Peacebuilding in the Balkans

Abstract

This chapter discusses both the rise of liberal peacebuilding at the centre of international policy concerns since the early 1990s and how the Balkans became a target for liberal interventionism. Liberal peacebuilding in the region went through several phases, from an initial optimistic belief that liberal institutions and norms could be implanted locally, to a gloomy assessment about the possibility of influencing the deeper political, economic and social structures of Balkan states. This chapter argues that liberal peacebuilding, while progressively losing its transformative edge, pragmatically adapted to changing local circumstances but remained the reference point for international actors intervening in the region. It concludes with an outline of the book.