{"title":"Post-Pandemic Inflation and Currency Board Arrangements in the Balkans","authors":"Branka Topić Pavković, T. Šoja","doi":"10.1080/19448953.2023.2167165","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/19448953.2023.2167165","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Maintaining monetary stability is the first and fundamental objective of the currency board regime, especially after political and economic crises such as the one in the Balkans in the 1990s. The very limited role of the central bank has disciplined financial institutions and governments, but at the same time is not conducive to long-term growth and employment. This policy ties the domestic currency to the ‘peg’ currency, leading to inflationary tendencies in the country whose currency is used as the ‘peg’. Currently, the high inflation rates are caused by the pandemic crisis, but also by the war in Ukraine. This paper analyses the causes of inflation in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Bulgaria as countries with currency boards. The results show that inflation in these two countries is ‘imported inflation’ from two points of view: the monetary policy of the European Central Bank and the inflation trend in the EMU, but mainly due to the Ukraine crisis and consequently the energy and food crisis.","PeriodicalId":45789,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies","volume":"25 1","pages":"644 - 670"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48154868","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":"Polar Silk Road Challenge to Sino-Egyptian Economic Relations in the Belt and Road Era","authors":"C. Yılmaz","doi":"10.1080/19448953.2023.2167181","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/19448953.2023.2167181","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT ‘Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)’, Egypt’s geostrategic location and policy preferences unite China and Egypt on various subjects, including trade, investment, and finance. Egypt is just one of many actors that have joined the BRI, but due to its possession of the Suez Canal, it is of special interest to China. This article investigates the dynamics of Sino-Egyptian economic relations following the launch of BRI. As an Initiative to establish ‘connectivity’, BRI seeks to develop the transportation infrastruct ure along the routes, with Egypt serving as a hub. Although Egypt benefits from Chinese investments and financing, bilateral economic relations face a solid challenge. That is the process of developing the Polar Silk Road (PSR), which will be enabled by rapid de-icing in the Arctic. The article questions how much the PSR threatens Egypt’s central role in the BRI. Based on relevant data, it concludes that the PSR may lower Egypt’s worth to China.","PeriodicalId":45789,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies","volume":"25 1","pages":"797 - 810"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42636432","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":"Constitutions Octroyées And International State-Building: The Macedonian Case in Focus","authors":"B. Vankovska","doi":"10.1080/19448953.2023.2167179","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/19448953.2023.2167179","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This article critically examines international state-building efforts through (imposed constitutions) and constitutional revisions, a phenomenon that gains a reinvigorated significance in the modern world. The analysis differentiate the constitutions octroyées (imposed constitutions) and constitutional engineering. The empirical focus is on the peculiar Macedonian case study. The main hypothesis is that the recent constitutional history (1991–2021) involves both phenomena with a disastrous outcome of an unfinished state: what started as constitutional engineering has ended up with imposed constitutional changes, thus gradually diminishing and cancelling popular sovereignty. The process is ongoing, and the perspectives of the state are grim and paradoxical: more constitutional changes, fewer statehood elements.","PeriodicalId":45789,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies","volume":"25 1","pages":"719 - 736"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42058484","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":"Bearing the Brunt of Legitimacy and Power Challenges: The Turkish Armed Forces’ Fall from Grace, 1997-2018","authors":"Ç. Önder, Ş. Özen","doi":"10.1080/19448953.2023.2167177","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/19448953.2023.2167177","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT In this paper, we present an analytical narrative of the events that culminated in the Turkish Armed Forces’ (the TAF) fall from grace between 1997 and 2018. The narrative is guided by a conceptual framework that features organizational legitimacy and power as key to strategizing by societal constituencies. Based on this framework, we describe how the Turkish government consecutively raised legitimacy and power challenges to the TAF, underscoring adaptation of the Turkish government’s strategy to the emergent outcomes. We conclude the paper with a discussion of the usefulness of our framework for an enhanced understanding of civilian control over the military.","PeriodicalId":45789,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies","volume":"25 1","pages":"888 - 905"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44309469","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 New Challenges of the Western Balkan Banking Industry During Ongoing Global Crisis","authors":"Svetlana Sabljic, Tajana Serdar Rakovic, V. Vasic","doi":"10.1080/19448953.2023.2167166","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/19448953.2023.2167166","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT The current energy crisis, COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing crisis in Ukraine have been negatively affecting several channels, including energy, trade and the financial sector. As banks play the main role in all real sector business activities, it is of great importance to examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ukraine crisis on bank performances. Currently, banks are showing weaker profitability after the strong recovery in 2021, while the world is facing the impact of the war on energy prices, inflation and growth, which reinforces the existing vulnerabilities. This article assesses the impact of the current crisis on the financial performance of the banking sector in the Western Balkans. Our study shows that the energy and COVID-19 crisis have had a detrimental effect on the financial performance of banks in the Western Balkans. Furthermore, the Ukraine crisis will prolong and extend these negative effects on the financial stability and liquidity of the banking sector in Western Balkans.","PeriodicalId":45789,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies","volume":"25 1","pages":"671 - 682"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47252256","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":"Sailing Through Totalitarian Regimes. The Profile of a Shipping Company at the Lower Danube: Maritime Intercontinental","authors":"Cristian Constantin","doi":"10.1080/19448953.2023.2167174","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/19448953.2023.2167174","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This study presents the context of the emergence and evolution of the Maritime Intercontinental shipping company in Brăila. The methodological approach rests on novel methods used entrepreneurship history researchers, who have developed patterns of analysis of entrepreneurs. In this article, the shipping company and its shareholders are superimposed on the template developed by the researcher Carlos Dávila. In writing this study, beyond the theoretical and statistical information known to specialists in the history of economics and entrepreneurship, we have managed to identify unpublished sources stored in the archive collections of Romanian ports. The archival materials analysed took us through the borderless universe of entrepreneurship around the Second World War. Based on the sources consulted, we sailed the Danube and the seas of the world to reach from Brăila to Naples, the port where ‘Il Comandante’ Achille Lauro thrived.","PeriodicalId":45789,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies","volume":"25 1","pages":"832 - 849"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49571528","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 Role of Railways in the Ottoman Empire During the First World War","authors":"Nevin Çoşar, Ecem Doygun, Sevtap Demirci","doi":"10.1080/19448953.2023.2167180","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/19448953.2023.2167180","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Some of the most important factors influencing the course and outcome of the First World War were the strength of national economies, mobilization of the army, and the supply of basic products and military supplies. The railway networks played a strategic role in the war. The Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers in the First World War in November 1914. Due to the war conditions in each country and the destruction of the railway network in Serbia, the expected level of imports could not be reached in the first 2 years. The capital city dwellers particularly experienced serious shortages of staple products during the war. The purpose of this article is to shed light on the role of railways in the Ottoman Empire during the First World War. The article examines the role of the Edirne-Istanbul railways in the battle of Gallipoli and also the provision of goods to Istanbul during the war.","PeriodicalId":45789,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies","volume":"25 1","pages":"906 - 922"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45601522","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":"Turkish–Israeli Relations in the 1960s: Trade, Trade Unions, and the Arab–Israeli War","authors":"Efrat Aviv","doi":"10.1080/19448953.2023.2167343","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/19448953.2023.2167343","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Studies on the relationship between Israel and Turkey have mostly ignored earlier decades, concentrating especially on the 2000s. In particular, the 1960s have only superficially been referenced, mainly because of the Cold War. Therefore, using documents from the Israeli and Turkish State Archives, this study examines Turkish—Israeli relations during the 1960s from an economic perspective, showing how economic and trade relations caused a shift in Turkey’s foreign affairs. The study asserts that Turkey attempted to conceal its political and economic ties with Israel and, to some extent, preferred cooperating with Arab states.","PeriodicalId":45789,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies","volume":"25 1","pages":"945 - 962"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43481789","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":"Review: Communism, Atheism, and the Orthodox Church of Albania: Cooperation, Survival and Repression","authors":"J. Henry","doi":"10.1080/19448953.2023.2168074","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/19448953.2023.2168074","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":45789,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies","volume":"25 1","pages":"1111 - 1114"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48433015","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":"Hicret, Dîn ü Devlet: Osmanlı Göç Politikası(1856- 1908)[Hegira, the Religion and the State: The Ottoman Policy of Migration(1856- 1908)]","authors":"Erdal Çiftçi","doi":"10.1080/19448953.2023.2167363","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/19448953.2023.2167363","url":null,"abstract":"methodology proceeds on a very rich and diversified level of analysis. For example, while Karakasis and Kaliber only analyse the security discourse of political leaders or opinion leaders, Adamides also analyzes the discourse and perceptions of subgroups, and analysis tools include many different tools such as surveys, focus group interviews, in-depth interviews and newspaper scanning. Consequently, Adamides opens up a fruitful area for discussion related to international relations, both in terms of its contribution to securitization theory by presenting new concepts and discussions, and in its handling of the Cyprus case involving a detailed research in which focus is on the social context. Furthermore, the book becomes even more valuable when the desecuritization efforts and the contributions of the new energy era to these efforts are taken into account. The main shortcoming of the study is that, unlike the other studies mentioned, it only includes the securitization practices in the Greek Cypriot community, instead of making a comparative analysis of the securitization practices on both sides of Cyprus. Considering the fact that the author is a Greek Cypriot and is best placed to analyse the Greek Cypriot community, this comprehensive and in-depth analysis could be taken much further through a comparative study. However, it should be noted that this study is a preliminary step for scholars dealing with the Turkish Cypriot community and opens the door for new research.","PeriodicalId":45789,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies","volume":"25 1","pages":"1108 - 1110"},"PeriodicalIF":1.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49106775","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}