Roland Kostić | Uppsala University (original) (raw)

Papers by Roland Kostić

Research paper thumbnail of Education through regulation?

Nordic Academic Press eBooks, Jan 3, 2012

Research paper thumbnail of The global-capitalist elephant in the room: how resilient peacebuilding hinders substantive transformation and undermines long-term peace prospects

Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability

This article reviews critical responses to recent academic debates on resilience and peacebuildin... more This article reviews critical responses to recent academic debates on resilience and peacebuilding, with a focus on approaches that question the underlying logics of resilient peacebuilding in fundamental ways. It argues that, while resilience in peacebuilding lends agency and new policy direction to peacebuilding actors, enabling them to uphold the image of active global governance, this also helps to legitimize the existence and reproduction of dominant global-capitalist structures and practices that undermine long-term peacebuilding and give rise to risks of conflict and environmental disasters in the first place. We argue that this process hinders transformation away from an infinite growth economy by focusing on imminent systemic risks and solutions while ignoring potential normative-theoretical and practical-experiential alternatives to the global-capitalist frameworks at the heart of the problem.

Research paper thumbnail of Knowledge and Expertise in International Interventions

Knowledge about violent conflict and international intervention is political. It involves power s... more Knowledge about violent conflict and international intervention is political. It involves power struggles over the objects of knowing (problematization/silencing), how they are known (epistemic pra ...

Research paper thumbnail of Peace agreements in the 1990 s – what are the outcomes 20 years later ?

In the 1990s, a number of protracted armed conflicts were finally ended. This period can be descr... more In the 1990s, a number of protracted armed conflicts were finally ended. This period can be described as a paradigmatic shift with regards to how armed conflicts are brought to an end. When the logic of the Cold War no longer hindered the United Nations (UN) to intervene, the number of UN peace operations rose dramatically and became more comprehensive. In addition, conflicts increasingly ended through negotiated settlements rather than military victory. The peace processes of the 1990s gave rise to great optimism that negotiations and peacebuilding efforts, often with considerable international involvement, would bring sustainable peace to war-affected countries. The outcomes of these peace processes, however, appears to be far from unanimously positive. Today, 20 years after the war endings of the 1990s, it is therefore imperative to critically analyze and evaluate these peace processes and their long-term results. What is the situation like today in countries where conflicts ende...

Research paper thumbnail of Education Movements, Power and Identity in Bosnia and Herzegovina

In the process of postwar rebuilding of a multi-ethnic state, where the principle issues of ident... more In the process of postwar rebuilding of a multi-ethnic state, where the principle issues of identity and fear of assimilation may be at the forefront of the discussion, education emerges as one of the central issues for all ethnic groups that participate in the make-up of the state. Education is recognized as a key institution in the apparatus of the modern nation-state (Durkheim 1956). For Durkheim (1956), it is education that plays the pivotal role in perpetuating and buttressing the societal homogeneity by “fixing in the child from the beginning the essential similarities that collective life demands”. However, the situation in the multi-ethnic state is more complex. The issue of education and the influence over it becomes essential for the recognition of groups and their survival in terms of identity and participation in the control and redistribution of knowledge and power at the state’s core.

Research paper thumbnail of Shadow peacebuilders and diplomatic counterinsurgencies: informal networks, knowledge production and the art of policy-shaping

Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding, 2017

ABSTRACT This article explores the role of informal networks in producing strategic knowledge and... more ABSTRACT This article explores the role of informal networks in producing strategic knowledge and influencing policy responses to the 2011 post-election crisis in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The analytical focus is on networks of shadow peacebuilders, defined as actors who are often not visible to the public and who promote a mix of altruistic and personal interests of their broader network by generating strategic narratives and influencing peacebuilding policy. As this article shows, shadow peacebuilders engage in diplomatic counterinsurgencies waged by means of diplomacy, politics, public relations and legal means. Strategic narratives are instrumental in legitimizing diplomatic counterinsurgency, inducing internal cohesion within the network and delegitimizing alternative narratives and policy solutions. Yet the production of strategic knowledge by shadow peacebuilders has its limitations. When the gap between strategic narrative and actions becomes too big, the network risks fragmentation and defeat by other networks that promote alternative strategic narratives and paths of action in the battle over control of peacebuilding policy.

Research paper thumbnail of Transnational think-tanks: foot soldiers in the battlefield of ideas? Examining the role of theicgin Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2000–01

Third World Quarterly, 2014

ABSTRACT Peace-building situations can be described as battlefields of ideas where key internatio... more ABSTRACT Peace-building situations can be described as battlefields of ideas where key international policy makers engage in internal battles for control over intervention policy. Knowledge production, based on timely information and analysis, is seen as crucial to winning these battles of ideas. By providing detailed information, analysis and recommendations, the International Crisis Group (icg) has assumed an important role in this process. Yet we know little about the specific role the icg plays in battles for intervention policy. This article investigates icg analyses and recommendations and the way they fit into the specific internal debates within the international community in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) in 2000–01. By looking at the work of the icg in BiH around the elections in 2000, the article demonstrates that it often acted as a legitimising agent of US positions and policy in the country.

Research paper thumbnail of Mediation and Liberal Peacebuilding

Mediation and Liberal Peacebuilding, 2013

This book offers a state-of-the-art examination of peacemaking, looking at its theoretical assump... more This book offers a state-of-the-art examination of peacemaking, looking at its theoretical assumptions, empirical applications and its consequences.Despite the wealth of research on external interventions and practices of Western peacebuilding, many scholars tend to rely on findings in the so-called 'post-agreement' phase of interventions. As a result, most mainstream peacebuilding literature pays limited or no attention to the linkages that exist between mediation practices in the negotiation phase and processes in the post-peace agreement phase of intervention.By linking the motives and practices of interveners during negotiation and implementation phases into a more integrated theoretical framework, this book makes a unique contribution to the on-going debate on the so-called Western ‘liberal’ models of peacebuilding. Drawing upon in-depth case-studies from various different regions of the world including Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Sudan, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Sierra Leone, this innovative volume examines a variety of political motives behind third party interventions, thus challenging the very founding concept of mediation literature.This book will of much interest to students of peacebuilding, statebuilding, peacemaking, war and conflict studies, security studies and IR in general.

Research paper thumbnail of Liberal State-Building and Environmental Security: The International Community between Trade-Off and Carelessness

The Security-Development Nexus, 2012

Research paper thumbnail of Knowledge production in/about conflict and intervention: finding ‘facts’, telling ‘truth’

Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding, 2017

This article has a twofold aim. First, it discusses the contributions to the scholarly field of c... more This article has a twofold aim. First, it discusses the contributions to the scholarly field of conflict knowledge and expertise in this special issue on Knowledge Production in/about Conflict and Intervention. Second, it suggests an alternative reading of the issue's contributions. Starting from the assumption that prevalent ways of knowing are always influenced by wider material and ideological structures at specific times, we trace the influence of contemporary neoliberalism on general knowledge production structures in Western societies, and more specifically in Western academia, before re-reading the special issue's contributions through this prism. Our main argument is that neoliberalism leaves limited space for independent critical knowledge, thereby negatively affecting what can be known about conflict and intervention. We conclude with some tasks for reflexive scholarship in neoliberal times.

Research paper thumbnail of Knowledge, expertise and the politics of intervention and statebuilding

Research paper thumbnail of Shifting Identities, Policy Networks, and the Practical and Ethical Challenges of Gaining Access to the Field in Interventions

Research paper thumbnail of Knowledge production in/about conflict and intervention: finding ‘facts’, telling ‘truth’

This article has a twofold aim. First, it discusses the contributions to the scholarly field of c... more This article has a twofold aim. First, it discusses the contributions to the scholarly field of conflict knowledge and expertise in this special issue on Knowledge production in/about conflict and intervention: finding ‘facts’, telling ‘truth’. Second, it suggests an alternative reading of the issue’s contributions. Starting from the assumption that prevalent ways of knowing are always influenced by wider material and ideological structures at specific times, the article traces the influence of contemporary neoliberalism on general knowledge production structures in Western societies, and more specifically in Western academia, before re-reading the special issue’s contributions through this prism. The main argument is that neoliberalism leaves limited space for independent critical knowledge, thereby negatively affecting what can be known about conflict and intervention. The article concludes with some tasks for reflexive scholarship in neoliberal times.

Research paper thumbnail of Shadow peacebuilders and diplomatic counterinsurgencies: informal networks, knowledge production and the art of policy-shaping

This article explores the role of informal networks in producing strategic knowledge and influenc... more This article explores the role of informal networks in producing strategic knowledge and influencing policy responses to the 2011 post-election crisis in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The analytical focus is on networks of shadow peacebuilders, defined as actors who are often not visible to the public and who promote a mix of altruistic and personal interests of their broader network by generating strategic narratives and influencing peacebuilding policy. As this article shows, shadow peacebuilders engage in diplomatic counterinsurgencies waged by means of diplomacy, politics, public relations and legal means. Strategic narratives are instrumental in legitimizing diplomatic counterinsurgency, inducing internal cohesion within the network and delegitimizing alternative narratives and policy solutions. Yet the production of strategic knowledge by shadow peacebuilders has its limitations. When the gap between strategic narrative and actions becomes too big, the network risks fragmentation and defeat by other networks that promote alternative strategic narratives and paths of action in the battle over control of peacebuilding policy.

Research paper thumbnail of Exploring Trends in Transnational Practices of Conflict-generated Migrants. Bosnians in Sweden and their Activities Towards Bosnia-Herzegovina

Migrations from Bosnia and Herzegovina

Research paper thumbnail of Education Movements, Power and Identity in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Education as Social Action. Knowledge, Identity and Power

Research paper thumbnail of Mediation and liberal Peacebuilding

Mediation and Liberal Peacebuilding Peace from the Ashes of War? av Mikael Eriksson, Roland Kos... more Mediation and Liberal Peacebuilding
Peace from the Ashes of War?

av Mikael Eriksson, Roland Kostic (inbunden, 2013)

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This book offers a state-of-the-art examination of peacemaking, looking at its theoretical assumptions, empirical applications and its consequences. Despite the wealth of research on external interventions and practices of Western peacebuilding, many scholars tend to rely on findings in the so-called 'post-agreement' phase of interventions. As a result, most mainstream peacebuilding literature pays limited or no attention to the linkages that exist between mediation practices in the negotiation phase and processes in the post-peace agreement phase of intervention. By linking the motives and practices of interveners during negotiation and implementation phases into a more integrated theoretical framework, this book makes a unique contribution to the on-going debate on the so-called Western 'liberal' models of peacebuilding. Drawing upon in-depth case-studies from various different regions of the world including Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Sudan, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Sierra Leone, this innovative volume examines a variety of political motives behind third party interventions, thus challenging the very founding concept of mediation literature. This book will of much interest to students of peacebuilding, statebuilding, peacemaking, war and conflict studies, security studies and IR in general.

Research paper thumbnail of Yugoslavs in Arms: Guerrilla Tradition, Total Defence and the Ethnic Security Dilemma

Europe-Asia Studies, Jan 1, 2010

Research paper thumbnail of Environmental Security and Peace Building Projects: Necessary trade off for bringing peace or grossly negligent?

… of the Swedish Network of Peace, …, Jan 1, 2009

Research paper thumbnail of Liberal Statebuilding and Environmental Security: The International Community Between Trade-off and Carelessness

The development and security nexus, Anthem Press, …, Jan 1, 2011

Liberal state- and nationbuilding fails to include into its framework of analysis environmental p... more Liberal state- and nationbuilding fails to include into its framework of analysis environmental problems of post-conflict societies. Economic development projects such as large hydro projects or open cast mining for lignite, as an element of broader state-building exercise, lead to environmental stress for the communities, and can further exacerbate inter-communal incompatibilities.
The case study of statebuilding in Kosovo is used to highlight the complexities of sustaining a peaceful post-conflict situation within the framework of existing peacebuilding model. Moreover, it emphasises that environmental and societal security requirements have to be addressed simultaneously to reduce the risk of reoccurring conflicts. The expectations is that by better understanding of the interaction between societal and environmental security, further valuable conclusion can be drawn about the capacity and limitations of prevailing models to build peace in the aftermath of civil wars.

Research paper thumbnail of Education through regulation?

Nordic Academic Press eBooks, Jan 3, 2012

Research paper thumbnail of The global-capitalist elephant in the room: how resilient peacebuilding hinders substantive transformation and undermines long-term peace prospects

Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability

This article reviews critical responses to recent academic debates on resilience and peacebuildin... more This article reviews critical responses to recent academic debates on resilience and peacebuilding, with a focus on approaches that question the underlying logics of resilient peacebuilding in fundamental ways. It argues that, while resilience in peacebuilding lends agency and new policy direction to peacebuilding actors, enabling them to uphold the image of active global governance, this also helps to legitimize the existence and reproduction of dominant global-capitalist structures and practices that undermine long-term peacebuilding and give rise to risks of conflict and environmental disasters in the first place. We argue that this process hinders transformation away from an infinite growth economy by focusing on imminent systemic risks and solutions while ignoring potential normative-theoretical and practical-experiential alternatives to the global-capitalist frameworks at the heart of the problem.

Research paper thumbnail of Knowledge and Expertise in International Interventions

Knowledge about violent conflict and international intervention is political. It involves power s... more Knowledge about violent conflict and international intervention is political. It involves power struggles over the objects of knowing (problematization/silencing), how they are known (epistemic pra ...

Research paper thumbnail of Peace agreements in the 1990 s – what are the outcomes 20 years later ?

In the 1990s, a number of protracted armed conflicts were finally ended. This period can be descr... more In the 1990s, a number of protracted armed conflicts were finally ended. This period can be described as a paradigmatic shift with regards to how armed conflicts are brought to an end. When the logic of the Cold War no longer hindered the United Nations (UN) to intervene, the number of UN peace operations rose dramatically and became more comprehensive. In addition, conflicts increasingly ended through negotiated settlements rather than military victory. The peace processes of the 1990s gave rise to great optimism that negotiations and peacebuilding efforts, often with considerable international involvement, would bring sustainable peace to war-affected countries. The outcomes of these peace processes, however, appears to be far from unanimously positive. Today, 20 years after the war endings of the 1990s, it is therefore imperative to critically analyze and evaluate these peace processes and their long-term results. What is the situation like today in countries where conflicts ende...

Research paper thumbnail of Education Movements, Power and Identity in Bosnia and Herzegovina

In the process of postwar rebuilding of a multi-ethnic state, where the principle issues of ident... more In the process of postwar rebuilding of a multi-ethnic state, where the principle issues of identity and fear of assimilation may be at the forefront of the discussion, education emerges as one of the central issues for all ethnic groups that participate in the make-up of the state. Education is recognized as a key institution in the apparatus of the modern nation-state (Durkheim 1956). For Durkheim (1956), it is education that plays the pivotal role in perpetuating and buttressing the societal homogeneity by “fixing in the child from the beginning the essential similarities that collective life demands”. However, the situation in the multi-ethnic state is more complex. The issue of education and the influence over it becomes essential for the recognition of groups and their survival in terms of identity and participation in the control and redistribution of knowledge and power at the state’s core.

Research paper thumbnail of Shadow peacebuilders and diplomatic counterinsurgencies: informal networks, knowledge production and the art of policy-shaping

Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding, 2017

ABSTRACT This article explores the role of informal networks in producing strategic knowledge and... more ABSTRACT This article explores the role of informal networks in producing strategic knowledge and influencing policy responses to the 2011 post-election crisis in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The analytical focus is on networks of shadow peacebuilders, defined as actors who are often not visible to the public and who promote a mix of altruistic and personal interests of their broader network by generating strategic narratives and influencing peacebuilding policy. As this article shows, shadow peacebuilders engage in diplomatic counterinsurgencies waged by means of diplomacy, politics, public relations and legal means. Strategic narratives are instrumental in legitimizing diplomatic counterinsurgency, inducing internal cohesion within the network and delegitimizing alternative narratives and policy solutions. Yet the production of strategic knowledge by shadow peacebuilders has its limitations. When the gap between strategic narrative and actions becomes too big, the network risks fragmentation and defeat by other networks that promote alternative strategic narratives and paths of action in the battle over control of peacebuilding policy.

Research paper thumbnail of Transnational think-tanks: foot soldiers in the battlefield of ideas? Examining the role of theicgin Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2000–01

Third World Quarterly, 2014

ABSTRACT Peace-building situations can be described as battlefields of ideas where key internatio... more ABSTRACT Peace-building situations can be described as battlefields of ideas where key international policy makers engage in internal battles for control over intervention policy. Knowledge production, based on timely information and analysis, is seen as crucial to winning these battles of ideas. By providing detailed information, analysis and recommendations, the International Crisis Group (icg) has assumed an important role in this process. Yet we know little about the specific role the icg plays in battles for intervention policy. This article investigates icg analyses and recommendations and the way they fit into the specific internal debates within the international community in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) in 2000–01. By looking at the work of the icg in BiH around the elections in 2000, the article demonstrates that it often acted as a legitimising agent of US positions and policy in the country.

Research paper thumbnail of Mediation and Liberal Peacebuilding

Mediation and Liberal Peacebuilding, 2013

This book offers a state-of-the-art examination of peacemaking, looking at its theoretical assump... more This book offers a state-of-the-art examination of peacemaking, looking at its theoretical assumptions, empirical applications and its consequences.Despite the wealth of research on external interventions and practices of Western peacebuilding, many scholars tend to rely on findings in the so-called 'post-agreement' phase of interventions. As a result, most mainstream peacebuilding literature pays limited or no attention to the linkages that exist between mediation practices in the negotiation phase and processes in the post-peace agreement phase of intervention.By linking the motives and practices of interveners during negotiation and implementation phases into a more integrated theoretical framework, this book makes a unique contribution to the on-going debate on the so-called Western ‘liberal’ models of peacebuilding. Drawing upon in-depth case-studies from various different regions of the world including Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Sudan, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Sierra Leone, this innovative volume examines a variety of political motives behind third party interventions, thus challenging the very founding concept of mediation literature.This book will of much interest to students of peacebuilding, statebuilding, peacemaking, war and conflict studies, security studies and IR in general.

Research paper thumbnail of Liberal State-Building and Environmental Security: The International Community between Trade-Off and Carelessness

The Security-Development Nexus, 2012

Research paper thumbnail of Knowledge production in/about conflict and intervention: finding ‘facts’, telling ‘truth’

Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding, 2017

This article has a twofold aim. First, it discusses the contributions to the scholarly field of c... more This article has a twofold aim. First, it discusses the contributions to the scholarly field of conflict knowledge and expertise in this special issue on Knowledge Production in/about Conflict and Intervention. Second, it suggests an alternative reading of the issue's contributions. Starting from the assumption that prevalent ways of knowing are always influenced by wider material and ideological structures at specific times, we trace the influence of contemporary neoliberalism on general knowledge production structures in Western societies, and more specifically in Western academia, before re-reading the special issue's contributions through this prism. Our main argument is that neoliberalism leaves limited space for independent critical knowledge, thereby negatively affecting what can be known about conflict and intervention. We conclude with some tasks for reflexive scholarship in neoliberal times.

Research paper thumbnail of Knowledge, expertise and the politics of intervention and statebuilding

Research paper thumbnail of Shifting Identities, Policy Networks, and the Practical and Ethical Challenges of Gaining Access to the Field in Interventions

Research paper thumbnail of Knowledge production in/about conflict and intervention: finding ‘facts’, telling ‘truth’

This article has a twofold aim. First, it discusses the contributions to the scholarly field of c... more This article has a twofold aim. First, it discusses the contributions to the scholarly field of conflict knowledge and expertise in this special issue on Knowledge production in/about conflict and intervention: finding ‘facts’, telling ‘truth’. Second, it suggests an alternative reading of the issue’s contributions. Starting from the assumption that prevalent ways of knowing are always influenced by wider material and ideological structures at specific times, the article traces the influence of contemporary neoliberalism on general knowledge production structures in Western societies, and more specifically in Western academia, before re-reading the special issue’s contributions through this prism. The main argument is that neoliberalism leaves limited space for independent critical knowledge, thereby negatively affecting what can be known about conflict and intervention. The article concludes with some tasks for reflexive scholarship in neoliberal times.

Research paper thumbnail of Shadow peacebuilders and diplomatic counterinsurgencies: informal networks, knowledge production and the art of policy-shaping

This article explores the role of informal networks in producing strategic knowledge and influenc... more This article explores the role of informal networks in producing strategic knowledge and influencing policy responses to the 2011 post-election crisis in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The analytical focus is on networks of shadow peacebuilders, defined as actors who are often not visible to the public and who promote a mix of altruistic and personal interests of their broader network by generating strategic narratives and influencing peacebuilding policy. As this article shows, shadow peacebuilders engage in diplomatic counterinsurgencies waged by means of diplomacy, politics, public relations and legal means. Strategic narratives are instrumental in legitimizing diplomatic counterinsurgency, inducing internal cohesion within the network and delegitimizing alternative narratives and policy solutions. Yet the production of strategic knowledge by shadow peacebuilders has its limitations. When the gap between strategic narrative and actions becomes too big, the network risks fragmentation and defeat by other networks that promote alternative strategic narratives and paths of action in the battle over control of peacebuilding policy.

Research paper thumbnail of Exploring Trends in Transnational Practices of Conflict-generated Migrants. Bosnians in Sweden and their Activities Towards Bosnia-Herzegovina

Migrations from Bosnia and Herzegovina

Research paper thumbnail of Education Movements, Power and Identity in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Education as Social Action. Knowledge, Identity and Power

Research paper thumbnail of Mediation and liberal Peacebuilding

Mediation and Liberal Peacebuilding Peace from the Ashes of War? av Mikael Eriksson, Roland Kos... more Mediation and Liberal Peacebuilding
Peace from the Ashes of War?

av Mikael Eriksson, Roland Kostic (inbunden, 2013)

Sätt betyg
Bloggar (0)

Tipsa en vän
Länka till sidan

Pris: 1732:-

Skickas inom 2-5 vardagar.

Lägg i varukorg

Spara som favorit

Fri frakt vid beställning på minst 99 kr för privatpersoner i Sverige - Läs mer

Välj format:
E-bok
E-bok
Inbunden

This book offers a state-of-the-art examination of peacemaking, looking at its theoretical assumptions, empirical applications and its consequences. Despite the wealth of research on external interventions and practices of Western peacebuilding, many scholars tend to rely on findings in the so-called 'post-agreement' phase of interventions. As a result, most mainstream peacebuilding literature pays limited or no attention to the linkages that exist between mediation practices in the negotiation phase and processes in the post-peace agreement phase of intervention. By linking the motives and practices of interveners during negotiation and implementation phases into a more integrated theoretical framework, this book makes a unique contribution to the on-going debate on the so-called Western 'liberal' models of peacebuilding. Drawing upon in-depth case-studies from various different regions of the world including Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Sudan, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Sierra Leone, this innovative volume examines a variety of political motives behind third party interventions, thus challenging the very founding concept of mediation literature. This book will of much interest to students of peacebuilding, statebuilding, peacemaking, war and conflict studies, security studies and IR in general.

Research paper thumbnail of Yugoslavs in Arms: Guerrilla Tradition, Total Defence and the Ethnic Security Dilemma

Europe-Asia Studies, Jan 1, 2010

Research paper thumbnail of Environmental Security and Peace Building Projects: Necessary trade off for bringing peace or grossly negligent?

… of the Swedish Network of Peace, …, Jan 1, 2009

Research paper thumbnail of Liberal Statebuilding and Environmental Security: The International Community Between Trade-off and Carelessness

The development and security nexus, Anthem Press, …, Jan 1, 2011

Liberal state- and nationbuilding fails to include into its framework of analysis environmental p... more Liberal state- and nationbuilding fails to include into its framework of analysis environmental problems of post-conflict societies. Economic development projects such as large hydro projects or open cast mining for lignite, as an element of broader state-building exercise, lead to environmental stress for the communities, and can further exacerbate inter-communal incompatibilities.
The case study of statebuilding in Kosovo is used to highlight the complexities of sustaining a peaceful post-conflict situation within the framework of existing peacebuilding model. Moreover, it emphasises that environmental and societal security requirements have to be addressed simultaneously to reduce the risk of reoccurring conflicts. The expectations is that by better understanding of the interaction between societal and environmental security, further valuable conclusion can be drawn about the capacity and limitations of prevailing models to build peace in the aftermath of civil wars.

Research paper thumbnail of Global Environmental Governance during Peacebuilding - The Case of Kosovo

Paper presented at ISA Annual Convention 2014 'Spaces and Places - Geopolitics in an Era of Globalization', March 26-29, 2014, Toronto, Canada., Mar 2014

Kosovo’s energy development could be much further if resources would have been used more efficien... more Kosovo’s energy development could be much further if resources would have been used more efficient and if global environmental governance regimes would have been applied earlier. This paper tries to explain why focus on renewable resources and with that a more sustainable approach to Kosovo’s development was not promoted through peacebuilding actors. We contextualize the question of global environmental governance during peacebuilding by focusing on the challenges to global norms and procedures of environmental protection in Kosovo’s energy policies. Previous research on Kosovo found that external peacebuilding actors favoured short-sighted solutions and focused on imminent security and economic development. A comprehensive, long-term strategy to address environmental factors through diversification of energy sources and utilizing of renewable energy potentials was missing. However, a 2012 assessment found that Kosovo a focus on security and economic development would not be contradicted by the promotion of renewable energy policies in peacebuilding strategies for Kosovo. We show that Kosovo environmental governance in terms of global norms and procedures of environmental protection was unsuccessful during Kosovo’s international-governance/liberal peace administration embodied in the UNMIK. However, following Kosovo’s declaration of independence in 2008 we find that new policies of environmental governance emerge and manifest itself in the strategy that includes renewable resources. Thus, we argue that change in security priorities within Kosovo in the post-independence period created space for influences not only by international private and political actors dealing with energy issues but also for local private actors and civil society lobbying Kosovo government for strategies more in line with GEG and relying more on renewable energy sources.

Research paper thumbnail of Collective Memory in Transition: Bridging the Divide Between the Humanities and Social Science

Memories in Conflict, 2020

Research paper thumbnail of Knowledge and Expertise in International Interventions: The Politics of Facts, Truth and Authenticity

Knowledge about violent conflict and international intervention is political. It involves power s... more Knowledge about violent conflict and international intervention is political. It involves power struggles over the objects of knowing (problematization/silencing), how they are known (epistemic practices), and what interpretations are taken into account in policymaking and implementation. This book unearths the politics, power and performances involved in the social construction of seemingly neutral concepts such as facts, truth and authenticity in knowing about violent conflict and international intervention. Contributors foreground problems of physical and social access to information, explore practices generating knowledge actors’ authority and legitimacy, and analyse struggles over competing policy narratives. A first set of chapters focuses on the social construction of facts, truth and authenticity through studies of militia research in the DR Congo, politicians’ on-site visits in intervention theatres in the Balkans and Afghanistan, and the epistemic practices of Human Rights Watch and comics journalism. A second set of contributions analyses the strategic side of knowledge through case studies of diplomatic counterinsurgency in Bosnia and Herzegovina, African governments’ active role in the ‘bunkerization’ of international aid workers, and authoritarian peacebuilding as a challenge to the liberal power/knowledge regime in world politics.