ABSTRACT
The Western Balkans has been one of the most unstable regions in Europe since the end of the Cold War. All of the countries in the region – Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Macedonia and Albania – have experienced major unrest, if not violent conflict, since the collapse of the Communist regimes that governed them for more than four decades.1 Concerted third-party efforts, working both with and against domestic tendencies, have helped to put the Western Balkans on the path to stability, although there has been considerable regional variation. Some states are now flourishing; others are extremely fragile. The region as a whole, however, appears to be moving gradually towards a secure peace and the consolidation of democratic rule. This chapter examines the turbulence that has buffeted the region and some of the
strategies that have been employed to promote recovery and transformation. The first part discusses the problems that gave rise to unrest and violence in the early 1990s. The second section examines the challenges to stability in the region and shows how these challenges have been or are being met. The third and final part looks at the prospects for the future. As will be seen, the Western Balkans has benefited from considerable international, especially European, intervention at all levels – military, political, economic and administrative – that has helped to bolster the region’s stability. European ‘soft power’ – the allure of membership in the family of European institutions – has reinforced these efforts. There has been and continues to be opposition to reform, especially among hardline nationalists, but significant resistance has largely been overcome. While the future of the Western Balkans remains uncertain, the prospects for peace and stability are promising – provided that the European Union (EU) maintains its commitment to a European perspective for the region.
