Filip Milačić

Milačić is currently doing research for a book titled "Stateness and Democratic Consolidation: Lessons From Former Yugoslavia" that will be published by Springer, Wiesbaden. In his new book, he investigates the democratization processes on the territory of former Yugoslavia with an emphasis on two aspects: different outcomes in the democracy consolidation process and reasons for recent democratic backsliding. He identifies the unresolved issues of territory and national identity as responsible for an erratic and zigzagging course toward a consolidated democracy that has been marked by sluggish progress coupled with episodes of stagnation and declining democratic quality. He furthermore argues that what makes the democratization process additionally uncertain under the conditions of unresolved issues of territory and national identity is the fact that these mentioned issues have a potential to entirely derail the trajectory and cause an authoritarian reversal. He believes that these lessons could be very valuable in order to better understand the chances for the success of democratization processes of many countries within the post-communist context. Hence, an additional focus of the book is on Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia, and Moldova.