University of Cambridge

Global Security Fellows Initiative
Occasional Paper No. 5

Problems and Possibilities for Political Cooperation in the Carpathian Euroregion: The Role of Local Government

by
Dr. Izabela Suchanek


ABSTRACT

The Central Carpathians have been described as an ex-Yugoslavia awaiting a spark. The region is, in the words of the East-West Institute, "a microcosm of the new Europe, containing a potentially volatile mixture of nations and peoples." As seen elsewhere in Europe, one of the most immediate threats to peace and security comes from people seeking political autonomy and the ethnic conflict that often results. The establishment of the Carpathian Euroregion in 1993 sought to address this potential by increasing the opportunity for cooperation. This paper analyses the Euroregion from the perspective of the normative issues inherent in the development of civil society. The paper asks: Can new agencies in civil society based on transboundary cooperation prevent conflict in a volatile area like the Carpathians?

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The opinions expressed in this paper are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Pew Charitable Trusts.


Dr. Izabela Suchanek is a political scientist who earned her Ph.D. from the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland. Her dissertation focused on "The Political Ideas of Josef Broz Tito" and in part analyzed the break-up of Yugoslovia. Dr. Suchanek now works as a lecturer of political systems and self-government structures of different states at the Pedagogical University in Kielce, Poland, in the Department of Management and Administration. She collaborates with the Foundation for the Support of Local Democracy in the field of management of human resources in local administration. Dr. Suchanek is also a member of the Executive Board of the Fund for the Development of the Carpathian Euroregion.