Gönül Tezcan

Since the end of the Cold War, the Western orientation of the Balkans has been an important topic for the U.S. However, the region has ceased to be a priority object for the U.S. foreign policy since the early 2000s and the 2008 economic crisis led the EU to downgrade its enlargement agenda creating a vacuum that enabled the non-Western actors, notably Russia and China to extend their influence over the region. This study offers a comparative and multi-actor analysis combining the regional developments with systemic-level shifts. It aims to examine the rise of multipolarity and the reflections of geopolitical competition in the Western Balkans in the post-Cold War era. It argues that despite the reduced U.S. involvement, the American engagement still remains crucial for the regional stability. Given the EU’s weakening role, this article contributes to the literature by analyzing how the great power rivalry among the U.S., Russia, and China shapes the stability in the Western Balkans with a particular attention to the developments in BIH and Kosovo.