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This introductory paper sets the scene for the special issue on migration in the Western Balkan region. First, we briefly outline the background to the research networking initiative in the Western Balkans—'WB-MIGNET'—which resulted in producing the set of papers presented here. Then we describe the context in which the analysis of migration, return and development in the Western Balkans takes place, highlighting the role of diasporas and return migration. The region exemplifies a wide range and interrelation of migratory forms, including temporary and permanent labour migration, forced migration of refugees, temporary displacement, high-skilled migration and transit migration. Quite apart from the scale and diversity of migratory phenomena in this region, the special relevance of the Western Balkans rests on mass emigration, predominantly of educated young people, and their possible return, including to post-conflict areas, and role in the development of their home countries. Such processes within the Western Balkans also offer useful lessons for designing future migration policies in Europe and worldwide. The final section of this introductory paper summarizes the papers that follow and highlights their originality and key findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper deals with the population decline in Balkan countries in the last three decades, since 1990. It researches the scale of depopulation in the Balkans and analyses the causes and possible consequences of the population decline. It argues that the failure of imposed neoliberal economic policies in the Balkan countries in the 1990s caused deindustrialization, GDP stagnation and high unemployment rates, especially of young people. Together with the shift in values from traditional to neo-liberal ones which promote materialism, hedonism, consumerism and liberal middle-class feminism, it caused dramatic reduction in fertility (live births per woman) as well as a significant brain drain and economic emigration from the Balkan countries in the last 30 years. Depopulation is becoming a limiting factor for sustainability of Balkan societies. It imposes a long-term danger for demographic survival of these societies, and generates an array of other negative economic, social and political consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Union (EU) is the dominant political and economic influence in the Western Balkan (WB) region, but in the view of many of the region's citizens, EU integration is associated with strict and painful convergence criteria and burdensome reforms as well as the inertia of unfulfilled accession requirements. China's involvement in the region is focused mainly on much-needed but controversial infrastructure investments; accordingly, it has attracted increasing international attention over the past decade. At the same time, Turkey, the Arab States, and Russia have also shown heightened interest in the region. This paper addresses the important geopolitical question of whether a mutually-beneficial relationship for all participants is possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maintaining monetary stability is the first and fundamental objective of the currency board regime, especially after political and economic crises such as the one in the Balkans in the 1990s. The very limited role of the central bank has disciplined financial institutions and governments, but at the same time is not conducive to long-term growth and employment. This policy ties the domestic currency to the 'peg' currency, leading to inflationary tendencies in the country whose currency is used as the 'peg'. Currently, the high inflation rates are caused by the pandemic crisis, but also by the war in Ukraine. This paper analyses the causes of inflation in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Bulgaria as countries with currency boards. The results show that inflation in these two countries is 'imported inflation' from two points of view: the monetary policy of the European Central Bank and the inflation trend in the EMU, but mainly due to the Ukraine crisis and consequently the energy and food crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper will investigate the development of the War Guilt Question in interwar Europe through an examination of the dispute between two of Britain's leading experts on the Balkans, Mary Edith Durham and R.W. Seton-Watson. The locus of their disagreement centred on the question of Serbian complicity in the plot to murder Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo in June 1914, and the subsequent debate over their responsibility for the outbreak of War. The dispute was prompted by revelations published by Ljuba Jovanović, former Serb Minister of Public Instruction. The debate over the Serb complicity in the Sarajevo crime, fundamentally shifted the debate over responsibility for the failure of peace in 1914, moving the focus away from Berlin, back to the Balkans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines the factors for the 'big moment' of the far right, its Big Bang, i.e, when far-right parties transform from marginal 'groupuscules' into considerable political players. It is the moment when political supply and social demand interact, like two elements in a chemical reaction, and are transformed into far-right vote; the far-right redox. What are the conditions and the catalyst that allow the far-right redox to take place? Discussing the importance of the media as a resource for all political actors, and especially the far-right party family and analysing examples from three Balkan countries (Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia), Greece and France, the working hypothesis is that a necessary and sufficient condition is the occurrence of a media-induced event that acts as a catalyst, leading to their rise from the political margins to the political mainstream. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Until now, the undeclared economy has been tackled in Balkan countries by increasing the penalties and risk of detection so as to deter participation. Recently however, calls have been made for a new more indirect approach that improves tax morale in order to foster a culture of commitment to compliance. The aim of this paper is to evaluate these contrasting policy approaches. Reporting evidence from 1018 face-to-face interviews conducted in Bulgaria during 2013, logistic regression analysis reveals no association between participation in undeclared work and the perceived level of penalties and risk of detection, but a strong association between participation in undeclared work and the level of tax morale. The paper concludes by discussing the theoretical and policy implications of the findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the relationship between foreign direct investment (FDI) and institutional quality measures (control of corruption, political stability, and rule of law) in the Western Balkans. The empirical study is based on panel techniques (unit root tests and causality) in the period 2002–2017. The results indicate that control of corruption, political stability, and rule of law cause an inflow of FDI at the Western Balkans. The bidirectional relationship has been found between political stability and rule of low, control of corruption and rule of law, and control of corruption and inflow of FDI. Thus, the study recommended that stronger institutional measures cause a higher inflow of foreign direct investments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In comparison with Russia's substantial role in Balkan politics within the pre-World War I international system and extension of the Soviet sphere of influence to the Balkans in the bipolar era, the USSR's involvement in the affairs of South-Eastern Europe was modest in the interwar years. This was a consequence of the Soviet Union's dubious status in the Versailles order. The purpose of this paper is to examine how multi-variable trajectories of interaction between the Soviet Union and the Versailles order were projected at the level of Balkan politics. As the USSR lacked appropriate diplomatic, economic and military representations in the Balkans, it may be stated that the Comintern became an instrument for exercising Soviet influence in South-Eastern Europe. The paper shows both the difficulties faced and the perplexities of the policy of the Comintern. The paper finally underlines how the USSR moved from the initial world revolution endeavour to realpolitik. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After the closure of the so-called 'Balkan Route', the western Balkan countries became buffer zones for thousands of unregistered migrants living 'in waiting' in precarious conditions. The overland route captures everyday configurations of multiple spatial, temporal and social interconnections, in their entanglement with the historicity of the cross-border areas. By analysing ethnographic accounts collected on the Italian-Austrian and Italian-Slovenian borders, the paper explores the street-level practices of public/institutional apparatus and the stories of would-be asylum seekers, with their experiences of mobility and 'involuntary immobility' shaped by power relations. Our aim is to discuss the complexity of this process which concerns patterns of (im)mobility (e.g., waithood), migration projects, rejection, violence, vulnerability and agency from the point of view of the migrants entering the European Union through this eastern passage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After the official closure of the passage to the EU (March 2016), the Western Balkans have become an area of transit for migratory flows overland from the East and the South. This introductory editorial sets the stage of the special issue and presents the contents of the articles which aim at going beyond an understanding of the 'refugee crisis' as a generic external threat to the EU discussing its constructive, changing dimension and exploring the fluid nature of migration trajectories which are shaped by intersecting forms of mobilities and immobilities. Through the adoption of an ethnographic and diachronic perspective, the papers further aim to understand their entanglement with the 1990s memories of migration and therefore with the temporalities of mobility, while also considering the re-emergent securitization of border areas, especially after COVID-19 pandemic, and the ambivalent pushback and hospitality policies that also occur in the Balkan countries along the route. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a critical comparative reflection on migration as a factor of peripheralization processes in the Western Balkan and Baltic regions. In their respective geographical positions, the Western Balkans and the Baltics stand at different ends of the European map: south-east and north-east. Regarding their historical and political positions, however, these are very diverse: the Western Balkans were part of Yugoslavia (except Albania) while the Baltic republics (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania) were annexed to the Soviet Union after the Second World War. Currently, Croatia is already a member of the European Union, as the three Baltic countries are, while the rest of the Western Balkans are not. The article argues that apart from economic and geographical factors, usually taken into account in describing peripheries and cores, migration processes and discourses powerfully construct some places as dynamically moving towards a 'core' while others remain confined to a 'periphery'. By paying special attention to 'scientific discourses', the aim is to broaden our understanding of theories and practices of peripheralization, where migration tends to be under-theorized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been an increasing number of studies in the international relations literature discussing the rising salience of regionalism and regional powers in global politics. Due to its economic prowess, geographical size, demographic credentials as well as foreign policy activism, Turkey can be considered as one of the contemporary regional actors. This paper critically examines the impact of the Europeanization process on Turkish foreign policy towards the Western Balkan states and its rising status in regional politics. It argues that although Turkey is currently experiencing de-Europeanization in its domestic politics, the impact of Europeanization on its Balkans policy continues. This paper shows, among others, that it is not the internalizaton, but the instrumentalization of ‘Europe’ that has been the driving force of Turkey's domestic and foreign policy. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper we argue that the Western Balkans form part of a ‘super-periphery’ of Europe, being highly vulnerable to the effects of the Eurozone crisis, yet lacking support from the European Union (EU) bail out funds and policy instruments that are available to ease the impact of the crisis on the ‘peripheral’ EU member states. In the Western Balkans the crisis has been transmitted through several channels including exports, remittances, foreign investment and bank credit flows. The paper investigates the impact of the Eurozone crisis on the region and questions whether the EU accession process continues to offer hope of economic prosperity in the future or whether the countries of the super-periphery should rely more on their own resources, new alliances and regional cooperation to support future economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Balkan route is historically a smuggling corridor, and tobacco illegal trade flourished during transition and conflicts at the end of the 20th century. This paper contributes to the scarce attitudinal studies and limited knowledge about the tobacco grey market by surveying the opinion of citizens in seven Western Balkan countries. The typology of citizens in the region reveals that the most repressive attitudes and opinion that curbing grey tobacco market will reduce smoking come from non-smokers and from citizens of countries that have no comparative advantages in the tobacco trade. The public awareness on the negative aspects of tobacco grey market, including its link to organized crime, is high enough for governments to undertake stricter measures in combating illegal tobacco trade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The network of international investment agreements (IIAs) sees a rapid expansion in the last three decades. With it also the number of international investor-State disputes (ISDS), where foreign investors allege governments of breaches of IIAs, increases sharply also in Balkan, post-Soviet Union and Near and Middle East (BSNME) countries. These disputes are frequently seen to negatively interfere with the national sovereignty of host governments to enact regulation in the public interest, especially in times when regulatory interventions are necessary from a social welfare viewpoint. Against this background, in this paper we appraise the current state of ISDS in BSNME countries: Are BSNME countries prime targets of foreign investors' arbitral claims? Which economic sectors are targeted by investors? What is the outcome of the arbitral councils' deliberations? What can we infer from the experience of BSNME countries with ISDS about the future role of IIAs for these countries? We conclude that further improvements in governance are key factors in the attempt to optimize the trade-off between attraction of foreign investment via the ratification of IIAs and national sovereignty in policy making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper demonstrates how the Justice and Development Party’s (JDP) hegemony involved a coalescence of external and domestic forces into a historic bloc. It benefits from the insights of a neo-Gramscian approach. It argues that the JDP attempted to transfigure Turkey from an ordinary, medium-sized actor into a regional imperial power, but failed. The JDP’s attempt to implement neo-Ottomanism in the Balkans was ineffective, and its efforts in the Middle East not only failed to produce equilibrium in the region, even worse, they contributed to the acceleration of disorder in Syria. This paper points out that the existing international order makes it almost impossible for a medium-sized regional power to upgrade its status to that of a regional sub-superpower. It concludes that the JDP’s assertive foreign policy and increasing authoritarianism caused a decline in hegemony, which was later revived through coerciveness at the domestic level and trade-offs at the international level. It remains to be seen whether the coerciveness and trade-offs will be enough for the JDP to sustain its revived hegemony. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The aim of this paper is to instigate the development of theoretical discourse on contemporary travel writing about the Balkans, especially the works created since the collapse of communism in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The problematization of this discourse is timely, even more so when the unique heritage of the Balkans has to harmonize with that of the rest of Europe. Travel writing vibrantly mirrors this process, but the critical tools through which it is currently read come primarily from postcolonial theory and necessitate revisiting. Although postcolonialism has facilitated the popularity of the genre in academia, it does not adequately satisfy the discussion of an increasingly more complex cultural phenomenon that is that of the Balkans, which cannot be simplistically framed in terms of the ‘Other’. While the Balkans can still be viewed as the ‘Other’ in connection to Europe, as a political and economic union, they cannot be dismissed as such from a wider cultural, geographical and historical perspective. To prove our point, we will list examples of incongruences and suggest possible shifts in perspective. Apart from this, as a polygeneric form, the travelogue demands a multidisciplinary, contextual and comparative approach, while our immediate support will be contemporary travel writing criticism about the Balkans. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article examines the organization of a series of electronic participation pilot programs in the Western Balkans that were intended to enhance citizen involvement in political planning and facilitate democratization. These programs were implemented within Albania, Serbia, and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), all of which the paper alleges possess immature democratic institutions. The authors concluded that the programs were successful in increasing political participation and improving cooperation among governmental organizations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

The article discusses European region-building projects, focusing on the Balkan Peninsula and the area around the Black Sea. The implications of Such agreements as the South East European Cooperation Process (SEECP), the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) initiative and the Stability Pact (SP) are analyzed, along with the European Union's (EU) efforts to expand and regularize its cooperative framework. An analysis of the sub-regional cooperation, geo-political and socio-economic goals, and overlapping membership of the SEECP, BSEC and SP is presented.

Migrations from Balkans to the Ottoman Empire continued for about 150 years; and peaked during the wars such as the 1877–78 Ottoman-Russian War and the Balkan Wars. Balkan immigrants with multi-ethnic, multicultural backgrounds and settling in with monocultural host communities faced hostility. We analysed these conflicts through official Ottoman archives, testimonies, and literary memoirs for the period of 1912 and 1917. Through the lenses of the conflict model of migration, we have explored the dynamic nature of migration processes in response to conflicts emerged between immigrants and local population in this period. We argue that Balkan immigrants faced insecurities arising from socio-cultural conflicts and this adversely affected the integration process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction to the issue is presented, with reference to an interview with international relations scholar Peter Gowan, and articles by John Milios and Dimitris P. Sotiropoulos and others.

This article focuses on placing Yugoslav history in the context of how that country's leaders understood the place of Mao Zedong's China. Such an examination can help us navigate one of the least expected developments of the Cold War, namely Tito's emergence as a world figure in the mid to late 1950s. Our goal is to show that there is a logic and coherence to how Yugoslavia responded to, competed with, and engaged China. Grasping this logic in its origins not only sheds lights on complicated international dynamics during the early Cold War era, but also opens venues for the renewed study of the historical currents that pull the Balkans and China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amidst doubts that it still has transformative power to drive institutional change in the Balkans, structuralists claim that the 'neoliberal' European Union (EU) helps enable 'land grabbing' by driving the region to liberalize land governing institutions. Based on our field research in urban contexts we reject this supposed causal relationship. We examined the processes that enabled two recent high-stakes land deals in the capitals of Serbia and Bosnia–Herzegovina, both Balkan countries seeking EU accession. Using the Institutional Analysis and Development framework, we find the EU's transformative power absent in both cases. Instead, we observe national and local elites opaquely facilitating hand-picked investments and cooperating to change urban land-use rules. We thus argue that endogenous drivers, like the possibility of expanding rent-seeking in situations of unequal information access, better explain the Balkan land deal phenomenon; and that the generalization that the 'neoliberal' EU helps drive land grabbing needs serious reconsideration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last few decades, neo-liberal globalization—marked especially by the liberalization of finance, extended processes of commodification/privatization, free trade and free flow of capital—has coincided with rising income inequality and an ostensible decline in global poverty levels, the latter being largely attributed to China's and India's rapid economic development since the 1980s. Using a three-year-averaged non-overlapping data from 1991 to 2017 covering 39 OECD and western Balkan countries and applying the efficient Feasible Generalized Least Square (FGLS) estimation method, this article examines the effect of institutional 'quality', export complexity, and labour union density on income inequality. We have indications that neo-liberal globalization, measured using the KOF globalization index and sub-indicators, is positively correlated with income inequality. We have also indications that institutional 'quality', that is, mechanisms of 'good governance', tend to reduce income inequality. Importantly, the level of economic or export complexity and the degree of labour unionization were also found to reduce income inequality, while improving institutional 'quality' and mitigating downward pressures on wages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although middle-income Balkan countries have attracted substantial FDI inflows, the level of that inflow is still significantly lower than the European average, with no visible redirection towards the Balkans. Both wages and labour productivity have had a significant impact on FDI inflows in European Union (EU) countries. This research aims to explore the significance of those variables in the countries of the Balkans. We have found that, in Balkan countries, FDI inflows respond negatively to shocks in labour productivity, which is contrary to the experience of EU countries. In EU countries, growth in gross wages has a negative impact on FDI inflows, while in Balkan countries, we found a paradoxical scenario, in that increased wages actually have a positive impact on FDI inflows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the rapid development of Byzantine studies in the Balkans, Byzantium has remained a controversial and highly politicized subject. Its historical status and ideological significance are ambiguous, making it a topic germane to both scholarship and politics. This was particularly evident at the first four International Congresses of Byzantine Studies held between 1924 and 1934 in Bucharest, Belgrade, Athens and Sofia. This article examines the ideological frameworks and political implications of the congresses as a conspicuous example of the symbiotic nexus between scholarship and politics developed in the precarious geopolitical context of the post-Versailles Balkans. What this article shows is that Byzantium was simultaneously seen as a transnational legacy and exclusive national heritage, which has remained key to its ideological instrumentality until today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 'refugee crisis' of 2015-2016 brought the 'migration factor' back to the centre of the political agenda in European Union-Western Balkans (WB) relations. But the way in which population movements from and through the region are framed by the EU has changed deeply from the past. After having been seen in the 1990s as the main sending region for irregular and humanitarian migration flows to Western Europe, and following a period of decreasing political attention in the 2000s, the opening of the 'Western Balkans route' for forced migrants from the Middle East turned the region into a 'transit corridor'. Drawing upon literature on the role of policy frames and narratives in migration policy-making, the article reconstructs this evolution, identifying a trend towards narrative simplification based on an essentialized understanding of the relations between migration dynamics and territories. The risks of 'geopolitical determinism' in shaping future strategic choices are pointed out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current developments concerning land grabs in the Balkans suggest that the region is re-experiencing in the post-socialist era what happened in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries due to the decline of the Ottoman land tenure system, under identical conditions involving fundamental socio-political transformations and integration with global capitalism. These changes are emblematic of a transfer of common to individual ownership. Nowadays, small landholders in some parts of the region—mainly the former labourers on socialist agricultural cooperatives—are influenced by the accelerating trend of (re)concentrating landownership, which in some cases takes the form of land grabbing similar to that seen in Africa. This study examines the historical continuity between the Ottoman rule over fledgling nation-states and the post-socialist era by referring to widely discussed socio-economic and political developments regarding contemporary land grab processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This manuscript uses recently declassified documents to examine the factors shaping US policy toward Bosnia from 1993 to 1995. Drawing upon IR theoretical insights from constructivism and realism, these documents reveal that the halting and inconsistent nature of US actions during this period can be explained by a mismatch between US identity-driven goals and the constraints of the post-Cold War world. Having committed themselves to bold yet largely unattainable objectives in the region, US officials feared a loss of credibility and, for much of the period under investigation, did just enough not to ‘lose’ Bosnia without taking the kinds of decisive actions that would have made a difference on the ground. Eventually, atrocities in Sarajevo and Srebrenica convinced the US that more forceful action was necessary to preserve US and NATO credibility. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Post-Communist openings constituted the ideal foci for reimagining the relationship between the state and religion. Specifically, new opportunities were created to balance between rules of inclusion and exclusion regarding contending alternatives of a ‘good life’. In line with their new democratic aspirations, all Balkan countries have gradually reshuffled their religious policies, formalized religious freedoms, and institutionalized a more equal playing field for their respective religious communities. Realizing an all-inclusive and equal-opportunity structure for all religious denominations, however, proved neither smooth nor automatic, especially when it came to the inclusion of the historically marginalized Muslim populations. The evolving institutional choices to incorporate these communities vacillated between the democratic urge for religious freedoms and equality, on the one hand, and the role of founding traditions and heritage of majority privileges, on the other. This article outlines the institutional compromises to accommodating Islam across plural polities which feature an unusual mix of denominations—Muslim, Christian Orthodox, Roman Catholics as well as atheist and agnostic groups—in the post-Communist Balkans. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Turkish outward foreign direct investments (FDIs) have increased considerably over the last two decades. While the bulk of them were invested in Western European countries, neighbouring regions, such as the Balkans, have also increased their share. The aim of this study is to discuss the geographical dynamics and characteristics of Turkish FDI in the Balkans, and to explain Turkish companies' increased interest in the Balkan markets. Upon evaluating the factors that have influenced the direction of Turkish FDI, we conclude that economic factors have played a lesser role and, for the most part, countries were selected for cultural and political reasons. We argue that the pattern of Turkish investments in the Balkans should be understood as part of the strategic depth doctrine of Turkish foreign policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our multi-level model about the relationship between opportunity recognition and entrepreneurial entry in transition economies suggests that ethnic fractionalization along with the size of the shadow economy are moderators of individual-level opportunity recognition. Whereas ethnic diversity increases entrepreneurial entries, a large informal sector appears to decrease them. We also find that opportunity recognition may be a more important predictor of entry when ethnic diversity is low and when the shadow economy is small. Thus, our study contributes to the literature examining the influence of contextual factors on entrepreneurial entry. Succinctly, ethnic diversity can substitute for opportunity recognition, whereas the informal economy increases its importance. Consequently, it appears that ethnic heterogeneity in transition economies may be a valuable driver of entrepreneurial entry even in the absence of opportunity recognition, while the size of the informal economy makes opportunity recognition dearer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An article examining peacebuilding efforts in the post-Cold War Eastern European countries of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo is presented. The author discusses the inter-institutional cooperation which has helped identify and address various social, political, and ethnic conflicts in the Balkan region, noting the large amount of national and international conflicts in the region following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The role of the United Nations (UN), North Atlantic Treaty Association (NATO), and the European Union (EU) in promoting organizational cooperation in the area is also included.

An article examining the role and impact of corruption on the economies of Croatia is presented. The author discusses the relationship between the government and public procurement in Croatia as an example of the corruption found in other Western Balkan nations, citing problems of gathering information and statistics regarding corruption as a factor hindering greater government transparency. The impact of post-Cold War economic factors and the role of the European Union (EU) in analyzing and reducing corrupt government practices in Croatia and the Western Balkans are also addressed.

The article discusses the appropriate requirements for accession to the European Union (EU), especially with regard to aspiring member states in the Balkan region. A strict set of political, economic, and social standards is recommended for EU membership, for the well-being of both the federation as a whole and the acceding country. Exclusion based on religious or cultural differences--a concern seen as relevant to the Balkans, Turkey, and southeastern Europe generally--is seen as counterproductive and indicative of a Eurocentrism that should be avoided.

The article discusses the role of integration into the European Union (EU) as a strategy to bring peace and prosperity to the Western Balkans. The author reflects on the dissolution of Yugoslavia and international peacebuilding missions such as the one in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The author focuses on social aspects such as multi-ethnic coexistence, the development of postwar democracy in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, and Macedonia. The formation of a unified policy towards the region among EU member states is also discussed.

The article provides an overview of the 20th and 21st century history of Kosovo, focusing on the factors which led to it becoming an independent republic in 2008. The division of Kosovo between Serbia and Montenegro in the aftermath of the 1912 Balkan War is recounted. Tensions between the Serbs and Albanians of Kosovo which existed throughout the Cold War era, when Serbia and Kosovo were both part of Yugoslavia, are described. The Kosovo War of the late 1990's is analyzed. Its aftermath is said to have been marked by a clear decline in the willingness or ability of outside forces to maintain the peace. Riots in 2004 are described as helping to bring on Kosovo's declaration of independence in 2008.

The article presents a study of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), emphasizing its role in the Balkan region. It is argued that the OSCE has lost some of its authority, falling behind both NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Organization) and the EU (European Union) to become a secondary force in terms of Balkan security issues. The OSCE's predecessor organization, the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), was known for its development of cooperative security relations which transcended traditional power politics. This is described as a legacy which ought to be reclaimed by the OSCE.

An introduction to the journal is presented, in which the editor discusses the theme of the issue, which is the global financial crisis which began in 2008 and its specific impact on the Balkan regions, the Middle East, and points in between.

An introduction to the journal is presented in which the editor discusses an article on Russian foreign policy by Alec Rasizade, an interview with historian Molly Green, and the change of the journal's name from "Journal of Southern Europe and the Balkans" to "Journal of Balkan & Near Eastern Studies."