Converging for Europe? The Foreign Policies of Post-Yugoslav States

Abstract

Traditional Foreign Policy Analysis (FPA) remains centred around the unit of a state and its engagement with other states in the international sphere. While some attention has been paid in the academic literature on the foreign policy of non-state actors (such as the European Union (EU)), overall state-centrism remains a key feature of contemporary FPA. This paper will demonstrate that this state-centrism is not only unhelpful when studying the foreign policy of new and weak states, but it will also highlight that foreign policy often starts before states are created, and is intrinsically linked to state-building. Using the countries that have emerged from the former Yugoslavia (Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia and Kosovo), the role of foreign policy and statehood will be discussed using three main categories. First, the extent to which foreign policy takes place before a state becomes independent will be assessed. In the Yugoslav case, the strive for independence took place in and beyond war. Second, we will discuss the relationship between foreign policy and state-building in post bellum situations. Third, this paper will look at the impact of changing statehood and external actors.

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