Balkan Politics and Society

,

• Publisher: ibidem
• Year: 2022
• eBook ISBN:
  9783838273754
• Edition: 0

This compilation of essays by scholars from the region, Western Europe, and the US, explores the intersection of international politics in the post-Yugoslav states with a focus on the influence and impact of the European Union, the United States, Russia, China, and Turkey. The implications of external actors' policy in the region for its Euro-Atlantic integration, its security, and stability are examined and discussed. In assessing the importance of the post-Yugoslav states for the EU and US and the current trend of disengagement by these two democratic actors in the region, answers are revealed regarding the question whether we are seeing a new Eastern Question emerging in the post-Yugoslav states. Likewise, when looking at the role of Russia, China, and Turkey in the region—and in contrast to European and US policies—, it becomes obvious to what extent the region, once again, is becoming the playground of Great Power games and wider geopolitical strategic interests. The analytical time frame covers the period 1991–2018. The changes in the foreign policies of great powers are explored as they relate to the institutional set-up of the region. For instance, do the changes affect the EU's hegemony in the region? Do Russia, China, and Turkey actively contribute to changing the rules of the game in the region—be it the accession process or regional cooperation?

Table of contents

• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Notes on Contributors
• List of Abbreviations
• Introduction: A New Eastern Question?
• Part I Great Power Perspectives
• Yugoslavia—from Vardar to Triglav No more
• The European Union and the Post-Yugoslav States—From Negligence to Dominance and Back?
• The Reluctant, Intermittent Interventionist: US Foreign Policy in the Former Yugoslavia 1991—to date
• A Playfield of Distancing: Russia’s Policy towards the Post-Yugoslav States
• The Past is important but the Future matters—China and the post-Yugoslav States
• Turkey’s Foreign Policy towards the Post-Yugoslav States: Regional Contender or Ally for the European Union?
• Part II The Perspective of the Post-Yugoslav States
• From Integration to Plurilateralism? Slovenia and the Great Powers
• Croatia: Exploring Relations with non-EU Powers from Comfort of EU-Membership
• Rediscovering an Old Playbook: Serbia and the Great Powers
• Dependence, Independence, Interdependence: Montenegro’s Foreign Policy from 1991 to 2020
• In Search of a Big Brother: Great Powers and Foreign Policy in North Macedonia
• When Internal Complexity Reflects External Challenges: The Great Powers and Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Kosovo: A Great Powers’ European and Balkan Projection
• Concluding Remarks—The Potential and Pitfalls of a New Eastern Question