Taiwan's complex informal diplomatic practices and the forces behind them have brought both successes and failures in Taiwan's relations with former Yugoslavia and its successor states. In order to better comprehend and adequately explain the foreign policy outputs, the study has systematically examined external and internal influences that have shaped Taipei's foreign policy by employing four basic levels of analysis ¡V the system, the state, the societal and the individual level. The study has argued that while both, internal and external factors have shaped Taiwan's relations, the China factor in particular has posed the major source of external systemic influence that has affected Taiwan's diplomatic endeavors in the post-Yugoslav region. To circumvent the China-imposed international isolation and the system that refuses to recognize its legitimacy, Taiwan has utilized informal diplomacy to advance its national interests. Although systemic level may best explain Taiwan's diplomatic behavior, governmental, societal and individual levels also present relevant dimensions of explanation. Taiwan's diplomatic offensive and the pattern of its approaches towards the former Yugoslav region in general, have caught public attention upon Taiwan's diplomatic breakthrough with Macedonia in January 1999. The study has revealed that among the multi-track diplomatic strategies it employed in its foreign policy, Taipei mainly resorted to economic diplomacy, primarily in the form of trade as well as in the form of economic aid in order to establish closer ¡V preferably diplomatic or, at least, semi-official ¡¥substantive¡¦ ¡V relations with the post-Yugoslav nations. Despite its short triumph with Macedonia, Taiwanese diplomacy failed to accomplish its objectives in post-Yugoslav states. Nevertheless, saying that does not imply that it has been unsuccessful.

<p>This study analyzes the determinants of return migration from Sweden to Bosnia and Herzegovina, and outmigration to third country during the time period 1994-2003. The study is limited to the refugees who arrived to Sweden 1993-1994. One important aim is also to find out to what extent the propensity of return migration is affected by integration and participation in the Swedish labor market.</p><p>There is a larger fraction of the refugees from Bosnia and Herzegovina who return than migrate to a third country. The results show that a higher education is affecting the return migration decision positively, but not the migration to another country. Since the social protection system in Bosnia and Herzegovina is partially undeveloped, only those with a well paid job or wealthy relatives can afford any mishaps. Highly educated individuals are expected to have these economical prerequisites. Being employed in Sweden or receiving social benefits there, give negative marginal effects on the probability of emigration. Therefore, the position on the Swedish labor market has importance for an emigration decision. Being married or having children decreases the probability of emigration. However, the family status effects are stronger for outmigration to a third country. Further, it is more likely for a family to return than emigrate to a third country. It is also more likely for women to return, while there is a larger fraction of men that migrate to a third country. Summarizing the most important findings, the probability of outmigration is strongly reduced by the level of integration.</p><p>This is not only an analysis of individual micro data. The political and economic differences between home country and source country are also compared. Pull-factors seem to dominate return migration since Sweden has a more stabilized economic and political situation. However, the refugees must have strong economic prerequisites or wealthy relatives to support them, in order to realize a return migration decision. A large fraction of the refugees who wish to return do not have the possibilities to realize their return intentions. They consider themselves as temporary migrants, but have involuntary become permanent migrants in Sweden.</p>

Thesis (M.A. in Security Studies (Civil Military Relations))--Naval Postgraduate School, March 2004. / Thesis advisor(s): Donald Abenheim. Includes bibliographical references (p. 65-67). Also available online.

The trade in human beings, or Trafficking in Persons (TiP) is global and affecting every country. In the last years, increasing attention has been paid to TiP for the purpose of sexual exploitation. This led to a growing need to tackle this phenomenon. Only recently, the relationship between TiP and armed conflict has been acknowledged but remains under-studied. Cameron and Newman (2008) have outlined a framework in which structural factors linked to proximate factors could have explanatory value on the relationship between armed conflict and TiP. This thesis analyzes two cases of armed conflict, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Sierra Leone, attempting to explain the increase in TiP of women and girls for the purpose of sexual exploitation by applying this theoretical framework. In this qualitative research a comparative method is used in applying the framework to two case studies, aiming to identify the explanatory value of Cameron and Newman’s (2008) framework. It is found that the general explanatory value of the framework is high and the proximate factors can be classified as: a fully explanatory proximate factor, case dependent proximate factors, and conflict-phase proximate factors. In addition, this thesis is identifying some elements that could influence TiP of women and girls for the purpose of sexual exploitation during conflict and post-conflict that could be of added value to this framework, namely: the implementation of government strategies, corruption of non-government officials, economic deterioration as a consequence of migration, and involvement of peacekeepers and members of the international community in TiP of women and girls for the purpose of sexual exploitation.

This dissertation uses the experiences of Arab Islamist fighters in the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH) to rethink prevailing notions of world order. These actors are frequently glossed as “foreign fighters”: rootless, unaccountable extremists attempting to impose rigid forms of Islam on local “moderate” Muslim populations, be it in BiH, Afghanistan, Chechnya, or other sites of conflict with non-Muslim powers. By illuminating some of the many diasporic and imperial circuits linking BiH with other parts of the world, this dissertation provides a richer historical and sociological context in which transnational activist movements no longer seem so aberrational. This study argues that the mobilization to join the “jihad” alongside Bosnian Muslims can be usefully understood as a universalist project: an attempt to incarnate a worldwide Muslim community (umma) theoretically open to all of humanity, in which activists struggle through the experience of racial, cultural, and doctrinal difference vis-à-vis Bosnian and other Muslims. This approach opens up two broad avenues of inquiry. First, it allows an analysis of how Muslims of different backgrounds interacted in contexts of fighting, intermarriage, and doctrinal disputation. Second, it helps analytically situate the jihad in relation to other forms of armed intervention also acting in the name of humanity, most importantly UN peacekeeping and the U.S.-led “Global War on Terror.” This study is based on approximately 12 months of fieldwork in BiH between 2006 and 2012, mostly in Sarajevo, Zenica, Tuzla, and Bugojno. Open-ended life-history interviews were conducted in Arabic and English with Arab residents of BiH and their Bosnian comrades, kin, and critics. Additional interviews took place in Yemen, France, and Egypt. The study also draws extensively on archival materials culled from various sources, including Bosnian army and intelligence documents gathered by the UN war crimes tribunal, U.S. State Department cables disclosed by Wikileaks, and extensive printed and online materials by participants in and supporters of the jihad written in Arabic, the language formerly known as Serbo-Croatian, and Urdu.

When do militias---whose power, riches, and legitimacy depend on the continuation of civil wars---accept negotiated settlements? An unexplored and crucial dimension of militia decision-making is the process of militia institutionalization. Militias create institutions to improve their odds of winning the war and project legitimacy internally as well as externally. / Militia institutions affect the strategic choice of decision-makers. They create financial and organizational interests that modify the preferences of the militia leadership. The modified preferences increase the win-set of militia leaders at the negotiating table. Militia institutions also change the decision-making context. Institutions unleash three dynamics that decrease a militia's ability to withstand fluctuations in the military balance of forces. Institutions can lead to factionalism, increased visibility (and hence vulnerability to attack), and strains in relations with patrons. / Using the logic of two-level games, I argue that leaders evaluate peace settlements with an eye on two boards. Externally, they evaluate their position vis-a-vis other protagonists in the conflict. Internally, leaders are concerned with their positions in power. Institutionalization results in a tension between "raison de la revolution" (ideological motivations) and "raison d'institution" (institutional preservation). Embattled leaders who increasingly find it difficult to withstand changes in the balance of forces find that their institutional interests are better preserved by peace. They agree to compromise on their ideological preferences thus opening a window of opportunity for the attainment of sustainable peace settlements. / Employing the comparative case-study method, the dissertation examines the attitudes of the Lebanese Forces and the Bosnian Serbs respectively toward conflict-resolution schemes that sought to bring the Lebanese and Bosnian civil wars to an end. / By focusing on leaders' incentives to settle, the research allows us to predict a priori which settlements are more sustainable. Theoretically, it refines the concept of "ripeness" for negotiations by specifying both its intra-communal and its extra-communal dimensions. In terms of practical policy implications, the research argues that militias are prime candidates for the role of spoilers. Thus, it is important not only to understand their incentives to settle but also to craft peace agreements that give even such radical factions a vested interest in peace.

In the unique post-war and post-socialist arena several recent studies onformer Yugoslavian countries indicate that young people confronted by challengesof risk and uncertainty are turning away from the national and politicalsphere. Instead, they often seek trust and opportunities in their networks and relationshipson a personal level. This thesis explores the narratives and everydaypractices of young adults in Sarajevo regarding their friendship sociabilities. The aim is to provide an insight on how friendships are characterised, experiencedand related to the specific social and economic organisations that influencesthem. Based on fieldwork carried out in Sarajevo, Bosnia &amp; Herzegovina myproject wants to present how young adults are reflecting and developing aspirationsin the light of their available choices and opportunities in life and how theyare using their friends in order to access various types of benefits and support. It is argued that in specific contexts friendships constitute the main social capitals and orientation points for young people. In order to explore and navigate through the different interests and agendas present in their community when it comes to personal education, career development and housing young peoplenecessarily choose to favour the reliance on their informal solidarities in form offriendships.

The objective of this thesis is to identify alternative building systems for low rise housing, that can be applied to the market of countries of the former Yugoslavia. Six building systems, developed and produced in Canada, have been selected for this purpose. In order to compare them to existing system, the set of criteria for evaluation is developed, based on three major aspects: the technical aspect deals with codes and regulations, implementation, durability and other physical characteristics of building systems; the economic aspect compares costs; and the psychological aspect investigates the level of acceptance from both the builders' and homeowners' point of view. / The results of this research prove the complexity of the issue of technology transfer. Even though all evaluated building systems showed technical and, particularly economical improvements over the existing masonry, it is the issue of cultural acceptance that is the determining factor in the success of a new product. That is the main reason why building systems based on concrete would more likely be accepted over "light" frame systems. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

This thesis examines the development of the Yugoslav Communists' approach towards the Catholic Church during the period of their takeover and consolidation of power from the outbreak of war in April 1941 until late 1946. In recent years, a comprehensive reappraisal of the Communist takeover has been going on in the countries of former Yugoslavia, and this work draws on this new scholarship, as well as on hitherto unused archival material. It examines the development of the Communists' popular front line during the war, according to which the Communist-dominated Partisan movement sought to appeal to non-communists, including Catholics, to join them in ousting the occupier. As such, this policy meant downplaying the Communists' revolutionary programme, which they never actually gave up. The thesis examines in detail the application of the popular front policy among the Catholic Croats of Croatia and Bosnia, and among the Slovenes. It describes how the Communists avoided actions or pronouncements that would have offended the Church, attempted to have cordial relations with the Church hierarchy and encouraged the active participation of Catholic clergy and prominent lay people in the movement. The prime purpose of this was to reassure the Catholic population that they had nothing to fear from a Communist takeover. However, the hostility between the two sides was not overcome, as revealed in the violence of the Communists towards many of the clergy during the period immediately before and after their takeover. Following this, the Communists' implementation of their revolutionary programme brought them into direct conflict with the interests of the Church, especially in their curtailing of the role of the Church in education and in their confiscation of Church property. Relations quickly degenerated into open confrontation, as the Church could not accept the limited role in society which the Communists were prepared to grant it.

Problems of coherence and effectiveness have been repeatedly mentioned by external observers as affecting European Union (EU) external action. A theory-based explanation of this state of affairs is, however, lacking in the literature. This thesis aims to address this lacuna by focusing on a particular aspect of EU external action, the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), and by analysing CFSP actions in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) throughout the period 1991-2006. Its primary goal is to determine which factors explain different degrees of coherence and effectiveness, and, in particular, whether or not, increasing CFSP institutionalisation has promoted coherence and effectiveness. After introducing the concepts of coherence and effectiveness, the thesis sketches the political and academic debate surrounding these concepts, and three key explanatory factors are singled out: interests, identities and institutions. The latter is taken as a starting point for analysis. Drawing on a historical institutionalist theory, it explores the CFSP institutionalisation and examines how the development of institutions, path dependency, unintended consequences , learning and socialisation have affected CFSP coherence and effectiveness over time. Furthermore, it aims to find out whether changes in institutions have facilitated convergence of Member States' interests regarding EU policy towards BiH, as well as the development of the EU's broader international role. The thesis then proceeds to investigate CFSP activities in BiH, analysing coherence and effectiveness in eight case studies. It concludes that CFSP institutionalisation has partially increased levels of effectiveness over the period 1991-2006. As for coherence, greater institutionalisation has resulted in some problems of coherence in the short term, but leaming has been a significant factor correcting these in the medium and long term. While path dependency has resulted in problems of coherence and effectiveness, socialisation processes have been important in facilitating consensus among the Member States. Finally, CFSP institutionalisation is seen as having had an impact on the EU's international role moving it from a civilian to a normative power, willing to resort to military instruments when necessary.