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The Western Balkans have seen rapid changes since the end of the violent conflicts in the 1990s. The EU has been one of the main drivers for change, focusing on the political, economic and social transformation of the region to prepare the countries for membership in the Union. EU enlargement has never before been this complex and inter-connected with processes of state-building and democratization. It can be argued that the EU is actively involved in state-building. By focusing on a number of case-studies, it will be demonstrated how complex the transformation towards independent statehood and modern democratic governance has been (and continues to be) for most Western Balkan states. While some chapters focus explicitly on the role of the EU in these transformative procedures, others discuss the role of outside influences on state-building, democratization and independent governance more implicit. The picture painted is one of multiple and inter-connected alterations that have long-term consequences for the political systems of the region. This book was published as a special issue of Nationalities Papers.
This book provides a critical understanding of Europeanization and statebuilding in the Western Balkans, using the notion of everyday practices. This volume argues that it is everyday and mundane events that provide the entry points to showcase a broader set of practices of Europeanization in countries outside the EU. It does this by tracing notions of Europeanization in the everyday statebuilding of Kosovo, Europe Day celebrations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, urban politics in Tirana, and space and place making in Skopje. In doing so, the book shows that everyday events tell us that as much as it is about changing structures, institutions, and economic models, Europeanization is also about changing behaviours and ideas in populations at large. At the same time, the work shows that countries outside the EU use everyday events to perform their belonging to Europe. This book will be of much interest to students of European Studies, Balkan politics, statebuilding, and International Relations generally.
State Building and Democratization in Bosnia and Herzegovina details the post-Dayton evolution of the country over the last two decades. Carefully evaluating the successes and failures the book explores the slow progress of the democratization process and how key elites initially took hold of the state and its institutions and have successfully retained their grip on power, despite heavy international presence and reform attempts to counter-balance this trend. Bosnia and Herzegovina offers a useful lens through which to view international state-building and democratization efforts. International engagement here incorporated significant civilian and military investment and has been ongoing for many years. In each chapter international scholars and field-based practitioners examine the link between post-war events and a structure that effectively embeds ethno-national politics and tensions into the fabric of the country. These contributors offer lessons to be learned, and practices to be avoided whilst considering whether, as state-building and democratization efforts have struggled in this relatively advanced European country, they can succeed in other fragile states.
"The book contains a presentation and critical consideration of the ideas of historians on the major problems, processes, events, and personalities of the era of the Bulgarian (national) Revival. It is dominated by the effort to understand how the Bulgarian Revival has been conceived of and imagined while keeping a certain distance from the various views presented, whether critical, ironic, or simply that inherent in the presentation of another person's view."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved
The history of Kosovo is a complicated one which typifies the darker side of modern Balkan history. Milosevic s Serbia withdrew from Kosovo in 1999 and the province was handed over to a special UN body who governed until 2008, when the West allowed Kosovo to become independent. The aim was to erect a stable and well governed democracy, but the outcome was a fragile state, which still threatens the stability of the Balkans and Europe s internal security. How did this happen? Here, Andrea Lorenzo Capussela offers an inside look at the process of building democracy in Kosovo. As head of the economics unit of Kosovo s international supervisor, Capussela has had access to previously unknown sources and information regarding the roles of the EU and the US in the crisis. This will be an essential reading for those studying the Kosovo crisis.
In the tense aftermath of the 1992–1995 Bosnian War, U.S. diplomat Bill Farrand was assigned the daunting task of implementing the Dayton Peace Accords in the ethnically divided Balkan territory of Brcko in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Serb, Muslim, and Croat political leaders alike had blocked agreement over Brcko’s political status, thus threatening first to derail U.S.-brokered peace talks and then to prevent peace from taking hold in the postconflict period. This compelling narrative pulls the reader intimately into the author’s world where, over three tumultuous years, he was given wide authority to restore travel across former ceasefire lines, return thousands to their destroyed and confiscated homes, conduct free and fair elections, and reestablish multiethnic government bodies—all in a climate of fear and obstruction. “If we can get it right in Brcko,” the U.S. State Department told him, “we have a chance of making the Dayton peace process work throughout Bosnia.” Indeed, the new Brcko District is a Balkan success story. Farrand highlights the complex challenges peace builders confront, especially the role of civilian leadership in a postconflict zone torn apart by ethnic cleansing. Analytic and prescriptive, the book explains in vivid detail the groundbreaking roles of arbitration and of civilian peace workers living among the people. His story is rich in lessons for all those studying or engaged in peace building abroad.
This volume examines international statebuilding in terms of language and meanings, rather than focusing narrowly on current policy practices. After two decades of evolution towards more ‘integrated,’ ‘multi-faceted’ or, simply stated, more intrusive statebuilding and peacebuilding operations, a critical literature has slowly emerged on the economic, social and political impacts of these interventions. Scholars have started to analyse the ‘unintended consequences’ of peacebuilding missions, analysing all aspects of interventions. Central to the book is the understanding that language is both the most important tool for building anything of social significance, and the primary repository of meanings in any social setting. Hence, this volume exemplifies how the multiple realities of state, state fragility and statebuilding are being conceptualised in mainstream literature, by highlighting the repercussions this conceptualisation has on ‘good practices’ for statebuilding. Drawing together leading scholars in the field, this project provides a meeting point between constructivism in international relations and the critical perspective on liberal peacebuilding, shedding new light on the commonly accepted meanings and concepts underlying the international (or world) order, as well as the semantics of contemporary statebuilding practices. This book will be of much interest to students of statebuilding and intervention, war and conflict studies, security studies and international relations.
Focusing on Bosnia after Dayton, this book examines the role of the international community in state-building and intervention, underlining the importance of international participation and building on local resources for increased effectiveness.
Founding a Balkan State examines the pivotal period in Albanian history when the country's fundamental goals and directions were most hotly contested. In 1920, liberal Albanian leaders – led by the US-educated Bishop Fan S. Noli – began working to introduce democracy to the country, hoping that it would lead to modernization, prosperity, and overturning the legacy of five hundred years of Ottoman rule. In 1924, these leaders mounted a successful revolution; by 1925, however, their forces were in retreat. Albania soon slid into dictatorship under Ahmed Bey Zogu – first as president, then as self-proclaimed king. Founding a Balkan State provides the only comprehensive assessment in English of these events. Robert C. Austin first delves into the country's weak domestic and international position both before and after the First World War, then assesses the internal and external challenges posed to its state- and nation-building efforts. Austin shrewdly demonstrates how the missed opportunities of Albania's political transition affected the course of Balkan history for decades to come.