as possibly the dominant feature of the Romanian cultural/political scene during and after Communism. If, because of the notion of ‘inner utopia,’ ‘true education’ is viewed as lying outside the provinces of formal institutions, what then is the educational role ascribed to the public space in relation to the HE system? Finally, the third dimension assesses these discourses in terms of their claims for anti-Communist resistance while providing a typology for elucidating such claims.

Approved for public release, distribution unlimited / The stance of the Balkans towards global Islamic extremism has been much discussed, but little subject to substantive comparative inquiry. In this thesis I utilize social movement theory to analyze the relation between Islamic revivalism and the global Salafi jihad in the Balkans. Comparing Bosnia and Bulgaria, I not only demonstrate the various manifestations of these phenomena but also argue for a differentiated case-by-case approach when implementing the suggested analytical framework. I effectively show that the process of Islamic revivalism is mainly an imported phenomena maintained through the financial and ideological support from the Middle East. I also prove that there is no causal relationship between the Islamic revivalism and global Salafi jihad. Yet, the findings of the case studies caution against the possibility of structural and ideological convergence of the two phenomena that could effectively lead to the emergence of permissive environment for the spread of global Salafi jihad. I also argue that the current Islamic revival poses security threat to the region due to its potential of developing into viable Islamic movements on the ground. I conclude that to counter such security implications, the Balkan governments need to revisit their policies and adopt a proactive approach qualitatively different from the US Global War on Terror strategic framework.