Peacebuilding and International Administration: The Cases of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo.

• Author: Shahin, Evgeniia
• Position: Book review

Peacebuilding and International Administration: The Cases of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo

By Niels van Willigen

London and New York: Routledge, 2013, 248 pages, $145, ISBN: 9780415643306.

While international administrations are imposed in conflict or post-conflict countries/regions in order to stop violence, prevent further casualties, and build sustainable and peaceful states, very often their effectiveness and impact on the affected population remains controversial. Niels van Willigen analyzes the effectiveness of such international administrations in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo by analyzing the level of institutionalization and the sustainability of the institutions created during the state-building activities of the international administrations.

Van Willigen constructs a theoretical framework of institution-building under international administrations and, using such framework, provides a detailed historical and political analysis of the Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina cases. One of the main strengths of this book is its provision of such a detailed and thorough conceptual framework for this research, so much so that at times it may even seem to be too comprehensive and detailed for a reader from outside of academia. Moreover, van Willigen presents a profound analysis of the historical documents regarding both countries for the period of 1995-2011 for Bosnia and Herzegovina and 1999-2011 for Kosovo, and provides a very informative assessment and description of the institutional and political developments in both countries. Combined with a well-structured presentation of the main arguments and the overall content, this book enables even a reader with limited background knowledge about Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina to grasp the main trends and developments in both countries and to understand the essence of the research.

Van Willigen defines international administration as, 'a political authority which is established by an international organization and which aims to develop political, social and economic institutions on a specific territory by assuming some or all sovereign powers of the state on temporary basis,' and underlines that such administrations usually aim to 'establish sustainable peace' (p. 23). The author argues that any institutionalization undertaken by international administrations consists of two phases: the creation of the institutions and their persistence. The success of the latter phase, in turn...