This book outlines the main security threats, actors, and processes in the Western Balkans following the dissolution of Yugoslavia. Exploring the state of peace and security in the region it asks if a stable peace is achievable. The comparative framework explores state perspectives – from Serbia, Montenegro, Northern Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, and Kosovo – alongside military, political-societal, economic, and environmental security concerns. The interplay of international actors is also considered. Academics, scholars, and practitioners who deal with Balkan issues, either as a focus or comparatively, and have interests in security and peace studies will find the volume invaluable along with students of political science, security studies, peace studies, area studies (Eastern European studies and/or Southeast European studies), and international studies in general.
Table of Contents:
1.How to Study Peace and Security in the Western Balkans Part 1: Local level 2. Conflicting Peace in Post-War Serbia: Radicalization and Extremism as Security Threats 3.Building Sustainable Peace and Security in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Dancing in a Vicious Circle 4. Albania Moving from Security Receiver to Security Provider 5. A Bottom-Up Perspective on Peace and Security in North Macedonia: Turbulent Violent Past versus Turbulent Future? 6. Kosovo – The Achilles’ Heel of the Balkan Security 7. Building Cohesive National Security and Stability: The Case of Montenegro Part 2: Regional level 8. Military Security and Conventional Arms Control in the Western Balkans 9. Political security in the Western Balkans: One Step Forward, Two Backwards 10. From Confrontation to Cooperation: Economic Security in the Western Balkans (Aleksandar Milošević) 11. From Reconstruction to Transition? Environmental Security in the Western Balkans Part 3: International Level 12. A Relay Race for Peace: The Approaches of the EU and the US to Bringing Stability and Democracy to the Western Balkans Region 13. Russia and China in the Western Balkans: The Spoiler Power and the Unexpected Power 14. Partners or Security Challengers? The Implications of the Presence of Turkey, the Gulf States, and Iran in the Western Balkans 15. Conclusion: Sustainable Peace in the Western Balkans – Utopia or Achievable Future?
About the Author :
Nemanja Džuverović is a Professor in Peace Studies at the University of Belgrade. His research areas include critical peacebuilding, political economy of liberal peacebuilding, international statebuilding in the Balkans, and sociology of International Relations. He is co-editor of the Journal of Regional Security.
Věra Stojarová works as an Academic Researcher at the Political Science and Security Studies Department at Faculty of Social Studies, Masaryk University in Brno, Czech Republic. The field of her professional interest lies in politics and security in the Balkan countries.
Review :
This is a very timely collection of essays by regional experts. Individually, they show finger-on-the-pulse analysis, while collectively they show how the region continues to be unsettled. Key themes include democracy's troubled path, the stubborn nature of nationalism, and an inconsistent international community. The book is a great reminder of the expertise that lies in the region.
-Roger Mac Ginty, Durham University, UK
This book is a very important and extremely timely contribution to the discussion about peace and security in the Western Balkans. Its unique value is in bringing together an excellent group of local scholars who provide deep and astute analysis about the main security challenges facing the region and ways to overcome them and work toward sustainable peace.
-Jelena Subotic, Georgia State University, USA
For too long, reigning approaches to peacebuilding have reflected the ideologies and assumptions of global elites at the expense of essential local perspectives. The rich, timely, and compelling essays assembled in this pathbreaking volume on the Western Balkans offer a powerful corrective, foregrounding the urgent value of local knowledge and insight of scholars anchored in and committed to the region.
-Peter Locke, Northwestern University, USA
