Mapping the Global Balkans: Emerging Economy Networks and Political Identity Articulation in Serbia

After more than a decade of conflict, the Western Balkans are being re-integrated into the international community through economic and political liberalization, institutional development and membership in supra-national organizations. In examining the post-socialist, post-conflict trajectory of the region, attention has almost exclusively been focused on the region’s engagements with the European Union (EU). Less noted, however, are the networks of connections that are being established between the region and emerging economies, such as the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China). Some of these networks are reviving old ties, such as those with Russia. Others are newer in nature, such as those with China, and represent new sources of economic development and political opportunities for the region. This paper examines the Balkan political identities being articulated through the region’s engagements with emerging economy networks. Focusing on the case study of Serbia, it asks: how are Serbian political identities being negotiated through the constitution of emerging economy networks in the region? How are these emerging economy connections discursively positioned in relation to Serbia’s increasing integration into the EU? The paper argues that while emerging economy connections are articulated as qualitatively different from the region's engagements with the EU, they are not in direct competition with the latter. Rather, they serve to project sovereignty and a sense of statehood, counteracting and partly offsetting the transfer of power required by EU integration. In noting this, the paper points to the emerging dynamics related to Europe's relations with rising global powers.