Search

Begin New Search Political Geography Yugoslavia

11. An Unholy Alliance of Muslim Extremists and Organized Crime in the Balkans Case Studies: Albania, Kosovo, Bosnia Herzegovina

Author:
Spiros Bamiatzis
Publication Date:
06-2018
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP)
Abstract:
The 1990s wars in Yugoslavia led to the disintegration of the country and ushered an era of poverty, political corruption, organized crime and terrorism. The Balkans became synonymous with the syndrome of a failed state, where civil society institutions are doomed to fail. The area has presented the international community with some unique challenges associated with unemployment, jihadism, crime and all those maladies under the wings of political leaderships that have given many reasons to the international community to doubt their credibility and their belief to the rule of law. This study will prove that a nexus exists between Islamic and ethno-nationalist terrorism and illegal criminal activities, and it will focus mainly in three countries: Albania, Kosovo, and Bosnia Herzegovina.
Topic:
Corruption, Islam, Poverty, Violent Extremism, and Organized Crime
Political Geography:
Bosnia, Herzegovina, Kosovo, Yugoslavia, Balkans, and Albania

12. The Legacy of the International Criminal Tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda and Their Contribution to the Crime of Rape

Author:
Alexandra Adams
Publication Date:
07-2018
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
The article analyses the over 20 years’ jurisprudence of the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda with respect to the crime of rape. It discusses how the attitude towards the prosecution of sexual crimes has changed since the Tribunals work began and what impact its jurisprudence has had on other attempts to define rape (elements of crime [EOC]). The article explores in depth the various definitions of rape given by the different chambers of both Tribunals. Consequently, it examines if the ultimate definition of the Kunarac chamber will prevail in international law. Not only are the weaknesses of the Kunarac definition that followed a pure consent approach revealed but the EOC of rape that opted for a combination of the coercion approach with one aspect of the lack-of-consent doctrine (incapacity) also face criticism. This leaves only one response – namely, that the elements of rape in international criminal law today can only be based upon a newly conducted comparison of national laws, thereby reflecting the general principles of the major legal systems of the world. The strongest accomplishment of both Tribunals concerning the crime of rape therefore lies not in the clarification of the elements of rape but, rather, in the revelation of a law-finding method, which is indispensable to the rudimentary field of international criminal law.
Topic:
International Law, War Crimes, Gender Based Violence, Courts, and Rape
Political Geography:
Europe, Yugoslavia, and Rwanda

13. The Roots of Ethnic Cleansing in Europe, by Zeynep Bulutgil

Author:
Benjamin Lieberman and Zeynep Bulutgil
Publication Date:
07-2017
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Fletcher Security Review
Institution:
The Fletcher School, Tufts University
Abstract:
In The Roots of Ethnic Cleansing in Europe, Zeynep Bulutgil questions prevailing interpretations of the origins of ethnic cleansing and provides an innovative interpretation that will itself prompt further debate about the balance between factors that might block ethnic cleansing as well as active causes of cleansing. The work poses an important and often overlooked question: instead of focusing on factors that have caused ethnic cleansing, why not instead also chart factors that have precluded ethnic cleansing?
Topic:
Ethnic Conflict, History, Book Review, and Ethnic Cleansing
Political Geography:
Europe, Eastern Europe, Soviet Union, and Yugoslavia

14. Ratko Mladić, International Justice and the Bones of the Rohingya

Author:
Simon Adams
Publication Date:
11-2017
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
The Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect
Abstract:
Last Wednesday an international court found Ratko Mladić, the notorious “butcher of Bosnia,” guilty of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. As Commander of the Bosnian Serb Army during the 1992-1995 Bosnian war, Mladić’s troops forced thousands of civilians to flee from “ethnic cleansing” – a cruel euphemism that will forever be associated with the wars in the former Yugoslavia. At the time Mladić appeared all-powerful and untouchable, presiding over the genocide at Srebrenica and wantonly committing war crimes. He will now die in prison. It took decades for international justice to catch up with Mladić. And while the verdict is a welcome warning to other perpetrators, it also poses the uncomfortable question of whether the international community is doing enough to hold those responsible for atrocities today accountable for their crimes?
Topic:
International Law, Ethnic Cleansing, International Community, Justice, and Responsibility to Protect (R2P)
Political Geography:
Bosnia, Yugoslavia, Southeast Asia, and Myanmar

15. The socialization between the professional groups of the foreign policy. The case of the institutionalization of the French civil-military activities in former Yugoslavia | La socialisation entre groupes professionnels de la politique étrangère Le cas de l’institutionnalisation des activités civilo-militaires françaises en ex-Yougoslavie

Author:
Grégory Daho
Publication Date:
06-2015
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Cultures & Conflits
Institution:
Cultures & Conflits
Abstract:
This article intends to explain the transformation of the foreign policy since the end of the Cold War through the hypothesis of the evolution of the interactions between the professional groups: military, diplomats and industrialists. Using the genesis of French civil-military activities in Bosnia and in Kosovo between 1992 and 2001 as empirical framework, we endeavor to objectify the cross-sector dynamics which permeate with the bureaucratic competition between administrations, the mobilizations of senior officials and the interministerial division of labor in matter of international crises management. We wonder to what extent the international crises “managers” form an institutional space, a professional group or a social field in process of empowerment within the current foreign and defense policy.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, International Cooperation, War, History, and Sociology
Political Geography:
Europe, Yugoslavia, and Balkans

16. Isabelle Delpla, Xavier Bougarel, and Jean-Louis Fournel (eds), Investigating Srebrenica. Institutions, Facts, Responsibilities

Author:
Patrick Hein
Publication Date:
03-2014
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Central European University Political Science Journal
Institution:
Central European University
Abstract:
In July 1995, the Bosnian Serb army invaded the enclave of Srebrenica, a UN safe area guarded by Dutch blue helmets, and murdered about 8,000 Muslim Bosniak civilians under the eyes of the international community. Reports say that even as of today as many as 2,306 victims from the massacre are still missing. The massacre of Srebrenica - the secret codeword of the operation was "Krivaja95" - became known as the largest genocidal massacre of a civilian population in Europe since World War II. It represents the deliberate killing of innocent people in the wake of a ferocious civil war in the former socialist republic of ex-Yugoslavia in the first place,
Topic:
United Nations
Political Geography:
Europe, Bosnia, and Yugoslavia

17. The Bosnian Train and Equip Program: A Lesson in Interagency Integration of Hard and Soft Power

Author:
Christopher J. Lamb
Publication Date:
03-2014
Content Type:
Working Paper
Abstract:
Military assistance to Bosnian forces was part of a complex plan to resolve what one former Secretary of State called "the problem from hell." When Yugoslavia began to disintegrate in the early 1990s following the Soviet Union's demise, it released a mix of nationalist and ethnic movements that led to civil war. Ill-disciplined combinations of regular and irregular forces struggled to control territory and protect civilians, sometimes herding them toward ethnically homogenous enclaves in a process widely referred to as "ethnic cleansing." The intentional displacement of civilian populations, often encouraged by atrocities including mass murder and rape, was a tragic and complex foreign policy problem that defied simple and easy solutions.
Topic:
Conflict Prevention, Security, Foreign Policy, Sectarian violence, and Peacekeeping
Political Geography:
Yugoslavia and Balkans

18. Who Are Atrocity's "Real" Perpetrators, Who Its "True" Victims and Beneficiaries?

Author:
Mark Osiel
Publication Date:
09-2014
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
Modern law's response to mass atrocities vacillates equivocally in how it understands thedramatis personae to these expansive tragedies, at once extraordinary and ubiquitous. Is there any principled order to this? If not, should we care?
Topic:
Genocide and Law
Political Geography:
Yugoslavia, Serbia, and Balkans

19. Back to the future for Syria

Author:
Michael Williams
Publication Date:
06-2013
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
Chatham House
Abstract:
Some months ago while clearing my late mother 's house I came across a stamp album from my school days in the 1960s. There were stamps from 'Croatia ', in reality produced by extremist groups in Argentina, but testifying to the existence of the Nazi puppet state of Croatia (NDH) in the 1940s. But to my surprise, I also found stamps from the 'Alawite State of Syria '. An independent Croatia is now a reality and soon to become a member of the European Union. For that matter we also have states of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro and Kosovo. And the former Soviet Union has broken up into its constituent republics. Who would have imagined this as late as 1990? But maybe the break up of states, whether Yugoslavia or Czechoslovakia, and possibly the United Kingdom if Scotland opts for independence in 2014, is a purely European phenomenon?
Topic:
Government and United Nations
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, United Kingdom, Europe, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Argentina, Kosovo, Yugoslavia, Syria, and Scotland

20. Cooperation from Crisis? Regional Responses to Humanitarian Emergencies

Author:
Walter Kemp, Jérémie Labbé, and Lilianne Fan
Publication Date:
09-2013
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute (IPI)
Abstract:
As the situation in Syria continues to deteriorate, could the humanitarian crisis afflicting the country and its neighbors provide an entryway for regional cooperation? This policy paper examines how regional responses to humanitarian crises have succeeded or failed to meet humanitarian objectives in order to inform approaches to contemporary crises. It also assesses whether such regional responses contributed to strengthening regional integration and cooperation, paving the way for increased regional stability and an improved capacity to respond to emergencies. The report explores two different humanitarian crises: the war in the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s and Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar in 2008. Examining the ways in which countries in each region and regional organizations addressed humanitarian needs, it draws a number of lessons that could be applied in contemporary crises: Regional ownership over the response is crucial, but not necessarily spontaneous. External actors can usefully contribute through a balanced mix of pressure and technical support. Preexisting regional organizations can provide a valuable institutional framework on which to build the response. An approach that focuses on the specific needs of the most vulnerable individuals can help to depoliticize discussions while strengthening trust among regional stakeholders. Complementary policy-level and expert-level processes can equip the response with both political commitment and regular working relationships for addressing tangible needs.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Civil War, Humanitarian Aid, Islam, Regional Cooperation, and Peacekeeping
Political Geography:
Middle East, Arabia, Yugoslavia, Syria, and Myanmar