CHALLENGES OR THREATS IN THE WESTERN BALKANS

Janković Slobodan (Dr Slobodan Janković, naučni saradnik u Institutu za međunarodnu politiku i privredu, Beograd), slobodan@diplomacy.bg.ac.rs

Balkan Peninsula has been place of intersection of great power interests for centuries. Recently it has become again one of the playgrounds of the wider conflict between the West and Russia. Balkan countries are subordinate and object of policies of outside powers and transnational corporations. Author assumes that the challenge and threat to the regional countries are deriving mainly from their status of subordinated states. He defines subordinate state not only in DA Lake terms, but expands it with imposed agreement between local comprador political elites and foreign power. Jankovic briefly presents the position of the Balkan in the great power policy and relation between local countries and outside powers. He questions the status of the subordinate states and claims two territories to be in the status of protectorate. Then he presents officially recognized challenges and threats in order to give his view of they really are.

Keywords: Balkans, Threats and Challenges, subordinate state, protectorate, Serbia, West-Russia conflict