Abstract
Máire Braniff, Integrating the Balkans: Conflict Resolution and the Impact of EU Expansion, I.B. Tauris: London, 2011; xiv + 225 pp.; 9781848856691, £54.50 (hbk)
Reviewed by: Chris Jones, University of East Anglia, UK
Máire Braniff’s Integrating the Balkans provides a detailed analysis of the contribution made by the European Union (EU) in solving the conflict in two aspirant members, Serbia and Croatia. Equally, Braniff highlights the problems and contradictions Europe has encountered when engaging in the region. The author offers a comprehensive overview of the academic literature in the fields of conflict transformation and Europeanization and cleverly dovetails the two approaches to provide a detailed analysis of the EU’s approach in the Balkans. Through this synthesis Braniff argues that a paradigm shift away from conflict resolution towards conflict transformation approaches may increase our understanding of contemporary conflicts.
The study details the persuasive processes utilized by the EU to integrate Croatia and Serbia into Europe, highlighting 2000 as a watershed, following the death of Franjo Tudjman and the fall of Slobodan Milošević. The author details the careful balancing act employed by the EU in order to Europeanize legal and political attitudes in the two countries: by keeping the prospect of membership distant enough but not so far as it seems an unlikely outcome, the EU is able to persuade political elites in the two countries to enact reform. Furthermore, the book highlights the short-term incentives that have been offered by the EU and the immediate changes that these have initiated in the region during the first decade of this century. The process employed by the EU is far more nuanced than a simple carrot-and-stick approach and Braniff’s clear analysis will help those interested in EU enlargement or the current situation in Balkans, to understand the subtleties of the policies employed. Equally, the understated occurrence of lesson-learning and reflexivity within the EU is astutely observed, thus highlighting the two-way interaction occurring between the EU and aspirant members during the enlargement process.
As Braniff notes, the prospect of EU membership has been met with resistance to varying degrees in both countries and the issue has consequently become highly politicized domestically. Moreover, both countries’ negotiations on eventual membership have, in the past, been halted for failure to cooperate fully with the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia (ICTY). This punishes populations rather than the individuals who committed the war crimes. The recent arrests of Ratko Mladić and Goran Hadžić, the last free man on the ICTY’s list of 161 indicted war criminals, has proven that the EU was vindicated in applying strict conditionality, and has perhaps negated the harmful effects of earlier EU policies. Rather than share in collective guilt, the populations of the former Yugoslavia can now collectively celebrate their cooperation in one of the most successful manhunts in history. As Braniff observes, ‘ICTY cooperation was an issue framed by the international community as a measure of how successfully Croatia and Serbia were moving beyond the mindsets of the past conflict’ (170). With this in mind, the recent arrests highlight the progress made by the two aspirants and the positive outcome of the cost–benefit analysis made by the respective political elites.
The author’s suggestion, however, that the EU should be more prepared to liaise with the Serbian Radical Party (SRS), whilst pragmatic, is, nonetheless, ill-judged, especially given the party’s conduct during the wars. By maintaining standards thus far, the EU has been able to achieve satisfactory results in resolving conflicts in the region, and, as the author herself notes, when the EU is inconsistent its effectiveness can be diminished. Unfortunately, the destabilizing Eurozone crisis may dramatically alter the prospect of future enlargement, both in terms of its appeal for aspirants and the community’s ability to admit new members, and Croatia and Serbia’s prospects of membership may accordingly dwindle. Furthermore, as the author discerns, the EU’s transformative abilities perhaps have not been as effective as they had originally hoped, especially in respect of Serbia. The book justly highlights that this is not necessarily due to the EU’s failings but rather domestic intransigence and slow progress made after the wars. A discussion of the socio-economic effects of NATO’s bombing of Serbia may have benefited the analysis of Serbian social resistance to Europeanization.
Overall, this book offers a rich analysis of the EU’s engagement in the Balkans, whilst persuasively suggesting signposts for future policy and academic inquiry. Integrating the Balkans expands the field of conflict transformation literature and, in doing so, offers a highly nuanced view of the role of the EU in the dynamic process of resolving regional tensions. It is a particularly useful addition to our understanding of the place of the Balkans in contemporary Europe.