A fresh look at South East Europe exploring the region's tangled Europeanization process and its discontents. Highly recommendable to both scholars and practitioners drawn to the Balkan politics, at a time of complex changes in both Europe and the wider world." - Dimitar Bechev, Visiting Fellow at LSEE Research on South Eastern Europe, London School of Economics (LSE), and lecturer ... Read moreof international politics at Sofia University The book 'An Agenda for the Western Balkans: From Elite Politics to Social Sustainability' edited by Nikos Papakostas and Nikos Passamitros is a welcome addition to recent attempts at a comprehensive understanding of the complex socio-political predicament in the Western Balkans. The premise of the volume is that both research and EU policies in the region will benefit from bottom-up approaches that creatively supplement elite-driven perspectives. The contributors in the volume, all young researchers and analysts, are well placed to offer refreshing new outlooks and insights. The volume spans different disciplines and cover as diverse themes as the promotion of green sectors in Serbia, heritage management and identity in Bosnia and Herzegovina, state building in Kosovo or the changing political discourses in Croatia. Overall, the new edited volume offers plentiful food for thought for scholars and policy makers focusing on the Western Balkans and will make a good contribution to the recent literature on the region`s problems and prospects.
Dr. Ioannis Armakolas, Head, South-East Europe Programme, ELIAMEP Show Less