Srpska politička misao

LEO STRAUSS’S CRITIC OF MODERN NATURAL RIGHT CONCEPTS AND ITS CONTEMPORARY RELEVANCE

Aleksandar Gajic — Tue, 05 May 2026 12:46:01 +0200

This paper reviews Leo Strauss’s critique of modern natural right concepts and their contemporary relevance in the light of the crisis of modernity. The first part of the paper observes Strauss’s interpretative approach to classical political thought, whose main purpose was to rediscover classical wisdom for solving many theoretical and practical contemporary issues. Natural Right and History, Leo Strauss’s best-known work, deals with the topic of the relevance of the idea of natural right in light of the 20th century’s main dilemma of political philosophy – the crisis of modern political and normative order. Therefore, the second part of the paper gives a brief insight into Strauss’s view on the crisis of modernity that is displayed in his work The Three Waves of Modernity. Then the work turns its focus on the field of natural right, where, in the third section of the paper, the opposition between classical and modern natural right concepts is analyzed. The final chapter gives some conclusions on the contemporary relevance of Strauss’s ideas on natural right and its consequences on both contemporary political philosophy and political life. It shows that some of Strauss’s ideas on natural right are more relevant than ever, while others turned out to be problematic, unsuitable, or quite naïve and irrelevant.

RECIPROCITY AS A CONDITION FOR THE RECOGNITION OF FOREIGN COURT DECISIONS: POLITICAL-LEGAL ASPECT AND MODERN SIGNIFICANCE IN DOMESTIC AND COMPARATIVE LAW

Jelena Jakšić — Tue, 12 May 2026 19:14:34 +0200

This paper examines the institute of reciprocity as a condition for the recognition of foreign court decisions, with special reference to Serbian law and comparative legal trends, pointing out its political-legal significance in contemporary relations between states. Reciprocity is analyzed as a traditional mechanism for the protection of state sovereignty and the equality of states, but also as an instrument for regulating international legal cooperation. It starts from the distinction between legal, factual, and presumed reciprocity and their role in ensuring reciprocity in cross-border relations, while indicating a gradual transformation from a formal to a functional approach. The analysis of court practice and comparative law decisions shows an evolution from strict formal to material (factual) reciprocity and an increasingly pronounced tendency for reciprocity to be assumed, instead of being formally proven, whereby the center of gravity increasingly moves towards procedural guarantees, public order, and the principle of mutual trust. Special attention is paid to contemporary solutions in the law of the European Union and other legal systems, as well as the impact of the Hague Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Court Decisions from 2019 [Hague Judgments Convention 2019], which affirms a model based on procedural standards and not on formal reciprocity. Critical analysis shows that formal reciprocity in modern law is gradually losing its role as a general precondition for recognition and is increasingly giving way to functional models, which reflect the need for balancing between the protection of state sovereignty and the strengthening of international cooperation and trust. It is concluded that the domestic legal system already contains elements of this more modern approach, and that further development should be directed towards strengthening convention and supranational mechanisms of recognition, while retaining reciprocity as a subsidiary instrument in the protection of national interests.

NEW – OLD TRENDS IN THE FIELD OF CRIMINAL POLICY IN THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIA

Ivan Đokić — Wed, 10 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0100

The Draft Law on Amendments to the Criminal Code of 2025 announces a significant reform of Serbia’s substantive criminal legislation. In addition to a series of newly introduced criminal offences – many of them controversial from a criminal policy standpoint – it also proposes a substantial tightening of sentencing ranges for certain offences. Driven by populist rhetoric and accompanied by an almost dismissive attitude toward the achievements of criminal law scholarship, the Draft disregards empirical knowledge of the real capacities of punishment and the actual effect of increased repression on crime prevention. By threatening excessive penalties for violations of criminal norms in the sphere of serious forms of criminal behavior, the proponent of these measures continues to strengthen retributive tendencies. In doing so, Serbian criminal law increasingly diverges from the liberal, rule-of-law model, and is rapidly transforming into a form of “enemy-oriented” criminal law – one in which all means are considered permissible in the state’s effort to combat threats to the legal order. Such an orientation is inappropriate for a legal system that seeks to preserve democratic features, as it poses a serious risk of undermining fundamental human rights in the realm of punishment. Moreover, it is frequently accompanied by inefficiency and weak results in controlling criminal behavior. It could be said that such an orientation in the field of criminal policy in the Republic of Serbia is nothing new; on the contrary, if we consider the period since the first serious instance of intensified penal repression in 2009 – when the penalty ranges for as many as one third of existing criminal offences were made more severe – the trend toward prescribing increasingly harsher punishments has shown no sign of abating. What is most concerning, however, is the well-founded fear that this tendency has not yet reached its peak and is likely to continue in the future.

BEST INTERESTS OF THE MIGRANT CHILDREN IN THE SYSTEM OF ASYLUM IN THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIA

Uroš Novaković — Wed, 26 Nov 2025 23:43:59 +0100

In all the proceedings where the child appears as a party, the principle of the best interests of the child appears as the most general principle through which the child is protected. The following laws regulate the best interests of migrant children in the Republic of Serbia: Family Law, Law on Foreigners, Law on Asylum and Temporary Protection, and Law on Social Protection. One of the problems in practice is that an unaccompanied child, from entering the territory of Serbia until the submission of the asylum application, is assigned different persons as temporary guardians on several occasions. The major problem in the administrative procedure and the realization of the best interests of the child is reflected in the fact that police officers register unaccompanied and separated children and conduct official actions in the asylum procedure without the presence of a temporary guardian. Processing of asylum applications is not a priority, and the speed of decision-making depends on many factors, including the expediency of the acting official of the first instance body. The Asylum Office must take into account the best interests of the child at every stage of the asylum procedure, particularly when deciding on the child's asylum application, and must take into account the opinion of the guardianship authority and the opinion of the child, which is one of the basic elements of the principle of the best interests of the child.

LOCAL COMMUNITY ASSEMBLIES IN SERBIA AS A FORM OF DIRECT CITIZEN PARTICIPATION IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT – BETWEEN TRADITION, REPRESENTATIVE AND DIRECT DEMOCRACY –

Мијодраг Радојевић, Petar Matić — Thu, 14 May 2026 08:37:27 +0200

The subject of this research is local community assemblies as forms of direct democracy in Serbia. The paper seeks to identify a correlation between the traditional forms of these assemblies and the development of local self-government and democracy. By using the doctrinal concepts of direct democracy and local self-government, as well as theoretical methods, such as the dogmatic and normative legal method, historical and comparative methods, and, based on empirical findings, the authors provide a diachronic overview of local assemblies of all citizens. These assemblies have a long tradition in Serbia. From former custom-based institutions, they were transformed into local government bodies during the nineteenth century. This transformation meant a gradual phasing-out of their direct representative character and their importance as central bodies of local government. The underlying cause of these changes results from the conflict between political conceptions of local democracy (decentralists) and proponents of a strong state and local administration (centralists), as well as broader political circumstances. The model of classical representative body in local self-government persisted until the beginning of World War II. In the post-war period, consistent with the ideological postulates of Marxism and self-management socialism, two new forms of these bodies emerged in the communist Yugoslavia – assemblies in local communities (citizens’ assemblies) and assemblies in business enterprises and organizations (working people’s assemblies). During the final decade of the twentieth century, following the dismantling of self-management socialism and a return to the classical model of local self-government, these forms of direct democracy at the local level were abolished. The authors conclude that the era of socialist self-management left a contradictory legacy in terms of attitudes toward direct democracy and direct citizen participation in local government. A residual element of such a legacy is the concept of assemblies in local communities, which, in practice, has no substantial role in the functioning of local self-government in Serbia. The authors point to the shortcomings in the legal framework and propose normative and technical solutions that could improve the way of citizens’ direct participation in the exercise of local power.

SECURITY IMPLICATIONS OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA: BETWEEN THE DAYTON CONSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK AND INTERNATIONAL INTERVENTIONISM

Velibor Lalić — Tue, 05 May 2026 20:27:55 +0200

The constitutional crisis in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) represents a complex case of legal and political destabilization in a post-conflict context. This paper analyzes the security implications of the constitutional crisis through the lens of internal political conflicts and international interventionism. It also highlights how the actions of international actors – particularly the Office of the High Representative (OHR) – function as a mechanism for altering the political balance established by the Dayton Peace Agreement. This dynamic generates new sources of instability which, although not yet amounting to a full-scale security crisis, nevertheless produce significant security consequences. The liberal project of state-building and the policy of international interventionism, rather than fostering reconciliation, have led to growing ethnic polarization and the weakening of institutional functionality. The paper points out a research gap in the existing literature, which has neglected systematic consideration of the security aspects of international interventionism on domestic developments in BiH, and argues that a return to the constitutional principles of the Dayton Peace Agreement may provide a framework for overcoming the current challenges.

KEY ETHICAL CHALLENGES OF THE TOTAL DEFENCE CONCEPT IMPLEMENTATION IN THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIA

Dragan Stanar — Thu, 07 May 2026 09:43:19 +0200

The author analyses the key ethical challenges of implementing the concept of total defense in the Republic of Serbia, starting from the assumption that normatively unresolved dilemmas may undermine its functional and moral sustainability. After conceptually defining total defense as a model that entails the comprehensive participation of all societal actors in the defense of the state, the author examines three central ethical issues: the ethical nature and grounding of the duty to participate in defense, the implications of fulfilling this duty during armed conflict, and the question of responsibility for failing to fulfil it. The duty of defense is interpreted as an imperative arising from the very ontology of the state and collective freedom, rather than as a matter of voluntariness. At the same time, attention is drawn to the challenges of its internalization within the context of a contemporary “rights-based society.” Particular focus is given to the problem of crossing the threshold of “direct participation in hostilities,” which may result in the loss of civilian immunity and the blurring of the distinction between legitimate and illegitimate targets, especially under the conditions of modern warfare. Finally, the author analyses the issue of legal and moral responsibility for the failure to fulfil this duty, warning of the dangers of arbitrary and ideologically motivated post-war sanctions. The conclusion is that the optimal implementation of the concept of total defense requires precise normative regulation, clearly defined limits of duty, and proportionate sanctions, in order for the concept to be not only effective, but also morally legitimate and sustainable in the long term.

GLOBALIZATION AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

Dragan Simeunović — Wed, 13 May 2026 10:36:43 +0200

To understand the relation between globalization and international relations, it is necessary to propaedeutically differentiate notions of new world order, globalism, and globalization that are often used without much theoretical understanding, sometimes even as synonyms, which creates terminological confusion. These are three different terms that are related because they refer to intertwined phenomena. Globalism is an ideology, globalization is a process of implementing the ideological premises of globalism, and the new world order is a political- legal system of an emerging world. Concept and practice of globalization include radical change in the modern world in favour of one centre of power and thus imply drastic change in international relations. Globalization implies that contemporary international relations should be characterized by: informal government of the world from one centre of power by controlling and guiding global political, economic, and financial flows; democratization of all world countries by introducing Euro-Atlantic model of democracy as the only valid one; negation of national sovereignty and overcoming national identity; diminished role of the UN and of all international organizations and institutions where proponents of globalizations are not decision makers; ‘managerial’ instead of mediating diplomacy; exclusivity of the right of globalists to use force in international relations; favoring humanitarian interventions as a type of armed conflicts; attempt to direct migrant flows and their intensity; deprivation of rights to progress to all non-globalized countries, even more stronger ones such as Russia and China; putting international relations directly into service of satisfying interests of multinational companies. The proponents of globalization have had only limited success in these efforts due to various types of resistance. Globalization has been mostly achieved at the international economic level, and much less at the international political and international security levels. Although the beginning of globalization announced a fast end to the national state, its sovereignty, and consequently a nation as its basis, this has not happened. Almost everything that has had a national prefix resisted globalization to a greater or lesser extent in the name of the right of the individual to exist as much as the general, and this is the main reason why globalists see the national as the greatest threat. The time of great migrations, as well as the war between Russia and Ukraine, fueled by arms, funds, and logistics of the Western forces, brought new, great, and consequently still unfathomable challenges not only to globalization as a process, but to globalism as an ideology and new world order as a projected political-legal construction of a global system. Russia has announced the new concept of a new world order, and many countries, some of which are EU members, have stood up against global models, thus pivoting strongly towards their national interests, restoration of their national sovereignty, and strengthening of their national values, although it seemed up until recently that these countries had completely merged into supranational unity. It is becoming more obvious that the war and migrations were just a reason for a reiterative renewal of the concept of a national state as an important heritage and its greater independence, and not only on the territory of Europe, indicating a process of re-sovereignisation in globalized areas as a more widespread phenomenon. This, as well as other current processes of using and distributing power among states at a global level, will undoubtedly strongly affect the profiling of international relations in the near future.

ON THE SUPPRESSED TOPICS IN THE HISTORY OF SERBO-SLOVENIAN RELATIONS OR ON THE PROLOGUE TO THEIR CLOSENESS DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR

Zoran Jovanovic — Fri, 08 May 2026 17:15:24 +0200

The text presents certain evidence of Slovenian–Serbian closeness during the Second World War, which, due to so-called higher interests – national/political/religious/ecclesiastical – has been neglected to such an extent that it now seems never to have existed. Thus, from the creation of communist/socialist Yugoslavia to the present day, Slovenia has carefully selected the topics through which it reveals its 20^th-century history. In that process, one of the casualties was the history of Serbian–Slovenian ties during the Second World War, as confirmed in various spheres: from the joint struggle against the occupier and under the flag of the Yugoslav Army in the Homeland, to the suffering caused by the ideologues and defenders of the ethnocidal/genocidal Independent State of Croatia. The text also recovers from controlled oblivion the memory of the mass demonstrations held at the end of March 1941 in Belgrade and Ljubljana against the protocol on Yugoslavia’s accession to the Tripartite Pact. These events undoubtedly shaped the future of the Slovenian and Serbian peoples during the Second World War, yet Yugoslav historiography carefully avoided them, only for them to become anachronistic in the contemporary era – due to new higher interests. The closest neighbors of the Republic of Serbia and the Republic of Slovenia have also benefited from this, protecting their own interests, including shaping the terms of confronting their own Second World War legacy.

POWER DIFFUSION AS THE THIRD DIMENSION OF COMPLEX INTERDEPENDENCE: CALIFORNIA AND OPENAI AS CASE STUDIES

Marina Todorović, Milica Šljivančanin — Thu, 07 May 2026 09:50:42 +0200

This paper analyzes the diffusion of power as the third dimension of complex interdependence (the first dimension being military and the second economic), a concept developed and later refined by American scholars Robert Keohane and Joseph Nye. By examining diffusion, or the dispersal of power, as one of the phenomena of international relations, the research focuses on subnational and transnational actors. Through two case studies – the U.S. state of California and the organization OpenAI – the paper investigates how economic, technological, and educational resources enable these actors to influence global power flows independently of the nation-state. The example of California demonstrates how a subnational entity can create innovative policies and set global standards in technology, education, and climate change. OpenAI, as a transnational private actor, shows that innovations in artificial intelligence can redefine the distribution of power and impact international relations beyond state structures. The paper illustrates that power diffusion is a dynamic process arising from the interaction of various actors, rather than a static state that can be “possessed”. This process, however, is sometimes conditioned by ethical considerations and almost always by political and commercial constraints. At the same time, the role of subnational and transnational actors, in this interaction, points to a transformation in the nature of influence within the contemporary global order.