부산대학교 도서관

State-building is a topic of particular interest in international relations scholarship. The concept of state-building implies an international mechanism applied either as a response to the potential failure of states or as a means of halting their further decline. Given that the matter of weak states contains a very strong security component, it is worth examination also within the framework of security studies. This paper builds upon the assumption that state-building is a mechanism which can significantly affect the removal of security threats stemming from the weakness of states. Despite the fact that the problem of weak states (as well as their failure, i.e. the decline of the state as the ultimate form) is global in scope, its security dimension mainly encompasses national and regional levels. For this reason, Regional Security Complex Theory (RSCT) and the corresponding concept of security put forward by the Copenhagen School have been chosen as a theoretical framework for analysing state-building and its impact on regional security dynamics. This paper argues that state-building is a factor that can affect regional security dynamics. In order to prove this, we use the analytical tools of RSCT and view state-building as a form of ’penetration’ (thrust) by external actors within a given RSC or within a regional sub-complex. By applying this approach, we also contribute to the theoretical debate on RSCT. The Western Balkans have been used as an example of state-building representing a form of ’penetration’. In other words, this paper describes the influence which the European Union has, due to its enlargement policy, in the area of the Western Balkans security sub-complex.