The Balkan Entente in Turkish–Yugoslav relations (1934–41): the Yugoslav perspective

By discussing the role of the Balkan Entente within Turkish–Yugoslav relations, this article endeavours to reflect the extent to which the Entente guaranteed security to Turkey and Yugoslavia. It deals with the 1934–41 period, which starts with the formation of the Balkan Entente and ends with the German invasion of Yugoslavia. The article is written mainly based on Yugoslav archival documents and aims to provide an alternative narrative that contests the conventional Turkish view. It also demonstrates that although the political leaders in Turkey and Yugoslavia became more optimistic about the future of the region after having signed the Balkan Entente, their perception of threat changed over time during the period of increasing instability in Europe.     

National Parliaments and EU Fiscal Integration

This article analyses the impact of the euro crisis on national parliaments and examines their response to the deepening of EU fiscal integration and the correspondent limitation of their budgetary autonomy. It argues that the sovereign debt crisis has provoked the emergence of new channels of parliamentary involvement in EU economic governance. National parliaments have acquired various rights of approval in the European Semester, strengthened the accountability of national governments, reinforced their scrutiny over budgeting, improved their access to information, and created domestic and supranational avenues for deliberation and political contestation of European integration. In these respects, they have undergone further Europeanisation. While these reforms do not outweigh the centralisation of EU powers, they represent an embryonic step in the parliamentary adaptation to the nascent EU fiscal regime. Yet they are unlikely substantially to influence EMU policy‐making processes, because of the democratic disconnect inherent in the EU's multilevel constitution.     

The Politics of Soviet and Nazi Genocides in Orange Ukraine

This article examines policies and public attitudes concerning the issue of Soviet and Nazi genocides in Ukraine after the ‘Orange Revolution’. The central question is whether such factors as regional political culture affect contemporary policies and public attitudes towards these important historical issues. The article uses a 2008 survey conducted for this study by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology to analyse determinants of public attitudes concerning the question of whether Soviet and the Nazi policies were genocidal. It finds that regional political culture is the most significant factor affecting policies and attitudes towards the Soviet genocide in Ukraine.     

The Psychopathological Profile of Cannibalism: A Review of Five Cases

In today's society, human cannibalism is extremely rare and represents an unthinkable act of violence. Scientific literature on the topic is sparse due to significant methodological problems, such as collecting enough data and generating unbiased analyses. The purpose of this article is to illustrate some psychodynamic aspects of cannibalism. After a review of the literature, we will present and compare five cannibalistic patients hospitalized in the Henri Colin secure unit (Villejuif, France). The patients described fall into two subgroups, suffering either from severe schizophrenia or from a mixed personality disorder with sadistic and psychopathic features associated with paraphilia. For the schizophrenia group, cannibalism is a self‐defense reaction to a perceived threat of destruction: survival depends on the annihilation or assimilation of the other. For the mixed personality disorder group, ego and narcissism are the central issue with a desire to overcome deep‐rooted frustrations by means of an extraordinary act.     

Religious Radicalization and Lone‐Actor Terrorism: A Matter for Psychiatry?

This article discusses the place of the psychiatric field in the ongoing phenomenon of religious radicalization. First, the article provides an overview of the existing literature on lone‐actor terrorists and the link with mental illness. Current research is focusing increasingly on lone‐actor terrorists. This is the most recent and rising development on the global terrorism scene. The literature is currently developing a more precise and informed definition of lone‐actor terrorism. The article then describes and discusses the case study of a mentally ill patient arrested following his assault on a military serviceman on the grounds of religious radicalization. The patient, diagnosed with schizophrenia, is taken as an example of the specific case of religious radicalization in patients with schizophrenia. Finally, the article discusses the curative and preventive roles that can be played by psychiatrists and other professionals who are in contact with these types of patients.     

Reconciling Independence and accountability at the European Central Bank: The false promise of Proceduralism

This article revisits the balancing act between independence and accountability at the European Central Bank (ECB). It contrasts procedural and substantive concepts of accountability, and challenges the mainstream idea that independence and accountability can be reconciled through narrow mandates, the indiscriminate increase of transparency, the creation of multiple channels of accountability, and the active use of judicial review. These assumptions form the pillars of a procedural type of accountability that promises to resolve the independence/accountability dilemma but fails to do so in practice. The article brings evidence to show how ECB accountability has become a complex administrative exercise that focuses on the procedural steps leading up to monetary and supervisory decisions while simultaneously limiting substantive accountability. The failure to acknowledge the trade‐off between independence and accountability (said to be ‘two sides of the same coin’) has resulted in a tendency to privilege the former over the latter.     

Trust in the Police in Rural China: a Comparison Between Villagers and Local Officials

Although the past decade has witnessed the rise of studies on Chinese evaluations of the police, rural villagers’ assessments of the police remain under-researched. Drawing upon performance theory and survey data from China’s countryside, this study tested whether variations in satisfaction with government performance and life are linked to villagers’ and officials’ trust in county and local/town police. We found that villagers displayed lower levels of trust in the police than local officials. Higher satisfaction with government performance and integrity were associated with greater trust in county police among both villagers and officials. Villagers’ greater satisfaction with crime control and safety led to their stronger trust in both county and town police, but such satisfaction was not significantly related to officials’ trust in both levels of police forces. Rural residents’ generalized trust and particularized trust were associated with a greater likelihood of viewing the police as trustworthy. Meanwhile, female respondents, both villagers and officials, and higher-income officials were more likely to view the police as trustworthy. Directions for future research and policy are discussed.

     

Products with nutrition and health claims in the Western Balkans: labelling behaviour,regulation and policy implications

This paper analyses food industry labelling behaviour in regulated and unregulated markets of products with nutrition and health claims (N&H claims) in the Western Balkans. The aim is to find out whether the intervention of the lawmakers in the form of labelling regulation improves transparency of labelling behaviour and facilitates a more informed consumer choice. The analysis is based on a shop survey of 475 products with N&H claims, conducted in six Western Balkan countries (WBC). Statistical inference is derived from the results of the Mann–Whitney and Kruskal–Wallis non-parametric tests as well as the Dunn post-test for all pairwise comparisons as a form of simultaneous nonparametric inference. Differences among the countries constituting the region are significant. In comparison with regulated markets in the region, unregulated WBC markets are characterized by a higher level of “spurious” statements dominated by regional/domestic producers not obliged to use scientifically-approved claims in their corporate practices. In these conditions, differences in labelling behaviour are expected as well, which is only partly confirmed by our testing results.     

Complex suicide: an unusual case with six methods applied

Complex suicides (CSs) are committed by using more than one method. They account for 1.5-5% of all suicides. We present a case of CSs of a 44-year-old man, found dead in the vicinity of his car, in a deserted frozen field. Police investigation excluded homicide, and no medical data confirmed mental illnesses. Autopsy revealed wrist cuts, neck cuts, acid burns in the GI tract, multiple stab wounds to the head by a screwdriver, and several uncertain signs of hypothermia. Toxicology analysis (gas chromatography-mass spectrometry) confirmed ingestion of insecticide. We concluded that stab wounds to the head were the cause of death, while external hemorrhage and hypothermia were contributing factors. This is the first case of CSs reviewed in the literature where six suicide methods were applied. This particular case is interesting because the victim used a screwdriver as a tool for inflicting stab wounds to the head, which is a rare suicidal method.     

Fatal intoxication because of trihexyphenidyl

Trihexyphenidyl (THP) is an anticholinergic agent with forensic toxicological interest. We present a case of a 59-year-old woman with a history of paranoid disorder, who was found dead in the house where she lived alone. The autopsy findings revealed no marked pathological changes. Toxicological analysis based on gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis revealed THP and its major metabolite (hydroxy-THP) in blood and urine, with THP concentrations of 0.053 and 0.560 mg/L, respectively. The blood and urine ethanol concentrations were low 0.096 and 0.100 g/L, respectively. Based on these results, we determined the cause of death to be THP poisoning. It is suggested that rare case of death associated with THP overdosage should be taken in conjunction with central nervous system depressants (benzodiazepines, ethanol) and/or with other pathological disorders. Thus, our case could not be supportive for this allegation.