ABSTRACT
U.S. leadership in the Western Balkans peaked at the height of its power in 2008, when it insisted on the entry of Albania, but over time converged with the preference of the lesser great powers about restraint in the pace of the NATO expansion. Professionalisation of security sectors and state transparency are linked to the attenuation of ethnic-national assertions and threat perceptions in the region. NATO’s expansion does not carry with it the promise of democratic peace but the prospect of stability, helped by security policy integration and managed through the NATO organisation but ultimately kept alive by a credible enforcer.
