engleski

Building Security Community in the Western Balkans: A Wishful Thinking or Inevitable Future Reality?

Relying on a combination of security community theories, this article aims to explain whether it is possible to form and develop such community in the Western Balkans or if some version of security community already exists in the region. Features of the theoretical concept of security community developed by Karl Deutsch, revised security community theory of Adler and Barnett, Fulvio Attina’s concept of security partnership as well as Buzan’s regional security complex theory will be used to assess the existing level of relations between actors in the Western Balkans. As of 2013, when Croatia joined the membership of the EU, six countries are included in the definition of the region: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia (FYROM), Montenegro and Serbia. Besides the explanation of the influence of NATO and EU on the development of regional cooperation in the Western Balkans, the paper provides an analysis of domestic factors contributing to or inhibiting the creation of security community as well as of bilateral and multilateral favourable and unfavourable conditions for its development. Therefore, the paper traces development and institutionalization of relations between Western Balkans countries and factors influencing them, including the current state of their interactions and security cooperation. Additionally, key national strategic security documents will be analysed to detect how each country (including Croatia) perceives neighbouring countries, its regional belonging, key regional challenges and the potential for resolving domestic and bilateral open issues.

Western Balkans ; regional security cooperation ; security community ; security community theories

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