The Berlinisation of north Kosovo
A European solution to the Kosovo issues requires that boundaries be broken down through negotiation and compromise, rather than reinforced through unilateralism and the use of violence.
Kosovo – the coming conflict over customs
Though Serbia and Kosovo have reached a compromise agreement on customs seals, Pristina's efforts to impose its customs officers and fee collection at the northern boundary will likely became a further source of violence.
Post-Gaddafi Libya – a liberal peace project
Despite Western policy-makers insisting that they will not meddle in Libya's internal affairs in the aftermath of the war, it is hard to believe that the Libyans will be in the driving seat when it comes to choosing their country's future governance and economic systems.
Kosovo – NATO's violation of its UN mandate
KFOR's imposition of Pristina's trade blockade and General Buhler's role in 'negotiating' political agreements both exceed NATO's UN mandate; a mandate that the Quint countries – led by the US and Germany – have chosen to disregard.
Kosovo – peacebuilding requires patience
Creating positive relations between Serbia and Kosovo requires a patient process of peacebuilding; one that the international community is ill-equipped to conduct and unprepared to support.
Kosovo – the 'Hoodlum' myth
The myth of the “hoodlums” does an injustice to the northern Kosovo Serbs and seriously underestimates what is at stake in the north, and what cost may have to be paid for the Quint effort to hand the north to Pristina before leaving.
Kosovo – the politics of partition
Kosovo's prime minister, Hashim Thaci, recently executed a dangerous gamble in Serb-dominated northern Kosovo by seizing the border posts between the region and Serbia. His actions illustrate the changing balance of power between Americans and Europeans in the region, and the important role of Serbia’s primary opposition party in resolving the Kosovo conflict.
Serbia and Kosovo – the EU condition
Though the EU has attempted to exploit the Kosovo crisis to begin openly pressing Belgrade to give up the north in order to enhance its membership prospects, it seems most likely that the Quint's attempt at blackmail will not work.
North Kosovo – the underestimated conflict at the heart of the Balkan powder keg
The demands of the Serbian population in Northern Kosovo - which Pristina has misleadingly sought to characterize as a parallel structure plagued by crime and instability - are simply to enjoy the same right to self-determination as the Kosovo Albanians.
Kosovo – "partition is now more likely"
An interview with Gerard Gallucci, the former UN Regional Representative in Mitrovica, in which he discusses how the actions of Pristina and the support of NATO has - by hardening the line between Serbs and Albanians - made partition ever more likely.
Independence interruptus
The behavior of all sides in the current customs dispute demonstrates that — as far as the locals are concerned — the question of who has sovereignty is an indelibly zero-sum dispute; one that the respective local elites must be left to settle on their own.
Kosovo – the gathering storm
In light of the unilateralism and brute force employed by Pristina in the north, Serbia must escape the stalemate that currently defines its policy towards Kosovo and adopt a stronger policy towards both the Quint and the EU.
Kosovo – of talks and violence
Though talks between Pristina and Belgrade are likely to continue at some stage in the near future, the recent violence is an important reminder that negotiations are determined not just on the negotiating table, but also on the streets of the north of Kosovo.
The role of the media in post-conflict Serbia – Šljivančanin’s Politika interview
An interview by the Serbian daily newspaper, Politika, with Veselin Šljivančanin - a former general of the Yugoslav army, who was sentenced to ten years imprisonment by the ICTY - violated the ethical obligations that the media must observe when reporting about war crimes.
Kosovo – what might ‘Ahtisaari Plus’ look like?
An 'Ahtisaari Plus approach', offering a form of special autonomy for the north, could provide the basis for a compromise between Belgrade and Pristina; one that might also win sufficient support from the northern Kosovo Serbs to be viable.
Kosovo – kako bi mogao da izgleda 'Ahtisari plus'?
‘Ahtisari Plus’ pristup, koji bi ponudio oblik specijalne autonomije za sever, mogao bi biti osnova za kompromis između Beograda i Prištine - kompromis koji bi takođe mogao dobiti dovoljno podrške od strane kosovskih Srba sa severa kako bi bio održiv.
More than electing Podgorica’s mayor
With mayoral elections approaching on July 19th, splits between the two old governing coalition partners - the predominant Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) and the Social Democratic Party (SDP) - demonstrate that the stakes are high in Montenegro's political party dynamics.
Montenegro – a census like no other?
Eagerly awaited results from Montenegro's April 2011 Census indicate that citizens are not prepared to fit neatly into the 'boxes' that nationalist social engineering has prepared for them.
Negotiating division and co-operation in today’s Bosnia
The system of government in Bosnia and Herzegovina is characterized by the tension between different types of mutually reinforcing distrust, which make institutional change and the emergence of new elites more difficult than in neighboring countries.
Euro-Atlanticism and the creation of a 'security community' in the Balkans
Pressure from the EU and NATO terminated the civil war in Yugoslavia, but this area has remained a potential crisis point due to the legacy of war, open ethnic and border disputes, and mutual mistrust between the successor states of the former Yugoslavia.
The trouble with transparency
Any long-term improvement in activities currently grouped under the slogan “governance” must include patronage networks as necessary, legitimate actors; otherwise corruption will not diminish, much less go away.
Novi Pazar's cultural wealth and versatility
Novi Pazar's entrepreneurship, combined with its traditional cultural and historical wealth, provide assets that should be capitalized on by both Serbs and Bosniaks, regardless of their political or ethno-religious differences, for the city to move forward and flourish as it did in the nineties.
Kosovo – the northern reality
Impressions from a recent visit to north Kosovo confirm that, in spite of improvements in movement across the River Ibar, it remains a potential crisis point that both the government and internationals in Pristina have contributed to rather then helping alleviate.
Macedonia – time to contemplate genuine coexistence
With incumbent prime minister, Nikola Gruevski, having secured his third consecutive election, thereby confirming his and his party's hegemony over Macedonia's politics, it is now time to contemplate how a genuine system of coexistence can be built.
South Serbia – neither black, nor white, nor grey
As is the case for the system in place for minority rights and intercultural dialogue, more needs to be done - and not simply “instituted” - in order to realise the full potential of south Serbia.
