Romanian Journal of History and International Studies (RJHIS)
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Instrumentalising the Past: The Germanic Myth in National Socialist Context
Get PDFIn the search for an explanatory model for the present or even more, for a fundament for national identity, many old traditions were rediscovered and reutilized according to contemporary desires. In the case of Germany, a forever politically fragmented space, justifying unity was all the more important, especially beginning with the 19th century when it had a real chance to establish itself as a state. Then, beyond nationalism and romanticism, at the dawn of the Third Reich, the myth of a unified, powerful, pure people with a tradition dating since time immemorial became almost a rule in an ideology that attempted to go back to the past and select those elements which could have ensured a historical basis for the regime. In this study, we will attempt to focus on two important aspects of this type of instrumentalisation. The focus of the discussion is mainly Tacitus’ Germania, a work which has been forever invoked in all sorts of contexts as a means to discover the ancient Germans and create a link to the modern ones, but in the same time the main beliefs in the realm of history and archaeology are underlined, so as to catch a better glimpse of how the regime has been instrumentalising and overinterpreting highly controversial facts
Criza Zidului Berlinului. Modelul Politicii Guvernamentale și Grupul de Decizie al lui John F. Kennedy
Get PDFLa 53 de ani de la criza zidului Berlinului, putem să ne întrebăm dacă doar contextul bipolar permite confruntări între blocuri strategice opuse. Criza Ucrainei ne poate oferi numeroși termeni de comparație cu criza zidului Berlinului, principala diferență fiind că Ucraina (încă) nu este membru NATO. Acest articol încearcă să explice modelul decizional adoptat de administrația Kennedy pentru soluționarea crizei zidului Berlinului: modelul politicii guvernamentale
The 2014 Teluk Intan Parliamentary By-Election in Malaysia
Get PDFDemocracy, by definition, is fit to be perceived as the equality of political right. The 2014 Teluk Intan parliamentary by-election contributed towards improving the indicator of democracy. This by-election also witnessed a direct contest between GERAKAN, one of BN component parties, and DAP, a member of the opposition PR coalitions. This paper analyses that this by-election had posed serious formidable challenges for both competing parties. It also looks at the campaign strategies and issues during the ongoing campaign sessions. The result, however, did not reflect the expectations held by the DAP, as it thought that it could maintain the present status quo. The study concluded that, instead of achieving electoral victory, DAP was caught in its internal unexpected crisis, irrespective of the PR coalition members, and, thus, failed to retain its former seat within the context of parliamentary democracy
World-Systems based on Reciprocity. Eastern Empires, Aegean Polities and Greek Mercenaries in the Archaic Age
Get PDFTrying to describe the world-system in the eastern Mediterranean between 800 and 479 B.C. and to place the Greek polities within it, some theoretical developments of Immanuel Wallerstein’s world-system theoretical framework are made. Starting from Karl Polanyi’s list of patterns of integration, it is argued that in pre-modern eras, besides subsistence economies and worldempires, there were also world-systems based on reciprocity, where the most important objective was the acquisition of symbolic capital. Thus, in the archaic age, the Greek world was a periphery of the Eastern empires, the phenomenon of Greek mercenaries serving Eastern monarchs representing a consistent proof for the actual structure of the world-system in that period
Propaganda in Favour of Humanitarian Interventions as War Propaganda: The case of the Yugoslav wars
Get PDFAlthough the UN Charter (mostly) prohibits the use of force or the threat of force against the territorial integrity and political independence of a state, recent theoretical developments in the field of international relations, such as the emergence of the concept of responsibility to protect (R2P), draw attention to the atrocities committed against populations by their own states and represent a gateway to the justification of international interventions on humanitarian grounds. The legitimacy of such cases is hotly disputed, these operations oftentimes being compared to wars of aggression. This article aims to highlight how the propaganda in favour of the 1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia exhibits certain features similar to those of war propaganda and whether sharing the same toolkit constitutes sufficient grounds for qualifying as war propaganda
The EU’s Internal Frictions and their Consequences on the Eastern Neighbours
Get PDFIn the last couple of years, the EU’s foreign policy was mainly directed towards two regions: the Balkans and the Eastern neighborhood. However, the means and the ends of the EU’s approach were in a sharp contrast. While the Balkan countries witnessed a more straightforward and coherent path towards the EU, the Eastern neighborhood had a different experience. Aiming to avoid future cleavages, the EU developed in 2004 the European Neighborhood Policy. But following Romania and Bulgaria’ s accession in the EU, there was still the need for a more comprehensive approach toward the Eastern neighbourhood. Therefore, at the Polish and Swedish overture, the EU inaugurated the Eastern Partnership program which comprises of six ex-Soviet countries. However, the Vilnius Summit was not as effective as it was expected. Instead, it has failed to address the major issues on the agenda. Considering these aspects, this paper asserts that the EU’s gaps in its approach toward the Eastern neighbourhood where mainly determined by systemic incentives and constraints as polarity and ordering principle. After laying out the core arguments, the paper will further develop possible future dynamics concerning the fate of the EU Eastern neighbourhood in the aftermath of the Vilnius Summit
Teohari Georgescu: a short biography of the minister who transformed Romania into a communist state
Get PDFOne of the first communists who received a portfolio in the Romanian Government was Teohari Georgescu. Working as a printer, as well as being a dedicated communist, he managed to become, in a few years, the Minister of Interior Affairs in Petru Groza’s Cabinet. In this paper, we were able to mark a few of the most important moments in Teohari Georgescu’s life and career, also revealing information on his purge, after being in charge of the Ministry of Interior Affairs for a few years.  
The German Propaganda System as a War Tool: The Romanian Case (1916)
Get PDFWorld War I press can be approached from several points of view: journalistic discourse, military censorship analysis, internal and external propaganda and so on. The forms of propaganda were diverse, such as unofficial channels, newspapers, speeches, movies, photos, posters, books, pamphlets, periodicals and even cartoons (used for the first time by the British). The study proposes an analysis of the German propaganda employed by newspapers regarding Romania’s declaration of war in 1916. Germany was the only country to consider propaganda as a tool of war even before 1914. At the beginning of the world conflict, a semi-official network disseminating information favorable to the country in other states already existed in Germany and the role of propaganda consisted in raising the morale of the population during the war. The National News Agency and the Wolff Telegraph Bureau (WTB) were financed and controlled by the state
Shaping Public Diplomacy through Social Media Networks in the 21st Century
Get PDFThe practice of public diplomacy is being disrupted as a result of 90% of UN nations having a presence on social media networks, along with the advent of new technologies making communication global and in real time. This article aims to look at the relationship between public diplomacy and the media and identify the challenges and opportunities social media networks pose for public diplomacy in the 21st century from the perspective of both scholars and policymakers
Stephen Lovell, Russia in the Microphone Age. A History of Soviet Radio, 1919-1970
Get PDFThis book is the first English language research published on the subject of Soviet history through the perspective of Radio, as the main communication medium. Unlike previous Russian papers on the subject, the present endeavour is realized by an actual historian, in a less subjective manner. It is the result of ten years of research done in the Soviet archives. The author, Stephen Lovell, is a Professor of Modern History at St John‟s College in Oxford with a PhD from the School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES) at the University of London. His research interest focuses on the Cultural and Social History of Russia in the 19th and 20th centuries.