International studies, Vol. XIII No. 1, 2013.
Original scientific paper
The Influence of International Actors on Western Balkan Countries' Democratization Processes with a Special Emphasis on Croatia
Jadranka Polović
; Sveučilišni studijski centar za stručne studije u Splitu
Abstract
It is a generally accepted thesis in the public political discourse that the process of Croatian accession to the European Union and the NATO acted in a stabilizing and stimulating way on the processes of political, economic and security transformation of the country. The powerful influence of the leading international players in Croatian politics and the politics of other countries of the Western Balkans can be viewed through two integrative processes: joining the NATO and the EU. After more than twenty years since the breakup of the former Yugoslavia, we clearly need to ask ourselves the following: what are the effects of the policy on the spread of democracy and the implementation of neoliberal model of economic policy, not only on the country, which started as a full member of the EU in July 2013, “extracted” from the concept of the region, but also on other countries of the Western Balkans? The author examines the extent to which the application of this concept of international influence indeed resulted in the democratization and stabilization of the region.
Keywords
new world order; the ideology of globalization; neoliberalism; global actors; the Western Balkans; Croatia; enlargement policy
Hrčak ID:
123010
URI
Publication date:
12.4.2013.
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