Europe and the recognition of new states in Yugoslavia

Europe's recognition of new states in Yugoslavia remains one of the most controversial episodes in the Yugoslav crisis. Richard Caplan offers a detailed narrative of events, exploring the highly assertive role that Germany played in the episode, the reputedly catastrophic consequences of recognition (for Bosnia-Herzegovina in particular) and the radical departure from customary state practice represented by the EC's use of political criteria as the basis of recognition. The book examines the strategic logic and consequences of the EC's actions but also explores the wider implications, offering insights into European security policy at the end of the Cold War, the relationship of international law to international relations and the management of ethnic conflict. The significance of this book extends well beyond Yugoslavia as policymakers continue to wrestle with the challenges posed by violent conflict associated with state fragmentation.

Provides a detailed study of the European recognition of new states in Yugoslavia and examines the wider implications.

Foreign Affairs

Germany's precipitous recognition of Croatian independence in December 1991 is commonly assumed to have worsened matters. Caplan steps back from this narrow formulation to assess recognition as a tool used by the Europeans, individually and collectively, to stem the violence under way in Croatia and head it off elsewhere. He carefully reconstructs the manner in which recognition was conditioned and then differentially applied in the cases of Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, and Kosovo. Along the way, in very thoughtful fashion, he considers how the strategic use of recognition fits with standard practice, broadly with international law, and still more broadly with theories of international relations. As for recognition's effect in the Yugoslav case, the verdict seems to be that it did less harm than supposed but far less good than hoped — largely because the Europeans were lax in insisting on the realization of the conditions they had set and unwilling to complement the strategy with steps that might have given it teeth.

Europe's recognition of new states in Yugoslavia remains one of the most controversial episodes of the collapse of Yugoslavia. Richard Caplan offers a detailed narrative of events, exploring the highly assertive role that Germany played in the episode, the reputedly catastrophic consequences of recognition (for Bosnia-Herzegovina in particular) and the radical departure from customary state practice represented by the EC's use of political criteria as the basis of recognition. The book examines the strategic logic and consequences of the EC's actions but also explores the wider implications, offering insights into European security policy at the end of the Cold War, the relationship of international law to international relations and the management of ethnic conflict. The significance of this book extends well beyond Yugoslavia as policymakers continue to wrestle with the challenges posed by violent conflict associated with state fragmentation. European recognition remains one of the most controversial issues in the Yugoslav crisis. Richard Caplan analyzes the highly assertive role that Germany played, the reputedly catastrophic consequences of recognition and the radical departure from customary state practice represented by the EC's use of political criteria as the basis of recognition. Caplan also explores the wider implications of the EC's actions, offering insights into European security policy at the end of the Cold War, the relationship of international law to international relations and the management of ethnic conflict. Europe's recognition of new states in Yugoslavia remains one of the most controversial episodes in the Yugoslav crisis. Richard Caplan offers a detailed narrative of events, examining the strategic logic and consequences of the EC's actions as well as exploring the wider implications. Since the end of the Cold War, more than a dozen new or nascent states have emerged in Europe as a consequence of the break-up of three multinational federations: the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia.