MAKING AND REMAKING OF BYZANTIUM
THE PRESENT VOLUME IS COINCIDENTALLY published in the year of the 23rd International Congress of Byzantine studies which took place in Belgrade in August 2016. International congress held once every five years are for byzantinists a sort of checkpoint of progress and current development of the scholarship in the field. This issue of Limes Plus, the first one dedicated to Byzantium, on a smaller scale, points to several important and more recent directions the field has been taking, particulary in terms of social history, discourse theory, and political thought.
FINANCE AND FINANCIAL (IN)STABILITY IN DEVELOPING AND EMERGING MARKETS
Dynamic economic growth and investors optimism faded away with the outburst of the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) in 2008. The world financial crunch revealed numerous weaknesses of developing and emerging markets such as massive accumulation of debts and a widening of current account deficits in a growing number of big emerging economies such as Turkey, Brazil, India, South Africa as well as in a great number of South-East European economies. Unfortunately, as usual, the era of aberrant optimism was accompanied with increasing financial fragility since current account deficits were financed in ever riskier ways: more debt than equity and an increase in the share of short-term debt in total debt, hard currency-denominated debts and hot and whimsy cross-border interbank flows.
THE BICENTENNIAL OF THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA 1815: Legitimacy on the Periphery
Restoration of Europe after Napoleon's defeat was a complex process within which the most difficult tasks were reestablishing the system that dominated before Napoleon's wars and erasing of twenty years of new European experience that not only challenged the Ancient Regime, but was actually victorious in a significant part of Europe.
The Congress of Vienna was important for restoring the previous system and outlawing those changes that could jeopardize authority and legitimacy of the Ancient Regime. Austria and Russia were two states specially significant when the region of southeast Europe is discussed. Despite the urgent need to protect legitimacy of European order and prevent further changes of borders, events on the periphery of Habsburg and Ottoman empires, the Serbian revolution and later the Greek revolution, confirmed that the Congress of Vienna had failed, at least in that region at the periphery of Europe.
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HOLOCAUST AND RESTITUTION
“After the period with socialist state structure with single party political system that favoured social property, the Republic of Serbia chose to introduce and build parliamentary democracy in West European fashion. In such a political system, private property has maximal legal protection. The mentioned decision of the state implied state obligation to return seized property, i.e. compensate the damage for the property seized from individuals and legal entities and converted into state, social or communal property through property confiscation or through application of regulations on agrarian reform, nationalization, sequestration, and other regulations on nationalization in the Republic of Serbia. That decision also meant annulment of, both legal and de facto, acts and actions that deprived many individuals, soon after the end of WWII, for political, religious, national or ideological reasons, of their lives, freedom or other rights.”
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THE CHALLENGES OF ECONOMIC POLICY AND BANKING STABILITY IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
The rapid economic growth of developing countries since the start of the millennium came to a halt after the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) in 2008. The financial crisis that started in developed part of the world revealed that dynamic growth of developing markets was predominantly based on a commodity and oil prices boom and the overextension of credit which was the consequence of high commodity prices and resultantly overrated expected corporate profits and cheap, near-zero interest money. This propelled a global investors race for higher yields in developing markets' assets such as equity, bonds, currencies and real estate. The flip side of the coin were accumulated debts and a widening of current account deficits in a growing number of developing countries. With the evaporation of global investors' optimism, massive capital outflows took place resulting in diminished economic growth, employment, investments, depletion in foreign exchange reserves, massive depreciation of local currencies and escalation in current account deficits, inflation and public debt.
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FINANCIAL INSTABILITY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN EMERGING MARKETS: CONTROVERSIES AND CRITICAL ISSUES
Seemingly suddenly, in August 2007 the US financial markets came to a sudden stop. Although the first signs of accumulated difficulties became visible in 2006 when house prices peaked, in March 2007 when debtors in the subprime mortgage market started to declare bankruptcy, and in July 2007 when big banks found that they could not sell originated loans, the credit crunch fi nally arrived in August 2007. The monetary authorities and mainstream economists were stunned. The crisis erupted in the subprime mortgage market and afterwards, as quick as lightning, it spread to other US financial markets and markets worldwide. The real economy and export demand collapsed around the globe. Due to the collapse of export demand in developed countries, developing countries faced severe export volume contraction and decline in the terms of trade, especially in the case of commodity exporting countries. Also, investments slumped due to the cessation of previously abundant capital inflows used to finance investment booms. The heightened risk aversion of investors gave rise to an excessive increase in risk premia, which spilled over into steep increases in interest rates charged on loans extended to developing countries’ business entities. The world economy entered an era of Great Recession.
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NATIONALIZATION, CONFISCATION, RESTITUTION
Confiscation and nationalization radically changed structure and legal relations in property matters. Dealing with former political system meant also dealing with political, cultural and moral influence of successful urban and rural social circles. Already during last war days a new managing strata started to rise, entering other people's villas, houses, flats and reaching the most intimate of previous owners, and that new class gradually took social function and lifestyle of the defeated one. Moreover, in time certain consensus of victors and defeated was reached, for it became more and more obvious they coexisted peacefully, especially after borders were open and Western influence was felt, since ruling structure was facing catastrophic results of post-war transition and economic policies. Anyway, since the end of 1960s intellectuals were more and more openly contesting Tito's order and system of values, but from extreme left or nationalistic positions, asking for more communism and less economic liberty. That destroyed for ever all-Yugoslav consensus on democracy, rule of law and transition. Failure in achieving such political, cultural and ethic consensus is one of possible explanations for violent nature of Yugoslav disintegration.
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ENVIRONMENT TO EUROPE
As a foreword to this valuable text, I'd like to direct as a sharing of my dilemma with readers – who is going to "pay the bill" in the future if make today decisions that are wrong, unfounded, untenable? The way we live today is a consequence of many decisions and behaviours from recent and distant past. Alike, the way we react to challenges of today will consequently in the years and decades to come determine the way we live. When, for example, you don't pay your electricity bill, your supply is cut off – you have no electricity until you cover your debt. But what will happen if/when in following decades natural resources dry off or become much more scarce, because of unsustainable and insufficiently controlled use of natural resources today? Then there will be no option to pay "the bill" (for unsustainable use of natural resources and environment) – not even big money will be able to return non-renewable natural resources, destroyed and perturbed environment and nature. Generations that will live then, because of the way we live today, will have limited options to improve the situation. We will be the guilty party, and they will suffer. Therefore, by the way we behave today towards environment and resources, we write history of the future. If we would rely today on traditional economy, we miss generation chance to establish sustainable growth in the future. In certain way, this publication devoted to single topic, by denoting ongoing issues, ways to solve them and possible solutions, is also denoting importance of inter-generations solidarity, highlighting values of European Union regarding environment as a guideline and a benchmark.
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THE WORLD ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL CRISIS
After seven years of global expansion, seemingly suddenly, contrary to orthodox theory of efficient financial markets, in August 2007, financial crisis brutally bit. Financial markets came to a sudden stop. Crisis erupted in subprime mortgage market and afterwards, as quick as lightning, it spread to other U.S. markets and the markets worldwide. Interest rate spreads soared and panic caught equity markets. Consequently, several major financial institutions in the United States were on the verge of collapse, and, most notably, the prominent global financial giant Lehman Brothers went bankrupt. After the bankruptcy of the Lehman Brothers in September 2008, the banking sector in Western and Eastern Europe was on the brink of collapse because big European banks invested heavily in the U.S. financial markets, predominantly in high-risk exotic financial instruments. In order to prevent collapse of the banking sector, all European governments have strongly and decisively intervened. However, the horror of the possible collapse of the banking sector was only a prelude to another kind of crisis - the crisis of sovereign debt in the Euro Area. The world economy entered an era of Great Recession.
The question that arises is how to define crisis. In his manuscript Prison Notebooks (1929-1935), Antonio Gramsci (1891-1937), wrote that the "...crisis consists precisely in the fact that old is dying and the new cannot be born; in this interregnum, morbid phenomena of the most varied kind come to pass." Therefore, in this view, crises are decisive moment, the moment in which it becomes clear that it is necessary to make important decisions aiming at eliminating factors that led to the disruption of the normal functioning of the system. In this sense, economic and social crises are not only associated with a massive redistribution of wealth and intensive debates and conflicts in academic circles but also with posing a inevitable question what next to do: Is now the right moment for the political elite to resort to unpopular and painful, but longer-lasting solutions by helping "the new" to be born or should they resort to palliative solutions which artificially keep "the old" alive with the perspective of the appearance of a new crisis in the near future?
Understanding the problem we face is the prerequisite of solving it and that is exactly the primary goal of the thematic issue of Limes Plus in front of you. Understanding the problem can help benevolent political elite to conduct and implement economic policies and measures aiming at stimulating economic and social actors to take actions consistent with the goals of long-term stability, growth in employment and production, equity in income distribution and, in general, sustainable economic and political development.
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Being a foreigner in a city that considers itself important is not just a segment of some undetermined existentialist phenomenology.
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COLD WAR
The new edition of the magazine LIMESplus gives the studious insight in the intriguing and significant period of the recent history. The Cold war is treated as a global phenomena, from the aspects of the countries of the former USSR, Germany, Finland, SAD, as well as the countries of former Yugoslavia and Balkan....
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IDENTITET BEOGRADA
Beograd je nakon promena koje su se odigrale do početka 2001. doživeo vidan oporavak, ali je ostao i simbolično poprište one društvene, političke i kulturne dezintegracije koja je uništila jugoslovensku zajednicu...
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ENERGIJA ZA BEZBEDNOST I SUVERENOST
Energetske potrebe i uporna energetska neefikasnost postojećih tehnologija i dalje su, poput uloge u XX veku, uzročnici nestabilnosti u svetskoj politici, kriza u međunarodnim odnosima, poriv grabežljivosti jakih i povlačenja slabih....
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KOSOVO - GODINA NULTA
Realističan društveni sukob Srba i Albanaca koji zahvata domen politike ali i dublje sfere života ljudi. Njegova struktura je složena s naglašenim elementima političke i socijalne drame...
KLIMA(KS) PLANETE
Promene na svetskoj geopolitičkoj sceni su doprinele učestalim aferama vezanim za pojam climate change mnogo ranije nego što je i započela rasprava o klimi i klimatskim promenama...
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KOSOVO - PROIZVODNJA DRŽAVE
Kosovo na klackalici... Beograd priželjkuje „Bantustan” za Albance... Priština novo sedište mafije... Koliko košta status... Ujedinjene nacije: car je go... Kulturno nasleđe i kosovska kriza...
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TRŽIŠTE DUŠA
Susreti, razlazi i sudari crkve i države, i vere i vlasti...
VOJVODINA
Evropski region i priključenje Srbije/SCG Evropskoj uniji...
DRŽAVA - MAFIJA
RUSIJA U IGRI
Moć nafte... Imperija i demokratija - moguć spoj?... Dugo putovanje iz socijalizma... Ruski mit u srpskoj istoriji... Pravoslavni svet kao politički projekat... Pacta conventa: Biznis i politika... Rusi i srpsko pozorište...
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BALKANSKA ALHEMIJA
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IRAK–KOSOVO–AMERIKA
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