Croatia: An Expanding Learning Curve
The expectations of Croat citizens are modest since the country entered the EU in the midst of the financial crisis and the popular feeling is one of cautious optimism. The membership serves as a catalyst for the creation of national identity as one rooted in the West. It should also boost growth in the country, which Croatia is only starting to see having entered the EU in the midst of the crisis.
Croatia sees its capacity to influence EU policy making as limited. However, it shows willingness to deepen integration and to play its role in certain policies, in particular vis-à-vis enlargement. Widening the EU in the Western Balkans is seen as a key national interest to facilitate peace and prosperity in the region.
Education and mobility are two important elements to develop a European public sphere along with more common actions, rules and debates at the European level. A focus on the youth would be particularly welcome in Croatia.
This publication is part of the "Building Bridges Paper Series". For more information about this project, click here.
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Croatia: An Expanding Learning Curve
Center for Asian Studies
Asia is a nerve center for multiple global economic, political and security challenges. The Center for Asian Studies provides documented expertise and a platform for discussion on Asian issues to accompany decision makers and explain and contextualize developments in the region for the sake of a larger public dialogue.
The Center's research is organized along two major axes: relations between Asia's major powers and the rest of the world; and internal economic and social dynamics of Asian countries. The Center's research focuses primarily on China, Japan, India, Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific, but also covers Southeast Asia, the Korean peninsula and the Pacific Islands.
The Centre for Asian Studies maintains close institutional links with counterpart research institutes in Europe and Asia, and its researchers regularly carry out fieldwork in the region.
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