ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines the theoretical and methodological framework and offers arguments and justification for the selection of the Montenegrin police as the object of research. It then applies the main argument to three case studies: socialization through domestic police education and joint regional training; interaction in regional formal events; and political interference in high-profile cases. The research in the chapter builds upon the theory of practice originally posed by Pierre Bourdieu and later developed by Vincent Pouliot and others. It tackles the question of what the enabling and disabling conditions are for forming a community of practice among police services in the Western Balkans. Nonetheless, on many occasions the Montenegrin government demonstrated its membership of a larger entity, the Western Balkans. The chapter concludes with a general analysis of the professional autonomy of the Montenegrin police and the implications for the emergence of a security community in the Western Balkans.
