Abstract The purpose with the study is to see if it is possible to create well functioning and democratic government and parliament in Kosovo, within a near future thru social capital.   I have some research questions that will help me reach my purpose:   1. Are Kosovo‘s institutions effective and democratic today? 2. Does social capital exist in Kosovo today? 3. Are there satisfactory opportunities for building well functioning, democratic institutions in the future? 4. Are there any obstacles on the way for building well functioning, democratic institutions in the future?   My study is based mostly on qualitative interviews with social scientists, political scientists, historian, citizens and other people that would give me useful answers to my questions.   My results shows that Kosovos government and parliament are not well functioning democratic institutions. The extent of social capital is also very low or not existing at all. The lack of social capital is not the explanation to the fact that Kosovo‘s institutions are not well developed. There are many other things that explains the institutional situation better.   The answer to my purpose is that it is not possible to develop well functioning democratic institutions in Kosovo within a near future. Institutional Development takes time as Robert Putnam argues and the obstacles are to great to over win witin a near future.

This study explores different actors’ perceptions on how the democratization process is being influenced in Kosovo. It is based upon empirical facts gathered during a field study in Kosovo. The material was mainly gathered through interviews with different representatives from international organizations present in Kosovo and with members of the Kosovar political elite. The theoretical standpoint in the study draws on the theory of polyarchy for defining the concept of democracy, and the two-level game. The interaction between domestic and international actors within the democratization process is highlighted. The conclusions are that different actors are influencing the ongoing democratization process in Kosovo, mainly international external ones acting in several ways and on different levels. This influence is considered by the international community and the domestic political elite to be necessary both for the continued development of democracy and for the preservation of stability. However as the influence has more or less become institutionalized, problems occur when responsibility is handed over to domestic authorities without accountability being made clear.

Abstract University of Växjö, School of Social Sciences Course: PO 5363, Political Science Title: Kosovo & Montenegro – Why Different Outcomes? Author: Mimoza Ardolic Supervisor: Lennart Bergfeldt Date: 2008-01-15 The purpose of this study has been to assess why the pursuit for independence turned out to be a matter of such difficulty in the case of Kosovo and not in Montenegro, seeing as they are two apparent similar cases. The research questions are:  How can it be that two analogous situations where two regions (Kosovo and Montenegro), quite similar in several aspects, want independence from the same country (Serbia) result in so different outcomes?  Why has Kosovo’s attempt to achieve self-government been such a difficulty?  Why did Montenegro manage to achieve autonomy without (great) difficulties? The findings are that despite the similarity between these two cases, they have ample differing characteristics as well. The factors detected are that whilst the Kosovo conflict is characterized by: a troublesome history, no common ground, an existing deep hatred, Russian opposition and the nationalist Milošević; the Montenegrin case is set apart by: an intertwining, rather peaceful history, friendly relations, Russian cordiality and the nationalist Djukanović. The interpretation of these elements according to the nationalist theory is as follows: Milošević and Djukanović (and their ideology: nationalism) are the real causes. The other elements are mere means to their ambition for nation building. The difference between these two men and the elements (their means) explains the different outcomes in the two cases.

Urban peacebuilding has proved particularly challenging in cities contested on grounds of state legitimacy where group identities are salient. Ever since the end of the Kosovo War in 1999, the city of Mitrovica has remained divided and been further polarized by outbreaks of violence, post-war politics, and strained inter-group relations. This single case study describes and conceptualizes the empirical realities of peace in the post-war city by applying the Peace Triangle as an analytical tool for understanding the quality and characteristics of the peace that prevails beyond the cessation of large-scale violence. The author builds on the conceptual model by arguing that a more multifaceted and peace-grounded analysis of peace is necessary. The research paper concludes by suggesting an altered analytical model that may yield a more nuanced understanding of peace(s) by encompassing aspects grounded in peace-conducive activities.

The main ambition of this doctoral thesis is to contribute to the development of interdisciplinary application of the concept of moral hazard developedin economic and insurance theory to the context of the inter-state conflicts with potential international intervention. The basic theoretical framework used in the thesis is derived from the concept of moral hazard of humanitarian intervention by Alan Kuperman who claims that the newly established norm of humanitarian intervention may well have unintended negative consequences. Kuperman argues that if the mere existence of insurance creates sufficient incentive for the insured to modify their behavior to the extent that they engage in the riskier behavior due to the fact that they are insured against the consequences of their actions, the rebels may well optimize their behavior in the same way. Currently, the transfer of the moral hazard theory to the context of interventions is hindered by a number of existing obstacles stemming from the differences in these areas. This thesis concentrates on reduction of three main identified drawbacks and addresses them by formulating three main research questions and derived hypothesis. The aim of this approach is to examine the limits of application and create the space for development of the concept of moral hazard of humanitarian intervention in the future research. (1) What is the interpretation potential, value added and limits of application of economic theory of moral hazard to the context of humanitarian intervention from the theoretical perspective? Hypothesis 1:The concept of moral hazard represents an efficienttool for evaluation of humanitarian intervention. (2) What is the potential of causal mechanism established by the Kuperman´s hypothesis to explain the reasons why in certain cases the state decides to escalate the inter-state conflict despite the public threats of intervention at a general level of research? Hypothesis 2: The threat of intervention causes the escalation of the inter-state conflict. (3) To what extent does Kuperman´s hypothesis modified to the conflict in Kosovo correspond with the actual state of affairs and their development? Hypothesis 3: The threat of intervention NATO/USA caused the escalation of conflict in Kosovo.

This thesis examines how madness has been used in post-Yugoslav cinemas to facilitate thinking about experiences of the break-up of the SFRY throughout the 1990s and 2000s, its consequences and implications for the future. The study conceptualises post-Yugoslav film cultures as public spheres in which artistic and industrial practices are often combined to create meaning around the core themes of trauma and identity in post-Yugoslav cultures. Working with seven feature-length titles from a range of post-Yugoslav successor states (Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Macedonia and Kosovo) I illustrate how images of madness have been essential in the cultural processing of events of the 1990s. Whilst featuring individuals suffering mental instabilities and disturbances, and sometimes asylums or mental health institutions, I contend such films are not ultimately concerned – on a thematic level – with mental health, but instead focus on the use of such characters in a metaphoric capacity for engaging core themes of Yugoslav break-up, conflicts, and difficulties of subsequent transition. Using the semantic/syntactic approach to genre, I identify two common ways in which madness is used on a textual level to engage these core themes. The first of these, the ‘inside-out asylum trope of madness’, is concerned with the use of the asylum in films which assess critically the dominant political ideologies of the successor states in question at a time when political pluralism was not yet established by the transition process. Films discussed include Burlesque Tragedy (Marković, 1995), Marshall Tito’s Spirit (Brešan, 1999), and Kukumi (Qosja, 2005). The second trope is the ‘multiple realities trope of madness’ in which the presentation of diegetic reality on screen is adapted to reflect various conceptualisations of trauma and loss arising from Yugoslav break-up and transition. Here the films include Loving Glances (Karanović, 2003), Fuse (Žalica, 2003), Mirage (Ristovski, 2004) and Land of Truth, Love and Freedom (Petrović, 2000). Across the films selected, it is madness which ultimately provides a diverse pool of metaphors and images for an assessment of Yugoslavia’s traumatic demise and the ensuing process of picking through the debris of its ideology, cultural practices, values and ways of living for precisely what might be salvageable and what should be discarded.

Trots lagar, nationella som internationella, återkommer diskussionen om etik vid militära interventioner. Uppsatsen handlar om huruvida NATO:s intervention i Kosovo levde upp till etiska lagar kring militära interventioner samt om normativa teorier fortfarande är relevanta och lämnas utrymme idag.Syftet med uppsatsen är att se om det fortfarande finns utrymme idag för normativa teorier, såsom den etiska teorin just war theory, och om dessa är rimliga att använda. Uppsatsen använder fallstudien Kosovo som exempel och analyserar samtidigt hur denna intervention lever upp till de nio punkterna i teorin.Kvalitativ textanalys samt fallstudie av Kosovo har använts som metoder och just war theory har använts som teori.Resultatet visar att sju av nio punkter helt eller till stor del levdes upp till under NATO:s intervention i Kosovo, och att de resterande två till viss del levdes upp till. Undersökningen påvisar också att normativa teorier lämnas utrymme idag, och att teorin fortfarande kan vara relevant, om än med lite modifikation.

This paper investigates on the self-identification and feeling of belonging among the “Kosovo Albanian” “descendants” in Sweden. This is a study performed through semi-structured interviews of six volunteering participants, born and/or raised in Sweden, whose parents migrated after the 1990 which was the period of Bosnian and Croatian war that caused tensions in the Balkans. The concept of belonging together with the concept of identity, seen as self-identification, personal and collective identity, have guided through the findings of this paper. The result is that, regarding this sample, age of migration, and place of birth seems to matter in more easily defining identity and belonging.

This thesis aims to interconnect a theory of normative power Europe with the activities of the EU and its affect on the Western Balkans. The theoretical concept of normative power is based on the assumption of the EU as a normative actor who is able through its norms, values and principles to become a major civilian actor in international relations, especially in the area of conflict management. The theoretical part of the paper therefore focuses on the concept of normative power EU (NPE) as it is presented by Ian Manners, and how its normative character is reflected in the common security and defense policy. It is analysed how the NPE is diffused in selected countries of the Western Balkans through four chosen transfer mechanisms by Manners that comprise the operationalization of the thesis at the same time. Therefore the aim of this work is to contribute to the further broadening the debate over the EU's role in the international system, but also to find out how the norms and values are transmitted in selected countries of the near neighborhood - Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia and Kosovo. All of this with regard to democracy, human and minority rights, peaceful settlement of disputes, good governance etc., which encompass the basic values of the EU. The selected operationalization has allowed...

The diploma thesis "The Multilateralism Concept in German Policy toward the Balkans: Germany's Recognition of the Independence of Slovenia and Croatia (1991) and Kosovo (2008)" deals with the role of the Federal Republic of Germany in the process of recognition of the independence of successor states of Yugoslavia in the context of discussion about transformation of the German multilateralism and normalization of the German foreign policy. The disciplined interpretive case study focuses on selected examples, which were perceived as the most controversial by German and foreign political and social circles: the German pressure on the international recognition of Slovenia and Croatia in 1991, which caused strong criticisms and fears, that the unified Germany would leave the principle of multilateralism in exchange for a unilateral promotion of its national interests; and the recognition of Kosovo in 2008, which meant ignoring the UN resolution 1244. The aim of the thesis is to describe and to interpret motives and the manners of the Germany's acting in the selected causes in detail and to test the hypothesis by Rainer Baumann about transformation of the German multilateralism "towards more instrumental perception of the multilateral cooperation and orientation on material and status-oriented national...