EU Leverage and National Interests in the Balkans: The Puzzles of Enlargement Ten Years On (Lecture)

Milada Anna Vachudova specializes in the democratization of postcommunist Europe, the enlargement of the European Union, and the impact of international actors on domestic politics. She is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her book, Europe Undivided: Democracy, Leverage and Integration After Communism (Oxford University Press, 2005) analyzes how the leverage of an enlarging EU has influenced domestic politics and facilitated a convergence toward liberal democracy among credible future members of the EU in Central and Eastern Europe. Europe Undivided was awarded the XIIth Stein Rokkan Prize for Comparative Social Science Research in 2006. Professor Vachudova is now focusing on democratization and international engagement in the Western Balkans. She has held fellowships and research grants from many institutions including the European University Institute in Italy, the Center for European Studies at Harvard University, the Center for International Studies at Princeton University and the National Science Foundation. As a British Marshall Scholar and a member of St. Antony’s College, she completed a D.Phil. in the Faculty of Politics at the University of Oxford.