“FAULT LINES”: GENERATOR OF INSTABILITY OF THE POSTYUGOSLAV BALKANS

Dr. Milomir Stepić, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors

Abstract

The Balkans is a specific European region primarily because of its ethno-civilizational heterogeneity and geopolitical importance. In this context, it is often considered a “subcontinent” whose differentia specifica is instability and conflict. Both the cause and effect of such status are fault lines, as S. Huntington calls them. They stem from the “Balkan sub-order” that changes after major regional, European and World wars. That created not only the external but also internal borders, both in the monarchist and Titoist Yugoslav states. Their “inadequacy” is the result of not applying the ethnic principle as the basic principle of demarcation, which should apply only to constituent peoples. The destabilizing and conflicting nature of the borders of former Yugoslav republics became evident when, during the breakup of Yugoslavia, they were transformed into interstate borders, with emphasized fragmentational, barrieral and centrifugal features. There are numerous and obvious examples of the selective choosing of demarcation principles, catastrophic consequences of the intersection of ethnic spaces, and the impacts of inadequate borders on provoking war conflicts. The recent dysfunctionality of the post-Yugoslav part of the Balkans is also a consequence of the imposition of inadequate boundaries based on the decision of the Badinter Commission. Therefore, a revision of the division of the post-Yugoslav space and newly formed borders is necessary. It would be carried out in accordance with the ethnic principle as a basic, proprietary-historical principle as additional, and with the use of numerous corrective principles in the final delimitation and demarcation. The formation of new, consequential borders would be a precondition for a more lasting stabilization of the Balkans.

References

• Atlagić, Marko. 2012. „Franjo Tuđman kao vođa udruženog zločinačkog poduhvata 1991-1995. godine.” Zbornik radova Filozofskog fakulteta XLII (1): 13–23.
• Cvijić, Jovan. 1969. Opšta geografija – antropogeografija, Beograd: Zavod za izdavanje udžbenika SR Srbije.
• Huntington, Samuel P. 1996. The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order. New York: Simon & Schuster.
• Ilić, Jovan, i Milomir Stepić. 1994. „Granice država – definicija, klasifikacija i principi razgraničenja.” U Osnovni principi razgraničenja država, ur. Dragiša Nikolić, 15–25. Beograd: Vojnogeografski institut.
• Isaković, Zehrudin. n.d. „Alija Izetbegović – biografija”. Poslednji pristup 21. novembar 2019. https://www.muzejalijaizetbegovic.ba/upload/file/biografija_alije_izetbegovica.pdf.
• Klemenčić, Mladen. 1993/1994. “Four Theses about Croatia and Bosnia”. In: Croatia – A New European State, eds. Ivan Crkvenčić, Mladen Klemenčić and Dragutin Feletar, 55–60. Zagreb: Department for Geography and Spatial Planning, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb.
• Less, Timothy. 2016. “Dysfunction in the Balkans – Can the Post-Yugoslav Settlement Survive?” Foreign Affairs. https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/bosnia-herzegovina/2016-12-20/dysfunction-balkans.
• Matić, Branislav. 1994. „Živeti na Verigama sveta.” U Tajna Balkana, ur. Branislav Matić, 7–14. Beograd: Studentski kulturni centar.
• Simeunović, Dragan. 2018. „Fenomen granica.” Srpska politička misao 61 (3): 9–25. doi.org/10.22182/spm.6132018.1
• Spasovski Milena, Dragica Živković, i Milomir Stepić. 1992. Etnički sastav stanovništva Bosne i Hercegovine. Edicija „Etnički prostor Srba”, knjiga 2. Beograd: Geografski fakultet Univerziteta u Beogradu.
• Stepić, Milomir. 2001. U vrtlogu balkanizacije. Beograd: JP Službeni list SRJ; Institut za geopolitičke studije.
• Stepić, Milomir. 2012a. „Zapadni Balkan: primer geografskog raspojmljivanja i geopolitičkog manipulisanja”, Nacionalni interes 15 (3): 9–34.
• Stepić, Milomir. 2012b. „Srpske zemlje u balkanskoj aplikaciji strategije obuzdavanja: jugoslovenska i postjugoslovenska formula.” U Razbijanje Jugoslavije, ur. Živojin Đurić, Miloš Knežević i Milan Jovanović, 259–291. Beograd: Institut za političke studije.
• Stepić, Milomir. 2016. Geopolitika – ideje, teorije, koncepcije. Beograd: Institut za političke studije.
• Stepić, Milomir. 2018a. „Geopolitički smisao jugoslovenstva i jugoslovenske države.” U Istorija jedne utopije: 100 godina od stvaranja Jugoslavije, knjiga druga, ur. Nikola Marinković, 297–319. Beograd: Catena mundi.
• Stepić, Milomir. 2018b. „Kosovo i Metohija kao indikator novog bipolarizma”. Srpska politička misao, 61 (3): 27–49. doi.org/10.22182/spm.6132018.2
• Stepić, Milomir. 2019a. „Most i granice.” Pečat, 22. novembar: 10–12.
• Stepić, Milomir. 2019b. Srpski geopolitički obrazac. Beograd: Catena mundi.
• Umeljić, Vladimir. 2018. Balkanski gambit Vatikana. Beograd: Catena mundi.