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Framed by complexity-thinking, this book uses the prism of security sector reform (SSR) to trace the co-evolution of the Western Balkans as part of the EU/Europe security community and the European Union (EU) as a security actor. It aims to analyse the suitability and adaptability of EU security governance to a VUCA world, i.e. a world of increasing vulnerability, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity-the world of transformative change. It takes a detailed view on the transformation of regional and state security in the Western Balkans and the EU's role in the process between 1991, the year that marked the flare-up of violence and large-scale conflict, and 2013, when the first state of the region joined the EU.
About the author
Dr Anastasiia Kudlenko studied Politics and International Relations in Canterbury, England, and Russian, Central and Eastern European Studies in Glasgow, Scotland, and Krakow, Poland. Since 2021, she is Post-Doctoral Research Associate on the GCRF COMPASS project at the University of Kent.
Her papers have been published by, among other outlets, International Peacekeeping, Journal of Contemporary European Studies, and Comparative Southeast European Studies.
Report
"With her book, Kudlenko argues for EU-assisted SSR to be seen as a form of statebuilding, as preparing the three states for EU accession, and as a tool for peacebuilding and regional stability. She makes the case that the EU was a crucial actor in the region during a difficult time, and that its strength lay in its ability to adapt to the local context along with the continuous improvement of its methods. [...] Her argument is solid and well-structured, with empirical evidence that is well-grounded in theoretical insight. This is also true for her overarching argument that, for SSR efforts, the Western Balkans context was very important for the EU, too, enabling considerable learning and the opportunity to enhance and develop its approach significantly."
-Uros Popadic, Faculty of Political Science, University of Belgrade; Comp. Southeast Europ. Stud. 2025, 73(1).
