This book examines Slovenia's transition from a collection of provinces in the south of the Habsburg Empire, to a republic within Yugoslavia, to an independent state. It also analyses political and economic developments since 1991.

Thirteen years after independence from the former Socialist Republic of Yugoslavia, Slovenia has become one of the most advanced transition economies in Central and Eastern Europe and will become a member of the EU in May 2004. This publication examines the country's recent political and socio-economic history, its transition to a market economy and the challenges that lie ahead. It includes contributions from Slovenia's president, a former vice prime minister, the current and previous ministers of finance, the minister of European Affairs, the current and former governors of the Bank of Slovenia, as well as from leading development scholars in Slovenia and abroad.

One of Europe's smallest countries, with a population of less than 2 million, Slovenia has an ancient and distinct national culture. It emerged in 1991 after fighting a brief war of independence to leave behind the remnants of Tito's Yugoslavia. Traces of the Slovene language are found in documents of the ninth century, a system of peasant democracy is recorded in medieval times, and a Slovene Bible appeared as early as 1557.

Slovenia seems closer to Austria or Italy than to its Balkan neighbors. The richest of the Slavic nation-states, it has an entirely Western tradition, having belonged in the past to the Roman Empire, the Frankish kingdom, the Holy Roman Empire, the Republic of Venice, the Habsburg monarchy, and the First French Empire. After the Second World War it became part of the Republic of Yugoslavia, before declaring independence in 1991. This extraordinary cultural legacy is what sets Slovenia apart, matched by an amazingly varied topography packed into a small area. Traveling toward the coast, you see changes in the landscape and in the architecture. This reflects both the natural and the historical variety: the Venetians built their buildings one way, the Austrians another. Slovenia's natural beauty is astonishing. Legend relates that when God was allotting nature's bounty, he forgot Slovenia. His last-minute solution was to take bits of the best from other places: gorgeous Alpine ranges, the less craggy Pohorje mountains, the Pannonian plain stretching toward Hungary, hill after hill rolling southward into the horizon, the unique karst landscape, rivers aplenty, and a few miles of Adriatic coastline. Never having had a glorious unified kingdom in the past, Slovenians identify themselves not by blood or history but by their language, which differs from the other languages of the ex-Yugoslavia. The older generation is fluent in Serbo-Croatian, which helps for politics and trade, but has little of its historical baggage, and the country has geo-political importance as a politically stable stepping stone to the Balkans. As far as nationhood goes, Slovenia's golden age is now. There is a sense of change in the country--mostly for the better, and not the dull stampede toward materialism that one sees in some other former Eastern bloc countries. As a tourist destination Slovenia has it all, from medieval ruined monasteries to whitewater rafting. The people of this lovely land are genuinely glad that others are "discovering" their country. There are no real language problems; the younger people all speak English. Moreover, membership of the EU means that this is a country in transition. Culture Smart! Slovenia will introduce you to the inner world of this moderate, orderly, and conservative people who have emerged into the post-Communist world hungry for change.

Even three years ago it would have been impossible to imagine that Slovenia could ever aspire to achieve full independence, but this is what has happened. Unlike her neighbour Croatia, it has been done with virtually no loss of life.

No two markets for voluntary health insurance (VHI) are identical. All differ in some way because they are heavily shaped by the nature and performance of publicly financed health systems and by the contexts in which they have evolved. This volume contains short structured profiles of markets for VHI in 34 countries in Europe. These are drawn from European Union member states plus Armenia Iceland Georgia Norway the Russian Federation Switzerland and Ukraine. The book is aimed at policy-makers and researchers interested in knowing more about how VHI works in practice in a wide range of contexts. Each profile written by one or more local experts identifies gaps in publicly-financed health coverage describes the role VHI plays outlines the way in which the market for VHI operates summarises public policy towards VHI including major developments over time and highlights national debates and challenges. The book is part of a study on VHI in Europe prepared jointly by the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies and the WHO Regional Office for Europe. A companion volume provides an analytical overview of VHI markets across the 34 countries.

Editor Biography: Frane Adam, Prof. Dr., at the University of Ljubljana and Head (Director) of private, non-profit research organization (IRSA) is dealing recently mainly with project management, mentorship for doctoral students and publications. More on his international publications and received citations can be found in Scopus, Web of Science or Google Scholar. His research interest lies at the intersection of political and economic sociology and social studies of science and technology. He wrote extensively on two topics, comparative analysis of innovation performance and knowledge transfer as well as on the elite change and democracy in Eastern Europe. Book Description: This book analyzes the characteristics and outcomes of the transition process in Slovenia, a relatively young and independent country, from different perspectives. It presents its main achievements as well as its current dilemmas and challenges, among them the causes for systemic dysfunctions, political instability and weak social integration. It is a collection of readings from various scientific disciplines and professions, as well as from different generations of researchers. The approach to the analysis is multidisciplinary and comparative. It combines the fields of sociology, history, geography, political science, law, economics, environmental studies as well as their subfields and intersections. It is an interdisciplinary work in the true sense of the word, based on previous studies and discussions of the status and trends of social development in Slovenia. It should be stressed that the Slovenian authors summarize and critically evaluate the findings, and interpretations of international authors (authors who observe Slovenian society from an external perspective) and who concentrated on a certain aspect of social dynamics follow. It presents the post-transitional challenges in the field of RD and I, rule of law, civil society, human capital and problems with the employment of graduates, the role of meritocratic principles in selection of candidates for leading positions, structural budget deficits and problems with indebtedness. Also, aspects of sustainable regional development, which are all aspects of the future society, are elaborated upon. The compendium is divided into four parts. First is the introductory part, which is followed by the legal-political aspect. The third section covers the socio-economic part, and finally the environmental aspect and sustainable development including organic farming and tourism is presented in the fourth section. The authors believe that this book will provoke interest both with social scientists who deal with Eastern European studies, as well as with those who are particularly interested in Slovenia, its history, and in particular, its political, economic, cultural and ecological developments since its independence. The volume will also be interesting for think-tanks who are seeking economic and political information about the current situation and trends in Slovenia, journalists and students of history, anthropology or sociology of Eastern Europe as well as experts of Slavic studies. Target Audience: -Social scientists and researchers from humanities specialized for Eastern European Studies -Journalists and think-tanks who are seeking economic and political information about the current situation and trends in Slovenia -Students studying history, anthropology or sociology of Eastern Europe -Expert for Slavic studies

COLLOQUIAL SLOVENE is easy to use and completely up to date! Specially written by an experienced teacher for self-study or class use, the course offers a step-by-step approach to written and spoken Slovene. No prior knowledge of the language is required. What makes COLLOQUIAL SLOVENE your best choice in personal language learning? Interactive – lots of exercises for regular practice Clear – concise grammar notes Practical – useful vocabulary and pronunciation guide Complete – including answer key and reference section Whether you're a business traveller, or about to take up a daring challenge in adventure tourism, you may be studying to teach or even looking forward to a holiday - if you'd like to get up and running with Slovene this rewarding course will take you from complete beginner to confidently putting your language skills to use in a wide range of everyday situations Course components: The complete course comprises the book and audio materials. These are available to purchase separately in paperback, ebook, CD and MP3 format. The paperback and CDs can also be purchased together in the great-value Colloquials pack. Paperback: 978-0-415-55982-9 (please note this does not include the audio) CDs : 978-0-415-55984-3 eBook: 978-0-203-84999-6 (please note this does not include the audio, available to purchase from http://ebookstore.tandf.co.uk/audio_viewbooks.aspx) MP3s: 978-0-415-58193-6 (available to purchase from http://ebookstore.tandf.co.uk/audio_viewbooks.aspx) Pack : 978-0-415-55983-6(paperback and CDs)