The region of the Balkans has become one of the emblematic features of the post-Cold War geography of international relations. Understanding the extension of the European zone of peace to the Balkans is at the heart of this pioneering work into the post-Cold War socialisation of the region. How is peace (i.e. a security-community-order) initiated in the Balkans? Who are the dominant agents of such peace-promotion? What processes suggest the initiation of (lasting) peace in the Balkans? Under what circumstances do regional states comply with international standards? Looking at the order-promoting processes of both the EU and Nato, Emilian Kavalski offers us the first detailed and theoretically-informed comparative analysis of the role played by external actors in the Balkan region as a whole. In doing so, he provides us with an insight into the processes of peace-promotion in general, and the patterns of security-community-building in the Balkans in particular.

Emilian Kavalski completed his PhD at Loughborough University and is currently Postdoctoral Fellow at the Department of Political Science at the University of Alberta, Canada.