Rise and Fall of Peacebuilding in the Balkans

Roberto Belloni is Professor of International Relations at the University of Trento, Italy. He has written extensively on peacebuilding and democratization, with particular reference to the Balkans. He is the holder of the Jean Monnet Chair ‘The European Union and the Western Balkans: Enlargement and Resilience’ (2018-2021).

“The book provides a very convincing analysis of the evolution of the peacebuilding process in the Western Balkans in recent decades … . Robert Belloni’s book is an important and stimulating contribution for those dealing with contemporary BiH as well as for those generally interested in the question of international peacebuilding in postwar societies ... .” (Nicolas Moll, Comparative Southeast European Studies, Vol 73 (1), 2025)“The Rise and Fall of Peacebuilding in the Balkans does an excellent job of weaving together insights from Belloni’s early work on civil society, institutional design and refugee return with his more recent focus on topics such as corruption and Euroscepticism. … the book is well suited to researchers and students looking for a one-stop overview of the rise and fall of the international peacebuilding experiment through the prism of one of its most prominent regional laboratories.” (Laurence Cooley, International Peacekeeping, October 13, 2021)

• 1 Peacebuilding in the Balkans.- 2 The Evolution of Peacebuilding.- 3 Stability and the Anti-Corruption Agenda.- 4 Addressing the Symptoms Through Civil Society Building.- 5 EUtopia and the Pull of Integration.- 6 Western Balkan Transitions and the Role of the European Union.- 7 Local Views: Scepticism towards Europe and its Consequences.- 8 Undoing International Peacebuilding from Below?.- 9 Conclusion.