The research project on New Protectorates of the Global Public Policy Institute (Berlin) organised a conference on "The New Protectorates: International Administration and the Dilemmas of Governance" in June 2007 together with the Centre for International Studies at the University of Cambridge. The goal of the workshop was to discuss contributions to an edited volume on the "theories of governance" underpinning contemporary “protectorates” such as Afghanistan, Liberia, Sierra Leone, East Timor and Iraq. The conference report can be downloaded here.

Die Virtuelle Fachbibliothek Osteuropa hat ein neues Slavistik-Portal eingerichtet mit 650 Internetquellen zur Slavistik, einem Neuerwerbungsdienst, der jährlich über 4000 slavistische Neuerwerbungen des Sondersammelgebiets der Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin verzeichnet und bibliographischen Angaben aus mehr als 2 Mio. slavistischen Datensätzen.

The "Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung" (German Centre for Civic Education) has just published an online collection of articles and links on inner-state conflicts (in German). You may be particularly interested in the articles concerning the Balkan region: you will find one background article on the Kosovar-Serbian conflict (which I wrote) and on the conflict in Macedonia.

After an Easter break, I will try to resume blogging more regularly. I just came across an article available on the Eldis platform on development research of the Institute of Development Studies in Sussex: United Nations reform: improving peace operations by advancing the role of women. As I read a lot on the UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), I found this quite interesting - here is the abstract:

A new publication from the Eurocult Foundation Balkan Reflection Group, 'The Heart of the Matter', offers expert analysis and reflection from the ten personalities (artists, intellectuals, cultural producers and political experts) on the role of the arts and culture in the European integration of the Balkans. The process resulted in the launch of the Balkan Incentive Fund for Culture, a new funding-line for the region. The book can be downloaded here.

"Reverse Balkanisation? Trade Integration in South-East Europe" by David Kernohan, published by CEPS. Click here to read an abstract and to download the paper (pdf for free). For those of you interested in SEE economy, here a new webpage on shadow economy created by the WIIW Balkan Observatory team.

The Interuniversity Research Centre on Southern Europe (CIRES, Italy) published Europeanizations and Democratization: The Southern European Experience and the Perspective for the New Member States of the Enlarged Europe (.zip, 2,7 MB), the proceedings of a June 2005 conference organized by the University of Florence, Centre of European Excellence, and the Italian Institute of Social Sciences. The 524-page volume includes case studies of Russia, Georgia, Turkey, Ukraine, and Romania, plus thematic essays on EU democracy-promotion policies and of internal and external influences on democratization. (source: Network of Democracy Research Institutes newsletter)

Here is a selection of background articles and reports published in the last few weeks - for a quiet week-end at home or for relaxed beach holidays: "Southern Serbia: In Kosovo's Shadow", "The State of Media Freedom in Kosovo", "Human Security Agenda for the Balkans", "The Process of Decentralization in Macedonia: Prospects for Ethnic Conflict Mitigation, Enhanced Representation, Institutional Efficiency and Accountability", "The Hague Tribunal and Balkan Reconciliation".

Southeast European Politics Online, a journal freely available on the internet, is currently looking for university graduates interested in South-Eastern Europe or in conflicts and conflict management/democratisation/the role of the international community who would like to publish reviews on their website. For more information, please contact Tome Sandevski.

The “Victims of War” project was conducted in 2004 by the Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law in Freiburg, Germany. It was supported by many NGOs and universities as well as by the Hamburg Foundation for Social Research. The aim of the project was to deliver explorative empirical data on the topic of macro-victimization in wars and to close a major research gap in the important areas of conflict resolution, transitional justice research, and especially victimology / criminology.

Some readings for the Easter break: a paper on the new member states and how well/bad they fare in the EU (might be interesting to see what problems the future new SEE members will be confronted with) (in German); a paper on ethnic violence in Vojvodina (in English); and a paper on the constitutional changes in Bosnia-Herzegovina (in B/C/S). Click on "more" to see the references of the brand-new papers.