For this month’s What We Are Reading, RESOLVE collects literature on violent extremism in the Western Balkans. This month, in partnership with the Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations of the U.S. Department of State, RESOLVE is launching a new research and convening project to identify solutions to violent extremism in the Western Balkans. The project aims to increase collaboration and elevate regional understandings of violent extremist threats and vulnerabilities, building upon existing networks and initiatives already active in the region.  The readings below give background on the history of ethnic and religious divides and their consequences in the Balkans and incorporate current challenges related to radicalization, returning foreign fighters, and community resilience. Click the links below to learn more. 

Intervention demographics 

Shabani, Samet, and Amir Kadri. “Working towards Resilient Communities” (in research library), 2018 

“Community Level Recommendations for Preventing Violent Extremism in Kosovo” 

(on website) UNDP Kosovo, 01 June 2017. 

Petrović, Predrag, and Florian Qehaja. “Violent Extremism: Beyond Foreign Fighters And Behindnumbers In: Resilience in the Western Balkans, eds. Sabina Lange, Zoran Nechev, Florian Trauner” European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS), (2017). https://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep07086.18 

Holmer, Georgia, and Adrian Shtuni. “Returning Foreign Fighters and the Reintegration Imperative” United States Institute of Peace, 22 March 2017. https://www.usip.org/publications/2017/03/returning-foreign-fighters-and-reintegration-imperative 

Ideology 

Deliso, Christopher. “The Coming Balkan Caliphate: The Threat of Radical Islam to Europe and the West” Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007. https://books.google.com/books?id=-7dq8mi0DWkC&dq=western+balkans+violent+extremism&lr=&source=gbs_navlinks_s  

Tziampiris, Aristotle. “Assessing Islamic terrorism in the Western Balkans: the state of the debate” Journal of Balkan & Near Eastern Studies, June 1, 2009. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/19448950902921143?journalCode=cjsb20  

Babić, Marko. “Muslims And Islamic Fundamentalism In Macedonia” Politeja , No. 30, Macedonia in 20th and 21st century (2014), pp. 387-398. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/24919736 

Governance and Security  

Benedek, W. et al. “Transnational Terrorism, Organized Crime and Peace-Building: Human Security in the Western Balkans” Springer, May 12, 2010. https://books.google.com/books?id=si1aCwAAQBAJ&dq=western+balkans+violent+extremism&lr=&source=gbs_navlinks_s  

Fulton, John R. “A Deal with the Devil: United States Foreign Policy in the Balkans” Global Security Studies. 01 January 2010. http://globalsecuritystudies.com/FULTON%20Deal%20TWO.pdf\ 

Political violence 

Hagen, William W. “The Balkans' Lethal Nationalisms” Foreign Affairs, Vol. 78, No. 4 (Jul. - Aug., 1999), pp. 52-64, Council on Foreign Relations  https://www.jstor.org/stable/20049364 

“Understanding Local Drivers of Violent Extremism in Kosovo” International Republican Institute, 01 January 2017. https://www.iri.org/wp-content/uploads/legacy/iri.org/2017-9-17_kosovo_vea_report.pdf 

Dyrstad, Karin. “After ethnic civil war—Ethno-nationalism in the Western Balkans" Journal of Peace Research, September 17, 2012. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0022343312439202