Abstract
The former Yugoslavia has historically been a region with extensive international involvement and influence. However, equally historically, these connections have not gone one-way: after World War I was sparked in the heart of the then-future Yugoslavia in 1914, all three of the major powers then involved in the region - the Russian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire - collapsed as a result of the conflict. This thesis argues that after the Yugoslav Wars of the 1990s, which resulted in the dissolution of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the Euro-Atlantic alliance emerged as the main international influence in the region. However, in the decades that have followed since the conclusion of the conflicts, the alliance weakened its own position; NATO enlargement in the region has stagnated, while European Union credibility has been damaged by its inability to fulfill its promises to the region. This has allowed authoritarian regimes, namely Russia, pivoting from its weaker post-Yugoslav Wars position, and newer player China, to gain key footholds in the region, with Russia primarily challenging Euro-Atlantic soft power supremacy, and China challenging the European Union’s economic supremacy in the larger region. Furthermore, NATO member, but authoritarian-leaning Turkey, a state with historic interests in the region, has also cultivated its soft power image at the expense of the European Union.