External influence is one of the main specificity of the transition and democratization process in the Balkans. In spite of the (in some cases, massive) external intervention, the countries of the region are still somewhere half-way between transition and democratic consolidation. The effectiveness of the intervention of the foreign actors must be considered not only in the light of its financial significance, but also of its concepts and strategies. Considering the fact that as early as the 1980s the burgeoning literature on transition focused on local ownership and capacity building, we may ask why the results of the foreign intervention in the Balkans were so poor. If, as in fact happened, many external strategies were not adapted to local Balkans conditions, then local import strategies are also questionable. Nevertheless, for our purpose it is essential to consider also the positive experiences of the different aid and assistance strategies. Therefore the necessity, on the one hand, for the international actors to learn from the Balkan experiences; and, on the other hand, for the domestic actors to adapt imported strategies and to develop more effective ones as well as sustainable structures. This necessitates of course to study the interaction of both local and foreign actors.

Focusing on Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia, the overall objective is to convince governmental and nongovernmental actors at local, national and regional state levels to adapt and implement ownership enhancing strategies. Local experts as well as notable active supporters will discuss, first, the complex interaction between internal and international processes and, second, the issue of the ownership of the transition and democratization in the Balkans (considering first Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia), this in order to submit adapted and ownership-oriented recommendations. The aim of the process-oriented project is to start a process that should link analytical debates, including case-based studies, with ownership enhancing field actions implemented by think tank oriented NGOs.