Foreword
It has been 28 years since the Dayton Accords were signed, and the Western Balkans are closer than ever to a return to the political violence, ethnic cleansing and mass migration that hit the region after the dissolution of the Federation Yugoslav. Policymakers in Brussels and Washington, who played a central role in negotiating and implementing Balkan peace deals, have seen their attention diverted to looming new crises, from Ukraine to Taiwan.
Clashes in Kosovo this summer left dozens of NATO troops injured, while Serbia was rocked by the largest mass protest movement since the overthrow of Slobodan Milošević in 2000. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbian leader Milorad Dodik actively threatened secession and criticized the existing political system. structure as a “failed experiment”. Net migration from the Western Balkans to the EU, which has already wreaked havoc on the Balkans’ fragile economic situation for decades, is also poised to accelerate dramatically. The institutions that prevented a return to the bloody conflicts of the 1990s are failing, and it is time to launch a new initiative to identify solutions that will prevent new waves of mass migration, failed states on the doorstep of the EU and power vacuums that could be exploited by foreign adversaries.
It is for this reason that I am pleased to announce the launch of the New Lines Institute’s Western Balkans Observatory. The Observatory will draw on our expert roster of journalists, academics and former policymakers to identify emerging crises in the Balkans and propose solutions to policymakers in Europe and the United States. Our first report features a list of renowned analysts covering the Western Balkans from a variety of critical and understudied perspectives. We examine the worrying rise of far-right political parties in the region, the simmering crisis between Kosovo and Serbia, and the influence of foreign actors seeking to exploit and amplify the region’s instability. We hope that this report will spark a much-needed debate on how to transform the post-Dayton political situation into lasting peace while there is still time to avoid even more serious crises. You can expect regular publications from the New Lines Institute’s Western Balkans Observatory, and we hope to be a valuable resource for policymakers, analysts, and anyone looking for nuanced, actionable insights into new and emerging policy challenges. emerging in the region. .
-Dr. Azeem Ibrahim OBE
The essays in this report were edited by Tanya Domi.
Read Kurt Bassuener’s essay here.
Read Ivana Stradner’s essay here.
Read Hikmet Karcic’s essay here.
Read Reuf Bajrović’s essay here.
Read Jasmin Mujanovic’s essay here.
Read Agon Maliqi’s essay here.
