Established in 1985, the Center for Strategic Studies (CSS) has been an important source of independent information and research on a broad range of national and international issues affecting Yugoslavia.
In the decade marked by the Milosevic dictatorship, the Center continually expressed strong criticism of the regime’s foreign policy and international strategy that involved the country in permanent conflict with the international community. With the prevalence of the democratic forces, the Center’s focus of research shifts to specific issues of integration of the country in the international community and redefinition of Yugoslavia’s international strategy. Research is guided by a strong appreciation of ideas of democracy, civil society and responsibility for committed crimes, as pre-condition for democratization and conciliation with the Western powers.
The CSS promotes the idea that the fulfillment of conditions for membership in the Council of Europe is a test of democratic maturity of any European society and subsequently encourages research of issues that need to be explained in order to achieve this objective. The CSS is convinced that a foreign policy grounded in a genuine respect for democratic principles both in internal and external relations should lead Yugoslavia into the European Union and Western defense structures.