South-east Europe

The concept of international order as articulated by Hedley Bull2 and others provides a very important template for assessing international efforts at peace-building in South-east Europe in the wake of the disintegration of Yugoslavia. The Yugoslav wars of succession have led to international intervention and post-conflict reconstruction that amount to a sustained effort to create a new international order in the Balkans. In principle such efforts, as K. J. Holsti has argued, can ‘include the definition of norms regarding the use of force; systems of governance for the society of states; conflict-resolving mechanisms and procedures; the resolution of warproducing issues . . . and some consideration of the types of issues that may generate conflict in the future’.3 Elements of Holsti’s notion can be seen in the European Union’s ‘Stability Pact for South-eastern Europe’ launched in June 1999 in Cologne as the key vehicle for introducing a new order in South-east Europe and one that aims to resolve and prevent conflict in the Balkans. At the heart of the Stability Pact are norms of respect for democracy, human rights and multiculturalism together with a political agenda to impart them in the Balkans. In the eyes of the Pact’s promoters, these are viewed as essential building-blocks of a more stable and secure order both within and between states in this sub-region of Europe.