In the current age of historical revisionism, when many question whether the West misused the “unipolar” moment by overinvesting in failed liberal interventionist projects, Kosovo stands out as a comparatively successful case of Western-supported state building and democracy promotion, argues Agon Maliqi, the co-founder and former chairman of the board of Sbunker, an analytical media platform and think tank based in Pristina.
Institutionally, with considerable international assistance, Kosovo underwent the difficult process of building an entire state apparatus from scratch, with mixed results and often underwhelming capacities, he writes for the Atlantic Council. The brightest spot has been Kosovo’s democracy: there is wide pluralism in the media space, and free and fair elections have led to smooth transitions of power, including a landslide win by an antiestablishment party in 2021, adds Maliqi, former Reagan Fascell Fellow at the National Endowment for Democracy:
Nevertheless, Kosovo’s progress remains fragile on many fronts. On the institutional side, state capacity continues to impede effectiveness and service delivery, while weaknesses in the rule of law fuel social grievances. The new political elite that took power on an anticorruption agenda have managed to reduce public perception of the prevalence of corruption, and to increase trust in the independence of institutions like the judiciary. However, public satisfaction with the effectiveness of the judiciary remains low…..RTWT
