The Rise and Fall of Peacebuilding in the Balkans [Hardcover]

This book examines the evolution of liberal peacebuilding in the Balkans since the mid-1990s. After more than two decades of peacebuilding intervention, widespread popular disappointment by local communities is increasingly visible. Since the early 2010s, difficult conditions have spurred a wave of protest throughout the region. Citizens have variously denounced the political system, political elites, corruption and mismanagement. Rather than re-evaluating their strategy in light of mounting local discontent, international peacebuilding officials have increasingly adopted cynical calculations about stability. This book explains this evolution from the optimism of the mid-1990s to the current state through the analysis of three main phases, moving from the initial rise, to a later condition of stalemate and then fall of peacebuilding.

“The book provides a very convincing analysis of the evolution of the peacebuilding process in the Western Balkans in recent decades … . Robert Belloni’s book is an important and stimulating contribution for those dealing with contemporary BiH as well as for those generally interested in the question of international peacebuilding in postwar societies ... .” (Nicolas Moll, Comparative Southeast European Studies, Vol 73 (1), 2025)

“The Rise and Fall of Peacebuilding in the Balkans does an excellent job of weaving together insights from Belloni’sl3)