CIAO DATE: 05/2008
April 2002
Austrian National Defence Academy
"Building Stability in Weak States" was the topic of a workshop of the
Woking Group "Crisis Management in South East Europe" of the PfP
Consortium of Defence Academies and Security Studies Institutes which
was held from 10-11 November 2001 in Tirana. It is no coincidence,
however, that the initiative to develop this important topic for the
development of security policy in South East Europe originated at the
Albanian Institute for International Studies. Albania is seen as
typical "weak State" in South East Europe, even though it has recovered
from the quasi-civil war of 1997. This publication has ten articles by
conference participants ranging from theoretical discussions to case
studies from the region.
Most papers talk at length about what are the typical attributes of
"weak States". Albert Rakipi (Albanian Institute for International
Studies, Tirana/Albania) distinguishes between the terms "weak State"
and "weak power". According to Rakipi "weak or strong states" refer to
the degree of socio-political cohesion, while "big and small powers"
refer to the military and economic power in comparison to other States.
Rakipi argues in his study that lack of legitimacy is the primary
source of State weakness in a number of South East European States in
general and in the Balkans in particular. The Director of the Albanian
Institute for International Studies sees a close correlation between
the problem of missing political legitimacy and the weak or
non-existent statal tradition in most States of the Balkans. Filip
Tunjiæ (Centre for Strategic Studies, Ljublijana/Slovenia) thinks that
the special geopolitical situation of the western Balkans is the core
of their "weakness". This Slovene analyst describes the historical role
of South East Europe as border area between different centres of power
and between cultural zones. The weakness of small States in the western
Balkans (which is caused by strong external influences) shows itself as
limited ability to conduct an autonomous foreign policy. In his
contribution Spyros Damtsas (Balkan Trust Network, Athens/Greece)
presents the thesis that only those States are stable where the
population shares a common value system. Such a consensus of the
citizens is missing in the crisis areas of South East Europe (e.g.
Bosnia and Herzegovina). These States would therefore not constitute a
political unity. Enver Hasani’s (Prishtina University, Pristina/Kosovo)
contribution is the fourth paper with a theoretical focus. This
extensive analysis discusses the preconditions for stability in a
system of States and allocates, referring to the stabilisation of South
East Europe, a central role in establishing a democratic and peaceful
society in crisis areas to the West.
The contributions of Janusz Bugajski (Centre for Strategic and
International Studies, Washington D.C./USA), Aldo Bumçi (Albanian
Institute for International Studies, Tirana/Albania) and Todor Mirkoviæ
(Institute for Geopolitical Studies, Belgrade/Serbia and Montenegro)
discuss the problems of a few "weak States" in the western Balkans.
Bugajski criticises the international community for postponing a
decision on the final status of the Kosovo time and again. This would
weaken Kosovo, he claims, because it would remain dependent on external
powers, even though Serb hegemony has ended. The American scientist
advocates a step-by-step reduction of the UN-administration in Kosovo
(while retaining the international military presence), because this
would halt the process of state creation. Full governmental control
should be transferred to the population of Kosovo. The problem of the
unclear and temporary status of areas in South East Europe as important
factor of regional instability is central to Aldo Bumçi’s contribution.
He analyses the security political development in Montenegro. Bumçi
sees a connection between the difficulties of the Montenegrin
government in their attempts to conduct institutional and economical
reform and the unsolved question of the status of Montenegro. The
EU-brokered treaty of mid-March (which proposes a loose
Serb-Montenegrin union) does not bring clarity to future
Serb-Montenegrin relations. This treaty is a temporary measure which
would not end the de facto separation. Todor Mirkoviæ analyses the
current internal and external problems facing the Serb-Montenegrin
State after the end of the Milo¹eviæ era from a wide perspective
encompassing the whole Yugoslavia. The basic preconditions for stable
development in Serbia and Montenegro are the solution of internal
order-political conflict, a good relationship to neighbouring States
and the integration in Euro-Atlantic structures.
Antonio Leitao (NATO Defence College, Rome/Italy) and Predrag Jurekoviæ
(Bureau for Security Policy, Vienna/Austria) analyse in their papers
the role of relevant International Organisations in stabilising the
western Balkans. While Leitao describes the general possibility that
NATO has to act as crisis manager, Jurekoviæ analyses what the EU did
with respect to the crisis in Macedonia.
A "special case" in this publication is the Romanian contribution of
Constantin Hlihor (University of Bucharest, Bucharest/ Romania).
Romania is in kind of a "geographical limbo" between the former Eastern
Europe and the Balkans. this special position finds its expression in
the area of politics as well. On the one hand Romania counts as one of
the East European States which are concerned with reforming their
structure and are conducting negotiations to join the EU, on the other
hand this State is actively engaged in projects of the "Stability Pact
for South East Europe". Hlihor’s paper gives us an interesting overview
of the activities of Romania in the stabilisation process for South
East Europe.
It remains to say that I think that this working group is a small, but
important contribution science can make to the process of stabilisation
in South East Europe. In its unique way it brings together scientists
from different areas of studies from South East Europe and, indeed,
from the whole PfP area to exchange ideas and to develop new ways of
overcoming the problems we are faced with in this dynamic region of
Europe. I sincerely hope that we can continue the good work for a long
time to come!
Predrag Jurekoviæ
Bureau for Security Policy at the
Federal Ministry of Defence, Vienna
Resource link: Building Stability in Weak States - The Western Balkans - 4th Workshop of the Study Group "Crisis Management in South East Europe" [PDF] - 753K