Publications
POLITICAL SITUATION IN ARMENIA
Igor Kotler, President and Executive Director of the Museum of Human Rights, Freedom, and Tolerance, Visiting Senior Research Fellow and Head of the US-Russia-Former Soviet Union Dialogue Project at the Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights at the Rutgers University (USA).
Zelensky struggles to contain Ukraine’s Neo-Nazi Problem
Militiamen of Ukraine's nationalist movement are espousing white supremacist views. This is one of the challenges Ukrainian President Zelensky is facing.
Putin’s Amendments To Russia’s Constitution Sparks Debate About Russian Nationalism
Amendments expanding Putin's power and language about the "state-forming role" of the Russian national majority, raises ethno-nationalism concerns.
KYRGYZSTAN: POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS
Dr. Kotler presents an article on the political development of Kyrgyzstan, a small state in Central Asia that was previously part of the USSR. Talking about the history of the formation of this state and its political system, Igor Kotler dwells in detail on the issue of respect for human rights in this country.
Europe is caught in a Wheel of Xenophobia
The assimilation policy of integration, actively practiced across Europe, is one of the main prerequisites of Xenophobia.
Can Multiculturalism Triumph in Europe?
Is it possible to achieve a triumph of multiculturalism and social cohesion in democratic societies?
Xenophobia, Radical Nationalism and Hate Speech in 2017-18 in Ukraine
Ruslan Bortnik, director of the Ukrainian Institute for Policy Analysis and Management UIAMP), is today one of the most sought-after political scientists and experts in Ukraine. This report on Xenophobia and Radicalism in this country was prepared by him in partnership with the expert UIAMP Maxim Semenov in the framework of the European program of the European Center for Tolerance, CMCA and IIMO on the study of tolerance in Europe.
XENOPHOBIA AND RADICALISM IN RUSSIA, 2017-18. WHAT CHANGED?
In 2017 – first half of 2018, there were significant changes in Russia both in the sphere of countering xenophobia and radicalism and in the trends related to the spread of xenophobic attitudes and the dynamics of hate crimes.
FRANCE. XENOPHIBIA AND RADICALISM, 2017.
The Report of Dr. Jean-Yves Camus, famous political analyst and the Associate Research Fellow at the French Institute for International and Strategic Affairs (IRIS), was made under the Program of the European Tolerance Center "Xenophobia, Radicalism and Hate Crime in Europe, 2017" . In this Report Dr. Camus considers various aspects of tolerance problems in France in 2017.
Report "Xenophobia and Radicalism in the UK (2017)"
Professor Matthew Feldman and Dr. William Allchorn are the creators and leaders of the new Center for the Analysis of Radical Right, (London) and the leading experts in the field of right-wing radicalism in Europe. They prepared a Report on Xenophobia and Radicalism in Britain in the framework of the project "Xenophobia, Radicalism and Hate Crimes in Europe", which has been implemented for three years by the European Center for Democracy Development (Riga) together with European Tolerance Center.
Why Russia Wants To Be An Empire Again
Why modern Russia seeks again to select an authoritarian way for development? What prospects await her in the near future? Are there any prospects for Russian right-wing radicals? The author of the article answers these questions.
Report on Xenophobia, Racism & Rise of the Far-Right in ITALY, 2017
Dr. Anna Castriota is currently working as a Professor in the Department of Social Sciences, University of Northampton , United Kingdom. She is a lecturer in Politics and Terrorism at St Clare's College, Liberal Arts Programme (Oxford). Dr. Castriota is completing her second PhD in Political History at Northampton University. Her research interests includes Social Sciences. She is serving as an editorial member and reviewer of several international reputed journals. Dr. Anna Castriota is the member of many international affiliations. She has successfully completed his Administrative responsibilities and has authored of many research articles/books related to Social Sciences. From 2016 Dr. Castriota take part in the European Tolerance Center Program "Xenophobia and Radicalism in Europe". She prepared 3 reports about the Tolerance problems in Italy.
This Report concern the situation of 2017. In this year Italy is experiencing a coalition government made by Lega (League) and Movimento 5 Stelle (Five Stars Movement) which indicates a populist-ultranationalist government. The unusual government’s structure sees a third person-aside of the two leaders of the winnings parties- as theunknown and un-elected academic Prof. Giuseppe Conte, although in matter of fact, it seems that the newly appointed Interior minister Matteo Salvini (Lega party) is effectively acting as prime minister instead. These are still early days and it will be interesting to analyse the socio-political dynamics experienced by the Italians in one year time from now. In 2017, however, Italy has seen a worsening of the public opinion in matter of prejudice, discrimination and xenophobic attitude concerning religious, ethnic minorities and more in general, against any form of diversity from homosexuality to veganism...
Report. "Radicalism and Xenophobia in Greece, 2017"
Ms. Pranvera Tika is a PhD candidate on Political Science, at the Department of Political Science and History, Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences. Her PhD thesis concerns the post-democratic tenencies and phenomena in the region of Balkans and more specifically in Albania, Romania and Bulgaria after the fall of the Communist regime. The another directoins of her research are the questions of Xenophobia and radicalism in Greece. Since 2015 Ms. Tika take part in the Program of the European Tolerance Center "Xenophobia nad Radicalism in Europe". In the frame of this Project she prepared 3 Reports concerning the Tolerance problems in her country.
This Report focuses on the topic of radicalism and hatred in Greece in 2017. The acute economic crisis that hit Greece in 2010 is still felt in society. At the same time, it affects the European problems of asylum and migration. The border restrictions in the Western Balkans, the policy related to the migration deal of Turkey with the EU in 2015, the ongoing parishes and limited resettlement to other EU countries, left about 60,000 asylum-seekers and other migrants in Greece. Thousands, including vulnerable asylum seekers, are confined to islands in terrible conditions. Unaccompanied children are often detained in the police or in places of detention, while hundreds remain either homeless or unaccounted for by the authorities. Access to shelter remains difficult. All these factors obviously influenced the growth of xenophobia in the country, despite the obvious efforts of the government of Mr. Tsipras.
Xenophobia, Radicalism and Hate Crime in Hungary in 2017
Annual report on the situation with xenophobia and radicalism in Hungary (2017). The report was prepared by leading Hungarian experts Ildikó Barna, Bulcsú Hunyadi, Patrik Szicherle and Farah Rasmi. The report analyzes factors that influenced the demand for radicalism in society, xenophobia and racism. It also discusses statistics on Xenophobia and Hate crimes in Hungary.
The Problems of Tolerance in Spain (2017)
Dr. Ana G. Juanatey holds a PhD in International Law by the Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF). She is currently working as a Post-doc researcher at the Institut Barcelona d’Estudis Internacionals (IBEI) and as a part-time lecturer at the UPF. She has worked at the Institut de Drets Humans de Catalunya, the European Agency for Fundamental Rights, and she has done consultancy work for the World Bank and the Barcelona City Council, among others.
In the area of hate speech and discrimination, she is the editor-in-chief of the Barcelona City Council web-based project #BCNvsOdi. Previously, she was one of the founders of the Observatorio PROXI, a pioneering project launched in 2013 with the aim of analyzing hate speech in Spanish online media. Moreover, she has recently co-authored “Hate Speech in Social Media: a state-of-the art review” (2017, summary in English), the “Practical guide for Cyberactivism“ (2017, only in Spanish) and the “Practical handbook to identify and act against hate speech and hate crime” (2018, only in Spanish). From 2018, she is taking part in the Program of the European Tolerance Center "Xenophobia and Radicalism in Europe".
Dr. Bettina Steible holds a PhD in Law from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (ES) with research stays at UC Berkeley (USA) and Paris I (FR). She currently serves as a project assistant for EuroMed Justice, a EU-funded project on judicial cooperation in the Euro-Mediterranean area She has also worked on consultancy projects in the field of EU law and human rights for EU and national institutions or organisations.
Prior to that, she worked as pre-doctoral researcher and lecturer in law at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, research assistant at EIPA, and Global Connections Volunteer at the Global Perspectives Office of the University of Central Florida (USA). Her research interests include human rights law, international law, EU law, and Euro-Mediterranean issues. In 2018, she took part in the European Tolerance Center Program "Xenophobia and Radicalism in Europe".
Dr. Ana G. Juanatey and Dr. Bettina Steible are the authors of the Report about the Xenophobia and Radicalism in Spain (2017). In their Article their highlighted that during the last decades, Spain has developed a legal and policy framework regarding minority rights and protection generally consistent with international norms. Moreover, there have been relevant recent legal and policy efforts revolving around the fight against hate crime...
Xenophobia and Radicalism in Ireland (2017)
Dr William Allchorn is a specialist on anti-Islamic protest movements and radical right social movements in the UK and Western Europe. His PhD thesis mapped political, policing and local authority responses to the English Defence League in five UK locations. William is now working on his first research monograph under contract with Routledge – looking at policy responses to the EDL and Britain First over the past decade. His previous published work has looked at the dynamics of activism within anti-Islam movements and counter-extremism responses towards such groups. William has taught undergraduate courses and given lectures on the radical right in Western Europe; both at the social movement and party political level. Previous consultancy has included delivering counter narrative engagement sessions in the North East of England and putting together a ‘Countering Radical Right Narratives’ educational pack due for the Department of Education ‘Educate against Hate’ website. As of January 2017, William Allchorn is the Associate Director of Centre for Analysis of the Radical Rights (CARR). He is also the Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Leeds and Visiting Lecturer in Politics, Leeds Trinity University.
Ireland presents itself as somewhat of a peculiarity when looking at forms of Xenophobia and Radicalism. As this report will discuss, Ireland’s above average support for migrants and lack of an organised or successful radical right political scene marks it out as an anomalous case of moderation tolerance within Western Europe. Moreover, elite discourse towards minorities and migrants tended to be positive on the whole in the period under study (2017). This is not to say, however, that Ireland has not had it struggled with exclusionary practices. As this report highlights, hate crime is still not a specifically enforceable criminal offence and third-party recorded statistics mask the underreporting of these incidences. Moreover, minority representation among law enforcement agencies is remarkably low.
This report will therefore look into the period under study and suggest how far Ireland is an anomalous case - focusing on changes in legislation, the current state of law enforcement practices, rhetoric of government officials, popular attitudes towards migrants (in sport and society) as well as the profile of radical right parties. What will be found is positive adherence to moderation, tolerance and human rights norms on the whole – with some room for improvement in key areas of legislation, law enforcement and underlying popular prejudice against minorities.
REPORT ON XENOPHOBIA, RADICAL NATIONALISM AND EXPRESSIONS OF HATRED IN 2017 – POLAND
Bearing in mind the attitude of the society towards other nations and denominations, especially Muslims, the ruling party and the public service media should refrain from creating a climate of fear and distrust. Since Muslims – an almost non-existing minority in Poland – appeared to be main victims of hate-motivated crimes, a great effort should be done to stop inciting hared against them.
First of all, an anti-Islamic propaganda in public service media must end. Secondly, hate speech and hate-motivated crime should not be classified as marginal problem by the authorities. A policy of zero-tolerance should be implemented.
Report of Xenophobia and Radical nationalism in Netherlands (2017)
The main issue of concern regards the increasing tensions in Dutch society between various minority and majority groups which seem to enhance exclusion and discrimination.
The Problem of Minorities in Austria. Legislation, enforcement, and Radical groups.
Dr. Markus Rheindorf is a famous researcher in the field of Xenophobia and Radicalism in modern Austria. You can find here his report in the framework of the Program of the European Center for Democracy for the Study of Xenophiobia and Radicalism in Europe. Since the so-called “refugee crisis” of 2015/2016, Austria has been struggling with a notable increase of generally xenophobic, racist or anti-Muslim sentiments as well as actions. Most of these fall clearly under the extreme-right rubric and many are also categorized as violations of the National Socialism Prohibition Act. However, while there was a turning point in public and political opinion regarding refugees/immigration in late 2015, it is important to realize that this pattern is not a radical break but an intensification or perhaps even resurgence of anti-immigrant attitudes that have a long history in Austria.
Xenophobia, Radicalism and Hate Crime in Croatia (2017)
Dr. Ana Ljubojevic is a Newfelpro postdoctoral fellow at the Faculty of Political Sciences in Zagreb, Croatia. She obtained her PhD in Political Systems and Institutional Change at the Institute for Advanced Studies Lucca, Italy. Her thesis examined the impact of war crime trials on historical narratives in Croatia and Serbia.
