engleski

Comparison of Croatian foreign policy towards Latin America and Middle East (2001-2012)

Authors of this paper are comparing foreign policies of the Republic of Croatia towards regions of Latin America and Middle East, with the aim to identify similarities and differences. During the 1990s RH was primarily interested for diplomatic recognition and establishment of diplomatic relations. In the period of 2001-2012 Latin America and Middle East were not able contribute to the achievement of main foreign policy goals – membership in NATO and the EU – so they stayed out of the interests of foreign policy creators. The authors’ hypothesis is that Croatia did not have foreign policy towards mentioned regions, and that political significance of a particular Latin American and Middle Eastern country was determined by economic importance (Croatian export) and in the case of Latin America size of the diaspora. To confirm their hypothesis authors’ have used quantitative analysis. The paper is organized as follows - an introduction, two chapters and a conclusion. In the first chapter the authors’ review the Croatian foreign policy during period of 1991-2001 and in the second chapter they analyse Croatian foreign policy toward the countries of Latin America and Middle East during the period of 2001-2012. The authors found that bilateral relations between Croatia and Latin American countries are good but not developed. The reason for this is the geographical distance of Latin America and perception of unimportance of the majority of countries, and that will not change. On the other hand, there is no correlation, or correlation is rather slim between economic and diplomatic importance of Middle Eastern countries for Croatia. Therefore, Croatia’s foreign policy towards these countries is quite random.

EU ; NATO ; Croatia ; Latin America ; Middle East ; foreign policy

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