WESTERN BALKANS GEOPOLITICAL SIGNIFICANCE: THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATE’S PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

The subject of the study is the relationship between entities in the Western Balkans and the United Arab Emirates as a process of adaptation to a new international environment and, consequently, the adoption of new roles and positions. The research question adopted is: What are the new role and the Western Balkans position from the perspective of the dynamics of relations between the countries of this region and the United Arab Emirates? To find an answer to the research question, appropriate scientific measures and methods were adopted, based on the theory of adaptation and international roles, using quantitative and qualitative methods. The answer to the posed research question is the statement that the Western Balkans, from their relations with the United Arab Emirates perspective, achieve a stronger role and position as a connector of strategic North-South transport and energy routes. However, the condition for the long-term increase in the importance of the Western Balkans is anchoring in the membership of the European Union and the Three Seas Initiative (3SI). The answers and the results obtained are significant because the problem under consideration concerns the processes of shaping a new international order. In addition, the presented research paper is innovative and based on original data. Thus, the results of the completed research described in this article set future directions of research focusing on the interdependence of processes taking place in the Western Balkans-Middle East-Caucasus triangle.

Keywords: Western Balkans, United Arab Emirates, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Serbia