From the Editors...
The traditional “Macedonian Question” has undergone drastic changes in our days, mainly as a result of the dissolution of the former S.F.R. of Yugoslavia and the emergence of an independent Macedonian state under the provisional international name of Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM).
Whereas political disputes involving territories do persist (most notably in connection with an emerging Albanian irredenta over the western regions of FYROM, fanned also by the crisis in neighboring Kosovo), it is true that the core of the debate has shifted to issues of cultural heritage and identifies in the wider Macedonian region.
Such issues involve the origins and development of the national identity of the Slavs living in FYROM and the wider Macedonian geographical region; the relationship—or lack of it—of the [Slav]Macedonian language with the Bulgarian; the existence, identification and self-assertion of various ethnic and religious groups in FYROM, the Macedonian province of Greece, and the Macedonian districts of Bulgaria and Albania; claims of identification with, and/or monopolization of historical and cultural events, monuments, cultural works, symbols and personalities; the making of national “myths” and their transmission over to new generations and to the Diaspora; and last, but not least, the dispute over the definition and the contents of the Macedonian name.
Samuel Huntington’s well known theory about the future clash of civilizations—though critically contested—perceives in cultural difference and heritage the harbingers of future potential political crises. If that is the case, then it is worth studying and analysing such differences in the wider Balkan sub-region, and Macedonia in particular. Could this region become a testing ground for Huntington’s controversial theory?...
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Η θέση σε διαβούλευση του σχεδίου νόμου του Υπουργείου Εσωτερικών για τη χορήγηση της ελληνικής ιθαγένειας με διαδικασίες express στους μετανάστες που έχουν συμπληρώσει μια 5ετία στη Χώρα έχει κυριολεκτικά σοκάρει την ελληνική κοινωνία. Και όλοι διερωτώμεθα πώς προέκυψε αυτό το κείμενο και τι κρύβεται πίσω από αυτές τις τόσο προωθημένες και ακραίες θέσεις. Επειδή όμως εμείς είμαστε πάντοτε καλά πληροφορημένοι, θα σας λύσουμε και αυτή την απορία...........................

