Emilian Kavalski The Balkans after Iraq . . . Iraq after the Balkans. Who’s Next? ABSTRACT The Balkans and Iraq have become emblematic features of the post-cold war geography of international relations. However, by concentrating on the current ruptures in the Euro-Atlantic com- munity, most commentators: (i) neglect the macro-historical ten- dency of the US towards unilateralism in response to ‘existential threats’ and to multilateral approaches whenever and wherever the sense of urgency is not pressing; and (ii) overlook the fact that the Iraq crisis is an aberration in an otherwise persisting transatlantic relationship of co-operation. It can be argued that an exploration of the externally-driven processes of order-pro- motion in the region indicates that the Iraq crisis did not impact dramatically on the role of either the EU or NATO.This is because the Balkans remains an area of co-operation between the transat- lantic partners as a result of their reaction to the Kosovo crisis. Secondly, the current regional perspective suggests that the trans- atlantic rows offered Balkan states the opportunity to pursue particular agendas. Finally, it can be suggested that, unlike Iraq, the Balkans region is not in fact prone to a relapse into so- called ‘Balkanisation’. The Balkans are usually reported to the outside world only in time of terror and trouble; the rest of the time they are scorn- fully ignored. 1 Perspectives on European Politics and Society, 6:1 © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands, 2005