Constructing South East Europe The Politics of Balkan Regional Cooperation [Hardcover]

Regional cooperation has become a distinctive feature of the Balkans, an area known for its turbulent politics.?Exploring the origins and dynamics of this change, this book highlights the transformative power of the EU and other international actors.Introduction PART I All in the Same Boat?: Regional Interdependence and Cooperation in South East Europe Pushing for Cooperation: External Actors in Balkan Regionalism Balkans, Europe, South East Europe: Identity Politics and Regional Cooperation PART II Building up a Regional Marketplace: Economic and Functional Cooperations Defusing the Powder keg: Security Cooperation Between Lofty Rhetoric and Lingering Conflicts: Political Cooperation Conclusion: Looking at the Big Picture

This is simply the best book out there on the Balkans' recent rebranding into Southeast Europe. Bechev has a point to make - that identity politics in the Balkans can also rhyme with peaceful cooperation. But in doing so he provides us with a systematic and balanced analysis of the various factors - internal vs external, material vs ideational - that have come into play in bringing about the current state of regional integration in Europe's southeastern corner.

- Kalypso Nicolaidis, Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Oxford, UK

Bechev's book makes a valuable contribution to the field of regional cooperation in the Balkans and comparative regionalism more broadly. Challenging the dichotomy of functionalist and ideational approaches, the study convincingly shows that both material incentives and identity politics have been advancing intergovernmental cooperation in the conflict prone Balkan region. The European Union and other external actors have not only pushed the Balkan governments towards economic and security cooperation. They have also legitimized their demands and constrained local opposition by making the commitment to regional cooperation constitutive for becominl“7