The article presents the situation in Latvia ahead of the country＇s adoption of the euro by offering an analysis of the extent to which the country is prepared for the move and of general economic difficulties as wel...The article presents the situation in Latvia ahead of the country＇s adoption of the euro by offering an analysis of the extent to which the country is prepared for the move and of general economic difficulties as well as indicating possible threats to its future development. The article talks about difficulties caused by the great unemployment connected with the specific economy of the country, political problems of the post-socialistic multinational country and steps done towards the fulfilling of all the convergence criteria. Its aim is to present the moments around the change of the currency which is done by the material＇s analysis because there are not enough statistical data for the mathematical analysis. It can be concluded that the adoption of the euro will probably be beneficial in the long run for Latvia＇s economy. The conclusions may be done by comparison with the situation of Estonia and its foreign trade with Poland which is shown in the article because there are a lot of similarities between the two Baltic countries.展开更多
Geography is a kind of differential calculus in the sense that the three-dimensional, that is, the act of tangentially accessing things, is mapped on to the two-dimensional or the concrete. It is why we can say that t...Geography is a kind of differential calculus in the sense that the three-dimensional, that is, the act of tangentially accessing things, is mapped on to the two-dimensional or the concrete. It is why we can say that the East-West or Occidental versus Oriental dichotomy is so limited in its binary dualism. We could easily criticize not only Said＇s Orientalism, but also in turn, a critical self-defense by turning itself upon its own head. It can indeed be said that the cross or cardinal directions run four different ways and not two. ＂The East＂ is not just Far Eastern, that is, the so-called ＂Asian,＂ but extends to the Far West or to California. Parts of Europe and the Dionysian are not simply limited to Central Europe and Southeastern Asia. We can see in Asia, that is, Eurasia and in North Africa, that 1-2% of non-Sub-saharan human DNA is genotypically Neanderthal in addition to being Homo Sapiens in DNA. 1 The task, it might be said, is to continually remediate binary directions and to reweave Apollo and Dionysos in Friedrich Nietzsche. We can see the limitations of Continentalism in categorizing the human.展开更多
The three Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania make for interesting comparative case studies in the rise of contemporary populism in Europe. All three countries share a similar modem history, democratic poli...The three Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania make for interesting comparative case studies in the rise of contemporary populism in Europe. All three countries share a similar modem history, democratic political system, level of economic development and are in the same western-oriented regional clubs （NATO, European Union, OSCE, European Council and, in the case of Estonia and Latvia, OECD, etc.）. However, they do differ in the extent to which populism has played a role in their national politics. Populism has played a marginal role in Estonian politics, but has long been central to the Latvian party system and influential in Lithuanian politics. This article tackles two key issues in the study of populism. First, it focuses on political party institutionalisation as the key variable in explaining the differing impact of populist political parties across the Baltic states. It examines and explains the higher turnover of political party creation and destruction in Latvia and, to a lesser extent, Lithuania and argues that institutions--and par- ticularly the laws that frame party organisations and participation in elections-- create political opportunities for populist parties. The second part of the paper considers the different types of populist parties to have emerged in the Baltic states in recent decades. While previous studies of populism in the Baltic states （such as Auers and Kasekamp in J Contemp Eur Stud 17（2）：241-254, 2009; Auers and Kasekamp, in： Wodak et al （eds） Right wing populism across/beyond Europe, Bloomsbury Academic Press, London 2013） have explicitly focused on Radical Right Populist parties, this article additionally identifies a number of parties in the region that are not explicitly radical right, but are certainly populist.展开更多
Over the past decade higher education reforms in most European countries have been oriented towards creating a European Higher Education Area which is envisaged in the Bologna Declaration.Based on an illustration of a...Over the past decade higher education reforms in most European countries have been oriented towards creating a European Higher Education Area which is envisaged in the Bologna Declaration.Based on an illustration of a variety of difficulties encountered higher education institutions in a wide range of participating countries,this article indicates a less optimistic view on the achievements to date in the Bologna Process.It argues that the tension of interests between the designers of the Process and its national and institutional practitioners undermines the actual progress towards the supranational objectives.It is suggested that most difficulties in relation to harmonizing national structures of higher education lie in the varying degrees of cultural dependency on traditions and academic autonomy across the engaged European countries.展开更多
文摘The article presents the situation in Latvia ahead of the country＇s adoption of the euro by offering an analysis of the extent to which the country is prepared for the move and of general economic difficulties as well as indicating possible threats to its future development. The article talks about difficulties caused by the great unemployment connected with the specific economy of the country, political problems of the post-socialistic multinational country and steps done towards the fulfilling of all the convergence criteria. Its aim is to present the moments around the change of the currency which is done by the material＇s analysis because there are not enough statistical data for the mathematical analysis. It can be concluded that the adoption of the euro will probably be beneficial in the long run for Latvia＇s economy. The conclusions may be done by comparison with the situation of Estonia and its foreign trade with Poland which is shown in the article because there are a lot of similarities between the two Baltic countries.
文摘Geography is a kind of differential calculus in the sense that the three-dimensional, that is, the act of tangentially accessing things, is mapped on to the two-dimensional or the concrete. It is why we can say that the East-West or Occidental versus Oriental dichotomy is so limited in its binary dualism. We could easily criticize not only Said＇s Orientalism, but also in turn, a critical self-defense by turning itself upon its own head. It can indeed be said that the cross or cardinal directions run four different ways and not two. ＂The East＂ is not just Far Eastern, that is, the so-called ＂Asian,＂ but extends to the Far West or to California. Parts of Europe and the Dionysian are not simply limited to Central Europe and Southeastern Asia. We can see in Asia, that is, Eurasia and in North Africa, that 1-2% of non-Sub-saharan human DNA is genotypically Neanderthal in addition to being Homo Sapiens in DNA. 1 The task, it might be said, is to continually remediate binary directions and to reweave Apollo and Dionysos in Friedrich Nietzsche. We can see the limitations of Continentalism in categorizing the human.
文摘The three Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania make for interesting comparative case studies in the rise of contemporary populism in Europe. All three countries share a similar modem history, democratic political system, level of economic development and are in the same western-oriented regional clubs （NATO, European Union, OSCE, European Council and, in the case of Estonia and Latvia, OECD, etc.）. However, they do differ in the extent to which populism has played a role in their national politics. Populism has played a marginal role in Estonian politics, but has long been central to the Latvian party system and influential in Lithuanian politics. This article tackles two key issues in the study of populism. First, it focuses on political party institutionalisation as the key variable in explaining the differing impact of populist political parties across the Baltic states. It examines and explains the higher turnover of political party creation and destruction in Latvia and, to a lesser extent, Lithuania and argues that institutions--and par- ticularly the laws that frame party organisations and participation in elections-- create political opportunities for populist parties. The second part of the paper considers the different types of populist parties to have emerged in the Baltic states in recent decades. While previous studies of populism in the Baltic states （such as Auers and Kasekamp in J Contemp Eur Stud 17（2）：241-254, 2009; Auers and Kasekamp, in： Wodak et al （eds） Right wing populism across/beyond Europe, Bloomsbury Academic Press, London 2013） have explicitly focused on Radical Right Populist parties, this article additionally identifies a number of parties in the region that are not explicitly radical right, but are certainly populist.
文摘Over the past decade higher education reforms in most European countries have been oriented towards creating a European Higher Education Area which is envisaged in the Bologna Declaration.Based on an illustration of a variety of difficulties encountered higher education institutions in a wide range of participating countries,this article indicates a less optimistic view on the achievements to date in the Bologna Process.It argues that the tension of interests between the designers of the Process and its national and institutional practitioners undermines the actual progress towards the supranational objectives.It is suggested that most difficulties in relation to harmonizing national structures of higher education lie in the varying degrees of cultural dependency on traditions and academic autonomy across the engaged European countries.
