The Lion & The Ringmaster: Croatia's Accession to the European Union
July 1, 2013 marked Croatia's official induction into the European Union. For Croatia this was the culmination of a long negotiation process filled with concessions and challenges. This situation inspired the question of how Croatia's alliance with the EU has affected the state? In order to analyze this relationship the aspects of Croatian identity and sovereignty were explored, in addition to the EU's principles and problems regarding member and candidate states. The evidence found within this investigation came from a number of literary sources ranging from the academic to official government documents. Furthermore, nine interviews were conducted within Croatia, which explored how the EU's influence has affected the Croatian state. Through this research it was conclusively found that Croatia's alliance with the EU creates problems and exasperates existing issues within the country. Furthermore, this situation showcases a pattern of discrimination within the EU that benefits Western European EU states at the expense of its Central and Eastern counterparts. As a result, the recommendations would be to promote awareness of the double standards and discriminations occurring within the EU, which victimize Central and Eastern European states, so that these countries may be able to preserve their identity and sovereignty.
European integration and the Western Balkans: lessons, prospects and obstacles
European integration is almost universally recognized as the key strategy for achieving the twin goals of peace and prosperity in the Western Balkans. European policy-makers trust that greater European involvement in the Western Balkans can have positive and long-lasting effects on the management of ethnopolitical conflict. The European Commission identified the prospect of EU membership as ‘the ultimate conflict prevention strategy’ and committed itself to maintain and increase its proactive presence in the region. The academic near-consensus is that the Western Balkans’ greater involvement in European institutions is the necessary condition for stabilization. But whether the focus is placed on Europe’s entry into the Western Balkans, or the Western Balkans’ entry into Europe, most observers agree on the positive effects of increased links between these two still quite distinct areas. Perhaps most importantly, these views are also shared by many politicians and citizens in the region, who are for once united in considering access to European political, economic and financial institutions as the long-term answer to fragmentation, conflict and economic backwardness. Opinion polls regularly show levels of popular support for European integration ranging between 75 and 85 per cent. This paper dissects the optimist view that integration into European institutions represents the best conflict management/development approach for theWestern Balkans. The focus is not on the details of the various programmes of EU assistance to the region, but on the ‘big picture’, that is, the comparative advantages and disadvantages of the European integration strategy. First, I begin
Arab Uprisings and the Outstanding Return to Democracy: Tunisia as a Model
In the wake of the Middle Eastern crises, the Tunisian case in focus has been doted as a unique phenomenon being that it was the Genesis of the revolution that ultimately spread across the Middle East like wild fire, but has eventually heralded a new dawn as democracy has incidentally returned to the Empire. This literature therefore looks closely at the extent to which the ‘DignityRevolution’ has been instrumental in the Middle East uprisings, which have brought an end to dynastic autocracies. The literature zeros in on the Tunisian uprising which has attracted global concerns, sympathy and has sparked interests in the international arena. The literature finds that the people hold colossal prospect in the uprising and its resultant effect, as it paved the way for the revolutionist to generate, gather and disseminate information on the condition of the entire region to the international community. The people in this context were of utmost importance and played a very crucial role in the creation of awareness, mobilization of protesters and utmost determining the direction of the uprising and also ensuring a speedy return to democratic rule. The paper submits that the role of the people in ensuring that the ruins of the uprising is not left littering around and democracy restored is highly commendable and should be a model for all other Arab countries involved in the revolution.