Hybrid warfare: ‘squelching Internet freedom’
Russia has breathed new life into the concept of war by other means. Using an increasingly diverse array of tactics, conventional and otherwise, the country has deftly wielded its political… Read more »
Category: Western Balkans
Western Balkans double standard and malign foreign influence spur extremism
There’s a double standard in the Western Balkans, according to analysts Jelena Beslin and Marija Ignjatijevic. Governments in the region generally equate violent extremism with Islamist radicalization and local youths… Read more »
Southeast Europe: strengthen democracy to counter malign foreign influence
US withdrawal from the Balkans, mainly due to the absence of a consistent foreign policy agenda, has created a vacuum of leadership that other political actors are trying to assume…. Read more »
Kremlin stoking illiberalism in Western Balkans?
Recent political developments in the Western Balkans have led the European Union to re-focus its attention on the region, notes analyst Tzveta Dryanovska. Countries in southeastern Europe have been struggling… Read more »
Countering Malign Foreign Influence in Southeast Europe
The state of democracy and freedom has been backsliding or stagnating in the countries of the Western Balkans over the past decade, while “illiberal democracy” or “competitive authoritarianism” are… Read more »
As West dithers, Russia ups its game in the Balkans
Tensions are rising between west and east and over the Balkans. Albania, Macedonia, Serbia and other Balkan countries that aspire to EU membership remain a long way from entry because… Read more »
Russia’s info warfare stoking tensions, sowing discord – not advancing coherent ideology
Russia has recently been accused of stoking tensions in the Balkans by waging ‘information warfare’ in the region, notes Jarosław Wiśniewski. Even if these allegations are true, the West should… Read more »
Will the Balkans be Russia’s next virtual battlefield?
Russia’s efforts to project its power abroad are likely to continue and to expand, observers suggest. The Kremlin’s disinformation campaigns seek to “crumble democracies from the inside out” by “winning… Read more »
Bosnians united against ISIS, divided on partners
Stability and democracy in the Balkans have suffered even as the prospect of EU accession has stabilised relations and driven reform in a turbulent and impoverished region, Reuters reports: Kristof… Read more »
Populism’s false promise could ‘reinvigorate liberal democracy’
The resurgence of populism has disrupted the post-Cold War political order and raised the prospect of instability in Europe and Eurasia, according to Nations in Transit 2017, the 22nd edition… Read more »