All Resources: The Interrelationship Between the Evolution of Civil Society and Progress in Regional Security: The Case of the Balkans

Claude Nicolet

Bibliographical Essay

Given recent changes in conceptions of security and the mushrooming of civil society organizations, the debate on civil society’s growing role in the areas of preventive action, conflict resolution, and peacebuilding has produced a wide range of literature on these issues. While many contributions have remained theoretical and have concentrated on detailed aspects of the linkage of civil society and security, numerous articles and books have been published based on experience in regional conflict resolution and peacebuilding efforts. Within this corpus, the Balkans have been a primary source of research, owing, on the one hand, to the series of violent conflicts there that have disillusioned the Western world throughout the past 12 years and, on the other, to the frantic efforts by the United States and the European countries to find a recipe for the area’s peaceful development.

On the widening of the conception of international security in general, see Barry Buzan, Ole Wæver, and Jaap de Wilde, Security: A New Framework for Analysis (Boulder, 1998). More specifically dealing with security in the Balkans are the Institute for Regional and International Studies (IRIS), Security and Reconstruction of Southeastern Europe: Policy Paper (2000, http://www.iris-bg.org/publications/book.pdf ), and IRIS, Security Challenges and Development of Southern Balkans (2002, http://www.iris-bg.org/publications/securebalkan.pdf). (All internet links mentioned in this essay were current as of early August, 2002.) On the notion of human security, see United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Human Development Report 1994: New Dimensions of Human Security (New York, 1994), and Roland Paris, “Human Security: Paradigm Shift or Hot Air?” International Security 26:2 (2001). On human security in the Balkans, see UNDP, Human Security in South-East Europe: Special Report commissioned by UNDP (1999, http://www.undp.org.mk/nivogore/Security7.PDF). From the many recent re-definitions of security, two examples can be recommended: David A. Baldwin, “The Concept of Security,” Review of International Studies 23 (1997), and Oliver P. Richmond, “Emerging Concepts of Security in the European Order: Implications for ‘Zones of Conflict’ at the Fringes of the EU,” European Security 9:1 (Spring 2000), which includes thoughts about the consequences for southeastern Europe.

In parallel with the development of new definitions of security came the expansion of the definition of International Relations. A representative study is John Baylis and Steve Smith, eds., The Globalization of World Politics: An Introduction to International Relations (Oxford, 2001). On the expansion of the concepts of conflict prevention and resolution, including social and political approaches in addition to the traditional conflict management tools, see the Carnegie Commission on Preventing Deadly Conflict, Preventing Deadly Conflict: Final Report (Washington, DC, 1997); and Hugh Miall, Oliver Ramsbotham, and Tom Woodhouse, “Calling for a Broad Approach to Conflict Resolution,” in Searching for Peace in Europe and Eurasia: An Overview of Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding Activities (Boulder, 2002). More specifically dealing with the role of NGOs in conflict prevention and peacemaking are Kenneth Hackett, “International NGOs in Preventing Conflict,” in Preventive Diplomacy: Stopping Wars Before They Start (New York, 2000); Pamela Aall, “Nongovernmental Organizations and Peacemaking,” in Managing Global Chaos: Sources of and Responses to International Conflict (Washington D.C., 1996); and Aall, “What Do NGOs Bring to Peacemaking?” in Turbulent Peace: The Challenges of Managing International Conflict (Washington D.C., 2001). Finally, a study by the Institute for Security and International Studies (ISIS) deals exclusively with the case of Balkan civil society and regional security. Although very useful in understanding the implications of the relationship, its value is diminished by its date——January 1995——which for this topic renders the source quite outdated in many respects: Plamen Pantev, “Strengthening of the Balkan Civil Society: The Role of the NGOs in International Negotiations” (ISIS Research Study 4, January 1995; http://www.isn.ethz.ch/isis/Publications/Pantev_Strengthening%20Civil%20Society_.htm).

For an authoritative survey of the evolution of the concept of civil society, see Martin Shaw, “Civil Society” (in Encyclopedia of Violence, Peace and Conflict, 1999, accessible on http://www.sussex.ac.uk/Users/hafa3/cs.htm). Useful thoughts based on experts’ discussions on the definition of civil society can be found in Barry Knight and Caroline Hartnell, “Civil society — is it anything more than a metaphor for hope for a better world?” (2000; at http://www.allavida.org/alliance/articles/2000/pr20000906%5F2.cfm); Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, “Coming to Terms With Civil Society: Contending Views” (2000; http://www.ceip.org/files/events/CSevent.asp?p=1); as well as in Mark Sullivan, “A Civil Discussion: Precise Definition of ‘Civil Society’ Eludes Faculty on Panel, but They Agree Academia Has a Large Role to Play,” (1997; http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/rvp/pubaf/chronicle/v6/o30/civil.html). In addition, Robert C. Post and Nancy L. Rosenblum’s Introduction in Civil Society and Government (Princeton, 2002) includes thoughts on the boundary between government and civil society. Two studies can be recommended for thoughts on the boundary between the economic sector and civil society: “Civil Society” (Civic Practices Network; http://www.cpn.org/cpn/sections/tools/models/civil_society.html); and L. David Brown, Sanjeev Khagram, Mark H. Moore and Peter Frumkin, “Globalization, NGOs, and Multisectoral Relations,” in Governance in a Globalizing World (Washington D.C., 2000).

A short overview of the development of civil society in Central and Eastern Europe is in Shaw, “Civil Society,” while a general criticism of NGOs in the region can be found in Keitha Sapsin Fine’s “Fragile Stability and Change: Understanding Conflict during the Transitions in East Central Europe,” in Preventing Conflict in the Post-communist World: Mobilizing International and Regional Organizations (Washington D.C., 1996). A more specific criticism of the NGO community in the Balkans, but one that is in many cases related to the reform of the security sector, is included in Biljana Vankovska’s 2002 article, “Western Civil-Society Empowerment and the Lessons Learned from the Balkans” (Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research; http://www.transnational.org/forum/meet/2002/Vankovska_LessonsBalkans.html).

Without any doubt the most authoritative and up-to-date collection of data on civil society organizations related to regional security in the Balkans is included in Chapter 13 of Paul van Tongeren, Hans van de Veen and Juliette Verhoeven, eds., Searching for Peace in Europe and Eurasia: An Overview of Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding Activities (Boulder, 2002). This book also contains a comprehensive directory of NGOs in the region dealing with security. Numerous works containing a description and criticism of security-related NGOs in the specific Balkan countries listed below are parts of this book.

On civil society in Albania, see Albana Shala and Daniel Chavez’s chapter in Searching for Peace in Europe and Eurasia. It is no surprise that the case of Bosnia and Herzegovina has brought forth the most numerous studies on the state of civil society, given the massive involvement of transnational organizations there since at least 1996. As the best examples, consult Roberto Belloni, “Civil Society and Peacebuilding in Bosnia and Herzegovina,” Journal of Peace Research 38:2 (2001), and Yannick du Pont, “Bosnia and Herzegovina: Trying to Keep the Country Together,” in Searching for Peace in Europe and Eurasia. Researchers on civil society in Bulgaria profit from the many publications of local think tanks and academic institutes, such as the Centre for Liberal Strategies’ Bulgaria: NIT Report 2001 (http://www.cls-sofia.org/publications/papers/freedom_house_report2000.pdf); and Elena Triffonova, “Civil Society — Key Element of Post-Cold War Zeitgeist: Policy Brief on Civil Society Structure in Bulgaria.” (2002; http://www.iris-bg.org/publications/Elena-Paper.doc). On Croatia, see Katarina Kruhonja, Milan Ivanovic and Ivan Stanic, “Croatia: Struggling with Unresolved Postwar Issues,” in Searching for Peace in Europe and Eurasia.

Macedonia was regarded as one of the best examples of the positive impact of comprehensive preventive action and peacebuilding until the armed conflict of 2001 disillusioned politicians, researchers, and field workers alike. Two older articles deal specifically with NGOs in Macedonia concerned with early warning and preventive action: Eran Fraenkel, “International NGOs in Preventive Diplomacy and Early Warning: Macedonia,” and Violeta Petroska Beska, “NGOs, Early Warning, and Preventive Action: Macedonia,” both in Vigilance and Vengeance: NGOs Preventing Ethnic Conflict in Divided Societies (Washington D.C., 1996). The most up-to-date study on the civil society in Macedonia is the chapter by Sally Broughton and Eran Fraenkel in Searching for Peace in Europe and Eurasia. Kosovo, on the other hand, has always been a rather frustrating area for civil society development. Consult Franklin de Vrieze, “Kosovo: Civil Society Awaits a Chance for Reconciliation,” in Searching for Peace in Europe and Eurasia, which presents the state of the debate more than two years after the war of 1999. The recent discussion on Serbia mostly concentrates on the impact of civil society on the change of government in October 2000. See especially Maria Teresa Mauro, Dragan Lakicevic, Zoran Lutovac, and Danijel Pantic, “Serbia: A New Beginning Taking Shape,” in Searching for Peace in Europe and Eurasia, as well astwo articles in German: Martin Brusis and Wim van Meurs, “Eliten, Mobilisierungsmuster und Transitionspfade in Serbien,” Südosteuropa 49:9-10 (2000); and Aleksandar Fatic, “Serbien nach der Revolution,” Südosteuropa 49:11-12 (2000).

A study from late 2000 offers recommendations for EU strategies to counter security risks in the Balkans and is useful for a list of security issues in the region: see Plamen Pantev, “Security Risks and Instabilities in Southeastern Europe: Recommended Strategies to the EU in the Process of Differentiated Integration of the Region by the Union,” (IRIS; http://www.isn.ethz.ch/isis/Publications/Pantev_Security_2000.htm). A criticism of the Stability Pact for the lack of any clear road map related to security is in Ivan Krastev’s 2000 article, “‘De-Balkanizing the Balkans’: The State of the Debate,” (Centre for Liberal Strategies, Sofia; http://www.cls-sofia.org/publications/papers/de-balkanizing_the_balkans.pdf).

On the darker side of civil society and its negative impact on security, see the often-quoted studies by Sheri Berman, “Civil Society and the Collapse of the Weimar Republic,” World Politics 49:3 (April 1997) and Thomas Carothers, “Civil Society: Think Again,” Foreign Policy 117 (Winter 1999-2000),, also accessible on http://www.globalpolicy.org/ngos/civsoc.htm. Various works have specifically criticized foreign initiatives in Bosnia and the Balkans in general. See David Chandler, Bosnia: Faking Democracy After Dayton (London, 2000), especially his chapter on building civil society; Ermin Sinanovic, “Building Democracy Top-Down: The Role of International Factors in Promoting Civil Society and Democracy in Bosnia,” in Ownership Process in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Sarajevo, 2001); and Gianni Rufini’s ISIS Europe report, “Challenges for NGOs in the Reconstruction of War Torn Countries: The Case of Former Yugoslavia,” in Enhancing the EU’s Response to Violent Conflict: Moving Beyond Reaction to Preventive Action (Brussels, 2001). On questions regarding better organization of efforts and the improvement of NGO activity, see Guido de Graaf Bierbrauwer and Paul van Tongeren, “Toward National Infrastructures for Peacebuilding,” in Searching for Peace in Europe and Eurasia, as well as Norbert Ropers, “Enhancing the Quality of NGO Work in Peacebuilding,” in Peacebuilding: a Field Guide (Boulder, 2001).

A vast amount of literature has been produced on the different spheres of activity of civil society organizations related to the notion of security broadly conceived. On the role of think tanks in the Balkans, see Ivan Krastev, “The Liberal Estate: Reflections on the Politics of Think Tanks in Central and Eastern Europe,” (Centre for Liberal Strategies, Sofia; http://www.cls-sofia.org/publications/index-en.htm). More specific on the influence of think tanks on civil-military relations is Plamen Pantev, “The New National Security Environment and its Impact on the Civil-Military Relations in Bulgaria,” (ISIS Research Study 5, 1997; http://www.isn.ethz.ch/isis/Frame/frame3index.htm). On early warning in general, consult Ted Robert Gurr, “Early-Warning Systems: From Surveillance to Assessment to Action,” in Preventive Diplomacy, op. cit.; Kalypso Nicolaïdis, “International Preventive Action: Developing a Strategic Framework,” in Vigilance and Vengeance; and Michael S. Lund, “Early Warning and Preventive Diplomacy,” in Managing Global Chaos. Finally, on civil society’s role in mediation and reconciliation, see Harold H. Saunders, “Prenegotiation and Circum-negotiation: Arenas of the Peace Process,” also in Managing Global Chaos.

Internet Resources

Useful collections of internet resources on civil society are offered by the Union of International Associations (www.uia.org/civilsoc/webcivil.htm), which offers links to web sites of various institutes as well as to articles and information; by (www.civilsoc.org/elctrnic/e-ngodev.htm), which includes organizations, programs, studies, bibliographies, and list-serves; and by the U.S. organization Freedom House (www.freedomhouse.org/research/resource.htm), which provides links to institutes only. Probably the best links library related to civil society, however, is provided by the Worldwide Initiatives for Grantmaker Support (www.wingsweb.org/resources/society.html). For researchers dealing with civil society in the Balkans, the website NGONet, dealing exclusively with Central and Eastern European NGOs and maintained by Freedom House, is indispensable (www.ngonet.org/). It is a pity, however, that in spite of the rapid changes in the civil society scene in the Balkans and the ongoing growth of the number of NGOs, the site has not been updated for two years. Finally, the constantly updated links library of the International Relations and Security Network (www.isn.ethz.ch/infoservice/linkslib/) allows detailed research tailored according to individual issues of interest. Its division into subject, directory, and region categories allows quick access to desired information.

For think tanks in the Balkans, visit NGONet’s collection of links at www.ngonet.org/ttt.htm. The most authoritative sources for information on the private and independent media in the Balkans are the website provided by Switzerland’s Medienhilfe (www.medienhilfe.ch/) and the Balkans section of the British Institute for War and Peace Reporting (www.iwpr.net/index.pl?balkans_index.html).

A list of international institutes dealing with security-related issues in the Balkan countries, as well as links to the institutes e-mail addresses of persons dealing with these issues at relevant local organizations, are appended at the end of every country-related chapter in Searching for Peace in Europe and Eurasia.

The following list provides links to local NGOs in the different Balkan countries that work on topics related to regional security.

Albania
Albanian Helsinki Committee:	www.ihf-hr.org/albhc.htm
Albanian Human Rights Group:	www.ahrg.org
Institute for Contemporary Studies:	www.ics-al.org
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Association of Citizens “Truth and Reconciliation”:	www.angelfire.com/bc2/kip/engleski.html
Center for Nonviolent Action:	www.nenasilje.org
Forum of Tuzla Citizens:	www.forumtz.com
Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly Banja Luka and Tuzla:	www.hcamreza.org/english/
Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in BiH:	www.bh-hchr.org/index2.htm
International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA):	www.icva-bh.org/eng/
United Nations Volunteers Proj. Izgradnje Povjerenja:	http://youth.undp.ba/english/index.htm
Youth Centre Gornji Vakuf:	www.centar.notrix.net
Bulgaria
Access Association:	www.access.online.bg
Bulgarian Helsinki Committee:	www.bghelsinki.org
Centre for Liberal Strategies:	www.cls-sofia.org
Center for the Study of Democracy:	www.csd.bg
Institute for Regional and International Studies:	www.iris-bg.org
Partners Bulgaria Foundation:	www.partners-bulgaria.dir.bg
Croatia
Assoc. for Protection of Human Rights and Civil Liberties:	www.zenskestranice.hr/nevladi/homo.htm
Centre for Peace, Non-violence and Human Rights, Osijek:	www.centar-za-mir.hr
Croatian Helsinki Committee for Human Rights (CHC):	www.open.hr/com/hho/english/homhrv.htm
Dalmatian Solidarity Committee:	www.tel.hr/dalmatinski-odbor-solidarnosti/
Vukovar Institute for Peace Research and Education:	www.clik.to/vimio
Macedonia
Center for Civic Initiative:	www.ccimk.org
Center for Strategic Research and Documentation FORUM:	www.forum.com.mk
Foundation Open Society Institute Macedonia:	www.soros.org.mk/angliska_verzija/index.html
Int. Centre for Preventive Activities and Conflict Resolution:	www.icpcr.org.mk
Macedonian Center for International Co-operation:	www.mcms.org.mk
Macedonian Institute for Media (MIM):	www.mim.org.mk
Nansen Dialogue Center Skopje:	www.ndc.net.mk
Youth Information Center Tetovo:	www.mkinter.net/mic
Kosovo
Forum:	www.forumi.org
Kosova Action for Civic Initiatives:	www.kaci-kosova.org/aindex.htm
Serbia
B92:	www.b92.net
Belgrade Center for Human Rights:	www.bgcentar.org.yu/english/index.php
Center for Free Elections and Democracy:	www.cesid.org/english/index.shtml
Group MOST:	www.most.org.yu/index_e.html
Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia:	www.helsinki.org.yu
Humanitarian Law Center:	www.hlc.org.yu/indexeng.htm
Otpor (Resistance):	www.otpor.com
Protecta (Center for civil society development):	www.protecta.org.yu
TRAIL Association:	www.trag.org.yu