The Western Balkans: A Delicate Balance
Event Sponsor
Overview
The collapse of Yugoslavia twenty-six years ago unleashed brutal wars and a humanitarian catastrophe. Today, the delicate order in the Balkans is threatened yet again. Serbia aspires to join the European Union, yet also seeks to strengthen its ties with Russia, despite the current strains on the relationship between Moscow and the West. Relations between Kosovo and Serbia are tense. Unable to embrace necessary reforms, Bosnia is on the edge again, while Macedonia and Montenegro suffer from deep divisions. Continued recovery and peace in the Balkans will require sustained Western engagement and the prospect of EU integration. However, Europe is not in the mood for enlargement, and its authority in the Balkans is weakening. Meanwhile, Russian influences and radical Islamist ideology are spreading in the region.
Please join us as experts and academics discuss the challenges in the Western Balkans and the policy options for preserving the region’s fragile order and recovery.
Speakers
A. Ross Johnson
Senior Adviser, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty; former Director, Radio Free Europe
John R. Lampe
Professor Emeritus, Department of History, University of Maryland, College Park
Daniel Serwer
Hosted By
Global Europe Program
The Global Europe Program is focused on Europe’s capabilities, and how it engages on critical global issues. We investigate European approaches to critical global issues. We examine Europe’s relations with Russia and Eurasia, China and the Indo-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa. Our initiatives include “Ukraine in Europe” – an examination of what it will take to make Ukraine’s European future a reality. But we also examine the role of NATO, the European Union and the OSCE, Europe’s energy security, transatlantic trade disputes, and challenges to democracy. The Global Europe Program’s staff, scholars-in-residence, and Global Fellows participate in seminars, policy study groups, and international conferences to provide analytical recommendations to policy makers and the media. Read more
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