Southeast Europe

The overall objective of this research project has been to improve the impact of vocational education and training (VET) at secondary school level on social inclusion and social cohesion in the countries of South Eastern Europe, Turkey and Israel by deepening the understanding of the main barriers and potential opportunities for building inclusive and equitable VET systems in these countries. This report provides a synthesis of nine country case reports in the region carried out by local research teams based on a participatory action research methodology. This process engaged practitioners, policy makers and other key stakeholders in a reflective process of problem solving through in-depth interviews at national and local level, combined with student and teacher surveys in three upper-secondary level vocational schools in each country. In all, 84 in-depth interviews were conducted with key stakeholders and 223 interviews were held in schools and local communities. These, together wi...

""This article is an ethnographic study of a 29-kilometer stretch of cross-border highway located in South Albania and linking the city of Gjirokaster with the main checkpoint on the Albanian–Greek border. The road, its politics, and its poetics
constitute an ideal point of entry for an anthropological analysis of contemporary South Albania. The physical and social construction, uses, and perceptions of this road uniquely encapsulate three phenomena that dominate social life in postsocialist South Albania: the transition to a market economy, new nationalisms, and massive emigration (mainly to Greece). Taking this cross-border road section as my main ethnographic
point of reference, I suggest the fruitfulness of further discussion of the relationship between roads, narratives, and anthropology.

[roads, globalization, transnationalism, development, postsocialism, materiality, Albania]""

Western Balkan countries continue to struggle
with some major institutional and structural
problems, which affect progress in almost all
areas. The rule of law, which is a central feature
of a modern democratic society, is not ensured.
Human Rights, which consist of a wide range of civil,
cultural, economic, political and social rights, are denied
and this denial is not “by law” but “by practice”.
The aim of this analysis is to give a brief overview of
the situation with regard to the enjoyment of the basic
human rights in the Western Balkans. The main line of
argumentation is that Western Balkan states have been
reviewing much of their domestic laws, regulations,
structures etc. to comply with the European Union (EU)
standards. As a result, the backbone that is necessary to
protect the basic civil, political, social, and economic
rights are in place; however implementation of these
ambitious legal framework, which is the key

Die GIZ/CIM-Studie mit dem Titel „Migrationsnetzwerke zwischen Deutschland und den Herkunftsstaaten Republik Albanien und Republik Kosovo“ untersucht Migrationsnetzwerke, verstanden als soziale Netzwerke von Migranten zwischen Deutschland, Albanien und Kosovo am Beispiel deutsch-albanischsprachiger Vereine und ihrer Herkunftsland-bezogenen Aktivitäten (Untersuchungszeitraum März bis September 2016). Ziel der Studie ist es, die in Deutschland lebenden Einwanderer und Neuzuwanderer aus beiden Ländern, die sich in deutsch-albanischsprachigen Vereinen organisieren, besser kennenzulernen, ihre originären Bedarfe zu verstehen und ihre weitere Einbindung in die entwicklungsorientierte Zusammenarbeit des „Programms Migration für Entwicklung“ (cimonline.de) durch Handlungsempfehlungen zu skizzieren.

https://www.cimonline.de/static/media/giz-2016-de-diasporastudie-albanien%20und%20kosovo.pdf

China’s emergence as a financial backer and operator of development projects in the Balkans not only carries significant benefits for recipient countries and the EU, but also presents some possible challenges. On one hand, the host countries must ensure that these projects benefit local business communities and meet the necessary quality standards. On the other hand, although China’s loans to developing countries are famously touted as coming without conditions, it remains to be seen whether they are used in the future as leverage to sway the policies of recipient countries in China’s favor, potentially disturbing the current status-quo in the region. With similar high-speed railway  deals expected to follow elsewhere, the world should pay attention to how China performs its railway diplomacy in the Balkans, as it may be a telling sign of things to come on a global scale.

By recovering and interpreting the hidden technological variability in the first pottery at Ilindentsi-Massovets, this paper reveals the innovative adaptations to local conditions that the adoption of pottery production, as a new technology, must have involved. Seventy-one samples were analysed using low-resolution binocular microscopy and high-resolution petrographic and scanning electron microscopy. The variety established within each of the major components in pottery production at the site is interpreted in the context of the local raw materials (availability) and technological approaches (decision making), thus reaching beyond the traditional interpretative models that suggest large-scale uniformity in Early Neolithic pottery production across extensive European regions.

"Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Bryan Rennie, Introduction: Themes in the International Eliade

1. The Sacralization of Time

Michel Meslin, The Sacralization of Time in the Thought of Mircea Eliade
Pablo Wright and César Ceriani Cernadas, Cosmological Bridges: Suspicion and Recollection in the Realities of Myth

2. The Interpretation of History

Ulrich Berner, Mircea Eliade and the Myth of Adonis
Brigitte Ouellet, In Search of a Methodology: Eliade’s Hermeneutical Approach in the Study of Ancient Egyptian Texts
Joseph Muthuraj, The Significance of Mircea Eliade for the Study of the New Testament

3. The Interpretation of India and Eliade’s “Traditionalism”

Liviu Bordas, The Secret of Dr. Eliade
Natale Spineto, Mircea Eliade and “Traditional Thought”

4. History and Historicism

Philip Vanhaelemeersch, Eliade, “History,” and “Historicism”

5. The History of Religions

Katrine Ore, Gender Perspectives in Eliade’s History of Religions

6. The Dialectic of the Sacred and Creative Hermeneutics

Chung Chin Hong, Mircea Eliade’s Dialectic of Sacred and Profane and Creative Hermeneutics

7. Mysticism and the Orthodox Tradition

Wilhelm Danca, The Origin of the Concept of Mysticism in the Thought of Mircea Eliade

8. Eliade’s Fiction

Okuyama Michiaki, Camouflage and Epiphany: The Discovery of the Sacred in Mircea Eliade and Õe Kenzaburõ

Mircea Eliade, Men and Stones
Translated by Mac Linscott Ricketts

Works Cited
List of Contributors
Index



Summary 

Winner CHOICE 2008 Outstanding Academic Title


A unique consideration of the work of Mircea Eliade highlighting scholarship from outside the Anglophone world.

The International Eliade brings together contributors from beyond the Anglo-American milieu to consider the work of Mircea Eliade. Significant new insights and information concerning Eliade, his past, and potential applications of his thought are provided by scholars from Romania, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Norway, France, Argentina, India, Korea, Japan, and Québec, Canada. Intended as a balanced consideration of Eliade’s significance, the collection recognizes the restrictions and shortcomings of his work, and gives the English-language reader access to research in Eliade studies being done in a global arena.

“…this volume … indicates that there is more to learn about Eliade. And, maybe more importantly, there is still more to learn about the study of religion, and most likely also about religion, by way of studying Eliade—and by way of studying those who study Eliade. Eliade is still useful. The International Eliade shows this.” — Journal of the American Academy of Religion

“[A] scintillating and remarkable collection of articles on Eliade … Most important, this collection sets Eliade on the international stage, defining his appeal and influence outside the United States … This very well-written and well-edited volume will stimulate many scholars to reconsider Eliade’s work in the light of current insights into the nature of religious experience.” — CHOICE

“This volume reviews international scholarship on the central figure of comparative religion in the last generation, which is a valuable contribution. The nonpolemical atmosphere of the book is refreshing and allows the reader to see the individual essays as phenomena in their own right.” — William E. Paden, author of Interpreting the Sacred: Ways of Viewing Religion

Contributors include Ulrich Berner, Liviu Bordasç, César Ceriani Cernadas, Chin-Hong Chung, Wilhelm Dancaá, Mircea Eliade (translated by Mac Linscott Ricketts), Michel Meslin, Joseph Muthuraj, Michiaki Okuyama, Katrine Ore, Brigitte Ouellet, Bryan Rennie, Natale Spineto, Philip Vanhaelemeersch, and Pablo Wright.

Bryan Rennie is Vira I. Heinz Professor of Religion at Westminster College. He is the author of Reconstructing Eliade: Making Sense of Religion and editor of Changing Religious Worlds: The Meaning and End of Mircea Eliade, both also published by SUNY Press.

"

Небојша Вилиќ (2010)
КРИТИЧКА УМЕТНОСТ. Разговори со Бојан Иванов, Зоран Попоски, Мира Гаќина и Жанета Вангели.
Скопје: 359

[124 страни со 39 илустрации во боја]

Во последните неколку години, а во рамките на македонска-та уметничка сцена, се појавуваат сè повеќе уметнички дела, интервенции и акции коишто одговараат или реа-гираат на тековните општествени состојби и тоа во обем којшто досега не е забележан. Одговорите за причината на овие појави, нивната суштина и можноста да се пози-ционираат творештвото и ангажманот на македонскиот уметник  во  ваквите  одредени  околности  беа  побарани од уметниците Жанета Вангели и Зоран Попоски и исто-ричарите на уметноста и критичари Мира Гаќина и Бојан Иванов. Ваквиот  однос  на  професионалната  определба на соговорниците има за цел кон темата да се пријде од двете  сосема  различни  и  спротивставени  позиции  во однос на подрачјето на уметноста: творечкото и толку-вачкото. Изборот се раководеше од нивните досегашни ангажмани  во  јавниот  простор  на  уметноста:  искуст-вото и мислата во творечката пракса на Вангели повеќе од две десетлетија го збогатува корпусот на критичката уметност во Македонија со стожерна доследност, додека нејзиниот постконцептуален пристап е  редок уметнич-ки дискурс за политизацијата на естетското и, особено, естетизацијата на политичкото и идеолошкото; Попоски сопствените уметнички истражувања и пракси ги надо-полнува и со теориско мислење во јавниот простор при-сутно не само преку неговите учества на различни раз-говори, туку, што е од особена важност за македонската уметничка сцена и со авторско публикување на сопстве-ните теориски промислувања; во критичкиот дискурс на Гаќина, исто така, но „од другата страна на уметноста“, теориското  обмислување  е  поткрепено  и  со  нејзината кураторска пракса, особено со и во изборот на учесни-ците на 5 Биенале на млади, одржано минатата година во Музејот на современата уметност во Скопје; теориските обмислувања на Иванов, веќе подолго време, претставуваат силна поткрепа на обидите уметничкото творештво во  Македонија  да  се  стави  во  една структурирана  сис-темска рамка од којашто произлегуваат понатамошните читања на сè понедофатливите за вреднување разнородни и разновидни уметнички пракси.

Studie se zabývá historickým vývojem a kolonizací oblasti dnes srbského a rumunského Banátu, kde se v průběhu 18. století zformovala Banátská vojenská hranice. Její vznik je výsledkem mnohaletého historicko-politického vývoje, jenž byl ponejvíce determinován střetem habsburské monarchie a osmanské říše. Zřízení Banátské vojenské hranice, znamenalo transmigraci kolonistů z celé habsburské říše hájících pohraničí. Spolu s nimi migrovaly i početné skupiny obyvatel českých zemí, usazující se zde již od druhé poloviny 18. století. Studie se věnuje počátkům osídlení příchozích z českých zemí. Některými novými fakty rozšiřuje stávají poznání minulosti procesů vzniku osad s českým osídlením (např. Svatá Helena, Ablian, Kruščica). Autor vycházel zejména z archivního výzkumu ve Státním archivu v rumunském Temešváru a v Oblastním archivu vojvodinské Bele Crkve. Prostřednictvím nově nalezených archivních pramenů lze vyvrátit některé dosud tradované mýty opakované především etnologickou literaturou zabývající se českou menšinou v Banátu.

У четири писма Николи Стојановићу из 1917. и 1918. Љубомир Стојановић је износио своје мисли о тренутној политичкој ситуацији, али како је време одмицало и ратна срећа се окретала Антанти и њеним савезницима, и о могућим решењима југословенског питања у скорој будућности. У српској историографији је скренута пажња на ову преписку, али садржаји нису шире навођени. У раду су приказана ова четири писма у целини, будући да пружају другачије виђење једног српског научника и политичара на могуће будуће уређење југословенске државе, те тако доносе нове моменте у политичкој историји југословенског уједињења.

Délkelet-Európa területén az elmúlt közel 30 évben nagy változások történtek. A kommunizmus bukásával a régióban fellángolt a nacionalizmus, amely több államban véres harcokhoz és polgárháborúhoz vezetett. A demokratikus értékek elsajátítása csupán lassú folyamat eredményeként jött létre, leginkább nyugati hatásra. Mindazonáltal azt tapasztaljuk, hogy a térség államai elkötelezettek a nyugati integrációs formák irányában, azonban az egyes kritériumokat és elvárásokat gyakran alternatív fogalomtársítással kezelik. A régió országai közül többen már hosszú demokratikus múlttal rendelkeznek, azonban napjainkra az egész térséget a politikai instabilitás jellemzi, amely leggyakrabban a kormányzati ciklusok rövidülésében és előrehozott választások kiírásában manifesztálódott.
Kötetünkben a politikai rendszerek fejlődését és változékonyságát, továbbá kritikai
szemléltetéssel a rezsimek működési problémáit kívánjuk bemutatni. Az egyes tanulmányok a politikatudomány eszköz- és módszertanára épülnek, célunk, hogy az összehasonlító politikatudomány segítségével mélyebben megértsük a déli szomszédaink politikai történéseit. Időbeli korlátként a demokratikus időszak vizsgálatára törekedtünk, így az 1991 és 2017 közötti változásokat elemezzük. Fő célkitűzésünk, hogy a demokrácia milyenségének egyik legösszetettebb elemét, a politikai rendszerek elméleti megalapozottságát összevessük a gyakorlati működésükkel, és rámutassunk a jó gyakorlatokra, valamint a negatív következményekre. A könnyebb összehasonlíthatóság érdekében minden tanulmány azonos szerkezetet követ, amely az állam- és nemzetépítés alapvető mérföldköveivel indul, hogy röviden megismerjük az adott nemzetet strukturáló történelmi hagyományokat és politikai törésvonalakat. A tanulmányok második fejezete az alkotmánytörténetet és a politikai hatalommegosztás országspecifikus intézményeit tárgyalja. A harmadik rész a főbb politikai pártokat mutatja be a bal-jobb skálát figyelembe véve, illetve a választási rendszerek ismertetését tartalmazza. A tanulmányok következő részeiben a parlamentek gyakorlati működését és a kormányok ténykedését járják körül a szerzők. Végezetül a dolgozatokban az állampolgárok véleményére is kíváncsiak voltunk, hogy milyen bizalmi viszony jellemzi őket a korábban vizsgált intézményeket illetően.
Könyvünk Koller Boglárka és Ördögh Tibor elméleti és konceptuális keretéről szóló tanulmányával kezdődik, amelyben az országtanulmányok módszertani hátterét ismertetik. Végh Andor segítségével betekinthetünk Albánia sorsfordító közelmúltjába,
Kemenszky Ágnes Bosznia-Hercegovina törékeny államiságát járja körül, míg Bacsa Beatrix dolgozatában Bulgária politikai rendszerét mutatja be. Lőrinczné Bencze Edit a
kormányformát váltó Horvátországgal ismertet meg bennünket, Reményi Péter Koszovó államépítésének problematikáját tárja fel, Braun András pedig a szomszédok által fenyegetett Macedónia viszontagságait szemlélteti. Barabás T. János Románia politikai rendszerének változékonyságát elemzi tanulmányában, Ördögh Tibor Szerbia ellentmondásos szisztémáját vizsgálja, Szilágyi Imre pedig Szlovénia berendezkedését tárja fel. Sajnos a kötetből hiányzik Görögország és Montenegró politikai rendszerének vizsgálata, amelyet egy bővített kiadásban mindenképp szeretnénk közreadni.

The publication explores practices of critical contemporary fine arts – practices of research, progressive and experimental actions by contemporary fine artists from the 1990s to the present, in four countries in the region – Croatia, Macedonia, Serbia and Slovenia. These are practices which focus on issues such as identity aspects (national, cultural, religious, ethnic), workers’ rights, social integration of minorities, global market fluctuation trends and its impact in the local context, unscrupulousness of capital, the position of women, spatial devastation, art institution system issues, and many others.

The publication maps out and theoretically reviews critical and research practices, and contemporary fine arts practices oriented towards the contemporary civilization moment, which have been active in the context of the independent cultural scene since the 1990s, but which have also been present in the institutional frame. The authors provide only drafts of the political, social, economic and cultural changes of the local contexts, through four segments, due to a lack of space. Each segment focuses on the practices and context of a given country, i.e. the capital as the primary focus, and in addition to the introductory word by the authors, it includes interviews (with authors, theorists, curators, organizers…) who contribute to the recording of these artistic practices based on their experience, work and knowledge.

The segments deal with the Belgrade, Ljubljana, Skopje, and Zagreb scenes. All the authors devised their approaches in an effort to present the fruitful and creative production of these cities, to the greatest extent possible. The authors involved in the creation of this publication are Jasna Jakšić (in collaboration with Tihana Bertek, Maja Gujinović, Ana Kovačić, Srđan Latrezom, Petar Novak, Tino Novak, Tamara Sertić and Leda Sutlović) from Croatia, Nebojša Vilić from Macedonia, Vesna Tašić (in collaboration with Vesna Milosavljević and Miroljub Marjanović) from Serbia, and Miha Colner and Nika Grabar (Slovenia).

http://talkingcriticarts.wordpress.com/2011/04/08/ltca-publication-%E2%80%93-from-consideration-to-commitment-art-in-critical-confrontation-to-society-belgrade-ljubljana-skopje-zagreb-1990-2010/

Bundan 20 yıl önce kanlı savașlara sahne olan ve siyasi istikrarsızlık, zayıf devlet kurumları ve ekonomik geri kalmıșlıkla karakterize edilen Batı Balkan ülkeleri, bugün AB ile bütünleșme yolunda farklı hızlarda yol alıyor. AB'nin 15 üyeden 27 üyeye genișlediği 2004 ve 2007 genișleme dalgalarının ardından, AB içerisinde genișleme konusunda hararetli tartıșmaların yașandığı ve genișleme yorgunluğunun etkisini hissettirdiği bir dönemde patlak veren küresel mali kriz ve Avro Alanı borç krizi, genișlemeyi AB'nin öncelikleri arasında alt sıralara iterken, sırada bekleyen ülkeler için Birliğe üyelik șartlarını daha da zorlaștırdı. Söz konusu olumsuz koșullara rağmen, Hırvatistan, Temmuz 2013'te bu zorlu süreci tamamlayarak, AB ailesinin 28'inci üyesi oldu. Yugoslavya'nın kanlı dağılma sürecinden sorumlu tutulan ve yakın tarihe kadar " parya devlet " olarak nitelendirilen Sırbistan, Kosova ile ilișkilerini normalleștirme yolunda tarihi bir anlașmaya imza atarak, katılım müzakerelerine bașlama tarihi elde etti. 2012'de katılım müzakerelerini yürütmeye bașlayan Karadağ ise müzakerelerde yol almaya devam ediyor. Arnavutluk, Avrupa Komisyonu tarafından katılım müzakerelerine bașlaması için belirlenen 12 kilit önceliğin büyük bölümünü yerine getirerek, aday ülke statüsü almaya yaklaștı. Avrupa'nın en genç devleti Kosova ise, AB'nin, statüsüne ilișkin ortak bir tutum benimseyememesine rağmen, AB üyeliği yolunda ilk adımı atarak, Ekim 2013'te AB ile İstikrar ve Ortaklık Anlașması müzakerelerine bașladı. Bu gelișmeler, șüphesiz genișleme politikasının dönüștürücü gücünü kanıtlıyor. Buna karșılık, Yunanistan'ın tek yanlı vetosu nedeniyle AB ile katılım müzakerelerine bașlayamadan AB'nin bekleme odasında bir yılı daha geride bırakan Makedonya'da yavașlayan reform ivmesi ve Bosna-Hersek'in, siyasilerin kısa vadeli çıkarları nedeniyle, AB üyelik bașvurusunda bulunması için belirlenen koșulları yerine getirmeden bir yılı daha geride bırakması, genișleme politikasının kredilibitesini ve bașarısını ciddi anlamda sınıyor. Sırada bekleyen Batı Balkan ülkelerinin AB üyelik hedefi doğrultusunda gerçekleștirmeleri gereken nice reform ve kat etmeleri gereken zorlu ve uzun bir yol bulunuyor. Batı Balkan ülkelerinin AB ile bütünleșme yolunda karșılaștıkları zorlukları ve bugüne kadar kaydettikleri ilerlemeyi değerlendiren " Batı Balkanlar AB Yolunda " bașlıklı bu yayın, genișleme politikasının gündeminde önemli bir yere sahip olan Batı Balkan ülkelerini mercek altına almak isteyen tüm okurlar için önemli bir bașvuru kaynağı olacaktır.

Scholars of Southeast Europe have argued that the build-­‐up of nationalism in Yugoslavia and its successor states was accompanied by a significant shift in the public discourse, as the national political elites began to employ a discourse of Othering with the purpose of distinguishing their respective nations from Yugoslavia in order to promote their Euro-­‐Atlantic integration. This dissertation examines the formation of such discourses in international politics, by analysing the diplomatic statements of Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Macedonia in the United Nations General Assembly between 1993 and 2003. It finds that states adopted various discursive strategies in relation to their own position in the symbolic geography of the region as well as to the political realities vis-­‐à-­‐vis the international community. The dissertation concludes that both Croatia and Macedonia employed Balkanist rhetoric of Othering in order to legitimize the demand of Euro-­‐Atlantic integration, while Bosnia and Herzegovina adopted an alternative strategy of refuting various Balkanist claims to which it was subjected by Western actors.

The epigraphic material published in the present paper derives from the town of Chalcis (Ottoman Aġrıboz/Eğriboz) and is exhibited at the Karababa Fortress; it currently belongs to the 23rd Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities. The corpus comprises fifty three inscriptions in total, forty eight funerary and five monumental. The collection covers the period from the late sixteenth to the early nineteenth century, whereas the inscription no. 38 is probably dated in the Pre-Ottoman period (twelfth-thirteenth century). The material on which they are inscribed is white, greyish and grey coarse-grain marble of high quality, and limestone, meticulously sculpted. In most cases, the decorative patterns of the main side consist of the equitant shallow cartouches, which accommodate embossed inscriptions usually in a relief technique. Unfortunately, we do not know exactly when and where the majority of the inscriptions were found. However, the evidence for the inscriptions whose data appear in this study derives from the Inventory of the collection. The inscriptions containing clear indication of date precede the undated ones. The classification of the second group, which bears no date, has been dealt with extreme caution. The suggested dating was based on a study of the external typological criteria, including the technique used for the incision of the inscriptions, as well as a collation with dated material and similar inscriptions found in published studies. The type of script most frequently used is the basīt celī sülüs, which varies from its simplest form (kırma) on inscription nos 3 and 13, to its calligraphic style detected on inscriptions nos 25, 32, 51-53; inscription no. 38 is incised in the kūfī script.

Lessons from the Post-War Balkans. Part 6 of the book Islam and Tolerance in Wider Europe (ed. Pamela Kilpadi). Includes the articles: * 'Interethnic Policymaking for Interethnic Tolerance' by Islam Yusufi * 'Islam in Southeast European Discourse: Focusing on Traditions of Tolerance' by Simeon Evstatiev * 'Religion, Media and National Security in Albania' by Aldo Bumci * 'Stumbling Block on the Road to Democracy: Security Sector Reform in Serbia' by Mladen Momcilovic * 'Local Governance Reform in Kosovo: Milestones for the Promotion of Tolerance' by Algirdas Petkevicius

What exactly is ‘soft co-optive power’, according to scores of very different and oft-conflicting definitions? And if we ever get over this riddle, how does China define its soft power and what is the rationale behind its 'waixuan' (external propaganda) apparatus? When were culture and education included in the arsenal of China’s ‘magic weapons’?

How popular is the Chinese language that is taught at Confucius Institutes and Classrooms across Southeast Europe? And what’s the story behind the compulsory teaching of the Chinese language at a Romanian private school – is this an exception or could it be a harbinger? Are Serbia and Montenegro likely to follow suit? How many Chinese scholarships are allocated annually to Albania and North Macedonia? Indeed, are many youngsters in Southeast Europe eager to study in China and pursue a professional career there?

Does cultural diplomacy play a part in the projection of China’s soft power? Why do nine out of ten Greeks favour cultural ties with China? Does a superhero from a children’s comic book bring China and Bulgaria closer together? How popular are Chinese movies in Southeast Europe and can they emulate the stunning success of South Korea’s Oscar-winner ‘Parasite’?

Last but not least, why is China more readily accepted in the Balkans than in other parts of Europe? How is China projecting its soft power, which appears to be interwoven with the Asian giant’s economic statecraft and, at the same time, expectations in Southeast Europe for Chinese investment? How does China’s soft power impact the EU prospects of the Western Balkans?

Exactly 20 years ago, a wave of popular uprisings swept across Eastern Europe and allowed citizens from Eastern Germany to Romania to reclaim their freedom. At the helm, extolling democracy, were standing dissidents, civil society organizations, youth movements, and labor unions, all with a bit of external assistance from the West. The final dissolution of the social contract with governments that were no longer protecting their citizens was also one of the high points of the centuries-long tie between civil society and democracy. Yet the glorious events did not necessarily translate into a strong civil society in post-communist Eastern Europe, and the third sector arguably plays a somewhat marginal role in the new EU member states. The civil society in the post-conflict Balkans was not even so fortunate to reach the post-1989 lull of its northern counterparts. Stopped in its infancy, its old history swept under the horrors of the new, civil society in countries like Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo had to be rebuilt from ashes after peace was restored to the Balkans. For better or worse, they too were not alone. Donors from around the world rushed into the war-torn countries and flooded the third sector with money, foreign experts, and their own ideas of what the countries and their respective civil societies should now look like. In the process, they made mistakes.

A basic question in current debates of international relations is whether intergovernmental organizations influence inter-state conflict behavior. Since the beginning of the 1990s, the major actors of the West European security community have been socializing Balkan elites in the practices of appropriate behavior with the purpose of affecting their foreign and security policy. The claim of this study is that Balkan state-interaction with Euro-Atlantic organizations (principally the EU and NATO) leads the latter to propagate norms on accepted practices to Southeast European states. These practices relate to domestic politics and also to inter-state relations. The rules and norms are propagated in a number of ways. These are looked at as processes of socialization by and in international organizations, which in turn, can encourage inter-state cooperation by the Balkan states (i.e. because they have adopted similar norms and thus types of practice) and this can initiate the development of a regional security community.

SEE marked the twentieth century because of the numerous crises and conflicts that permanently marked regional, European and world history. In order to understand processes in SEE, in order to protect their own national interests, with the aim of taking control over those processes in the area, many countries have sent members of their own intelligence and security agencies that operate in the SEE. During the aggression against Croatia and occupation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatian and Serbian intelligence agencies were active in SEE, but with the different positions and in the different roles. Some partner agencies tried to mediate between the two intelligence communities in order to establish contacts and start conversations. However, only the liberation of Croatian and B&H area by military means, changed the attitude of Serbia, and led to the establishment of contacts of national intelligence community.

A 14 C database for Southeast Europe and Anatolia (10,000–3000 calBC)
Dear colleagues, in our first update of the 14SEA website about 350 new dates were added to the database. We also took the opportunity to slightly redesign the website, making its structure more logical. For a quick geographical orientation all sites that are included in the excel database are now listed on a new " Sites " page, that we expect will help in tracking down obscure sites more easily. Our aim is to make this 14C dates repository as precise and up-to-date as possible, thus providing a reliable tool to the community. To that end, your feedback is highly appreciated. In addition, we thank those users who made us aware of sets of dates that have escaped our attention, or who provided us with (still) unpublished dates. We are looking very much forward to your comments,
Agathe Reingruber and Laurens Thissen