The Southeast European Challenge: Ethnic Conflict and the International Response

Southeastern Europe is marred with crises – the collapsed former Yugoslavia, the Albanian and Macedonian questions, the Greek-Turkish disputes and the explosive Transcaucasus have become the trademarks of this conflict-torn region during the post-Cold War era. The various conflicts, mostly ethnic in nature or appearance, increasingly threaten the security of the entire region and beyond. They present an enormous challenge to the international community. Against this background, ten authors – political scientists, historians, practitioners – address the international community’s efforts to deal with this challenge. The first part of the volume focuses on ethnic conflict and conflict mediation. An inquiry into some fundamental challenges of ethnic conflict is followed by case studies on the Roma, the Greek-Macedonian dispute, the Kosovo conflict, and the conflicts in Georgia. The second part of the volume addresses the responses of the international community to ethnic conflict in the region. Three case studies examine the activities of the OSCE, NATO and the EU in the former Yugoslavia, followed by an attempt to use this experience to draw lessons for conflict prevention and post-conflict peacebuilding.