Kosovo: The Path to Contested Statehood in the Balkans (Library of European Studies). Dieser Artikel ist nicht verfügbar.Kosovo: The Path to Contested Statehood in the Balkans (Library of European Studies)

In February 2008, Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia. Was this the final chapter in the break-up of Yugoslavia and the successful conclusion to the Balkan Wars of the 1990s? Or was it just one more wrong turn in the path to stability in the Balkans which has set a dangerous precedent for regional conflict throughout the world?

When the UN Security Council authorised negotiations to determine the final status of Kosovo in October 2005, most observers confidently expected the Serbian province to become an independent state by the end of the following year. However, the process did not go as planned.

Kosovo: The Path to Contested Statehood in the Balkans charts the course of the status process from 2005 to the present and analyzes how and why it went so very wrong. This clear and perceptive account will be essential reading for anyone with an interest in the recent history of the Balkans or in international conflict resolution.

James Ker-Lindsay is Senior Research Fellow in European and International Studies at Kingston University, London, and IAA Senior Research Fellow on Greece and European Security at the Hellenic Observatory, London School of Economics (2008-2009). A specialist on the politics and international relations of South East Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean, his books include Crisis and Conciliation: A Year of Rapprochement between Greece and Turkey (I.B.Tauris) and EU Accession and UN Peacemaking in Cyprus. He also has a practical background in conflict analysis and resolution, having previously served as director of a think tank and as the co-ordinator of the Greek-Turkish Forum at the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies (RUSI).