Balkans: Conflict Resolution and EU Accession Politics

Faculty co-leaders: Profs. Denis Sullivan and Will Lovely (d.sullivan@neu.edu and w.lovely@neu.edu)
POLS 4938: International Politics Abroad: GLOBAL
INTL 4944: Dialogue of Civilizations: Regional Engagement REGIONAL – EURO

The Balkans Dialogue investigates conflict and post-conflict reconstruction. We look at American efforts to end the bloody conflict in Bosnia (through the Dayton Accords) in 1995. Four years later, NATO and the US were also militarily involved in the Kosovo conflict, bombing Belgrade and other parts of Serbia. The program uses an interdisciplinary approach to understanding the history, culture, politics, and society of the former Yugoslavia. NU students will meet with Serbian, Croatian, and Bosnian community activists, students, scholars, and political leaders; journalists; U.S. embassy staff; E.U., U.N., and NATO representatives; plus various NGOs and civil society groups. E.U. accession is a major question for Serbia as well as Bosnia.

Available Co-op Opportunities:

Praxis (Belgrade)
National non-governmental organization established in 2004 in Belgrade that aims to promote, protect and improve human rights, and combat discrimination, intolerance and racism.

Special Prosecutors for War Crimes Tribunal (Belgrade)
The Office of the War Crimes Prosecutor was founded with the intention to detect and prosecute perpetrators of criminal offences against humanity and international law.

CANVAS (Belgrade)
Center for Applied Non-Violent Action and Strategies (CANVAS) is a non-profit, non-governmental, international network, oriented to educational work related to strategic nonviolent conflict.

Inter-news
Internews is an international non-profit organization whose mission is to empower local media worldwide to give people the news and information they need, the ability to connect and the means to make their voices heard.

Office of the High Representative
The Office of the High Representative (OHR) is an ad hoc international institution responsible for overseeing implementation of civilian aspects of the Peace Agreement ending the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The institution is working with the people and institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the international community to ensure that Bosnia and Herzegovina evolves into a peaceful and viable democracy on course for integration in Euro-Atlantic institutions.

Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project
The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) is a not-for-profit, joint program of a number of regional non-profit investigative centers and for profit independent media stretching from Eastern Europe to Central Asia. Their goal is to help the people of the region better understand how organized crime and corruption affect their lives. OCCRP seeks to provide in-depth investigative stories as well as the latest news pertaining to organized crime and corruption activities in the region.