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CROATIAN FOREIGN POLICY: THE CHALLENGES OF EU ACCESSION
Dejan Jović
orcid.org/0000-0002-1383-0789
; Fakultet političkih znanosti Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Sažetak
As Croatia prepares for membership in the EU (most likely in 2013), its foreign
policy is in a need of re-conceptualisation. In the first 20 years of its
independence (declared in 1991), Croatian foreign policy has been through
three different phases. Each of them was focused on one single objective. The
three objectives that have marked three distinguished phases of Croatian foreign
policy were: 1) international recognition of its statehood; 2) territorial
re-integration and 3) membership in NATO and the EU. When (and if) it joins
the EU, the country will have to change its single-objective based foreign
policy for a multiple-objectives foreign policy approach. It will have to take
into consideration a whole set of new issues, some of which will be global in
character. In addition, it will need to harmonise its own priorities with those
of other EU member-states. The article focuses on options that are available
to foreign-policy decision-makers when they wish to re-orientate the foreign
policy of a country. In particular, the author looks at the options available to
small states and small powers. The outcome of the process will be influenced
by the size and ambitions of the country, as well as by internal political and
ideological dynamics in Croatian politics, which would need to become better
harmonised with political trends in the EU. The author approaches foreign
policy decision-making as a dynamic process in which ideas and values matter.
For that reason, he focuses not only on interaction between states but also
interaction between three main party families within the European context: 1)
Liberals, 2) Conservatives and 3) Socialists. In particular, he looks at the differences
they have on two main issues for the future of the EU: 1) further enlargement
of the EU and 2) global ambitions of the EU. The article is drawing
on contemporary literature on foreign policy of small states and small powers.
It argues that Croatia needs more strategic thinking in order to make best use
of new opportunities.
Ključne riječi
Croatian foreign policy; small countries; small powers; European Union; theories of international relations
Hrčak ID:
72011
URI
Datum izdavanja:
4.10.2011.
Posjeta: 7.663 *