The Macedonian Question has attracted much attention since the 1990s due to the emergence of the dispute over the name of Macedonia between Greece and the Republic of Macedonia. In Greece there is a prolific literature on this subject, but some basic questions remain unanswered. In particular, the role of the government, and of government institutions – especially the Ministry of Foreign Affairs – have attracted little or no attention: on the contrary, historians have focused on the „heroes‟ of the conflict, the fighters themselves, the result being that the Macedonian Question is understood as a military fight of good versus evil. In this D.Phil. thesis, we examine how the government got involved with the Macedonian Question and second, in what ways it was involved, especially given that an official acknowledgement of the government‟s involvement with the paramilitary operations was diplomatically impossible. We approached these questions by examining the personal archives of Greek politicians and diplomats (most notably of the Dragoumis family) and the Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, especially the Archives of the Greek Embassies in London, Paris and Constantinople, which have only recently become available. The key finding is that the Greek government, despite its declarations to the opposite effect, was involved heavily with the paramilitary fighting in Macedonia, but also that the official involvement with Macedonia was constrained and influenced by electoral concerns and by the powerful Macedonian lobbies in Athens. Decisions were rarely made in a rational, bureaucratic way, but were more often reached after consultations with journalists, military officers and intellectuals and always bearing domestic political realities in mind. These findings suggest that future research should move away from understanding the „Macedonian Struggle‟ solely as a military issue, and put it into the wider context of early twentieth-century Greek political and diplomatic history.

La Grèce et la République de Macédoine entretiennent des relations aussi intenses que complexes. C'est dans ce contexte, qui a vu passer la République de Macédoine du statut de république yougoslave à celui d'Etat indépendant que se place l'analyse des relations transfrontalières entretenues à l'échelle locale. Dans un premier temps, ce travail explore les processus transfrontaliers en cours afin de les documenter avant de les analyser au regard des processus sociaux à l’œuvre de part et d’autre de cette frontière. Cette analyse se base sur l'approche par le biais des recompositions en vue d’appréhender de façon combinée l'influence du passé et des enjeux contemporains sur les processus socio-spatiaux en cours dans les espaces étudiés. Se basant sur l’hypothèse selon laquelle les évolutions passées peuvent être mobilisées dans le cadre des diverses relations transfrontalières d’aujourd’hui, l’étude de l’histoire de la région et des multiples processus de fragmentation est nécessaire afin d’en analyser les résurgences. Ce travail s’oriente alors sur l’identification des acteurs de ces relations, des cadres dans lesquels ils agissent et des éléments mobilisés au fil de la relation construite pour en identifier les mécanismes et conséquences dans les sociétés frontalières étudiées, tout en prêtant une attention particulière aux dimensions culturelles et ethniques le long d’une frontière caractérisée par la présence transnationale de plusieurs groupes linguistiques ou ethniques. La construction de ces groupes ethniques et leurs évolutions contemporaines est ainsi examinée sous l’angle de leurs liens possibles avec les modalités de la relation transfrontalière. / Nowadays, Greece and the Republic of Macedonia are connected through intense but complex cross-border relations despite the name issue. The study of the these relations at the local level is taking place in that context that saw the Republic of Macedonia evolving from the status of member state of the Yugoslav federation to an independent state with European fate. The first aim of this research is to explore these cross-border relations in order to testify and document it. Several frames of cross-border relations are targeted through this work. In a context of economic crisis, border appears as a resource for an informal economy exploiting the economic and commercial differences between the countries. On the same way, the European integration process is also promoting cross-border relations through cross-border cooperation. But all actors are not equal regarding these processes in an area of cultural diversity. The approach through recompositions allows us to analyze the influence and interactions of past and contemporary issues in borderlands and their societies. Starting from the hypothesis that pasts historical events in the area are influencing the actual cross-border relations, the study of regional history and fragmentation processes that divided it is necessary to analyze its resurgences. Therefore, the issue is to identify the actors of these relations, the frame in which they locate their actions and the elements they mobilize for it by giving a special attention to cultural and ethnic dimensions. The building of ethnic groups and their contemporary evolutions will be analyzed through their possible connections with the cross-border relations’ modalities.

This thesis explores the Security Governance of the European Union (EU) by examining the relationship between the external dimension of Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) and civilian crisis management missions. More specifically it tests the capacity of EU level actors to project the external dimension of JHA's goals, in a coordinated and coherent fashion, into the Union's near abroad. The research 'puzzle' lies in the multi-dimensional character of the external dimension of JHA. The fact that the domains tools and competencies are spread within and across all three pillars of the EU make its coordination with civilian crisis management missions far from straight-forward. The ambition to link the two policy domains has been expressed repeatedly by the EU in high profile strategic documents, such as the European Security Strategy of 2003, and the 2005 'A Strategy for the External Dimension of JHA: Global Freedom, Security and Justice'. This thesis endeavours to test the EU's performance in governing the external dimension of JHA and the need to link its goals with those of civilian crisis management missions. It does this by taking three civilian crisis management missions recently projected into the EU's milieu, with mandates related to security sector reform and JHA. The missions selected for comparison are: Proxima launched in 2003 in Macedonia; EU Border Assistance Mission to Moldova and Ukraine launched in 2005; and finally, EULEX Kosovo launched in 2008. These missions are selected to serve as prime test cases for the interface between JHA and civilian crisis management missions, covering a time period that will allow for an examination of continuity and change in foreign and security policy at the EU level.

This thesis aims to construct a historical narrative for the region of the north-eastern Aegean (NEA) during the Early Iron Age (1050-700 BCE) and the early Archaic period (7^th century BCE) based primarily on archaeological evidence. Its goals are to investigate the most distinctive material culture elements for the studied period; to explore themes of continuity and connectivity between regions; to trace large- and smaller-scale population movements; to discuss how early communities perceived themselves and each other; and to investigate the social structure and organisation of these communities. Evidence from settlement sites, funerary contexts, and sanctuaries are presented in the first three chapters in that order. Following that, the final chapter presents the primary, overarching conclusions of the thesis, in four sub-chapters. Firstly, it is argued that the NEA was characterised by relative cultural continuity from the Late Bronze Age to well within the Archaic period: when new elements were introduced, they were, generally, integrated into earlier paradigms. Secondly, evidence is provided for an increase in connectivity and maritime traffic peaks during the late 8^th century BCE; shortly afterwards, new population groups from the central and southern Aegean arrived in the NEA, and seem to have cohabited relatively peacefully with earlier populations. Thirdly, it is posited that there is little evidence for overarching NEA regional identities before the 6^th century BCE: communities appear to have developed local identities, through association with specific sites and through references to the communal past in cult practice and funerary contexts. Finally, it is argued that social elites were markedly active in NEA communities of studied period: there is considerable evidence for socially exclusive groups, primarily in funerary and ritual contexts. The thesis concludes with a short chapter containing the author's closing remarks.

This thesis seeks to develop an under-researched area of Europeanisation theory, namely the link between the ‘export' dimension of Europeanisation and the European Union's (EU) external crisis response instruments, and specifically the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP). It examines the theory of Europeanisation and its relevant dimensions for this thesis, defining ‘Europeanisation' in this context as the export of European values, principles, structures, ideas and norms beyond the geographical borders of the EU. The thesis sets out to test whether ESDP operations can provide a vehicle for Europeanisation in the countries in which they are deployed. It examines the evolution of European Union security and defence policy and the evolution of the EU's operational military and civilian mission instrument, and employs case studies of operations in a specific country context in order to test whether ESDP operations can indeed be a practical mechanism with the potential to export the EU's norms and principles. The thesis employs case studies of three ESDP missions conducted in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (fYROM) - the military operation Concordia, and police missions Proxima and EUPAT. It explores whether these EU external instruments had a Europeanisation dimension, and whether and how in practice they contributed to Europeanisation. fYROM makes a germane case study as a new country emerging from crisis, on the EU's border, and in line for prospective future EU membership. The case studies show that the primary effect of the military operation Concordia, in contributing to the country's security and political stabilization and providing a visible and symbolic EU presence, was to provide a platform for subsequent Europeanisation. The follow-on Proxima and EUPAT civilian operations carried a more direct Europeanisation agenda and effect, playing an important role in transferring the EU's approach to addressing causes of conflict and contributing as part of the EU's wider efforts to promoting the integration of fYROM in the EU. The thesis concludes that ESDP operations can be a vehicle for exporting European values, principles and norms, and as such, a promoter of Europeanisation beyond the EU's borders. This research can contribute to deepening the area of Europeanisation theory concerned with export dimensions of the theory, and suggests there is academic value in examining the Europeanisation aspects of EU external instruments, including civilian and military operations in other case study contexts, including in countries well beyond the EU's neighbourhood. The research also highlights the value for the EU of conceptualising the ESDP mission instrument through a Europeanisation lens, in terms of maximising the transformative potential of the instrument as part of wider EU strategy to pursue normative, security and political objectives in its neighbourhood and the wider international sphere.

<p>Doktorska&nbsp; disertacija&nbsp; predstavlja&nbsp; studiju&nbsp; faune paukova (Arachnida, Araneae) Makedonije baziranu na&nbsp; kritičkoj&nbsp; analizi&nbsp; publikovanih&nbsp; podataka&nbsp; koji obuhvataju&nbsp; period&nbsp; od&nbsp; 1907.&nbsp; do&nbsp; 2018.&nbsp; godine, taksonomskoj reviziji relevantnih arahnolo&scaron;kih zbirki iz osam evropskih prirodnjačkih muzeja i rezultatima sopstvenih tridesetogodi&scaron;njih istraživanja. Terenski&nbsp; rad&nbsp; je&nbsp; baziran&nbsp; na&nbsp; sakupljanju&nbsp; materijala<br />kori&scaron;ćenjem&nbsp; standardnih&nbsp; metoda&nbsp; kao&nbsp; &scaron;to&nbsp; su&nbsp; ručno sakupljanje&nbsp; i&nbsp; sakupljanje&nbsp; putem&nbsp; klopki&nbsp; i&nbsp; noviju metodu&nbsp; upotrebom motornog&nbsp; usisivača. Materijal je<br />laboratorijski obrađivan standardnim postupcima uz pomoć binokularne lupe i mikroskopa. Ukupno&nbsp; su&nbsp; registrovane&nbsp; 742&nbsp; vrste&nbsp; paukova&nbsp; iz&nbsp; 40 familija.&nbsp; Pet&nbsp; taksona&nbsp; pretstavljaju&nbsp; nove&nbsp; vrste&nbsp; za nauku. Dve vrste predstavljaju nove&nbsp; nalaze za&nbsp; faunu paukova&nbsp; Balkanskog&nbsp; poluostrva.&nbsp; &Scaron;ezdeset&nbsp; i&nbsp; dva taksona&nbsp; su&nbsp; po&nbsp; prvi&nbsp; put&nbsp; zabeležene&nbsp; za&nbsp; faunu Makedonije. Drevna familija Anapidae je sa jednom vrstom po prvi put registrovana u fauni Makedonije. Revizijom publikovanih podataka, ustanovljeno je da je179&nbsp; vrsta&nbsp; pogre&scaron;no&nbsp; identifikovano&nbsp; i&nbsp; navedeno&nbsp; za<br />faunu Makedonije. Vrste&nbsp; su&nbsp; kategorisane&nbsp; prema&nbsp; trenutnom&nbsp; poznavanju njihove rasprostranjenosti, na osnovu čega je izvr&scaron;ena zoogeografska&nbsp; analiza&nbsp; faune.&nbsp; Ustanovljena&nbsp; su&nbsp; 32 horotipa&nbsp; u&nbsp; fauni&nbsp; paukova&nbsp; Makedonije,&nbsp; svrstana&nbsp; u četiri&nbsp; horolo&scaron;ka&nbsp; kompleksa:&nbsp; &scaron;ire&nbsp; rasprostranjene, evropske, mediteranske i endemske vrste. Najveći broj vrsta registrovano je u kompleksu &scaron;iroko rasprostranjenih&nbsp; vrsta&nbsp; (44,3%)&nbsp; koji&nbsp; daju&nbsp; glavni karakter fauni. Visok stepen zastupljenosti evropskih (19,1%)&nbsp; i&nbsp; eurosibirskih&nbsp; (11,3%)&nbsp; horolo&scaron;kih elemenata,&nbsp; kao&nbsp; dva&nbsp; pojedinačno&nbsp; najzastupljenija&nbsp; u fauni&nbsp; paukova&nbsp; Makedonije,&nbsp; je&nbsp; odraz&nbsp; dominantnog planinskog&nbsp; karaktera&nbsp; reljefa&nbsp; Makedonije.&nbsp; Horolo&scaron;ki kompleks&nbsp; mediteranskih&nbsp; vrsta&nbsp; zastupljen&nbsp; je&nbsp; sa&nbsp; 99 vrsta&nbsp; (13,3%).&nbsp; Visok&nbsp; udeo&nbsp; vrsta&nbsp; (11,3%)&nbsp; koje pripadaju horolo&scaron;kim elementima koji su zastupljeni na prostorima Južne Evrope, Mediterana, Zapadne i<br />Srednje&nbsp; Azije&nbsp; govori&nbsp; o&nbsp; bogatoj&nbsp; fauni&nbsp; paukova kserofilnih,&nbsp; termofilnih&nbsp; i&nbsp; aridnih&nbsp; terena.&nbsp; Lokalni karakter faune može se sagledati u relativno velikom broja&nbsp; vrsta&nbsp; iz&nbsp; kompleksa&nbsp; endemskih&nbsp; vrsta&nbsp; (87).&nbsp; Iz ovog kompleksa najdominantniji su vrste iz horotipa &quot;endemiti užeg područja&quot; sa 45 vrsta.Doktorska&nbsp; disertacija&nbsp; predstavlja&nbsp; studiju&nbsp; faune paukova (Arachnida, Araneae) Makedonije baziranu na&nbsp; kritičkoj&nbsp; analizi&nbsp; publikovanih&nbsp; podataka&nbsp; koji obuhvataju&nbsp; period&nbsp; od&nbsp; 1907.&nbsp; do&nbsp; 2018.&nbsp; godine,<br />taksonomskoj reviziji relevantnih arahnolo&scaron;kih zbirki iz osam evropskih prirodnjačkih muzeja i rezultatima sopstvenih tridesetogodi&scaron;njih istraživanja.Terenski&nbsp; rad&nbsp; je&nbsp; baziran&nbsp; na&nbsp; sakupljanju&nbsp; materijala kori&scaron;ćenjem&nbsp; standardnih&nbsp; metoda&nbsp; kao&nbsp; &scaron;to&nbsp; su&nbsp; ručno sakupljanje&nbsp; i&nbsp; sakupljanje&nbsp; putem&nbsp; klopki&nbsp; i&nbsp; noviju metodu&nbsp; upotrebom motornog&nbsp; usisivača. Materijal je laboratorijski obrađivan standardnim postupcima uz pomoć binokularne lupe i mikroskopa. Ukupno&nbsp; su&nbsp; registrovane&nbsp; 742&nbsp; vrste&nbsp; paukova&nbsp; iz&nbsp; 40<br />familija.&nbsp; Pet&nbsp; taksona&nbsp; pretstavljaju&nbsp; nove&nbsp; vrste&nbsp; za nauku. Dve vrste predstavljaju nove&nbsp; nalaze za&nbsp; faunu paukova&nbsp; Balkanskog&nbsp; poluostrva.&nbsp; &Scaron;ezdeset&nbsp; i&nbsp; dva taksona&nbsp; su&nbsp; po&nbsp; prvi&nbsp; put&nbsp; zabeležene&nbsp; za&nbsp; faunu Makedonije. Drevna familija Anapidae je sa jednom vrstom po prvi put registrovana u fauni Makedonije. Revizijom publikovanih podataka, ustanovljeno je da je179&nbsp; vrsta&nbsp; pogre&scaron;no&nbsp; identifikovano&nbsp; i&nbsp; navedeno&nbsp; za<br />faunu Makedonije. Vrste&nbsp; su&nbsp; kategorisane&nbsp; prema&nbsp; trenutnom&nbsp; poznavanju njihove rasprostranjenosti, na osnovu čega je izvr&scaron;ena zoogeografska&nbsp; analiza&nbsp; faune.&nbsp; Ustanovljena&nbsp; su&nbsp; 32 horotipa&nbsp; u&nbsp; fauni&nbsp; paukova&nbsp; Makedonije,&nbsp; svrstana&nbsp; u četiri&nbsp; horolo&scaron;ka&nbsp; kompleksa:&nbsp; &scaron;ire&nbsp; rasprostranjene, evropske, mediteranske i endemske vrste. Najveći broj vrsta registrovano je u kompleksu &scaron;iroko rasprostranjenih&nbsp; vrsta&nbsp; (44,3%)&nbsp; koji&nbsp; daju&nbsp; glavni karakter fauni. Visok stepen zastupljenosti evropskih (19,1%)&nbsp; i&nbsp; eurosibirskih&nbsp; (11,3%)&nbsp; horolo&scaron;kih elemenata,&nbsp; kao&nbsp; dva&nbsp; pojedinačno&nbsp; najzastupljenija&nbsp; u fauni&nbsp; paukova&nbsp; Makedonije,&nbsp; je&nbsp; odraz&nbsp; dominantnog planinskog&nbsp; karaktera&nbsp; reljefa&nbsp; Makedonije.&nbsp; Horolo&scaron;ki kompleks&nbsp; mediteranskih&nbsp; vrsta&nbsp; zastupljen&nbsp; je&nbsp; sa&nbsp; 99 vrsta&nbsp; (13,3%).&nbsp; Visok&nbsp; udeo&nbsp; vrsta&nbsp; (11,3%)&nbsp; koje pripadaju horolo&scaron;kim elementima koji su zastupljeni na prostorima Južne Evrope, Mediterana, Zapadne i<br />Srednje&nbsp; Azije&nbsp; govori&nbsp; o&nbsp; bogatoj&nbsp; fauni&nbsp; paukova kserofilnih,&nbsp; termofilnih&nbsp; i&nbsp; aridnih&nbsp; terena.&nbsp; Lokalni karakter faune može se sagledati u relativno velikom broja&nbsp; vrsta&nbsp; iz&nbsp; kompleksa&nbsp; endemskih&nbsp; vrsta&nbsp; (87).&nbsp; Iz ovog kompleksa najdominantniji su vrste iz horotipa &quot;endemiti užeg područja&quot; sa 45 vrsta.</p> / <p>The PhD research project is a study of fauna of spiders (Arachnida,&nbsp; Araneae)&nbsp; of&nbsp; Macedonia&nbsp; based&nbsp; on&nbsp; a critical analysis of published data covering the period from &nbsp; 1907&nbsp; to&nbsp; 2018,&nbsp; taxonomic&nbsp; review&nbsp; of&nbsp; relevant arachnological&nbsp; collections&nbsp; from&nbsp; eight&nbsp; European Natural history museums and the results of author&rsquo;s thirty years of research. Field&nbsp; work&nbsp; is&nbsp; based&nbsp; on&nbsp; the&nbsp; collection&nbsp; of&nbsp; materials using standard methods such as manual collection and trapping and a newer method using a motor&nbsp; vacuum cleaner.&nbsp; The&nbsp; material&nbsp; was&nbsp; processed&nbsp; with&nbsp; standard procedures&nbsp; using&nbsp; a&nbsp; dissecting&nbsp; binocular&nbsp; and&nbsp; a microscope.A total of 742 species of spiders from 40 families have been registered. Five taxa are new species for science. Two species present new findings for the fauna of the spiders of the Balkan Peninsula. Sixty&nbsp; two taxa were recorded for the first time&nbsp; for the fauna of Macedonia.An&nbsp; ancient&nbsp; family&nbsp; Anapidae&nbsp; with&nbsp; one&nbsp; species&nbsp; has been&nbsp; registered&nbsp; for&nbsp; the&nbsp; first&nbsp; time&nbsp; in&nbsp; the&nbsp; fauna&nbsp; of Macedonia. By reviewing&nbsp; the&nbsp; published data, it was established&nbsp; that&nbsp; 179&nbsp; species&nbsp; were&nbsp; incorrectly identified&nbsp; and&nbsp; listed&nbsp; for&nbsp; the&nbsp; fauna&nbsp; of&nbsp; Macedonia. Species&nbsp; are&nbsp; categorized&nbsp; according&nbsp; to&nbsp; the&nbsp; current knowledge of their distribution, on the basis of which a zoogeographic analysis of the fauna was performed.32&nbsp; chorotypes&nbsp; were&nbsp; established&nbsp; in&nbsp; the&nbsp; fauna&nbsp; of&nbsp; the spiders&nbsp; of&nbsp; Macedonia,&nbsp; classified&nbsp; into&nbsp; four chorological&nbsp; complexes:&nbsp; widespread,&nbsp; European, Mediterranean and endemic species. The&nbsp; largest&nbsp; number&nbsp; of&nbsp; species&nbsp; is&nbsp; registered&nbsp; in&nbsp; the complex of widespread species (44.3%), which give the main character of the fauna. The high degree of representation of European (19.1%) and Eurosiberian (11.3%)&nbsp; chorological&nbsp; elements,&nbsp; as&nbsp; the&nbsp; two individually&nbsp; most&nbsp; represented&nbsp; in&nbsp; the&nbsp; fauna&nbsp; of&nbsp; the spiders of Macedonia, is a reflection of the dominant mountain&nbsp; character&nbsp; of&nbsp; the&nbsp; relief&nbsp; of&nbsp; Macedonia.&nbsp; The chorological&nbsp; complex&nbsp; of&nbsp; Mediterranean&nbsp; species&nbsp; is represented&nbsp; by&nbsp; 99&nbsp; species&nbsp; (13.3%).&nbsp; The&nbsp; high proportion&nbsp; of&nbsp; species&nbsp; (11.3%)&nbsp; belonging&nbsp; to&nbsp; the chorological elements that are present on the territory of&nbsp; Southern&nbsp; Europe,&nbsp; the&nbsp; Mediterranean,&nbsp; West&nbsp; and Central&nbsp; Asia&nbsp; speaks&nbsp; of&nbsp; the&nbsp; rich&nbsp; fauna&nbsp; of&nbsp; spiders&nbsp; of&nbsp; xerophilic,&nbsp; thermophilic&nbsp; and&nbsp; arid&nbsp; terrain.&nbsp; The&nbsp; local character of the fauna can be seen in a relatively large number&nbsp; of&nbsp; species&nbsp; from&nbsp; the&nbsp; complex&nbsp; of&nbsp; endemic species&nbsp; (87).&nbsp; From&nbsp; this&nbsp; complex&nbsp; are&nbsp; the&nbsp; most dominant&nbsp; species&nbsp; from&nbsp;&nbsp; the&nbsp; chorotype&nbsp; &quot;narrower endemic&quot; with 45 species.Western&nbsp; Macedonia&nbsp; is&nbsp; the&nbsp; richest&nbsp; with&nbsp; fauna&nbsp; of spiders, with 23 species from the group of endemites of&nbsp; the&nbsp; narrower&nbsp; area,&nbsp; which&nbsp; speaks&nbsp; of&nbsp; the&nbsp; great importance of this region as a refugium and space in which&nbsp; the&nbsp; processes&nbsp; of&nbsp; speciation&nbsp; were&nbsp; intensively carried out.</p>

This thesis tries to provide valuable insight and explain the role of identity perceptions on security as a means to avert conflicts and security threats. The aim is to provide an identity based explanation to security problems. Constructivism and „social identity theory‟ are its theoretical points of departure which help us understand how we construct social identities and have the tendency to be prejudicial towards others. Our prejudices and negative identity perceptions play a major role in security issues. We will use process tracing to find how identity perceptions are constructed and how they affect security. More explicitly we will trace the process of how identities were affected by historical events as well as the ethnocentric interpretation of these historical events. For thorough analysis, Bosnia, Kosovo and Macedonia are chosen as case studies. The findings will hopefully propose better solutions to security problems and built knowledge applicable to other similar security threats.

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.

This thesis considers the extent to which decentralisation in the Republic of Macedonia between 2005 and 2012 has been effective in reducing ethnic inequalities that exacerbate social divisions and can lead to conflict. Guided by the concept of horizontal inequalities, it identifies the factors which influenced the decision to devolve responsibilities to the municipalities after 2001. It examines the particular institutional design that Macedonian decentralisation took, and demonstrates how its use of local power-sharing mechanisms was intended to address the concerns of the Albanian and Macedonian communities simultaneously. This thesis takes an integrative approach to studying the political, administrative, and fiscal dimensions of decentralisation's implementation, and considers whether the reform has indeed contributed to the reduction of inequalities between Macedonia's ethnic groups. Where decentralisation's potential has not been reached, obstacles to its successful implementation are identified. While decentralisation alone may be unable to address all of the grievances raised by the Albanian community prior to 2001, this thesis argues that the reform has the potential to address many of the horizontal inequalities that were responsible for raising inter-ethnic tensions during the 1990s. However, decentralisation in Macedonia between 2005 and 2012 has only been partial, and advances in the administrative and political aspects of the reform have been undermined by limited progress in its fiscal dimension. Attempts to solve self-determination conflicts through decentralisation will fail if local self-governance exists only in form but not in substance.

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.)