This collection of essays examines the legal regime in the post-Cold War era which has developed in response to the demands of ethnic, racial & religious groups in Europe. In essence this volume seeks to examine the 'old' problem of national minorities in the 'new' Europe. The essays examine the response of the main institutions within Europe (i.e. the Council of Europe, OSCE & European Union), the increasing recourse of states to bilateral arrangements, the developing content of minority rights, the challenges posed by state-building & the resolution of conflicts involving national minorities. Particular issues considered include the minorities situation in the Former Yugoslavia, the situation in Ukraine (in particular in Crimea), the position of the minority Catholic population in Northern Ireland, as well as developments in the context of autonomous regimes & power-sharing arrangements. At the end of the book, a collection of documents, which supplement these chapters & are relevant to minority rights in the 'New' Europe, can be found. Whilst the book's editors are both legal academics from the United Kingdom, the contributors' backgrounds are diverse & varied, originating from a number of different countries, with expertise in a wide variety of areas.

A broad-ranging study that explores the complex relationship between ethnicity and democratization, focusing on specific case studies including France, Spain, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Russia, Albania and Hungary. Marrying the empirical and theoretical, the book begins by conceptualizing the nature of ethnicity and relating these ideas to different theories of democracy and democratization. The contributors locate ethnic experiences within a series of common frameworks to shed light on key issues such as: * the effect of democratization and authoritarian rule on ethnic tensions * the extent to which ethnicity is constructed as an ideological tool * whether democracy can only function if all citizens are fully assimilated.

The end of the Cold War has ushered a restructuring of the institutions of the European Community, culminating into its enlargement to Eastern Europe, under the aegis of economic integration, democracy and human rights. This book examines the development and the role of human rights in the European Union, from its inception as an economic co-operation project to an organisation of European States with a political agenda that goes beyond its borders. It argues that human rights have become an important component of the foreign policy of the European Union and that this role has grown from the inception of the Union through the Cold War and thereafter onto the process of enlargement of the Union. The book goes on to analyse the EU’s policy on minorities, as a particular example of human rights. It considers the level of their protection within the EU and the framework of international law, and compares minority rights in the older Member States including France, Germany and the UK, with newer Eastern European states.

This publication discusses the main standards and mechanisms created by the Council of Europe and other international organisations to protect the rights of minorities in Europe, including key legal instruments such as the European Convention on Human Rights, the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, and the European Charter for Regional and Minority Languages. It reviews the monitoring activities in various Council of Europe member and non-member states, both prior to their accession and in their post-accession phase. The publication also includes a detailed examination of the case of the Roma/Gypsies, a specific minority without a 'kin state'.

A pioneering textbook which explains the dynamics of politics across Europe in the post-Cold war era. Comparing democratisation, transition to a market economy and increasing economic and political integration in the countries of central and eastern Europe with experiences in Scandinavia, and southern and western Europe, the book provides a wealth of information and analysis on the state of Europe at the end of a momentous century of European and World history.

Globalization and “Minority” Cultures: The Role of “Minor” Cultural Groups in Shaping Our Global Future is a collective work which brings to the forefront of global studies new perspectives on the relationship between globalization and the experiences of cultural minorities worldwide.

I. The global setting.

Bulgaria has faced previously unimaginable pressures over the last two decades, as it struggles to adapt to a post-Communist landscape and to reform both state and society in the wake of the fall of the Soviet Union, while facing the challenge of increased efforts by NATO and the EU to expand into this region. In Negotiating Diplomacy in the New Europe, Stefanos Katsikas sheds new light on the mechanisms and factors which have influenced the making and shaping of Bulgarian foreign policy, examining the extent to which both domestic factors and the international environment have affected its trajectory. Following the promulgation of Gorbachev's now-famous policies of glasnost and perestroika, and the fall from power of the Bulgarian Communist Party - led at the time by Todor Zhivkov - many have directly attributed Bulgaria's changes in foreign policy to the processes of democratization witnessed throughout Eastern Europe. However, although this was to some extent the case, the commonalities shared with the country's foreign policy during the Cold War era leave in question the extent to which the effects of democratization alone suffice to explain Sofia's post-communist diplomatic and strategic policies. By analysing the influencing factors of Bulgaria's foreign policy since 1989, Katsikas considers factors such as domestic policies, as well as the effects of EU and NATO efforts to expand their influence and membership. Rich in primary sources, including personal interviews with key protagonists who have dominated foreign policy-making in both communist and post-communist Bulgaria, Negotiating Diplomacy in the New Europe examines the shift of foreign relations not only within the context of post-Cold War democratization, but also the country's integration into wider Euro-Atlantic frameworks. It thus holds invaluable analysis for researchers of Europe's post-communist international relations, as well as those interested in the processes of democratization and those of foreign policy formation.

This book examines whether we are moving towards an integrated regional system of legal provision for minorities. It illustrates the tension between newer member states, many of which have an interest in seeing minority issues addressed, and established members, which remain hesitant in committing themselves fully to a minority rights regime.

This work explores the contribution that international law may make to the resolution of culture conflicts--political disputes between the members of different ethno-cultural groups--in democratic States. International law recognizes that persons belonging to minorities have the right to enjoy their own culture and peoples have the right to self-determination without detailing how these principles are to be put into effect. The emergence of democracy as a legal obligation of States permits the international community to concern itself with both the procedure and substance of 'democratic' decisions concerning ethno-cultural groups.