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International Conference: The New Geopolitics of Peace in Western Balkans

International Conference: The New Geopolitics of Peace in Western Balkans

A one-day conference on ‘The New Geopolitics of Peace in the Western Balkans’ is being organised on Wednesday 24th June 2015 by the Institute for International Conflict Resolution and Reconstruction (IICRR) based at Dublin City University. It will be held in the Helix in DCU (see map).

It brings together influential scholars and policy stakeholders to examine the most critical issues affecting peace in this region, and explore viable alternatives for building sustainable peace. The conference addresses questions on the success and limitations of European and international engagement, the prospect for durable peace in Bosnia, Kosovo and Macedonia, the geopolitical interests of EU, NATO and Russia in the region, as well as persisting regional and bilateral tensions in the Western Balkans.

Speakers will include

  • Dr Jamie Shea, Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Emerging Security Challenges, NATO
  • Dr Enver Hoxhaj, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kosovo and Chairman of Foreign Affairs Committee at the Assembly of Kosovo
  • Prof Adam Fagan, Queen Mary University, London
  • Dr Enza Roberta Petrillo, Spacienza - University of Rome, Italy
  • Ms Elena Stavrevska, Central European University, Hungary
  • Dr Gëzim Visoka, IICRR, Dublin City University
  • Prof Michael Pugh, University of Bradford
  • Dr Elvin Gjevori, European University of Tirana, Albania


The conference is free to attend prior to the registration. Please register here to confirm your participation.

Background

Despite the progress made in the last two decades, peace in the Western Balkans continues to be affected by the persistence of domestic divisions and regional contestations, as well as external uncertainties coming from the policy changes within Euro-Atlantic community, insecurity in Europe’s eastern neighbourhood, and violent conflicts in the Middle East. The most recent crisis in Macedonia has shaken regional stability and exposed the fragile nature of peace in the region. The confrontation between Albania and Serbia has unearthed the limits of regional cooperation. The stalled dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia on normalisation of relations underlines the limits of EU diplomacy and raises fears about ethnic tensions in the region. The protracted institutional decay in Bosnia and Herzegovina has stalled domestic reforms and blocked Euro-Atlantic integration. The renewed geopolitical interest of Russia in the region has raised fears about derailing the Euro-Atlantic aspirations of the region. These domestic and regional dynamics together with unresolved legacies of the past continue to shape the geopolitics of peace in the Western Balkans, and form the background for the discussions at the conference.