Nemanja Džuverović is a Professor in Peace Studies at the University of Belgrade. His research areas include critical peacebuilding, political economy of liberal peacebuilding, international statebuilding in the Balkans, and sociology of International Relations. He is co-editor of the Journal of Regional Security. Věra Stojarová works as an Academic Researcher at the Political Science and Security Studies Department at Faculty of Social Studies, Masaryk University in Brno, Czech Republic. The field of her professional interest lies in politics and security in the Balkan countries.
This is a very timely collection of essays by regional experts. Individually, they show finger-on-the-pulse analysis, while collectively they show how the region continues to be unsettled. Key themes include democracy's troubled path, the stubborn nature of nationalism, and an inconsistent international community. The book is a great reminder of the expertise that lies in the region. -Roger Mac Ginty, Durham University, UK This book is a very important and extremely timely contribution to the discussion about peace and security in the Western Balkans. Its unique value is in bringing together an excellent group of local scholars who provide deep and astute analysis about the main security challenges facing the region and ways to overcome them and work toward sustainable peace. -Jelena Subotic, Georgia State University, USA For too long, reigning approaches to peacebuilding have reflected the ideologies and assumptions of global elites at the expense of essential local perspectives. The rich, timely, and compelling essays assembled in this pathbreaking volume on the Western Balkans offer a powerful corrective, foregrounding the urgent value of local knowledge and insight of scholars anchored in and committed to the region. -Peter Locke, Northwestern University, USA