Date: 2017
Type: Thesis
In pursuit of stability : Yugoslavia and Western European economic integration, 1948–1970
Florence : European University Institute, 2017, EUI, HEC, PhD Thesis
OBADIC, Ivan, In pursuit of stability : Yugoslavia and Western European economic integration, 1948–1970, Florence : European University Institute, 2017, EUI, HEC, PhD Thesis - https://hdl.handle.net/1814/47304
Retrieved from Cadmus, EUI Research Repository
This thesis examines the origins and evolution of Yugoslav policy towards Western European integration from the early 1950s until the signing of the first Yugoslav–EEC Trade Agreement in 1970. It examines the emerging role of Western Europe in the Yugoslav foreign and internal politics within the larger context of the Cold War and development of European integration. Increased trade relations with the EEC and the domestic introduction of the 1965 Economic Reform proved vital in persuading Belgrade to become the first socialist country to establish diplomatic and trade relations with the Community in 1968. The thesis argues that these relations became of increasing relevance to the economic and, ultimately, political stability of Yugoslavia. Besides the basic foreign (trade) policy concepts towards the EEC, this study focuses on the perceptions of the Western European integration process among the political elite by addressing the following research questions: How did Yugoslav policymakers react to the Western European integration process? What impact did the success of the EEC have on Yugoslav foreign policy and internal differences among the political elite? In what way did the League of Communists of Yugoslavia rationalize their cooperation with the EEC? What did it mean for the internal coherence of the LCY and for Yugoslavia’s pronounced cooperation with the developing countries? The overarching question is how and why already in the 1960s the EEC became such an important external factor, crucial for the economic development and stability of Yugoslavia. By analysing the complex interaction between the external factors and internal dynamics of Yugoslavia and their impact on Belgrade´s policy towards the EEC, this study provides an explanation of the underlying long-term structural problems of the economy that determined the Yugoslav diplomatic and economic responses to the creation and evolution of the EEC until the breakup of the country.
Additional information:
Defence date: 14 July 2017; Examining Board: Prof Federico Romero, European University Institute (Supervisor); Prof Pavel Kolář, European University Institute; Prof Josip Glaurdić, University of Luxembourg; Prof Tvrtko Jakovina, University of Zagreb
Cadmus permanent link: https://hdl.handle.net/1814/47304
Full-text via DOI: 10.2870/369504
Series/Number: EUI; HEC; PhD Thesis
Publisher: European University Institute
LC Subject Heading: Yugoslavia -- Foreign relations -- Europe; Europe -- Foreign relations -- Yugoslavia; Yugoslavia -- Economic policy -- 20th century; Yugoslavia -- Politics and government -- 1945-1980; Yugoslavia -- History -- 1945-1980
Preceding version: http://hdl.handle.net/1814/33697
Version: Chapter ‘Conclusion' of the PhD thesis draws upon an earlier version published as an article 'A troubled relationship : Yugoslavia and the European economic community in détente' (2014) in the journal ‘European review of history’