BALKAN STUDIES

Max Hess
(Senior political risk analyst with the London-based AEK international, specializing in Europe and Eurasia).

Copyright: Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr) Publication date: 21 October 2017

Note: The article reflects the opinion of the author and not necessarily the views of the Re-search Institute for European and American Studies (RIEAS).

Sebastian Kurz, 31, is likely to become Austria’s new Chancellor following the 15 October election. He would be the youngest-ever head of government in the European Union and many of his supporters will be seen as a bold new face ready to lead Europe through and past the ongoing crises over migration, integration, fiscal authority, and identity that have dominated European politics, within and without the EU, in recent years. A new leader of Europe’s populist right is likely on the horizon, yet he has received little international attention compared with candidates such as Marine Le Pen or Nigel Farage who were always long shots...Read more

United States Department of the Treasury August 18, 2017

Copyright: https://www.treasury.gov/ - Publication date: (www.rieas.gr) on 10 September 2017

Introduction

This report provides an assessment of the likelihood that a precautionary International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan to Greece, approved in principle in July 2017, will be repaid in full. For the program to become effective – and thus for any potential disbursement of IMF financing to occur – the IMF Executive Board must take a second decision confirming that Greece remains on track with policy reforms under the program, and that there are credible and specific commitments from Greece’s European partners to provide requisite debt relief so that public debt becomes sustainable under the IMF’s analysis. Read more

Cameron Munter
(Board of Contributors)

Copyright:https://worldview.stratfor.com/article/crisis-brews-balkans-west-looks Publication date at RIEAS web site: 1 September 2017

Insight, analysis and commentary from Stratfor’s Board of Contributors and guest contributors who are distinguished leaders in their fields of expertise.
In the first six months of U.S. President Donald Trump's administration, five foreign policy challenges have dominated the national and international spotlight. China's expanding economic and military role, Russia's tenuous relations with Europe and the Middle East, ongoing wars in Afghanistan and Syria, threats stemming from North Korea and Venezuela, and Europe's future amid rising populist movements in the United Kingdom and France have taken center stage among the world's policymakers. .. Read more

Roie Yellinek
(Doctoral student in the department of Middle East studies at Bar-Ilan University, Israel)BESA Center Perspectives Paper No. 523, July 9, 2017

Copyright: https://besacenter.org/ - Publication date on RIEAS web site (www.rieas.gr) on 10 July 2017.

China and Greece have an almost entirely one-sided economic relationship. China’s deep involvement in Greece is part of a long-term strategy to achieve control of the marine paths from China to the EU. This strategy means China is willing to invest and take part in the rehabilitation of Greece – but there will be a price to be paid for this. Read more

Pakistanisation as the Final Solution for the Balkans?

Zlatko Hadžidedić
(Assistant Professor at the Sarajevo School of Science and Technology, Bosnia-Herzegovina. He received his PhD from the University of Sarajevo, Faculty of Political Science, his MPhil from the London School of Economics and Political Science and MA from the Central European University, Budapest. He served as political adviser to several Bosnian ministers and political leaders. His book Forced to be Free. The Paradoxes of Liberalism and Nationalism was published in 2012 by Deutscher Wissenschafts-Verlag (DWV).

Copyright: Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr) Publication date: 7 May 2017

Note: The article reflects the opinion of the author and not necessarily the views of the Research Institute for European and American Studies (RIEAS).

A few days ago Observer published a column under the title Putin-Proofing the Balkans: A How-To Guide, written by John Schindler. In this article the author advocates some new geopolitical redesigns of the Balkans which are actually far from being a novelty...Read more

Zlatko Hadžidedić
(Assistant Professor at the Sarajevo School of Science and Technology, Bosnia-Herzegovina. He received his PhD from the University of Sarajevo, Faculty of Political Science, his MPhil from the London School of Economics and Political Science and MA from the Central European University, Budapest. He served as political adviser to several Bosnian ministers and political leaders. His book Forced to be Free. The Paradoxes of Liberalism and Nationalism was published in 2012 by Deutscher Wissenschafts-Verlag (DWV).

Copyright: Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr) Publication date: 24 April 2017.

Note: The article reflects the opinion of the author and not necessarily the views of the Research Institute for European and American Studies (RIEAS).

Foreign Affairs, a respected American foreign policy magazine, published in December 2016 an article under the title Dysfunction in the Balkans, written by Timothy Less. In this article the author offers his advice to the new American Administration, suggesting it to abandon the policy of support to the territorial integrity of the states created in the process of dissolution of the former Yugoslavia. Timothy Less advocates a total redesign of the existing state boundaries in the Balkans, on the basis of a dubious assumption that the multiethnic states in the Balkans (such as Bosnia-Herzegovina and Macedonia) are to be regarded as inherently dysfunctional, whereas the ethnically homogenous states (such as Serbia, Albania and Croatia) are to be regarded as far more successful. Read more