Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies最新文献

{"title":"Balkan’s (Political) Economy: Learning from the Past","authors":"J. Ateljević","doi":"10.1080/19448953.2023.2167169","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/19448953.2023.2167169","url":null,"abstract":"Energoinvest, a state-owned enterprise established in Sarajevo in the 1950s, was one of the largest Yugoslav exporters for years (during the 1970s and 1980s), accounting for 5% of the total exports of the Yugoslav economy, or 35% of the total exports of Bosnia and Herzegovina. According to the same source, the company exported complex engineering products, knowledge and technology. It exported complete power plants to many countries around the world, built thermal power plants in India and Indonesia, power plants and facilities in a number of African countries, equipped oil pipelines and power plants in Iraq and the Soviet Union, competing with world-leading companies in related sectors. In addition to offices in many countries worldwide, Energoinvest had formed joint ventures in Mexico, Libya and Pakistan, amongst other countries. Interestingly, Energoinvest, like many other large and high-tech companies in the former Yugoslavia, including the electronics company Ei Nis[AQ1] established in 1948 (once an electronics hub, employing 28,000 workers including thousands of engineers, who developed and produced TV and radio receivers, computers, telephones and household appliances), existed in a communist/socialist state. Indeed, like in other post-communist/post-socialist countries, state-owned enterprises (SOEs) were an integral part of the Yugoslav economic structure, thus providing a greater level of economic independence as measured by the value of economic transactions between countries. Most SOEs vanished due to failed or controversial privatization by a new generation of opportunistic ‘entrepreneurs’. For instance, in 2016 Ei Nis had only one employee, remaining assets and infrastructure having been sold or rented to small firms or entrepreneurs. A long-lasting and promising transition of the ex-Yugoslavian states' economies saved almost none of those global firms. An ultimate aim was to liberalize markets in developing countries by reducing state intervention in the economy. Orthodox Keynesian economics with a high level of social welfare and employment protection has been replaced by a neoliberal policy model that assumed comprehensive structural adjustments. Structural adjustment programmes by individual states centred on a number of key fundamentals: liberalization of domestic markets and trade, monetary policy, labour market deregulation, reduction in the size and scope of the state, fiscal restraint through broadening the taxation base and reducing state spending and social support. In this process, new-breed politicians blindly followed the Washington Consensus principles that were supposed to help developing countries to speed up structural reforms in order to get financial ‘support’ from international financial institutions such as International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank (WB). One","PeriodicalId":45789,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies","volume":"25 1","pages":"583 - 585"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41396024","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"From Bosnia and Herzegovina to China in the 21st Century: A Case Study of Personal Migration Histories","authors":"Bojan Ćudić, David Hazemali, Matjaž Klemenčič, J. Zupancic","doi":"10.1080/19448953.2023.2167168","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/19448953.2023.2167168","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This study is the first to examine recent migration from Bosnia and Herzegovina to China in the 21st century. It gives an overview of new Chinese geopolitical and economic circumstances, a historical analysis of migration flows between China and the rest of the world from the 19th to the 21st century, and a survey of recent emigration flows from Bosnia and Herzegovina. The second part presents the results of an empirical study of labour migration from Bosnia and Herzegovina to China and the experiences of 25 migrants, which was conducted using structured interviews The research results show that most in the group plan to stay in China permanently. Some would like to move to North America or Australia. It is characteristic that there are no gender gaps in terms of qualifications or career ambitions. The measures to combat COVID-19 implemented by the Chinese government affected the respondents in different ways.","PeriodicalId":45789,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies","volume":"25 1","pages":"700 - 717"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49021068","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Can Nacar, Labor and Power in the Late Ottoman Empire: Tobacco Workers, Managers, and the State, 1872-1912","authors":"Ba¸ak Akgül","doi":"10.1080/19448953.2023.2167344","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/19448953.2023.2167344","url":null,"abstract":"Programs”, Public Choice, 155: pp. 433–448. [8] Fouskas, V. and Dimoulas, C. (2013), Greece, Financialization and the EU. The Political Economy of Debt and Destruction, London: Palgrave Macmillan. [9] Kourachanis, N. (2021), ‘Social Change and the Greek Welfare State Crisis (2010–2020)’, Journal of Social Change, 13(2): pp. 45–57. [10] McBried, S., Mahon, R. and Boychuk, G. (Eds.) (2016), After ’08 : Social Policy and the Global Financial Crisis, Vancouver: UBC Press. [11] Petmesidou M (2013), ‘Is Social Protection in Greece at a Crossroads?’, European Societies, 15(4): pp. 597–616. [12] Dimoulas, C. and Kouzis, I. (Eds.) (2018), Crisis and Social Policy. Deadlocks and Solutions, Athens: Topos (in Greek). [13] Petmesidou-Tsoulouvi, M. (1984), ‘Approaches to the Subject of the Underdevelopment of the Greek Social Formation: A Critical View’, Synchrona Themata, 22: pp. 13–30 (in Greek).","PeriodicalId":45789,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies","volume":"25 1","pages":"1102 - 1103"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43752305","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Greece’s (Un)competitive Capitalism and the Economic Crisis: Critical Thoughts Under the Lens of Social Policy","authors":"Nikos Kourachanis","doi":"10.1080/19448953.2023.2167352","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/19448953.2023.2167352","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":45789,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies","volume":"25 1","pages":"1098 - 1102"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46531452","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Back to Basics: The Re-Securitization of Cyprus by Turkey After Crans Montana","authors":"Hüseyin Ergüven, Nur Köprülü","doi":"10.1080/19448953.2023.2167341","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/19448953.2023.2167341","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":45789,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46586701","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Constantinos Adamides, Securitization and Desecuritization Processes in Protracted Conflicts: The Case of Cyprus Rethinking Peace and Conflict Studies","authors":"P. Çağlayan","doi":"10.1080/19448953.2023.2167364","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/19448953.2023.2167364","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":45789,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies","volume":"25 1","pages":"1104 - 1108"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42867308","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Eastern Mediterranean Energy Geopolitics Revisited: Green Economy Instead of Conflict","authors":"A. Stergiou","doi":"10.1080/19448953.2023.2167163","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/19448953.2023.2167163","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Dramatic technological advances in renewable sources of energy and environmental concerns have set in motion a global energy transformation that is expected to have profound geopolitical consequences. For example, the Eastern Mediterranean has been recently affected very hard by the fallouts of the ongoing climate crisis. While frictions among the countries of Eastern Mediterranean about maritime zones and continental shelf delimitation related to sovereign claims and to some degree with ambitions of finding oil and gas have abounded in recent years, the impact of a climate crisis on the same countries has been in recent years extreme. The Mediterranean’s more than half-a-billion inhabitants seem to face highly interconnected climate risks. Reasons for concern include sea-level rise-related risks, land and marine biodiversity losses, risks related to drought, wildfire, alterations of water cycle, endangered food production, health risks in both urban and rural settlements from heat and altered disease vectors. Historically, all these have led to mass migration to the cities, crossing borders to other countries, civil wars, ethnic conflicts and tensions. Against this background, energy transition and fight against common existential threats such as climate change or climate crisis are emerging as more daunting challenges as geopolitical competition to secure control of fossil fuels or to assert sovereign claims in the Mediterranean Sea.","PeriodicalId":45789,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies","volume":"25 1","pages":"604 - 625"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43459106","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Western Balkans and Geopolitics: Leveraging the European Union and China","authors":"Danijela Jaćimović, J. Deichmann, K. Tianping","doi":"10.1080/19448953.2023.2167164","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/19448953.2023.2167164","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT The European Union (EU) is the dominant political and economic influence in the Western Balkan (WB) region, but in the view of many of the region’s citizens, EU integration is associated with strict and painful convergence criteria and burdensome reforms as well as the inertia of unfulfilled accession requirements. China’s involvement in the region is focused mainly on much-needed but controversial infrastructure investments; accordingly, it has attracted increasing international attention over the past decade. At the same time, Turkey, the Arab States, and Russia have also shown heightened interest in the region. This paper addresses the important geopolitical question of whether a mutually-beneficial relationship for all participants is possible.","PeriodicalId":45789,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies","volume":"25 1","pages":"626 - 643"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42679734","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Do Wages Reflect Growth Productivity – Comparing the European East and West?","authors":"Borce Trenovski, Dragan Gligorić, K. Kozheski, Gunter Merdzan","doi":"10.1080/19448953.2023.2167167","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/19448953.2023.2167167","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT The research determines the gap (Great Decoupling) between labour productivity and workers’ compensation in the two blocks of EU countries (Western versus Eastern). The division of countries into two groups provides a basis further to determine whether the previous socio-economic and political evolutionary development of these countries blocks still has a significant impact on the functional distribution of national income, on the extent to which labour productivity growth is transmitted to workers. The results are heterogeneous. In the sample of highly developed Western EU countries where higher levels of labour productivity, as well as high levels of technological development, lead to an increase in labour productivity to be followed by a lower increase in workers’ compensation. On the sample of Eastern EU countries, results indicate different relationships and the strength of causality between productivity and labour compensation. Central-East EU countries had a more positive relationship between real workers’ compensation and labour productivity, compared to the Southeast Europe (Balkan) countries where an increase in workers’ compensation causes a reduction in labour productivity. The results also offer a solid basis for understanding wage/income/productivity relationships d for creating policies for a more efficient distribution of national income.","PeriodicalId":45789,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies","volume":"25 1","pages":"683 - 699"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43982043","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Dimensions and Attributes of State Failure in Syria","authors":"Samer Bakkour, R. Sahtout","doi":"10.1080/19448953.2023.2167337","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/19448953.2023.2167337","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT While state failure was undoubtedly a factor in, and influence on, the uprising, it has become more clearly apparent in the ongoing civil war. The Syrian state can now be said to be ‘failed’ because it cannot meet its citizens’ economic, political and social needs and requirements. This apparent regression is even more striking because pre-war Syria was a regional leader in a number of development fields whose progress was evidenced in associated outputs and levels of performance. This article will provide insight into a number of different dimensions of the country’s statehood, in so doing, trace the process through which the state’s internal and external legitimacy has been sharply diminished. In addition, the paper also highlights how the Syrian state has adjusted to the condition of state failure. The article therefore proposes to examine different aspects and dimensions of state failure, as opposed to the general condition that has been reproduced across various contexts. In concluding, the article puts forward a number of propositions for how international actors can address a number of the challenges and problems associated with state failure.","PeriodicalId":45789,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies","volume":"25 1","pages":"1020 - 1036"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46005738","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}