The European Union’s Approach to Conflict Resolution: Transformation or Regulation in the Western Balkans? (Routledge Studies in European Foreign Policy)

Présentation de l'éditeur : "This book investigates and explains the European Union's approach to conflict resolution in three countries of the Western Balkans: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia and Kosovo. In doing so, it critically interrogates claims that the EU acts as an agent of conflict transformation in its engagement with conflict-affected states. The book argues, contrary to the assumptions of much of the existing literature, that rather than seeking the transformation of conflicts, the EU pursues a more conservative strategy based on the regulation of conflict through the promotion of institutional mechanisms such as consociational power sharing and decentralisation. Drawing on discourse analysis of documents, speeches, and interviews conducted by the author with European Union officials and policy-makers in Brussels and the case-study countries, the book offers a theoretically grounded, methodologically rigorous and empirically detailed analysis of EU policy preferences, of the ideas that underpin them, and of how those preferences are legitimised. This book will be of key interest to scholars, students and practitioners interested in ethnic conflict and conflict resolution, the politics of the Balkans, and the external and foreign policies of the EU." Cover 1 Half Title 2 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Table of Contents 6 List of tables 7 Acknowledgements 8 List of abbreviations 10 Introduction 12 Theoretical framework 15 A note on methods 20 Structure of the book 22 Note 23 1 The EU and approaches to conflict resolution 24 Mechanisms of EU influence over conflicts 25 Foreign policy mechanisms 25 Conflict resolution through integration and association 26 The EU’s conceptualisation of conflict resolution 31 Understanding conflict transformation 33 Approaches to institutional design in deeply divided societies 35 Consociationalism 35 Centripetalism 42 Power dividing 47 Institutional design, identity and conflict transformation 52 The need for a better understanding of the EU’s approach to conflict resolution 59 Summary 64 Notes 65 2 Bosnia and Herzegovina: (not) reforming an ideal-typical consociation 67 Historical background 68 The Bosnian War 68 The Dayton Agreement and its discontents 71 EU policy in Bosnia and Herzegovina 75 Understanding the construction of EU conflict resolution policy in Bosnia and Herzegovina 85 The changing rationale for constitutional reform 85 Bosnia and Herzegovina’s ongoing identity conflict 90 Interpreting nationalist mobilisation 93 Framing and legitimation of EU policies 99 Summary 103 Notes 105 3 Macedonia: constitutional engineering in a time of crisis 108 Macedonia’s conflict in context 109 Avoiding conflict in the 1990s 109 The 2001 crisis and its explanation(s) 110 Managing conflict in Macedonia 114 The role of the EU 114 The Ohrid Framework Agreement 115 Understanding the construction of EU conflict resolution policy in Macedonia 122 Narrating the 2001 crisis 122 Understanding Ohrid: policy learning or the art of the possible? 128 Framing Ohrid as a ‘European’ settlement 132 Summary 135 Notes 136 4 Kosovo: establishing a ‘multi-ethnic society’? 139 Historical background 140 From autonomy to conflict 140 Towards supervised independence 144 EU policy in Kosovo 147 Understanding the construction of EU conflict resolution policy in Kosovo 154 Unpacking the ‘multi-ethnic society’ concept 154 Integration through decentralisation? 157 Counteracting segregation? The role of civil society 164 Framing conflict resolution policy as European 168 Summary 171 Notes 172 5 Rethinking the EU’s approach to conflict resolution 175 Understanding the EU’s conceptualisation of conflicts: the role of the ‘ethnic conflict’ paradigm 176 Explaining EU conflict resolution policy preferences 178 Institutionalising difference 178 Explaining policy variation: learning or context? 180 Legitimising EU conflict resolution policies 182 The EU as a ‘force for good’ in the Western Balkans 183 Framing conflict resolution policies as ‘European’ 184 Summary 186 Note 186 Conclusion 187 Transformation or regulation? The EU’s approach to conflict resolution 188 Reflexivity, limitations and possibilities for further research 190 Summary 192 References 193 Index 235 Présentation de l'éditeur : "This book investigates and explains the European Union's approach to conflict resolution in three countries of the Western Balkans: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia and Kosovo. In doing so, it critically interrogates claims that the EU acts as an agent of conflict transformation in its engagement with conflict-affected states. The book argues, contrary to the assumptions of much of the existing literature, that rather than seeking the transformation of conflicts, the EU pursues a more conservative strategy based on the regulation of conflict through the promotion of institutional mechanisms such as consociational power sharing and decentralisation. Drawing on discourse analysis of documents, speeches, and interviews conducted by the author with European Union officials and policy-makers in Brussels and the case-study countries, the book offers a theoretically grounded, methodologically rigorous and empirically detailed analysis of EU policy preferences, of the ideas that underpin them, and of how those preferences are legitimised. This book will be of key interest to scholars, students and practitioners interested in ethnic conflict and conflict resolution, the politics of the Balkans, and the external and foreign policies of the EU." "This book investigates and explains the European Union's approach to conflict resolution in three countries of the Western Balkans: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia and Kosovo. In doing so, it critically interrogates claims that the EU acts as an agent of conflict transformation in its engagement with conflict-affected states. The book argues, contrary to the assumptions of much of the existing literature, that rather than seeking the transformation of conflicts, the EU pursues a more conservative strategy based on the regulation of conflict through the promotion of institutional mechanisms such as consociational power sharing and decentralisation. Drawing on discourse analysis of documents, speeches, and interviews conducted by the author with European Union officials and policy-makers in Brussels and the case-study countries, the book offers a theoretically grounded, methodologically rigorous and empirically detailed analysis of EU policy preferences, of the ideas that underpin them, and of how those preferences are legitimised. This book will be of key interest to scholars, students and practitioners interested in ethnic conflict and conflict resolution, the politics of the Balkans, and the external and foreign policies of the EU"-- Provided by publisher