“Aspects of Islamic Radicalization in the Balkans After the Fall of Communism” is the second volume in the series South-East European History, edited by Mihai Dragnea and published by Peter Lang on behalf of the Balkan History Association. The volume was edited by Mihai Dragnea, Joseph Fitsanakis, Darko Trifunović, John M. Nomikos, Vasko Stamevski and Adriana Cupcea and explores the channels through which Islamic fundamentalism has spread among Muslims in the Balkans since the early 1990s. The authors collectively examine political and religious ties between Balkan Muslims and various private organizations and state institutions in Muslim states, with a particular focus on the reception of Salafism and its Saudi version, Wahhabism. In that context, they debate the extent to which war crimes committed by Muslims during the Yugoslav Wars were motivated by Salafism, rather than being a result of domestic ethno-national conflicts. Finally, the book also addresses the ideological climate that has generated volunteers for Islamic State (Daesh) in recent years. Cumulatively these essays emphasize the risks to national security in the Western Balkans represented by the return of Islamic State fighters and the spread of so-called jihadist-Salafism within Muslim communities. The volume is intended to help the reader understand the Balkan states’ foreign policy as a response towards the Muslim world in the context of the global war against terrorism. It is the outcome of a research project of the Balkan History Association.
Table of Contents
Preface (Isa Blumi, Stockholm University)
Introduction: Post-communist Encounters in Islamic Faith and Security in the Balkans (Mihai Dragnea)
Chapter One: Constructing a New Threat: The Securitization of Islam in Post-war Kosovo (Joseph Coelho)
Chapter Two: Islamic Radicalization in Kosovo: A Case in Multi-layered Identity (Henrique Schneider)
Chapter Three: Salafism in Albania between Deculturation and Post-socialist Legacy (Gianfranco Bria)
Chapter Four: Mainstream and Online Media, a Useful Tool on Fighting Violent Extremism in Albania (Iris Luarasi)
Chapter Five: Building a Community Resilient to the Islamic Radicalism: A Case Study of the Muslim Community in Montenegro (Marko Savić and Almedina Vukić Martinović)
Chapter Six: Risks for Islamic Fundamentalism and Radicalism after the Fall of Communism in Bulgaria (Bogdana Todorova)
Chapter Seven: Missionary Islamic NGOs in Romania: Da’wah Materials Disseminated among Muslims in Romania (Cornel Andrei Crișan)
Chapter Eight: Mujahideen in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1992 until 1995 (Mijo Beljo and Lucija Zadro)
Chapter Nine: Foreign Fighters and Global Jihad in the Balkans: The Case of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Michalis Marioras)
Chapter Ten: Factors That Moderate Islamic Radicalization in North Macedonia (Zhidas Daskalovski)
Chapter Eleven: “Islamic Terrorism” in the Serbian Sandžak under Salafi Influence (Darko Trifunović)
Chapter Twelve: Beyond the Balkans: Islamist Terrorism in Europe with Balkan Connections (Klemen Kocjančič)
Conclusion: The Trajectory of Islamist Militancy in the Balkans (John Nomikos and Joseph Fitsanakis)
Editors and Authors
Index
