Croatia’s police and security community building in the Western Balkans

Abstract

The article examines the eventual existence of a security community within the Western Balkans region by exploring the contribution of police as a profession/epistemic community in Croatia to the security community building process. In order to do so, two theoretical concepts have been applied: first, the one of security community which, according to Deutsch, as well as Adler and Barnett, is something that is leading IR and humanity out of the era of nation-state; secondly, the one of professions as exclusive occupational groups in Abbott’s interpretation (wherein the police is considered to be a profession). Our approach builds on a combination of the aforementioned theories, while the study itself has been based on the developments in the field of policing in Croatia since 1990 and its implications for the creation of a security community in the region.