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Regional Cooperation in Western Balkans in Times of Political and Economical Uncertainty

February 2011 | #08

by: Simona Mamelii
PhD candidate at the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences
University of Bern, Switzerland
pp: 36
ISSN: 2038-632X

Abstract

A first draft of this paper was originally presented at the International Conference “The Global Crisis and Regional Governance in the Balkans. Is there a Threat to Stability?”, organised by the University of Bologna/Centre for Eastern Europe and the Balkans and held in Faenza, Italy, 5th-6th February 2010.

Trying to give an answer to the questions at the basis of that conference – Is the global crisis impacting on governance in the Balkans? Is there a threat to stability in the region? – the paper focuses on the current impasse of regional cooperation in the Western Balkans, due to political and economical uncertainty. Special attention has been devoted on problems affecting the youngest actor of regional cooperation in South East Europe, the Regional Cooperation Council, the role of the European Union as an “external actor” supporting regional cooperation, and the disputed status of Kosovo with its negative political and economical repercussions.

Keywords

regional cooperation, Western Balkans, South East Europe, Kosovo

Abstract
1 General background: the Western Balkans facing the global crisis
2 Background of regional cooperation in the Western Balkans
3 Regional Cooperation Initiatives in the Western Balkans: a general picture
4 Towards regional ownership? The establishment of the RCC
5 One year after: the political landscape after Kosovo independence, the global crisis and the uncertain certainty of the regional ownership within the RCC
6 The EU intervention for supporting regional cooperation in times of political and economical uncertainty
   6.1 The appeal to effectiveness for RCC
   6.2 The appeal to inclusiveness: the Kosovo issue
7 High stakes in play: the need to rescue and enhance regional cooperation from the EU perspective
   7.1 The relevance of Kosovo inclusion within the regional cooperation framework: political arguments
   7.2 The relevance of Kosovo inclusion within the regional cooperation framework: economical arguments
8 Strengthening regional cooperation in times of economic crisis: the role of Foreign Direct Investments
9 Final considerations
Bibliography
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