Croatia, Serbia, & the EU

Current politics in Serbia and Croatia reflect centuries of political narratives manufactured to isolate and antagonize the region's ethnic groups. This work examines current affairs in the Balkans through the lens of history, as well as through these two states' interactions with the West. Each group manufactured its history to further the goal of ethnically homogenous states. With the dissolution of Yugoslavia in the 1990s and the command of ethnic nationalists, the region erupted in war. Following the wars, and universal condemnation of the genocide and ethnic cleansing committed by all sides, the EU committed to pacify the region with the promise of accession for the price of cooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal of Yugoslavia. This honors thesis for the Washington and Lee University Politics Department examines whether the accession process is an effective tool for democratization, or whether the continued hold of nationalist narratives will cripple lasting institutional reform.