Anastasiia Kudlenko: Security Governance in Times of Complexity. The EU and Security Sector Reform in the Western Balkans, 1991–2013

In Security Governance in Times of Complexity. The EU and Security Sector Reform in the Western Balkans, 1991–2013, Anastasiia Kudlenko analyses a period that was critical for the Western Balkans, as it went through a period of war and conflict in the 1990s followed by another of (attempts at) democratisation and statebuilding. In her analysis, she focuses on the security sector reform (SSR) conducted with the assistance of the European Union (EU), which itself was going through a period of transformation. The period analysed begins with the wars in Yugoslavia and ends with Croatia’s accession to the EU. The three case studies concern the reforms in Croatia, Serbia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, which are explored from a comparative perspective so as to provide an overarching view of security dynamics.

Kudlenko’s in-depth analysis is preceded by an explanation of the methodological framework. She uses complexity thinking, an approach where systems are observed as open and emerging as opposed to linear, in order to understand the transformative dynamics in the three case studies, with their interactions with and adaptations to a permanently unstable environment comprising multiple factors of influence. This framework of complex security governance includes the EU as a multifactorial actor attempting to address sophisticated risks in an atmosphere of uncertainty. Kudlenko employs the theory of complex security governance to explain the high level of regional security interdependence. She does this in an effort to explain how the security situation changed during the period under scrutiny, what the approach and role of the EU was at this time, and how SSR was implemented in the three countries. Kudlenko relies on process tracing to grasp the temporal changes in the regional security dynamics. Innovatively, she considers that SSR has been used as a tool of peacebuilding and statebuilding by the EU, arguing that it employed SSR and used it through its assistance programs in the region in order to strengthen the ties of the regional states to itself.

Kudlenko explores not only the EU’s influence on the SSR of the three states as they evolved over the decades, but also the impact the experience had on the EU as it also developed its security sector governance. She thus interlinks the co-evolution of the EU and the three states in the security sphere, along with their changing approaches and understandings of this sphere. Thus she analyses the security transformation in the Western Balkans using a methodological frame that does not characterize attempts at reform as success or failure but tries to understand their evolution as a whole. In relation to this, she underlines how EU security governance, too, evolved through trial and error, comparing the approaches that the three states took in order to better understand the EU’s attempts at support. She concludes that, by assisting in the stabilisation of the security situation and in SSR, the EU increased its recognition as an international security actor.

At the outset, Kudlenko thus defines the Western Balkan security complex as a subcomplex within the larger European structure and elucidates the EU’s increasingly important role for the region since the end of violent conflict at the turn of the millennium. The situation has been complicated not only by the legacy of the interlinked conflicts of the 1990s, which required external stabilisation efforts, but also by the operations of various powers vying for influence in the region. In the second chapter, Kudlenko analyses the EU’s promotion of SSR, noting how the region was a fitting place for the EU to pursue a proactive policy and adapt its own modus operandi.

In the three chapters that follow, Kudlenko explores the three case studies. Croatia has engaged in an impressive process of SSR as well as successful statebuilding as part of its EU accession process, which was concluded in 2013. She argues convincingly and in detail that the EU was heavily involved with SSR and that it benefitted from a positive learning experience in Croatia. The Serbian experience she describes as more challenging, as this state was less open to EU influence and intervention, and has suffered from fragmented institutions as well as statebuilding and statehood issues. It democratised slowly, with political polarisation and the legacy of wartime aggression weighing heavily. The period after Slobodan Milošević’s ousting from power in October 2000 was characterised by Serbia seeking an escape from its previous isolation and the EU increasing its role in SSR, which in turn led to improved regional stability. Kudlenko concludes that these first post-Milošević years involved a remarkable transformation. Bosnia and Herzegovina was defined by a strong presence of the international community, with stable but uneven reforms and incomplete statebuilding. In this context, it was difficult for the EU to facilitate SSR due to Bosnia’s problems of sovereignty and the continuing crisis between the federal government and the federal units. Kudlenko chronicles the EU’s ability to adapt and adjust to the situation in Bosnia.

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. The author describes the EU as persistent and flexible, but also as operating under a clear structure and system. She posits that, on the whole, it achieved success, despite persistent local problems, and that it played a positive role in the region. Kudlenko provides a comparison of the case studies to reveal exactly how the EU operated in its attempt to consolidate the region through SSR, the incentive of EU accession, and by acknowledging the challenges posed by the legacy of the 1990s conflicts. 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.