Reconciliation by Stealth advances a novel approach to evaluating the effects of transitional justice in postconflict societies. Through her examination of the Balkan conflicts, Denisa Kostovicova ...asks what happens when former adversaries discuss legacies of violence and atrocity, and whether it is possible to do so without further deepening animosities.Reconciliation by Stealth shifts our attention from what people say about war crimes, to how they deliberate past wrongs. Bringing together theories of democratic deliberation and peacebuilding, Kostovicova demonstrates how people from opposing ethnic groups reconcile through reasoned, respectful, and empathetic deliberation about a difficult legacy. She finds that expression of ethnic difference plays a role in good-quality deliberation across ethnic lines, while revealed intraethnic divisions help deliberators expand moral horizons previously narrowed by conflict. In the process, people forge bonds of solidarity and offset divisive identity politics that bears upon their deliberations. Reconciliation by Stealth shows us the importance of theoretical and methodological innovation in capturing how transitional justice can promote reconciliation, and points to the untapped potential of deliberative problem-solving to repair relationships fractured by conflict.
Jumping plant-lice (Hemiptera, Sternorrhyncha, Psylloidea) are small phloemfeeding insects. With about 400 species distributed in Europe, the European fauna is considered well-studied. However, ...information on psyllids occurring in the eastern Balkan Peninsula is insufficient. So far, less than a hundred psyllid species are known for Bulgaria, most of which have been reported only from a few regions. Knowledge on the psyllid fauna of the Sarnena Sredna Gora Mountains in central Bulgaria is sparse and relatively old, with only a handful of recorded species. The aim of the present study is to summarise the information on Psylloidea from this region, including recently collected material kept in the zoological collection of Sofia University. A total of 17 species were found of which 7 species had been previously published and 10 species from 3 families are new to the region: Aphalara freji Burckhardt & Lauterer, 1997 (Aphalaridae), Diaphorina lycii Loginova, 1978, Arytaina maculata (Löw, 1886), Cacopsylla bidens (Šulc, 1907), Cacopsylla melanoneura (Foerster, 1848), Cacopsylla pulchra (Zetterstedt, 1838), Livilla horvathi (Scott, 1879), Psylla foersteri Flor, 1861 (all Psyllidae), Bactericera modesta (Foerster, 1848) and Trioza rotundata Flor, 1861 (Triozidae).
Economic growth is an economic topic that attracts a lot of attention in science and research. This is a consequence of the emergence of increasingly frequent regional and global instabilities, which ...often develop into open economic crises of a larger scale. Therefore, today’s economic stability is largely threatened due to the slowdown in GDP growth. Economic growth is influenced by various economic factors, with education being one of the most important, which undeniably boosts productivity, competitiveness, and growth. Among the first, this topic was elaborated by Solow. In this research, regression analysis was used to analyze the influence of several selected variables that determine the state of education. The research results are presented in two models. The dependent variable is Gross National Income per capita (GNIpc), and the independent variables in the first model are years of education, macroeconomic stability, and ability to accept information technologies. In the first model, none of the independent variables is individually significant for the movement of GNIpc. The continuation of the analysis (second model) excludes the variable of macroeconomic stability. The final results are significant for the movement of GNIpc and show that an increase of one year in education leads to an increase in GNIpc by 4408 units, while an increase in the speed of ICT adoption leads to an increase in GNIpc by 543 units. Thus, the research results show a positive and significant influence of the selected independent variables on the economic growth of the Balkan countries.
Chara gymnophylla is one of the first charophyte species reported for Serbia during the late 19th and the early 20th centuries, and at that time it was the second in terms of the frequency of its ...occurrence in the country. General taxonomic misinterpretations in the past resulted in the concealment of another species, C. squamosa, within the findings attributed to C. gymnophylla. In Serbia, Chara gymnophylla was treated as C. vulgaris var. gymnophylla, and as such was not listed as a species inhabiting the country. Recent improvements in the taxonomic concept for C. squamosa prompted a revision of the rich material of C. gymnophylla, C. vulgaris var. gymnophylla, C. vulgaris var. nitelloides, and C. rohlenae, deposited in the BEOU collection. The revision process was conducted concurrently with fieldwork and the collection of new material. Our study confirmed the presence of C. squamosa in Serbia for the first time. Based on numerous revised samples from the BEOU collection, as well as recently collected specimens, the species? continuous presence in Serbia since 1976 was confirmed. Chara squamosa and C. gymnophylla were thus added to the list of Characeae species inhabiting Serbia, and categorised as Critically Endangered according to the criteria outlined by IUCN. An overview of the biogeography, ecology and taxonomy of C. squamosa in Serbia is provided, particularly in relation to C. gymnophylla. The BEOU charophyte collection proved to represent a valuable and relevant resource for critical taxonomic revisions. The results presented in this study strongly encourage further studies on C. squamosa and C. gymnophylla distribution in the Balkan region and wider area in order to gain a deeper understanding of the species? ecology and the further improvement of their taxonomic concepts.
The article describes the approach to and condenses some of the main arguments presented in the author’s book Beyond Balkansim: The Scholarly Politics of Region Making. It charts the main phases in ...the scholarly conceptualization of the Balkans and its characteristics and, against this background, tackles the question: What can we learn from the Balkan case about the actual production of regions?
In Russia at the beginning of the twentieth century, a new strategic line in relations with the Ottoman Empire was being developed. The urgent task of Russian diplomacy was to prevent the ...participation of the Ottoman Empire on the side of Russia’s opponents in a possible war. Unfortunately, Russian diplomacy failed to cope with this task. Diplomatic documents attest to the existence of a Russian plan to create a Balkan Federation under the auspices of the Ottoman Empire. Russia’s efforts in this regard intensified after the Young Turk Revolution of 1908. In 1910, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs was developing a plan for the possible unification of the Balkan states into a single Balkan Federation led by the Ottoman Empire. Serbia played an important role in the implementation of this program. This idea was developed by Nikolai V. Charykov, the Russian ambassador to Constantinople from 1909 to 1911. Russian diplomacy sought to smooth out the contradictions in the Balkans and normalise the relations of the young states with the Ottoman Empire. In 1911, the Russian Envoy to Constantinople, Charykov, negotiated with the Turkish leadership on the Russian-Turkish treaty, which, in particular, included the question of the Balkan Federation. This episode in Russian-Turkish relations went down in the history of diplomacy as the “Charykov demarche.” The formation of the Balkan Union and the Balkan Wars of 1912–1913 meant the failure of the Russian model of peaceful coexistence of the Balkan states as a confederation, including the autonomy of European Turkey. The reasons for this failure were discussed in their memoirs by two Russian diplomats Nikolai V. Charykov and Vassili N. Strandtmann, who gave years of diplomatic service in the Balkans, and who remained living there after escaping from revolutionary Russia.
Despite the focus in recent years on developments in the Middle East, North Africa, South Caucasus, the Balkans still play a crucial role in Turkey’s new foreign policy of trying to become a regional ...power using a personalized foreign policy, soft power, trade. The COVID-19 crisis also presented an opportunity for Turkey to represent itself as a «savior» in tough times. During the COVID-19 outbreak Turkey took steps to expand its influence in different regions, including the Balkans, by means of using the tools of «mask» and «vaccine» diplomacy. As a result, Turkey was one of the first countries to start delivering medical supplies to the region, frequently pointing out the failure of the EU’s performance as a crisis manager. In 2021, this is the point where Turkey’s policy limits become evident because of a lack of its COVID vaccine and the deterioration of the internal economic and financial climate. Thus, the purpose of the study is to examine the effectiveness of Turkey’s COVID-diplomacy towards the several Balkan states (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo). Moreover, the launch of the special military operation in Ukraine has revealed new opportunities for Turkey to promote itself as a mediator in diplomacy, energy, trade, transport, etc., including towards the Balkans.
The article discusses the reflection of the features of the own — alien dichotomy in the Balkan model of the world in the xenologic pejorative vocabulary of the Balkan sprachbund languages: Albanian, ...Aromanian, Bulgarian, Modern Greek, Macedonian, Romanian and Serbo-Croatian. The author gives a brief review of the historical, cultural and geopolitical specifics of the Balkan-Carpathian region, which influenced the local peoples’ ideas about strangers; some traditional mythological beliefs of the Balkanians related to the conceptual field of otherness are also presented. Based on the analysis of the internal history of the word, an attempt is made to define the main models for constructing derogatory names for strangers in order to compare the data for various Balkan languages and, to the extent possible, build an integral image of the concept of alien in the Balkan conceptual worldview. According to the results of the study, the xenopejorative vocabulary of languages of the Balkan sprachbund shows significant similarities both in terms of form and content. Pejoratives with undifferentiated evaluativity absolutely predominate, which could account for the richness of the Balkan derivational morphology and a large number of lexical borrowings in each of the languages; pejoratives with an indication of appearance, features of language and peculiarities of behavior are also widely represented, however, the first are referentially limited, while the second and the third are universal, from which it is concluded that the prototypical Balkan alien is someone who speaks differently and behaves differently. At the same time, the most common target for pejorative vocabulary in the Balkan languages among all strangers is Roma people, which is bound both to a number of stereotyped ideas about the physical and behavioral distinctive features of this ethnic group, and to the historical isolation caused by the nomadic way of life and the closedness of the Roma community from outsiders.
The main aim of this article is to investigate the life and teachings of the wali known as Koyun Baba in Turkish-Islamic culture. The other aim of this study is to investigate the existence and ...effects of Koyun Baba in the Balkan region. The researcher personally visited most of the tombs that are believed to belong to Koyun Baba in Turkey during the study. In particular, tomb of Koyun Baba in Çorum Osmancik province was emphasized since all of the handwritten manuscripts of Koyun Baba usually point there. The researcher also visited tomb of Koyun Baba near the village of Sipkoviça, Kalkandelen in Macedonia twice in different years while investigating Koyun Baba’s traces in the Balkans. As a result of literature review, the identity, teachings and traces of Koyun Baba in the Balkans were tried to be uncovered.Ottoman Explorer Evliya Çelebi talks about Koyun Baba in his travelbook Seyahatname: “Koyun Baba, personally is the caliph of Haci Bektash Veli.” As a result of the legends about him, it is understood that Koyun Baba was born in Khorasan. His real name is Seyyid Ali and he is accepted as 12th son of the imam-sect leader Rıza. Koyun Baba left Khorasan and after visiting Karbala, he went to pilgrimage to Mecca after which he came to Anatolia and visited the city of Bursa. There he became a shepherd of a wealthy person called Abdullah and he made a deal with this wealthy man: when a sheep gave a birth to twins Koyun Baba had the right to obtain one of them. After a while, he came to Osmancık with forty sheep he had received in Bursa. Koyun Baba’s fame has reached the present day as a result of his 30 miraculous deeds and anecdotes. In so-called ‘velâyetname’ books which are about the lives of walis like Otman Baba and Piri Baba Koyun Baba was mentioned. In addition, the anecdotes about the Koyun Baba were written in both verse and prose which have reached the present day as manuscripts. One can find lots of Koyun Baba Tombs all over Turkey. However, there are two Koyun Baba tombs in the Balkans, one in Romania and the other inMacedonia. After mentioning Koyun Baba’s life, doctrine and research carried out on him, we will talk about sending his evlat (son) Erişti Ali for spiritual and ethic guide to the Balkans from Çorum, Osmancık and his influence in the Balkans. We will first talk about the Koyun Baba tomb in Romania and then the one in Tetovo, Macedonia, making comparisons with the narratives in Turkey.
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