Stabilization and Progress in the Western Balkans

For more than a decade, the Balkans have been a centre of crisis – armed conflicts have brought death, expulsion, destruction and untold suffering to the people. The postwar efforts of the West have failed to bring lasting stability and real progress so far. The Symposium at Basel University was an interdisciplinary event where complex issues were elucidated by historians, geographers, sociologists and political scientists. The event enabled East and West European scholars and their American counterparts to exchange their somewhat divergent views. The speakers covered a broad range of subjects: historical causes, aspects of postwar economic and social development as well as sociocultural consequences of the democratization process. Special attention was devoted to the situation of minorities, the refugee problem and the security situation in the fragile states of the West Balkans and also to the responsibility of the EU and USA for the general stagnation in the area. The Symposium was intended to illustrate differing interpretations of the events of the past ten years and to encourage discussion between speakers and participants at the event.

Dušan Šimko is Assistant Professor of Political and Social Geography at the University of Basel. His main field of research since 1989 has been the analysis of the long-term crisis in the Southeast Europe and the stabilization and democratization of the post-war societies in the Western Balkans. Ueli Mäder is Professor of Sociology at the University of Basel, responsible for the Institute of Sociology. He was Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and the leader of five Swiss National Science Foundation studies. He is in charge of an interdisciplinary advanced studies diploma in conflict research and conflict resolution. His major research interests are development sociology, political sociology and social policy. Ueli Mäder has over 20 years of experience in research and teaching sociological and political aspects of development, poverty and conflict.

«Der Band schliesst eine Lücke in der international verfügbaren Literatur. Er ist nicht nur eine Informationsquelle für jene, die sich mit der Region akademisch beschäftigen, die Beiträge eignen sich auch für Lehrzwecke und zur Vorbereitung auf Exkursionen oder Studienreisen in die Region.» (Martin Geiger, Geographica Helvetica)

Contents: Dušan Šimko/Ueli Mäder: Introduction – Jason Dittmer/David A. Parr: Mediating Sovereignty: A Comparative Latent Semantic Analysis of US Newspapers and Conflicts in Kosovo and South Ossetia – Jan Rychlík: The Breakup of Yugoslavia - The Reasons and Consequences – Rozita Dimova: ‘Duldung’ Trauma: Displacement, Protection and ‘Tolerance’ of the Srebrenica Survivors in Berlin – Marie-Janine Calic: International Peace Building in Semi-Independent Kosovo: Lessons Not Learned – Miroslav Svir?evi?: History of Civil War in Bosnia-Herzegovina 1992-5: The Carrington-Cutileiro Peace Plan – Ivo Samson: International Law and Conflicts – Dušan T. Batakovi?: The Kosovo Aftermath: Challenges and Perspectives – Charles Ingrao: Confronting the Yugoslav Controversies: The Scholars’ Initiative – Alex Jeffrey: Civil Society and Transitional Justice in Bosnia and Herzegovina – Aleksa Djilas: De Gaulle’s Vision of Europe and the Problems of the Contemporary Balkans. Inhaltsverzeichnis