In the early 1990s, the Balkans was rocked by the collapse of communism and the violent breakup of Yugoslavia. Yet the last decade has seen Southeastern Europe transform into one of the most dynamic emerging markets in the world. In Search of the Balkan Recovery tracks Yugoslavia's political evolution from conflict to cooperation and the role of growing investment and trade opportunities in facilitating this recovery. Cviic and Sanfey read the history of Yugoslavia's violent disintegration against similar events in Bulgaria, Romania, and Albania. They critically examine the involvement of the international community and contrast it against the procrastination of European leaders and the more constructive "soft power" approach of the European Union, among other institutions. They also trace the recovery of Balkan economic prospects in recent years and argue that, despite our current economic crisis, the downturn in the region's economic well-being is likely to be temporary.

This open access book focuses on the origins, consequences and aftermath of the 1995 and 1999 Western military interventions that led to the end of the most recent Balkan wars. Though challenging problems remain in Bosnia, Macedonia, Kosovo, and Serbia, the conflict prevention and state-building efforts thereafter were partly successful as countries of the region are on separate tracks towards European Union membership. This study highlights lessons that can be applied to the Middle East and Ukraine, where similar conflicts are likewise challenging sovereignty and territorial integrity. It is an accessible treatment of what makes war and how to make peace ideal for all readers interested in how violent international conflicts can be managed, informed by the experience of a practitioner.

This book explores the economic and social development of the Western Balkan region, a group of six countries that are potential candidates for EU membership. It focuses on the key economic issues facing these countries, including the challenge of promoting economic growth, limiting public deficits and debt, and fostering international trade relations. Given the severe impact of the recent economic crisis on social welfare in the region, it also investigates the nature and extent of social exclusion, a factor likely to produce future political instabilities if not effectively addressed by a return to sustainable economic growth. The contributions explore these issues in light of the major influence of EU policy instruments and advice, which are currently guiding the economies along an accession trajectory to future EU membership.

This book focuses on the western Balkans in the period 1820-1912, in particular on the peoples and social groups that the later national history would claim to have been Albanians, providing a revisionist exploration of national identity prior to the establishment of the nation-state.

The recession, which started in the USA in autumn 2007, spread to the rest of the world in 2008 and 2009. The Balkan countries were hit hard by the recession. Closely tied to the European Union, they felt the full blow of the crisis in the Eurozone. In a narrow sense, this crisis was caused by weaknesses, contradictions, and inconsistencies of the EMU. In a wider sense, the common denominator of the Great Recession and the crisis in the Eurozone could be found in huge imbalances generated by market fundamentalism and the inability of the neoliberal concept of capitalism to achieve major socioeconomic goals.

Alex Salmond's Scottish National Party is currently mounting Scotland's biggest challenge to the British union since the conception of the nation. Nevertheless, as Tom Gallagher makes clear, if the Union were demolished, widespread change would still remain elusive. Close-knit administrative, commercial, and religious elites continue to run Scotland with no strategy for reviving its economy and reforming its urban centers. Gallagher contends that the SNP is not committed to independence. Rather, it exists as a super-unionist party recoiling from popular sovereignty, seeking instead the federalist rule of a postnational Europe. Gallagher also points to the SNP's endorsement of a radical multiculturalism that devalues individual citizenship and places Scotland at the losing end of globalization. His hard-hitting analysis is beyond provocative, especially in its claim that if the SNP triumphs, the party will reinforce the very authoritarian trends that have disfigured Scottish history and encouraged emigration for decades.

Bosnia Remade is an authoritative account of ethnic cleansing and its partial undoing from the onset of the 1990s Bosnian wars up through the present. Gerard Toal and Carl Dahlman combine a bird's-eye view of the entire war from onset to aftermath with a micro-level account of three towns that underwent ethnic cleansing and--later--the return of refugees.There have been two major attempts to remake the ethnic geography of Bosnia since 1991. In the first instance, ascendant ethno-nationalist forces tried to eradicate the mixed ethnic geographies of Bosnia's towns, villages and communities. These forces devastated tens of thousands of homes and lives, but they failed to destroy Bosnia-Herzegovina as a polity. In the second attempt, which followed the war, the international community, in league with Bosnian officials, endeavored to reverse the demographic and other consequences of this ethnic cleansing. While progress has been uneven, this latter effort has transformed the ethnic demography of Bosnia and moved the nation beyond its recent segregationist past.By showing how ethnic cleansing was challenged, Bosnia Remade offers more than just a comprehensive narrative of Europe's worst political crisis of the past two decades. It also offers lessons for addressing an enduring global problem.