The Rise and Fall of Peacebuilding in the Balkans

Description

This book examines the evolution of liberal peacebuilding in the Balkans since the mid-1990s. After more than two decades of peacebuilding intervention, widespread popular disappointment by local communities is increasingly visible. Since the early 2010s, difficult conditions have spurred a wave of protest throughout the region. Citizens have variously denounced the political system, political elites, corruption and mismanagement. Rather than re-evaluating their strategy in light of mounting local discontent, international peacebuilding officials have increasingly adopted cynical calculations about stability. This book explains this evolution from the optimism of the mid-1990s to the current state through the analysis of three main phases, moving from the initial ‘rise’, to a later condition of ‘stalemate’ and then ‘fall’ of peacebuilding. Front Matter ....Pages i-x Peacebuilding in the Balkans (Roberto Belloni)....Pages 1-25 The Evolution of Peacebuilding (Roberto Belloni)....Pages 27-52 Front Matter ....Pages 53-53 Stability and the Anti-corruption Agenda (Roberto Belloni)....Pages 55-79 Addressing the Symptoms Through Civil Society Building (Roberto Belloni)....Pages 81-106 Front Matter ....Pages 107-107 EUtopia and the Pull of Integration (Roberto Belloni)....Pages 109-134 Western Balkans Transitions and the Role of the European Union (Roberto Belloni)....Pages 135-169 Front Matter ....Pages 171-171 Local Views: Scepticism Towards Europe and Its Consequences (Roberto Belloni)....Pages 173-202 Undoing International Peacebuilding from Below? (Roberto Belloni)....Pages 203-228 Conclusions (Roberto Belloni)....Pages 229-243 Back Matter ....Pages 245-250