DYNAMICS OF REGIONALISM IN THE WESTERN BALKANS: A QUEST FOR REGIONAL IDENTITY
DYNAMICS OF REGIONALISM IN THE WESTERN BALKANS: A QUEST FOR REGIONAL IDENTITY

Summary/Abstract: Regionalism has become a prevalent feature of international affairs, however the process of regional cooperation and integration has not occurred uniformly across the globe. Despite the global trend, regionalism in the western Balkans is a nascent process that started mainly after the 2000s. This study aims to explore the driving forces in the establishment of various forms of regional cooperation in the Western Balkans and strives to understand to what extent cooperation at the regional level has produced a change in the nature of regional politics? The paper distinguishes between cooperation and integration.Findings primarily show that regionalism in the Western Balkans is promoted process mainly through the EU integration agenda. Out of 30 analyzed regional arrangements, 15 were developed during 2011-2022. This also coincides with EU credible enlargement criteria which conditioned membership to regional cooperation and reconciliation. The study concludes that reginal initiatives are technical in nature and not sufficient to produce a regional community with an embraced regional identity.

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