In the world we live in today—both globally and across the seven small states that emerged from the breakup of the former Yugoslavia—few people will remember the significance of tomorrow’s anniversary. On March 14, 2006, exactly twenty years ago, the Trial Chamber of the Hague Tribunal held its final session in the case Prosecutor v. Slobodan Milošević and announced that, […]

In broader policy and institutional discussions, including contemporary security debates, transitional justice is frequently framed primarily as a legal or ethical response to past atrocities, rather than also being recognised as a strategic tool for long-term security and the prevention of future conflict. Yet experience from post-conflict and transitional societies increasingly demonstrates that transitional justice also functions as a forward-looking, […]

A tour guide stands in front of the memorial to civilian victims of the so-called “Troubles” in the center of Belfast and utters a sentence that sounds almost trite: “Peace is like a flower—it needs water and sunlight. That’s why we must constantly care for it and nurture it.” It is difficult to hear that metaphor without thinking of one’s […]

When women rule, peace lasts – this is what speakers at international conferences often say when talking about gender issues and peace. But in practice, neither women rule (given their low representation in politics), nor is peace lasting. We are witnesses to the constant outbreak of conflicts in different parts of the world, and in each of them the greatest […]

The city is one of humanity’s greatest inventions. Not because it is dense, or efficient, or economically productive, but because it made collective life possible beyond mere survival. The city separated humans from constant exposure to hunger, animals, and weather; it organized water, shelter, infrastructure, and care. But more than that, it organized culture. It allowed encounters, disagreements, and solidarities. […]

In the center of Prilep there is a bust that few people notice. The bust is of Ludwig Lazar Zamenhof, unknown to many in our country, otherwise known as the founder of Esperanto. On the pedestal there is a very important message of the Esperanto movement, written in Esperanto: “The world is one country, humanity is one people”. How inspiring […]