International problems and the research on process of the European integration from the establishment of the communities to the single European act

Abstract

Based on research topics that have been discussed in the context related to the European integration in the journal International Problems in the period 1949-1990, the aim of this paper is to consider the extent to which the Yugoslav science of international relations followed this process. The main thesis is that domestic science has studied all relevant aspects of the integration process and has kept up with the times and the key theoretical frameworks. After World War II, the focus was on the economic and political situation of the Western European countries, their interests, as well as the security context in which were launched the first integration initiatives: the German issue, the Marshall Plan, the Cold war and bipolar world, the process of decolonisation, the failure of the European Defense Community and the establishment of the European Coal and Steel Community, the European Economic Community and EURATOM. At the beginning of the 60s of the 20th century, great attention was devoted to the study of regional integration in general and its models, as well as the expected effects. Along with the slowdown in the European integration process in the late 60s and throughout the 70s, the attention of researchers gradually shifted to individual policies and initiatives of the European Economic Community: the Common Agricultural Policy, development of regional policy, association agreements, the Mediterranean policy, initiatives in the field of monetary integration. The 80s of the last century were dominated by themes that marked this decade in the process of European integration: factors for change in the European Economic Community, the initiatives for reform of the Treaty, the Mediterranean enlargement, the Single European Act, the program for completing the internal market, changes in the social policy of the Community and measures to promote technological development and strategy for the industry. Along with it, the focus was on the relationship between the United States and the Western European countries, East-West relations and relations of Yugoslavia with the Community.