{"title":"Europe’s New Chapter: Navigating the Future in a Shifting Global Landscape","authors":"Ilhan Kyuchuk","doi":"10.37075/bjiep.2022.2.06","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.37075/bjiep.2022.2.06","url":null,"abstract":"The management of each of the crises that the European Union has been facing in the last decade has shown that individual national approaches lead to a chronic inability to make collective decisions on strategic issues and that this cannot be the future of a swiftly adaptive and geo-politically oriented Europe. The Future of Europe Conference offered the opportunity for European institutions to reconsider the relationship with Europe’s citizens, giving the public a direct voice through innovative participation in the democratic process. But we cannot allow ourselves to stop there, and leave it be a mere listening exercise.The next step is using those tools and the momentum around the conversation of Europe of tomorrow that had started with the Conference of the future of Europe to adapt the Union and its institutions to the necessities of the modern-day world. As European citizens, we need a strong European Union, capable of acting swiftly in a wide range of policy areas, from health and fiscal policy, energy procurement, and climate, to foreign affairs and defence. We need a powerful Europe on the global stage, able to keep its promises to those that aspire to become part of it. A Europe that can tackle new security and defence threats, and foreign interference and that can set new global standards for a clean environment while fighting unfair industrial competition. A Union, that stands up for rule of law and a responsive approach to migration","PeriodicalId":225817,"journal":{"name":"Bulgarian Journal of International Economics and Politics","volume":"9 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-04-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124718998","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Social Legitimacy of Mass Privatization: The Case of Bulgaria","authors":"Antoaneta Getova","doi":"10.37075/bjiep.2022.2.05","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.37075/bjiep.2022.2.05","url":null,"abstract":"Mass privatization is an important part of the Bulgarian post-socialist transformations. Because of citizens’ direct involvement in it, its social legitimacy is crucial for the social acceptance of the privatization in general. The paper analyzes the problem of the social legitimacy of mass privatization in a long-term period and the main research question is: did privatization succeed in acquiring social legitimacy or did the attitude towards it remain mostly negative. To contextualize the topic, a brief overview of the results of mass privatization in the Czech Republic and Russia is also included in the analysis. The main research hypothesis is that privatization could not legitimize itself as the right path taken in Bulgarian society. The main reason behind this is the non-success of the main wave of the Bulgarian mass privatization. To prove the main hypothesis, data of national representative survey is analyzed in the paper.","PeriodicalId":225817,"journal":{"name":"Bulgarian Journal of International Economics and Politics","volume":"91 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-04-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114227715","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The War in Ukraine from 2022 and Its Impact on the Environment","authors":"M. Haralampiev, Monika Panayotova","doi":"10.37075/bjiep.2022.2.01","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.37075/bjiep.2022.2.01","url":null,"abstract":"The present article aims to focus the attention on the Russian-Ukrainian war from February 24, 2022 and its impact on the environment. The analysis reveals the importance of climate issues in Ukraine for the past, present and future of the country by considering: a/the war as wake-up call for climate emergency; and b/ the desire of Kiev for accession to the EU as an opportunity for green transition and sustainable recovery. It is claimed that the war in Ukraine from 2022 is an example of how military actions have a significant ecological footprint and how the post-war recovery could be a chance for low-carbon development of the economy and society of the second largest country in Europe, the seventh in terms of population and the eighth of military forces of the old continent. On the one hand, it emphasizes on the multidimensional role of the armed forces and defence sector that should be considered within the wider climate-security nexus. On the other hand, it shows that the pursuit of EU membership has a green transformative effect, considering the strategic targets of the Union to move towards Net Zero by 2050. The analysis leads to the following conclusions: 1) The military conflict between Russia and Ukraine shows the widespread use of various types of weapons, which generates large amounts of carbon dioxide, by strongly affecting the climate of the entire continent; 2) The post-war recovery is a chance for Ukraine for better sustainable development of its economy, society and security; 3) The path of Ukraine to the EU would be a stimulus for the armed forces and defence sector, as causing and suffering the consequences of climate change, to increase the resilience of their capabilities and infrastructure, by investing in green and innovative technologies and at the same time by decreasing their environmental footprint without reducing their operational effectiveness.","PeriodicalId":225817,"journal":{"name":"Bulgarian Journal of International Economics and Politics","volume":"12 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-04-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"133077779","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Bio-politics of Protest: Student Protests in Serbia and Bulgaria as a Mechanism of Security for a Social System","authors":"Magdalena Tendera","doi":"10.37075/bjiep.2022.2.04","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.37075/bjiep.2022.2.04","url":null,"abstract":"The research-based ethnographic study presented in the paper aims at explaining why the extensive student protests of the last decades in Serbia and Bulgaria do not facilitate the post-socialist transformation. Along with a high occurrence of political upheavals that commonly evoke images of mass unrest and swift social reconfigurations of power, no significant change in politics towards more democratic regime has taken place. Despite the presence of multiple liberal semantics in the public debate, the Balkan discourse on democracy seems fairly remote from the political and social practice. All the well-established theories of protest and social movements remain inconclusive in answering this query. In search of an explanation, the concept of security and the bio-political paradigm of Michel Foucault have been adopted. The distinctive conceptual framework helps to explain how protests became a kind of security mechanism preventing an unstable social system from radical changes. Based on that concept the anthropological investigation allowed to identify some systemic milestones, or structural dimensions, bringing some counterintuitive results when it comes to the assessment of key social functions of protest, and a rather expected disclosure of deep authoritarian settings of governing institutions. Finally, the article discusses some similarities between the contentious events in Serbia and Bulgaria, and how the private stories recorded during in-depth interviews conducted between 2014 and 2017 in Belgrade and Sofia combine into one legitimate public narration on the Balkan political issues","PeriodicalId":225817,"journal":{"name":"Bulgarian Journal of International Economics and Politics","volume":"111 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-04-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125711386","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Contemporary Dimensions of Serbia’s Regional Foreign Policy","authors":"Michael Dimitrov","doi":"10.37075/bjiep.2022.2.03","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.37075/bjiep.2022.2.03","url":null,"abstract":"The article gives an insight into the general course of action of the Serbian state aimed at the diversification of hydrocarbon sources with an emphasis on the supply of crude oil. Furthermore, a case with primary goal related to the increase of energy system stability is presented in the light of its secondary psycho-informational influence. Interactions with the Russian leadership are analysed, mainly along the lines of the Serbian position regarding the territorial integrity of Ukraine and the possible accession to the sanction’s regime against the Russian Federation. The methodology of the study is based on a structuralist approach consisting of synchronic interpretation of separate phenomena directed towards the derivation of gross constituent units of relations. The results extrapolate that the practical steps aimed at guaranteeing the energy security of the country show lack of interest to move away from Russian supply of natural gas and crude oil which is in turn intrinsically related to the future general geopolitical stance of official Belgrade. Active diplomacy in the region is concentrated along the Vienna-Budapest axis. The significance of the results arises from the fact that the represented gross constituent units of relations expose a firm course that is diverging from the EU CFSP","PeriodicalId":225817,"journal":{"name":"Bulgarian Journal of International Economics and Politics","volume":"5 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-04-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134645211","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Ukrainian War and Economic Liberalism","authors":"G. Ganchev","doi":"10.37075/bjiep/2022.1.01","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.37075/bjiep/2022.1.01","url":null,"abstract":"The paper tries to investigate the reasons of the Russia-Ukrainian war from the point of view of economic and political liberalism and pacifism. Back in 1909, Norman Angel posed the arguments about the futility of aggressive wars. Nowadays his reasoning seems still impressive. Russia cannot gain anything from this war in economic terms. The Russian World concept is behind the decision of the war outbreak. Ironically, Russia can be reintegrated into the world economy only if it accepts the refuted liberal values. Any new economic order will be inferior for Russia and will degrade the Russian positions in the world economy in favor of China. Future restoration of Ukrainian economy would require international efforts in the framework of a multilateral cooperation.","PeriodicalId":225817,"journal":{"name":"Bulgarian Journal of International Economics and Politics","volume":"5 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129997743","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Geopolitical Models before the Decision on the EU Taxonomy","authors":"Petko Truhchev","doi":"10.37075/bjiep.2022.1.04","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.37075/bjiep.2022.1.04","url":null,"abstract":"The French Presidency (January-June, 2022) inherits some unresolved and contentious issues within the EU. Among them is energy transition. The paper examines the EU’s ambitions to become a leader in climate neutrality by analysing if the necessary natural resources could be provided in scale to meet end consumption without any economic shock. What is further analysed is the scientific opinion on why there is a political dispute between the leading economies in the EU over the so-called taxonomy – the classification of energy sources as climate neutral. As a leader in nuclear energy, the role of France during its presidency of the EU is to persuade the European Commission to include nuclear energy in the taxonomy. The lack of a clear-cut solution to the issue is sending mixed signals to investors and undermining confidence in the European Green Deal. As the EU’s most powerful nuclear lobbyist, France will also have to protect the interests of CEE countries where nuclear plants date back to the Soviet era. Outlined are the arguments on the key importance of nuclear power plant countries for energy security. In parallel with nuclear energy, there are discussions on recognizing natural gas as ‘green’. Given that Russia is the EU’s main supplier of raw materials, the question is whether its recognition will reduce investors’ risk and Europe’s dependence on Russian influence amid geopolitical tensions between Russia and NATO of which the EU is a major member. Being a low-emission energy source, natural gas is key to the successful green transition of member states on the path to climate neutrality within the 2050 deadline. Two leading hypotheses emerge: only one of the sources to be included in the taxonomy. Nuclear energy would provide EU countries more autonomy in planning and investing in the energy transition. Natural gas as an imported raw material, subject to market mechanisms and influenced by geopolitics, would jeopardize the energy transition and the security of the European energy system.","PeriodicalId":225817,"journal":{"name":"Bulgarian Journal of International Economics and Politics","volume":"123 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122653196","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Specifics and Perspectives of Laos’ Socialist Market Economy","authors":"","doi":"10.37075/bjiep.2022.1.03","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.37075/bjiep.2022.1.03","url":null,"abstract":"Laos is a remarkable country situated at the crossroads of the political and economic processes in the region of Southeast Asia. The country is rich in natural wealth, which is exploited mainly by foreign actors and influences the distribution of prosperity for the benefit of domestic political elites. This paper focuses on the peculiarities of the current economic development, the structure of the national economy, involvement in international economic relations, and the current economic dynamics of the national economy. We will try to point out the perspectives of economic development as well. To reach the purpose of the paper, we use the basic methods of research, including synthesis, deduction, comparison, or mathematical methods, and work with scientific literature, statistics of international databases and data of national institutions. The results suggest that Laos, as the least developed country, is still dependent on exogenous factors that prevent productivity gains and, consequently, qualitative economic growth. Economic structure hinders economic growth and socio-economic development as well. Capital-intensive but low-tech industries do not create highly qualified jobs, thus producing low standards of living.","PeriodicalId":225817,"journal":{"name":"Bulgarian Journal of International Economics and Politics","volume":"136 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134208334","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A Critical Literature Review of New Party Success in Central and Eastern Europe","authors":"Yuxiang Lin","doi":"10.37075/bjiep.2022.1.05","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.37075/bjiep.2022.1.05","url":null,"abstract":"The paper offers a critical literature review of existing explanations for new party success in Central and Eastern Europe after the fall of communism in 1989. The paper presents the strengths and weaknesses of existing approaches, arguing that the historical analysis, the sociological explanation, and the institutional framework can provide sources of changes in party systems, and set constraints to political party leaders, but fail to elucidate variations in individual parties. The paper then continues to reflect on `the agential approach and the party-specific factors such as partisanship and organization, stating that while the partisanship approach is not appropriate for the study of party politics in Central and Eastern Europe due to the region’s short time scope of merely three decades of democratisation so far, the choices and crafting of party leaders as well as the party organization development are crucial to spelling out why some new parties endure, while others are short-lived.","PeriodicalId":225817,"journal":{"name":"Bulgarian Journal of International Economics and Politics","volume":"16 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123741397","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Telework: A Temporary Adaptation or a Milestone in the Changing World of Work","authors":"I. Kalfin","doi":"10.37075/bjiep.2022.1.06","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.37075/bjiep.2022.1.06","url":null,"abstract":"The recent rapid surge of telework was enabled by the information and communications technologies but caused by the restrictive measures related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The challenge in this case was the speed at which teleworking was introduced and the scale it reached. Despite the fact that after the pandemic many employers chose to return to work on premises, the positive experience and the clear interest among all stakeholders in telework or hybrid work, where telework is altered with work on premises is already here to stay. It can be expected that in the near future telework will keep expanding to meet the preferences of employers, workers and public authorities. However, teleworking has its setbacks and they need to be addressed in order to fully unleash the enormous potential of this form of work.","PeriodicalId":225817,"journal":{"name":"Bulgarian Journal of International Economics and Politics","volume":"35 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2022-11-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129819628","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}