Endgame in the Balkans: Regime Change, European Style

By Elizabeth Pond

Can Europe tame the Balkans? That's the question veteran journalist Elizabeth Pond addresses in this timely and absorbing book. Starting with the wars of the Yugoslav succession, Endgame in the Balkans guides readers through the region's tumultuous recent history and explores both how the lure of European Union (EU) membership has affected the Balkans and how Balkan developments have shaped the EU. Drawing on hundreds of interviews, as well as decades of experience as a foreign correspondent, Pond moves deftly across the region, from Bulgaria to Romania, Kosovo, Croatia, Bosnia, Macedonia, Albania, and Serbia and Montenegro. She examines the many hurdles standing between these countries and EU membership--including poverty, corruption, and rabid chauvinism--as well as the hopes and problems that have led Balkan leaders to look to the West. In the process, she paints a vivid picture of the challenges facing the region as it seeks to vault from the nineteenth to the twenty-first century. Already in its brief history, the European Union has forged a historic reconciliation between France and Germany and helped consolidate democracy in Portugal, Spain, and Greece. But in southeastern Europe, it faces one of its most difficult tasks yet. En dgame in the Balkans reveals the full extent of this challenge, as well as the grounds for hope. Rich in detail and penetrating analysis, this book will be essential reading for anyone interested in the future both of the region and of Europe as a whole.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0815771606
• ISBN13: 9780815771609
• Release Date: September 2006
• Publisher: Brookings Institution Press
• Length: 412 Pages
• Weight: 1.63 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.2" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Important work

This book is a very important work. However, let it be said that the EU policies also did a lot of damage on the Balkans. People are leaving Balkans in droves since the early 90s and that trend has not subsided yet. Large numbers of educated refugees and emigrants would never consider living on the Balkans again, largely because of EU support of nationalist regimes and status quo. In the light of EU support for nationalist and essentially fascist regimes, it is very strange to read this book and build the hope of the Balkans' transformation on EU policies. One question we should ask ourselves after reading this book is this: in principle, could EU transform Third Reich to become a European state based on democratic principles? This is how tall the order is of transforming nationalist regimes of the Balkans into viable democracies. It is a project that will stretch across 2-3 centuries, at least.

A serious-minded and candid inquiry

Written by German-based veteran journalist Elizabeth Pond, Endgame in the Balkans: Regime Change, European Style is a serious-minded examination of how the appeal of European Union membership is affecting the Balkan nations, and repercussions that developments in the Balkans are having on the EU. Bulgaria, Romania, Kosovo, Croatia, Bosnia, Macedonia, Albania, Serbia, and Montenegro all must confront and carry out difficult reforms to qualify for EU membership, including establishment of democracy, rule of law, and fostering general societal tolerance. At war with these efforts for change and longstanding intergenerational mindsets produced grown from poverty, corruption, and chauvinism. Yet the EU has already achieved sweeping historic changes by forging a historic reconciliation between France and Germany, and helping to consolidate democracy in Portugal, Spain, and Greece. Endgame in the Balkans explores the most difficult societal and nation-building challenge of the EU yet, through the collective information gathered from hundreds of interviews taken all across the Balkan region. A serious-minded and candid inquiry, written for lay readers and students of modern history and politics alike, highly recommended.