Kosovo is the most important issue in contemporary Europe - and potentially the most explosive. This book presents an objective and up to date history of Kosovo's contested path to the declaration of independence in 2008. The author combines academic and practical experience of the subject and is uniquely well placed to comment.In February 2008, Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia. Was this the final chapter in the break up of Yugoslavia and the successful conclusion to the Balkan Wars of the 1990s? Or was it just one more wrong turn in the path to stability in the Balkans which has set a dangerous precedent for regional conflict throughout the world?When the UN Security Council authorised negotiations to determine the final status of Kosovo in October 2005, most observers confidently expected the Serbian province to become an independent state by the end of the following year. However, the process did not go as planned."Kosovo: The Path to Contested Statehood in the Balkans" charts the course of the status process from 2005 to the present and analyses how and why it went so very wrong. This clear and perceptive account will be essential reading for anyone with an interest in the recent history of the Balkans or in international conflict resolution.

'A most impressive work. The argument and analysis are first-class. For those who want to understand how the West, and the UK/US in particular, got into this latest painful Balkan mess, this book provides an indispensable vade mecum.' - Ivor Roberts, President of Trinity College, Oxford and former British Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. 'This excellent book, appearing so soon after some of the events it describes occurred, is the first history of the mess surrounding the international handling of Kosovo, and it will remain a reference point. It shows genuine understanding of all perspectives, while not shying from the realities that things might have been otherwise ��� a point the author makes with acute judgement. It is a welcome and essential addition to the literature on Yugoslavia's breakup.' - James Gow, Professor of International Peace and Security, Department of War Studies, King's College London.

James Ker-Lindsay is IAA Defence Analysis Institute Senior Research Fellow at the Hellenic Observatory, European Institute, London School of Economics and Political Science and Senior Research Fellow in European and International Studies at Kingston University, London. A specialist on the politics and international relations of South East Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean, his other books include Crisis and Conciliation: A Year of Rapprochement Between Greece and Turkey (I.B.Tauris) and EU Accession and UN Peacemaking in Cyprus. He also has a practical background in conflict resolution, previously serving as the co-ordinator of the Greek-Turkish Forum at the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies (RUSI).