This book explores the origins, manifestations, and functions of Pan-Slavism in contemporary Central and Eastern Europe. In particular, it argues that despite the extinction of Pan-Slavism as an articulated Romantic-era geopolitical ideology, a number of related discourses, metaphors, and emotions have spilled over into the mainstream debates and popular imagination. Using the term Slavophilia to capture the range of representations, the volume lookas at how geopolitical discourses shape the identity and policies of a community. The book further provides a comparative analysis that covers a range of Slavic countries in order to understand how Pan-Slavisim works and resonates across geograhpic and political contexts. It highlights the political use of Pan-Slavic and Slavophilic ideas that seeks to question and undermine Western democracy and supranational instutions and ideas, such as the EU.

This book considers the state of Czech democracy, following the rise of authoritarian regimes in Poland and Hungary and the ascent of billionaire oligarch Andrej Babis to the office of prime minister of the Czech Republic, leading to concerns about conflict of interest. The authors argue that civic values, such as tolerance, respect for the equality of people, and readiness to play by the rules of the political game, are key factors in determining whether the Czech Republic will maintain its democracy in the coming years. The book employs a broad perspective, bringing together insights from political science, sociology, cultural studies, and other disciplines to analyse changes in the democracy of the Czech Republic since 1989, taking into consideration various dimensions of civic values, including politics, gender inequality, film, and the media.

The main theme of this book revolves around the idea of Europeanization of the Western Balkans. In that respect, the volume discusses the fight against corruption and regional relations in former Yugoslav states, such as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia. The objective of the book is to detect the level of effectiveness of the EU impact on domestic structural changes in the Western Balkans regarding aforementioned research issues. The contributors argue that the EU impact in the Western Balkans has so far been limited and point to limitations in this regard. "The book Balkanizing Europeanisation offers timely, detailed, critical and excellently researched insight into the complicated mutual relations of the EU and the countries of the Balkan Peninsula. Based on excellent scholarship, meticulous original research and first-hand experience with the Balkan area, the authors provide a reader with rich and profound analysis of successes and failures of Europeanisation of the Balkan countries. The volume shall become an obligatory reading for many categories of scholars, experts, and people practicing diplomacy with and in the region." Vit Hlousek, Professor of European Politics, Masaryk University "The limits to and problems connected with processes of Europeanization in the Western Balkans remain an important topic both for policy-makers and for scholarly inquiry. Vuckovic and Dordevic are to be congratulated for having assembled a first-rate teach of scholars to examine the most vital issues at hand." Sabrina P. Ramet, Professor of Political Science, The Norwegian University of Science & Technology