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).
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.
Analysing the speech of Aleksandar Vučić delivered in the National Assembly on 28 May 2019, this paper argues that his aim is to re-establish nationalist discourse in Serbia. Vučić uses only the ...negative common features of Serbs as a foundation for the emotional continuity of the nation while ignoring existing attachments such as the territorialization of memory and sanctification of territory. Furthermore, since he believes that the question of Kosovo's status (a central theme of both attachments), and political continuity have been lost because of the irresponsible politics of previous governments and severe pressure from the Western powers, Vučić links a compromise with the Kosovo Albanians to the question of Serbia's survival. The paper leaves it to the reader to assess whether this change would be ideal for Serbia or morally permissible. In addition, the question of whether the existing attachments, built through education and collective memory for decades - even centuries - are sufficiently solidified to reject the change, remains largely unexplored.
This is the first study on cuticular wax variability of Abies alba, A.×borisii‐regis and A. cephalonica, using 18 native populations from the assumed hybrid zone in the Balkan Peninsula. Presence of ...13 n‐alkanes with chain‐lengths ranging from C21 to C33, one primary alcohol, two diterpenes, one triterpene and one sterol was determined in hexane extracts of 269 needle samples. The multivariate statistical analyses at the population level entirely failed in supporting circumscription of Balkan Abies taxa and therefore, in identifying hybrid populations. However, performed at the species level, these analyses revealed a certain tendency of differentiation between A. alba and A. cephalonica, while individuals of A.×borisii‐regis were largely overlapped by the clouds of both parent species. Finally, the correlation analysis suggested that the observed variation of wax compounds was probably genetically conditioned and that it does not represent an adaptive response to various environmental factors.
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