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21. Building Stability in Weak States - The Western Balkans - 4th Workshop of the Study Group "Crisis Management in South East Europe"

Author:
Janusz Bugajski, Aldo Bumçi, Spyros Damtsas, Enver Hasani, Constantin Hlihor, Predrag Jureković, Antonio Leitao, Todor Mirkovic, Albert Rakipi, and Filip Tunjic
Publication Date:
04-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Austrian National Defence Academy
Abstract:
"Building Stability in Weak States" was the topic of a workshop of the Woking Group "Crisis Management in South East Europe" of the PfP Consortium of Defence Academies and Security Studies Institutes which was held from 10-11 November 2001 in Tirana. It is no coincidence, however, that the initiative to develop this important topic for the development of security policy in South East Europe originated at the Albanian Institute for International Studies. Albania is seen as typical "weak State" in South East Europe, even though it has recovered from the quasi-civil war of 1997. This publication has ten articles by conference participants ranging from theoretical discussions to case studies from the region.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Conflict Prevention, NATO, and International Cooperation
Political Geography:
Europe and Balkans

22. The Stability Pact for South East Europe - Dawn of an Era of Regional Co-operation - 5th Workshop of the Study Group

Author:
Plamen Pantev
Publication Date:
11-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Austrian National Defence Academy
Abstract:
The Pact of Stability for South East Europe was “born” after the end of the Kosovo crisis in 1999 as a concept of dealing radically with the Balkan instabilities, but also as a geopolitical compromise of the great power centres, involved in the treatment of the post-Yugoslav conflicts.
Topic:
Conflict Prevention, International Cooperation, and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:
Europe, Kosovo, Yugoslavia, and Balkans

23. Preventing and Combatting Terrorism in Bosnia and Hercegovina

Author:
Alfred C. Lugert
Publication Date:
12-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Austrian National Defence Academy
Abstract:
Passed in November 2001, the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1377 notes the importance of regional organizations such as OSCE in fighting and preventing terrorism – including promoting best practices and assisting with implementation of resolution 1373, the comprehensive anti-terrorism document passed in the wake of the September 11th attacks on the United States.
Topic:
International Cooperation, Regional Cooperation, and Terrorism
Political Geography:
United States, Bosnia, Herzegovina, United Nations, and Balkans

24. Civil-Military Relations in South-East Europe: A Survey of the National Perspectives and of the Adaptation Process to the Partnership for Peace Standards

Author:
Plamen Pantev
Publication Date:
04-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Austrian National Defence Academy
Abstract:
The last decade of the Twentieth century brought the issue of civil-military relations to the centre of political, national security, legal and broader social studies in the countries of South-East Europe or the Balkans. There is no surprise, because the need of more and efficient civilian democratic control over the security sector has been in the focus of the political and social debate of the countries that were undergoing fundamental systemic changes.
Topic:
Security, International Cooperation, and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:
Europe and Balkans

25. Ten Years After (Vol I) Democratisation and Security Challenges in South East Europe

Author:
Biljana Vankovska, Jordan Baev, Aldo Bumçi, Spyros Damtsas, Miroslav Hadzic, Ljubica Jelušič, Marina Mitrevska, Arkady Moshes, Vladimir Prebilic, and Boris Trajkovski
Publication Date:
05-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Austrian National Defence Academy
Abstract:
Time and space dimensions have different meaning in the Balkans. During just one year (May 2000 to May 2001) this statement has been proven in the case of the main activity organised by the PfP Consortium Working Group on Crisis Mana gement in SEE. At the last Working Group's meeting in Reichenau the idea on organising an international conference was born. The idea was fully supported at the PfP Consortium meeting in Tallinn and eventually realised in Ohrid, Macedonia. The scholar conference under the title “Ten Years After: Democratisation and Security Challenges in SEE” (27-29 October, 2000) without false modesty can be seen as one of the best events organised under the auspices of the PfP Consortium between two annual meetings.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Conflict Prevention, and International Cooperation
Political Geography:
Europe, Balkans, and Macedonia

26. Ten Years After (Vol II) Democratisation and Security Challenges in South East Europe

Author:
Biljana Vankovska, Boris Trajkovski, Richard Cohen, P. H. Liotta, Daniel N. Nelson, Nina Nikolova, Jan Oberg, and Dennis J.D. Sandole
Publication Date:
05-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Austrian National Defence Academy
Abstract:
Time and space dimensions have different meaning in the Balkans. During just one year (May 2000 to May 2001) this statement has been proven in the case of the main activity organised by the PfP Consortium Working Group on Crisis Management in SEE. At the last Working Group's meeting in Reichenau the idea on organising an international conference was born. The idea was fully supported at the PfP Consortium meeting in Tallinn and eventually realised in Ohrid, Macedonia. The scholar conference under the title “Ten Years After: Democratisation and Security Challenges in SEE” (27-29 October, 2000) without false modesty can be seen as one of the best events organised under the auspices of the PfP Consortium between two annual meetings.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Conflict Prevention, and International Cooperation
Political Geography:
Europe, Balkans, and Macedonia

27. Information Management in the Field of Security Policy in SEE -- 1st Workshop of the Study Group: "Crisis Management in South East Europe"

Author:
Tufik Burnazovic, Athanasios E. Drougos, Gustav E. Gustenau, Wolf Oschlies, Dragan Simic, Avgustina Tzvetkova, Biljana Vankovska, and Vladimir Šaponja
Publication Date:
05-2000
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Austrian National Defence Academy
Abstract:
Secessionist conflicts have become a major feature of the European political landscape in the 1990s. International response to them has varied from full-scale military intervention to half-hearted mediation, generally providing for freezing of most active hostilities and for addressing most urgent humanitarian needs. Europe in the 1990s saw more “peace” operations on its soil than any other region in the world, but still was not able to find satisfactory answers. Kosovo is a tragic illustration of that and the deployment of NATO troops after a massive use of airpower still lacks the framework of a political plan and appears very tentative and opportunistic. Several specifically European factors define the perspective of a possible new wave of secessionist conflicts in the region.
Topic:
Security, NATO, International Cooperation, and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:
Europe and Balkans

28. 2nd IAI-SWP Review Conference on the Mediterranean

Author:
Daniela Pioppi
Publication Date:
06-2000
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:
In the opening session the two directors of the IAI-SWP exercise, Roberto Aliboni and Volker Perthes, together with Franco Zallio (Fintesa Studi Paese) gave a first overview of the main issues and problems faced by the Euro-Med Partnership (EMP). Volker Perthes' introduction focused on more political issues. He started by underlining the fact that the EMP is an experiment of 'regional governance' (expression taken from 'global governance'). However, the region comprised by the EMP is not a geographical expression. The EU decided who was to be included (i.e. Libya and the Balkans are excluded, but Jordan or EU non-Mediterranean countries are comprised). Therefore, the problem remains: what is a proper region for the EMP undertaking?
Topic:
Security, Economics, and International Cooperation
Political Geography:
Europe, Middle East, Balkans, and Jordan

29. Independent Task Force Report: Reconstructing the Balkans

Author:
Charles A. Kupchan, Morton I. Abramowitz, and Albert Fishlow
Publication Date:
07-1999
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Council on Foreign Relations
Abstract:
The last of the six Balkan Wars of the twentieth century is over. But it is by no means certain that a durable peace is at hand. After vast death, destruction, and savagery lasting almost a decade can the peoples of the former Yugoslavia live together again in peace? If so, the region will require sustained help and support from the West. The United States and its European partners are in the midst of mustering the necessary resources and political will. There are numerous uncertainties complicating efforts to proceed with the reconstruction of the area. Whatever the international community may proclaim, the borders of Serbia, Kosovo, Bosnia, and Croatia could well change. The management of Kosovo's status and its relationship to Serbia is likely to produce serious tensions within the Alliance and between NATO and Russia. What politically will emerge from a beaten and traumatized Serbia no one can predict. Nor is it clear that Montenegro will remain as part of Yugoslavia, particularly if Milosevic continues to rule. An ethically fragile Macedonia has been badly weakened by the war and the inflow of three hundred thousand Kosovar deportees. Albania barely hangs together as a state. Neighboring Rumania and Bulgaria have avoided violence and begun to remake their societies, but they have suffered economically from the wars. The area of reconstruction is small and the population limited; the task at hand certainly is not of the dimensions of restoring post-war Europe. But the problems are daunting. Without security there will be no development. NATO forces will be needed indefinitely to keep the peace in Bosnia and Kosovo. Much more must be done to promote political and economic reform in the region, requiring vision and planning. The states of the region will first need urgent help to stabilize their economies and manage enormous humanitarian problems. They must also be able to envisage a better future, one that holds out the prospect of bringing them into Europe's political and economic mainstream. Realizing that goal will require profound changes in their economies and institutions as well as in their relationships with each other. Faced with these challenges, Western countries and a host of international institutions have begun to address how to foster the broad reconstruction of the area. The EU-sponsored stability pact, adopted in Cologne in June, is the beginning attempt at a multifaceted, coordinated approach to the problem. The G-8 has agreed on a broad program of financial assistance, and the EU has pledged 1.5 billion dollars for aid to Kosovo alone. Numerous follow-up conferences are already planned. Much more work has to be done to give reality and coherence to such efforts. Balkan reconstruction will be a protracted undertaking. It will require extremely difficult commodities – a comprehensive approach and the will, resources, and mechanisms to implement the effort. It is mostly to such a long term approach that this preliminary working paper addresses itself. It does not deal with the immediate requirements of refugee return and humanitarian assistance nor the urgent repair of human and material infrastructure. The World Bank and the IMF in cooperation with many other international organizations and interested countries are coordinating the assessment of needs and costs and have issued preliminary reports. The purpose of this working paper is to provide a broad political approach and to highlight the three key components of a comprehensive, long-term strategy: building security, integrating the region into the European Union, and fostering economic and political reform. For the purposes of this paper, we consider the region to be Serbia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Albania, Croatia, and Rumania. This is somewhat arbitrary and these states are at different stages of political and economic development. The problems of Rumania and Bulgaria are quite different than Serbia's and Kosovo's; Croatia is much further advanced than next door Serbia and Bosnia. They all have to be dealt with separately, and no single state should hold back the progress of others in entering Europe. But they also face a collective future and the region will enjoy a lasting peace only if all its states leave the past behind and move decidedly to join the wider community.
Topic:
NATO, Ethnic Conflict, International Cooperation, International Political Economy, and World Bank
Political Geography:
Russia, United States, Europe, Bosnia, Kosovo, Yugoslavia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Balkans, Macedonia, Albania, and Croatia