Between Justice and Stability

"Between Justice and Stability will be an essential reading for scholars of the Western Balkans, transitional justice, and international human rights interventions more broadly."

Jelena Subotić, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, Georgia State University

After the rapid change of regime in 2000, Serbia's new government faced demands to establish itself in power, build democratic institutions, satisfy international powerholders, and provide justice. Mladen Ostojic gives us valuable insight as to why all of those goals did not always go together. His interviews with post-2000 officials shed new light on the dilemmas of an incoming regime.

Eric Gordy, University College London, UK

Between Justice and Stability provides an incisive and lucid analysis of the impact of international justice on Serbia's political evolution since the fall of Milosevic. By examining the complexities and at times counterproductive effects of external judicial intervention in a post-conflict society, it presents a valuable contribution to the current debates on transitional justice in the Balkans and beyond.

Jasna Dragovic-Soso, Goldsmiths, University of London, UK

There is much to be admired in Between justice and stability by Mladen Ostojic, not least as it fills a major gap in the literature on the democratic transition of the ex-Yugoslav space. By focusing on transitional justice and its relationship to democratic transition in Serbia and the attitudes of ruling elites, the author demonstrates how complex and challenging this relationship really was. Ostojic bases his argument on a variety of primary sources, including interviews with leading politicians, official documents, reports and speeches, producing a rather thought-provoking and informative read. This work is very well written and presents plausible arguments and I most warmly recommend it as both a useful and an engaging read.

International Affairs