Borders and Orders in Europe: Limits of Nation- and State-Building in Estonia, Macedonia and Moldova
The breakdown of communist rule provided new opportunities for the restoration of statehood and for national self-determination. Estonia, Moldova and Macedonia have in common a 'minority' large enough potentially to claim a share in nation- and state-building rather than being granted minority rights. Numerous cases of ethnic strife within post-communist states and beyond their borders have demonstrated that domestic ethnicity can easily internationalize ethnic relations. In the 1990s, however, the EU has entered Rogers Brubaker's classic triangle (state-nation, minority and homeland) as a fourth variable rather than a constant. Evidently, a country's contractual relation with the EU and its location in a newly divided Europe are relevant for the effectiveness of the EU's expanding toolbox for conflict prevention. Moreover, a mode of EU enlargement strictly based on conditionality implies a separation of regions of 'insiders' and 'outsiders' where different norms and strategies apply to minority issues.
New departures on the EU‐Russian Border? Assessing discourses and policy practices
Abstract This paper looks at the dynamic aspects of the EU's and Russia's policies regarding their shared border in the North before and after the enlargement of 2004. The paper shows how discourses and policy practices of the EU changed over the enlargement period. In addition, the paper discusses the current problems of practical interaction between Russia and the EU in their respective borderland.
Microstructure of the solder-casting zone in bridges of dental gold alloys.
The composition and structure were studied in the cast and in the solder of bridges which had failed clinically. Both materials were gold alloys but with different contents of Pt, Ag and Zn. The metallographic investigation revealed defects mostly in the solder, situated in the subsurface layer. SEM studied of the fracture surface revealed large porosites and a structure of dense parallel lines--striations--, indicating that the material had failed from fatigue. The materials in the fractured bridges were identified by micro-probe measurements. It was stated that cast material and solder material used together, were of different composition.