THE BALKANS IN THE US NATIONAL SECURITY

Demir T.

BALKAN 16th INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SOCIAL SCIENCES, Skopje, Makedonya, 24 - 29 Eylül 2026, cilt.0, sa.0, (Tam Metin Bildiri)

  • Yayın Türü: Bildiri / Tam Metin Bildiri
  • Cilt numarası: 0
  • Basıldığı Şehir: Skopje
  • Basıldığı Ülke: Makedonya
  • Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet

Özet

Because of its proximity particularly to the Eastern Europe, the Balkans have geographical significance to the US administrations during the Cold War as there was a competition between the US and the Soviet Union. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, the security of Europe and the Balkans have become significant for the US presidents and governments in transforming the countries in this geography and inspiring the democratic transition in this region. Considering such a significance, this paper examines the Balkans in the US national security. By thematically analyzing the National Security Strategy documents signed and published by the US presidents between 2000 and 2026, the paper strives to answer the questions of how the Balkans have been conceptualized by the US governments and what type of themes the US governments have applied to conceptualize the Balkans in presenting their National Security Strategy documents. The paper argues that mainly the Democrat Party presidents attribute significance to the Balkans through the themes of democratization, stability and European economic or political integration. Findings address that except the second term of George W. Bush, which sees the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) as a key institution for the stability of the Balkans, the national security strategy documents of Republican presidents have not included the Balkans. The US presidents representing the Democrat Party, on the other hand, have approached the Balkans through the themes of stability, democracy/democratization, the security of Europe, particularly the Eastern Europe with the assistance of NATO and Euro-Atlantic integration.

Key words: US National Security, US Administration, National Security Strategy Documents, Europe, the Balkans