New regionalism and the institutional framework of regional cooperation of the Western Balkans

ŠINDELÁŘ, Jan. Nový regionalismus a institucionální rámec regionální spolupráce Západního Balkánu. Praha, 2013. 101s. Rigorózní práce (PhDr.) Univerzita Karlova, Fakulta sociálních věd, Institut mezinárodních studií. Katedra ruských a východoevropských studií. Vedoucí diplomové práce PhDr. Kateřina Králová, Ph.D. Abstract The presented thesis is analyzing the regional cooperation in the Western Balkans (WB) focusing on interactions of the local actors. Theoretical background is based on the theory of new regionalism, a theoretical approach to regional interactions. Contemporary studies on new regionalism (NR) actually do not consider the Western Balkans to be part of this process and as a result we lack sufficient information about the basic characteristics of this region. The author proves that the WB is engaged in the process of the new regionalism and in fact by focusing on the institutional structure he demonstrates that several parallel processes are ongoing in the region, as for example regional cooperation, integration or cooperation with another region. For the purpose of this research two projects of regional cooperation were chosen, South Eastern European Cooperation Process (SEECP) and the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) which are regarded as the main pillars of the political cooperation in..