The Political Economy of Cultural Colonization: Media Monopolies, Hybrid Warfare, and the ‘Serbian World’ Project in Croatia

Abstract: This paper analyzes the transformation of Serbian soft power from a cultural phenomenon into a sophisticated geoeconomic instrument of influence in Croatia. Moving beyond the traditional focus on the Orthodox Church and historical revisionism, this research investigates the “infrastructure of surrender”—a network of media monopolies and advertising cartels that facilitate the penetration of the “Serbian World” (Srpski svet) project. The author argues that the current cultural landscape in Croatia is not a result of spontaneous market preferences, but a product of manufactured demand orchestrated by trans-border interest groups. By utilizing the “Media Capture” model, the study reveals how private capital and radio-television monopolies prioritize profit over national strategic interests, thereby creating a security vacuum. Special attention is given to: Generational Identity Shift: Generational Identity Shift: How the Belgrade lifestyle, amplified by algorithms (TikTok, YouTube), bypasses state educational systems, effectively integrating “Generation Z” into a unified, Serbian-centric cultural and aesthetic space. Economic Extraction: The mechanism by which cultural events serve as investment projects for capital outflow, weakening the domestic creative industry. Hybrid Security Dimensions: The role of “entertainment-as-anesthesia” in neutralizing public resistance to long-term political destabilization. The paper concludes that the lack of a coherent national strategy for cultural security has turned Croatia into a market colony, where economic actors serve as the primary distributors of foreign soft power under the guise of neoliberal market freedom.