Can Europe tame the Balkans? That's the question veteran journalist Elizabeth Pond addresses in this timely and absorbing book. Starting with the wars of the Yugoslav succession, "Endgame in the Balkans" guides readers through the region's tumultuous recent history and explores both how the lure of European Union (EU) membership has affected the Balkans and how Balkan developments have shaped the EU. Drawing on hundreds of interviews, as well as decades of experience as a foreign correspondent, Pond moves deftly across the region, from Bulgaria to Romania, Kosovo, Croatia, Bosnia, Macedonia, Albania, and Serbia and Montenegro. She examines the many hurdles standing between these countries and EU membership - including poverty, corruption, and rabid chauvinism - as well as the hopes and problems that have led Balkan leaders to look to the West. In the process, she paints a vivid picture of the challenges facing the region as it seeks to vault from the nineteenth to the twenty-first century. Already in its brief history, the European Union has forged a historic reconciliation between France and Germany and helped consolidate democracy in Portugal, Spain, and Greece. But in southeastern Europe, it faces one of its most difficult tasks yet. "Endgame in the Balkans" reveals the full extent of this challenge, as well as the grounds for hope. Rich in detail and penetrating analysis, this book will be essential reading for anyone interested in the future both of the region and of Europe as a whole.
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"She is extraordinarily knowledgeable, and after a while the sheer volume of her information begins to cast a hypnotic spell." --Barry Gewen, New York Times Book Review, 12/17/2006 "Elizabeth Pond, in her survey of the Balkans and EU integration, considers not only the former Yugoslavia but also its neighborhood in her excellent survey of the state of scholarship on the entire region since the fall of communism. She has carefully sifted through the best political analyses available and pulled them together country by country." --Nicholas Whyte, Internationale Politik, 4/1/2007 "As in her previous books, Elizabeth Pond comes across as an analyst with a sharp intellect and a lucid judgement, but also as a seasoned journalist who takes us on a journey to relive both the tragedies and the successes of Balkan politics." -- International Affairs, 3/1/2007 "Offers a well-informed comparative analysis of those parts of the Balkans that enjoyed an uneasy peace and therefore got the change to find a place on the European integration train and the victims of warfare whose place in the new Europe is still hard to determine... Elizabeth Pond is to be congratulated for providing a vivid and detailed portrait of the region's politics and role in international relations which is sure to be widely used by international officials needing an accessible compendium to make some sense of the Balkans." --Tom Gallagher, University of Bradford, SEER "Pond, as a highly experienced journalist with good judgment and an incorruptible eye for the truth, does not draw this upbeat conclusion lightly; she painstakingly details the waste, corruption and persistence of organized crime across the region, and for each optimistic interpretation of events, she also produces a dark mirror image." -- Survival
About the Author
Elizabeth Pond is a journalist based in Germany. Currently a correspondent for the Washington Quarterly, she was a longtime European correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor. She is the author, most recently, of Friendly Fire: The Near-Death of the Transatlantic Alliance (Brookings, 2003) and The Rebirth of Europe (Brookings, revised 2002).
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1 of 3 people found the following review helpful
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Important work
6 Sep 2008
By SD
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
This book is a very important work. However, let it be said that the EU policies also did a lot of damage on the Balkans. People are leaving Balkans in droves since the early 90s and that trend has not subsided yet. Large numbers of educated refugees and emigrants would never consider living on the Balkans again, largely because of EU support of nationalist regimes and status quo. In the light of EU support for nationalist and essentially fascist regimes, it is very strange to read this book and build the hope of the Balkans' transformation on EU policies.
One question we should ask ourselves after reading this book is this: in principle, could EU transform Third Reich to become a European state based on democratic principles? This is how tall the order is of transforming nationalist regimes of the Balkans into viable democracies. It is a project that will stretch across 2-3 centuries, at least.
One question we should ask ourselves after reading this book is this: in principle, could EU transform Third Reich to become a European state based on democratic principles? This is how tall the order is of transforming nationalist regimes of the Balkans into viable democracies. It is a project that will stretch across 2-3 centuries, at least.
2 of 5 people found the following review helpful
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A serious-minded and candid inquiry
4 Mar 2007
By Midwest Book Review
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
Written by German-based veteran journalist Elizabeth Pond, Endgame in the Balkans: Regime Change, European Style is a serious-minded examination of how the appeal of European Union membership is affecting the Balkan nations, and repercussions that developments in the Balkans are having on the EU. Bulgaria, Romania, Kosovo, Croatia, Bosnia, Macedonia, Albania, Serbia, and Montenegro all must confront and carry out difficult reforms to qualify for EU membership, including establishment of democracy, rule of law, and fostering general societal tolerance. At war with these efforts for change and longstanding intergenerational mindsets produced grown from poverty, corruption, and chauvinism. Yet the EU has already achieved sweeping historic changes by forging a historic reconciliation between France and Germany, and helping to consolidate democracy in Portugal, Spain, and Greece. Endgame in the Balkans explores the most difficult societal and nation-building challenge of the EU yet, through the collective information gathered from hundreds of interviews taken all across the Balkan region. A serious-minded and candid inquiry, written for lay readers and students of modern history and politics alike, highly recommended.
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