Security sector reform and the Serbia conundrum are SSR efforts bringing Serbia closer to European Union and North Atlantic Treaty Organization Integration?

Abstract

The NATO intervention in the wars in the former Yugoslavia from 1991 to 1999 illustrated the importance of South Eastern Europe to Atlantic security. In 2005, certain of the southern Slav nations have gained NATO and EU membership, as in the case of Slovenia, or have drawn ever closer to qualifying for membership, as in the case of Croatia and Bulgaria. However, Serbia and Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina have proved more difficult to draw into the European fold due to the lingering effects of the wars in Bosnia and Kosovo. This thesis explores Serbia's ongoing attempts to integrate into EU and NATO structures. It begins with the background of the situation in Serbia of 2005 with a focus on the historical leadership, management, and missions of the security sector. It then examines the development and objectives of the security sector reform agenda and the challenges facing its practitioners. Additionally, this thesis analyses the impact of the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, Kosovo final status disposition, and the chaotic domestic political situation on Serbian reform efforts. This thesis argues that, as a result of political and social circumstances unique to Serbia as well as the institutional shortcomings of the West as concerns comprehensive democratic reform of power and arms, the ongoing SSR efforts in Serbia will take several years to come to fruition.