Foreign aid to the Balkans (1990–2010): the dynamics of the ‘silent’ human security agenda

External assistance to the Balkans was largely successful in stopping or preventing conflict and in strengthening state institutions. International donors (and especially the European Union) have developed an implicit ‘human security’ agenda in their aid policies towards the region, an agenda that heavily influenced decisions and helped to achieve the goal of reconstruction. Without using the term ‘human security’, bilateral and multilateral donors in the Balkans adopted a ‘human security’ approach. Their priorities (first promote peace, then strengthen public institutions, then introduce democratic norms and finally bring development) show a growing consistency (especially after 2005) and a rather clear understanding that the simultaneous promotion of possibly conflicting goals (i.e. democracy/stability) might undermine their reconstruction objectives.