almanac on security sector oversight in the Western Balkans

ise data from previous analyses 186 on the scope of security actors’ accountability in
their countries. The researchers had full autonomy in determining this scope, which, in
turn, makes them responsible for the validity of findings and evaluations presented in
their case studies. Similarly, the author of this chapter is fully responsible for the quality
of the comparative analysis and his own interpretation of the findings.
The following text is intended to be more than just a compilation of the case studies’
main findings. The data and results were interpreted and summarised by the author
according to his understanding of political and security dynamics in the Western
Balkans. He chose this approach to shed more light on processes underpinning the
development, content and scope of SSR in these countries. Of course, this is only one
of many possible ways for interpreting the similarities and differences, as well as the
progress and setbacks in establishing the responsibilities of state security forces.
2 . Similarities among contexts
The construct of the “Western Balkans“ is based on the assumption that the Western
Balkan countries, despite differences among them, have many similarities. Analysis
of the sources, content and meaning of the discursively created image of this region
and its countries exceedes the potential and purpose of this paper. For this reason,
the author adopts the above-mentioned hypothesis and will expand it with an outline
of main similarities and crucial differences among the Western Balkan countries. This
chapter will also focus on similarities which make it possible to compare local SSR
contexts and identifies observable implications that suggest similar underlying trends.
The context of SSR in the region will be presented here as a multi-layered social construct.
It consists of a set of inter-connected and intertwined discursive layers, coming
in chronological and historical order. The formative strength and explanatory value of
each layer depends on the significance that current creators of the dominant discourse
on context and SSR attach to it, and not on a particular layer’s place in the order of
historical events. 187
The SSR context in the Western Balkans countries consists of two components: ideational
and material. The ideational component gives the context, via national security
policy and strategy (NSP, NSS), 188 its characteristics in terms of values, ideology, interests
and politics, as well as the aspirations of local society. How these are arranged
186 The different criteria analyzed during this earlier phase of the project during which the authors
were mapping SSR in their countries, were: the Legal State, Oversight by Independent State Bodies,
Judicial Control and Oversight, Parliamentary Control and Oversight, Executive Control and Oversight,
General Transparency, Financial Transparency and Representativeness.
187 This is also illustrated by the arbitrary removal of both Yugoslavias from the collective memory of
every new state built on their territory, and by the buliding of new national and political identities on
the basis of pre-Yugoslav era.
188 The concept of “nation“ is used here to describe a political community encompassed by a state,
not an ethnic group.
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