The PALADINS are known for our expertise in the Balkans and southeastern Europe more generally. We have been working in the Balkans since 1997 and we bring a wealth of experience of the region to the assistance of our clients and those we otherwise choose to assist in the area.
Balkan Insight is one of the leading international media portals that collates and posts articles about the Balkan region. They are one of the most neutral and reliable sources in a region with very few sources that pursue either of those aims. Their website is www.balkaninsight.com.
The following is a list of articles we have published on Balkan Insight over the last several years. It is not complete; but we hope it does illustrate the depth and span of our knowledge of the various Balkan conflicts that continue to simmer.
For details of other articles we have written about the politics economics and society of the Balkans, see our Older Articles or Newer Articles pages.
Areas of our expertise include:
The perpetually dysfunctional state politics of Bosnia and Herzegovina, that have remained 'impossibly sclerotic' ever since their misconceived implementation into international law as an annex to the Dayton Peace Accords in November 1995, the architects of which are virtually all now dead
The uniquely unusual politics and economics of Republika Srpska, a territory that is entirely constitutional and legitimate in international law even though people say it is not and is not an unrecognised territory but may be a frozen conflict, and which is subject to the most curious regime of sanctions
The political strategies of Milorad Dodik, international political bogeyman of Republika Srpska who is the Balkans' longest surviving politician and undoubtedly its most skilled
The even more unusual federal politics of the so-called 'Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina', a Swiss-style canton arrangement that covers half the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina
The dangerous and malicious politics of Herzeg-Bosna, a territorial unit that has no de jure recognition whatsoever but remains the de facto political representative of the Bosnian Croats
The unique and effective regime of Aleksandr Vucic, President of the Republic of Serbia, who manages to achieve overwhelming popularity for a semi-authoritarian yet democratic regime notwithstanding his peculiar lack of popularity in the capital Belgrade; and who manages to balance an ever-precarious relationship between Moscow and Brussels
The politics of Kosovo and her renegade northern province, currently the single biggest violent flashpoint in the Balkans, in which peace is kept only through a peculiar system of international intervention most of whose decisions are ignored but the critical ones are virtually agreed by the domestic parties and imposed upon the international community
The unusual politics of what some people now call North Macedonia, a tiny territory obsessed with self-image as her principal political dynamic
The socio-political issues between Macedonians and Macedonian Albanians, and the city of Tetovo
The self-imploding international regime of supervision in Brcko in northern Bosnia, that nonetheless keeps the country stable.
The effective and proportionate use of violence by international peacekeepers in regional theatre to suppress ethnic conflagrations
The networks of Balkan political corruption and how to use them as a political lever on compromised domestic political actors (while at all times obeying domestic laws)
If you have a problem relating to the Balkans, maybe we can help you try to solve it. It is one of the most confounding and frustrating regions in the world.
The PALADINS. We are here to serve.