We deal with affairs of state. This allows us to speak the same language, even if we disagree. I cannot but be persuaded that without an active civil society, contributing to the development of open, transparent, inclusive societies, we will not have functioning democracies and we will not have foreign policies democratized. It will not be easy. The challenges we face in creating functioning democracies in our region are considerable.
States are weak.
Local governments still battle for control against the central government, or, conversely, the central government is so weak that local government is effectively independent. Economic warlords, if you will, play a new role. They are neither official nor are they illegal. These are symptoms of a region that has far to go to attain the levels of stability that would be required for, say, entry into Europe. If these issues are not addressed we run the risk of discussing stability while the seeds of instability are being sewn.