How to Study Peace and Security in the Western Balkans

Abstract

The influence of economic factors on international relations at the end of the twentieth century increased significantly due to the progress of economic globalisation. In the Western Balkans, the already long and difficult process of economic and political transition was marked by military conflicts and political confrontation, followed by an attempt to build a functioning post-conflict society with limited success. The chapter deals with the concept of economic security in the region through three levels of analysis: The individual, the state, and the international system. From the point of view of all reference objects, the region faces serious threats that significantly reduce its economic security. In addition to the already existing factors (unemployment, fear of disease, poverty, lack of resources, collapsed industrial structure, insufficient competitiveness, and weak institutions), the limited effects of existing economic integration and the COVID-19 pandemic have contributed to this trend. At one point it looked like the region of the Western Balkans could become a security provider (instead of a mere consumer of European security), but political instability, the inefficiency of the existing regional organisations, and their inability to respond to crises seem to be reducing the region’s capacity to play a more significant positive role in the European security system.