The Balkans: history, politics, and regional dynamics

Balkans in the Recent Years

Despite the Balkans having gone through three major wars, the 1912, the Balkans war of 1913 and the First World War the Balkans do not seem to take keen interest in the cultural preservation of such commemorations. This is due to the fact that in these wars, Bulgaria was badly humiliated and also due to the ear of offending its neighbors through commemoration a history that is considered sad, complicated and saw the death of many people in the region. The other fact in the Balkans is the religious lines that are still predominant in the current time thanks to the history as the Muslims and the Christians view each other across the courtiers as the reason for their suffering from the earlier wars that rocked the peace that was in the area. Politically also, this region is seen as being politically stable since the Dayton agreement and after the fall of the Milosevic regime. The European Union also committed itself to integrating the region in the June 2003 Thessaloniki Summit making it a region that currently enjoys relative calm, economic progress and political stability.

One of the major challenges that the region faces is the fragile peace that still exists in the region following the long history of violence and war. This was displayed by the recent Kosovo violence that was realized in 2004. The other challenge is lack of development due to the status of the region relive to the fragile peace. Many investors shy away from putting in their money in the region with the fear that it may all go to waste incase acts of violence and war break up any time. This has resulted in dire economic condition of the region which is a great challenge to the people living within the region. It has also given rise to an environment of violent gangs networks, military conflicts and constant flows of immigrants. Hence the economic situation, the insecurity and the social situation are depressing in the region and are the main challenges that the Balkans face in the contemporary society due to the part state of war in the region. The opportunities that are present in the region are first the optimistic youth population that is trying heir best to rebuild their economy from the war and depletion that it faced, this is the single most important resource that the region in general has. The other opportunity is the prospect of the Balkans being part of the European Union and in essence sharing in the political environment, the social setting and the political trends of the rest of the European countries, this means there will be better prospects for development in the future as more investors will want to invest in the region just as they do in the rest of the European Union nations. The other opportunity is the heavy involvement and interest that the international community and the European Union has in the region. This is expected to propel the region in developing pro-EU constituencies which will translate to political direction that integrated the region with other EU countries hence achieve development that is badly needed as a European Union member state (International Commission on the Balkans, 2005:Pp11-12).