The Europe's Futures blog features contributions by current and former Fellows of our Europe’s Futures – Ideas for Action program. The newest blog post is written by former Europe's Futures fellow Ioannis Armakolas and asks if identity provisions in agreements in the enduring Balkan disputes might be "the medicine that could kill rather than cure."
In the framework of the Europe’s Futures – Ideas for Action programme fellows develop in-depth research leading to policy proposals, publications or direct action. In our newest Europe's Futures blog post Ioannis Armakolas, former Europe's Futures fellow (2020-2021), questions whether complex identity and heritage provisions in agreements that settle bilateral disputes will really be the cure in the enduring Balkan disputes and suggests instead that they might be more of a double-edged sword. The recipe, he argues, "may be for political agents of change to be prepared in advance for the maelstrom that is likely to follow. And for grassroot agents of change to be given space to do the unpopular groundwork of building trust. The trials and tribulations of the recent agreement between Greece and North Macedonia are an illustrative example and serve to offer lessons for other disputes and conflicts."
The Europe’s Futures – Ideas for Action project and programme is a novel resource at the intersection of academia, civil society, and politics. It is the result of a partnership between IWM and ERSTE Foundation (Vienna). Europe's Futures fellows research on topics of interest such as deterioration of rule of law and democracy in the European Union, the nexus of migration and borders and the unfinished enlargement of the European Union.
To read the full contribution and catch up on the rest of the blog posts, please visit the Europe's Futures blog on our website by clicking here.
