Introduction: Part II

Edina Paleviq is a political scientist specializing in European integration and nationalism in the Western Balkans. She earned her PhD from Andrássy University Budapest, where her research examined the role of Montenegrin civil society in the EU accession process. Her broader academic interests include Europeanization, bottom-up democratization, and the dynamics of ethnicity and nationalism in Southeastern Europe. She has published widely in peer-reviewed journals and edited volumes, and she currently serves as an editorial committee member for Global Europe Journal.

Mare Ushkovska is Assistant Professor of Political Sciences at the International Balkan University in Skopje, Macedonia. She is a former visiting fellow at the EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy in Prague, the Czech Republic. Her research interests include contemporary nationalisms in Europe, EU integration processes, soft power, and perceptions of the EU in the Western Balkans and Visegrad Group.

Sergio Aguilar. Full Professor at the Sao Paulo State University (UNESP), Brazil, where he also coordinates the International Conflicts Studies and Research Group. He is also professor at the San Tiago Dantas Graduate Program in International Relations (UNESP/UNICAMP/PUC-SP). He holds a PhD in History (UNESP), and was visiting researcher at the Department of Politics and International Relations - University of Oxford, UK. His research focuses on international conflicts, conflicts resolution, and peacekeeping operations.