{"id":32974,"date":"2022-10-13T13:26:07","date_gmt":"2022-10-13T13:26:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?p=32974"},"modified":"2022-10-13T13:26:07","modified_gmt":"2022-10-13T13:26:07","slug":"iva-vukusic-serbian-paramilitaries-and-the-breakup-of-yugoslavia-state-connections-and-patterns-of-violence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?p=32974","title":{"rendered":"Iva Vuku\u0161i\u0107, &#8220;Serbian Paramilitaries and the Breakup of Yugoslavia: State Connections and Patterns of Violence&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>This is the first book to offer a comprehensive analysis of the emergence, nature, and function of Serbian paramilitary units during the violent breakup of Yugoslavia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>The book investigates the nature and functions of paramilitary units throughout the 1990s, and their ties to the state and President Slobodan Milo\u0161evi\u0107. The work relies on the archives of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague, which conducted dozens of trials relating to paramilitary violence, and records from judicial proceedings in the region. It discusses how and why certain important paramilitary units emerged, how they functioned and transformed through the decade, what their relationships and entanglements were with the state, the Milo\u0161evi\u0107 regime, and organized crime. The study thus investigates the interrelated ideological, political, and social factors and processes, fueling paramilitary engagement, and assesses the impact of this engagement on victims of paramilitary violence and on the state and society for which the units purportedly fought. It argues that coordinated action by a number of state institutions gave rise to paramilitaries tasked with altering borders while maintaining plausible deniability for the sponsoring regime. The outsourcing of violence by the state to paramilitaries led to a significant weakening of the very state these units and their sponsors swore to protect. The book also analyzes differences between the units and how they attacked civilians, arguing that the different forms of violence stemmed not only from the function they fulfilled for the state but also the ways in which they were set up and operated. The final chapter brings the different strands of the argument together into a coherent whole, suggesting avenues for further research, in the former Yugoslavia and beyond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This book will be of much interest to students of ethnic conflict and civil war, war crimes, Balkan politics, and International Relations in general.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Table of Contents<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>1. Introduction<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>2. Emergence of Paramilitary Units<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>3. Functioning of Paramilitary Units<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>4. Transformation of Paramilitary Units<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>5. Paramilitary violence in the Breakup of Yugoslavia<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>6. Conclusion<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Author(s)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Biography<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Iva Vuku\u0161i\u0107<\/strong> is an Assistant Professor in International History at Utrecht University in the Netherlands and a Visiting Research Fellow at the Department of War Studies, King\u2019s College London.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Reviews<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2018This book represents a major contribution as it offers an in-depth analysis of the role Serbian paramilitaries have played in these violent conflicts. Iva Vuku\u0161i\u0107\u2019s excellent book is a first systematic and comprehensive study of paramilitary formations responsible for unprecedented human rights violations in the Yugoslav wars of succession. Drawing on the primary sources from several archives, including the ICTY documentation, Vuku\u0161i\u0107 shows convincingly how the paramilitary organisations were created, cultivated, and regularly employed by the Serbian state apparatus in their project of violent ethnic engineering of former Yugoslavia. This is a superb book that will influence future debates on\u2019 paramilitarism.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Sini\u0161a Male\u0161evi\u0107,<\/strong> <em>University College, Dublin, Ireland<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><br>\u2018Intricate and compelling, this book brings together an enormous quantity of source material. Iva\u3000Vuku\u0161i\u0107 is unfailingly compassionate, engaged, relevant and knowledgeable. Her book should be read by all scholars of war crimes, genocide, and contemporary history.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cathie Carmichael,<\/strong> <em>University of East Anglia, UK<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2018Exemplary, tedious detective work \u2013 this is how research should be. Iva Vuku\u0161i\u0107&#8217;s study provides many new insights into the role and significance of paramilitary units in the Yugoslav Wars of Disintegration. The book also shows that robbing, raping, and killing remain largely unpunished. This is&nbsp;bad news for the years filled with violence we have in front of us.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Christian Gudehus,<\/strong> <em>Ruhr-Universit\u00e4t Bochum (RUB), Germany<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>Published September 30, 2022 by Routledge<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>230 Pages<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.routledge.com\/Serbian-Paramilitaries-and-the-Breakup-of-Yugoslavia-State-Connections\/Vukusic\/p\/book\/9781032044453\">https:\/\/www.routledge.com\/Serbian-Paramilitaries-and-the-Breakup-of-Yugoslavia-State-Connections\/Vukusic\/p\/book\/9781032044453<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Iz medija:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.index.hr\/vijesti\/clanak\/razgovarali-smo-s-povjesnicarkom-koja-je-napisala-prvu-studiju-o-srpskim-paravojskama\/2376453.aspx\">https:\/\/www.index.hr\/vijesti\/clanak\/razgovarali-smo-s-povjesnicarkom-koja-je-napisala-prvu-studiju-o-srpskim-paravojskama\/2376453.aspx<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.portalnovosti.com\/iva-vukusic-biti-pripadnik-paravojske-znacilo-je-biti-nekaznjiv\">https:\/\/www.portalnovosti.com\/iva-vukusic-biti-pripadnik-paravojske-znacilo-je-biti-nekaznjiv<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/historiografija.ba\/article.php?id=1336\">https:\/\/historiografija.ba\/article.php?id=1336<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":32975,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[8,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32974","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-knjige","category-novosti"],"acf":{"facebook_opis":""},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Iva-Vukusic.jpg?fit=350%2C536&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":52516,"url":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?p=52516","url_meta":{"origin":32974,"position":0},"title":"Marko Grde\u0161i\u0107, Mislav \u017ditko, \u201eSocialist Economics in Yugoslavia: A Critical History\u201c","author":"Branimir Jankovi\u0107","date":"17. travnja 2026.","format":false,"excerpt":"This book presents a critical history of Yugoslav socialist economics, from its inception in the late 1940s to its dissolution in the late 1980s. After the dramatic break with the Soviet Union in 1948, Yugoslavia found itself in urgent need of a third way: A socialist trajectory which would not\u2026","rel":"","context":"U &quot;Knjige&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Knjige","link":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?cat=8"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Zitko_Grdesic.jpg?fit=350%2C535&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":52520,"url":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?p=52520","url_meta":{"origin":32974,"position":1},"title":"Predstavljanje knjige &#8220;Socialist Economics in Yugoslavia: A Critical History&#8221; u Zagrebu","author":"Branimir Jankovi\u0107","date":"17. travnja 2026.","format":false,"excerpt":"Pozivamo vas na predstavljanje knjige \"Socialist Economics in Yugoslavia: A Critical History\", autora Mislava \u00a0\u017ditka i Marka Grde\u0161i\u0107a (Routledge, 2026). Na predstavljanju \u0107e govoriti Branko Milanovi\u0107 (CUNY), Milica Uvali\u0107 (EUI), Zdravko Petak (FPZG) te autori.\u00a0 Predstavljanje \u0107e se odr\u017eati u srijedu 22. travnja u 16:00 sati na Fakultetu politi\u010dkih znanosti\u2026","rel":"","context":"U &quot;Novosti&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Novosti","link":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Poziv-na-predstavljanje.png?fit=800%2C652&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Poziv-na-predstavljanje.png?fit=800%2C652&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Poziv-na-predstavljanje.png?fit=800%2C652&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Poziv-na-predstavljanje.png?fit=800%2C652&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":52580,"url":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?p=52580","url_meta":{"origin":32974,"position":2},"title":"Conference &#8220;Living in the aftermaths: Trauma, politics and survival in Yugoslavia and successor states, 1945 \u2013 present&#8221;","author":"Branimir Jankovi\u0107","date":"21. travnja 2026.","format":false,"excerpt":"The conference aims to explore how war-related psychological distress was experienced, narrated, debated and reframed in Yugoslavia in the second half of the twentieth century. It asks how the theme of wounded psyche and wartime suffering was addressed and acknowledged in political, psychiatric and broader cultural discourses of socialist Yugoslavia,\u2026","rel":"","context":"U &quot;Novosti&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Novosti","link":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Battle_of_Neretva_Picasso_poster-Conference-Living-in-the-aftermaths.webp?fit=564%2C954&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Battle_of_Neretva_Picasso_poster-Conference-Living-in-the-aftermaths.webp?fit=564%2C954&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Battle_of_Neretva_Picasso_poster-Conference-Living-in-the-aftermaths.webp?fit=564%2C954&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":54121,"url":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?p=54121","url_meta":{"origin":32974,"position":3},"title":"ZGODOVINA NA \u0160PICI: YUGOSLAVIA AND CAMBODIA: ENTANGLED HISTORIES OF NON-ALIGNMENT","author":"Branimir Jankovi\u0107","date":"16. lipnja 2026.","format":false,"excerpt":"You are kindly invited to a new lecture in the History on the Edge series, which will take place on Wednesday, June 17, 2026, at the INZ premises or via the ZOOM link: https:\/\/us06web.zoom.us\/j\/85093074535?pwd=chFdSCgScVg8fw1djh3bVz8h9gqWtm.1 . In the new season, lectures will take place at 3 p.m. and if you will\u2026","rel":"","context":"U &quot;Novosti&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Novosti","link":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ZNS_predavanje.jpg?fit=1086%2C567&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ZNS_predavanje.jpg?fit=1086%2C567&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ZNS_predavanje.jpg?fit=1086%2C567&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ZNS_predavanje.jpg?fit=1086%2C567&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ZNS_predavanje.jpg?fit=1086%2C567&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":53749,"url":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?p=53749","url_meta":{"origin":32974,"position":4},"title":"HISTORY ON THE EDGE: THE MAKING OF WORKERS\u2019 SELF-MANAGEMENT: HOUSING DISTRIBUTION IN LATE SOCIALIST YUGOSLAVIA (MID-1970S-1980S) \u00a0","author":"Branimir Jankovi\u0107","date":"26. svibnja 2026.","format":false,"excerpt":"You are kindly invited to a new lecture in the History on the Edge series, which will take place on Wednesday, May 27, 2026, at the INZ premises or via the ZOOM link: https:\/\/us06web.zoom.us\/j\/85093074535?pwd=chFdSCgScVg8fw1djh3bVz8h9gqWtm.1 . In the new season, lectures will take place at 3 p.m. and if you will\u2026","rel":"","context":"U &quot;Novosti&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Novosti","link":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/ZNS_predavanja_5_27.jpg?fit=1200%2C730&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/ZNS_predavanja_5_27.jpg?fit=1200%2C730&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/ZNS_predavanja_5_27.jpg?fit=1200%2C730&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/ZNS_predavanja_5_27.jpg?fit=1200%2C730&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/ZNS_predavanja_5_27.jpg?fit=1200%2C730&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":52692,"url":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?p=52692","url_meta":{"origin":32974,"position":5},"title":"Florian Bieber \u201eHvar in the Modern Age: Identity and Change in Southeast Europe\u201c","author":"Filip \u0160imunjak","date":"28. travnja 2026.","format":false,"excerpt":"Description\u00a0 In this open-access book, Florian Bieber traces the history of the Adriatic island of Hvar over half a millennium, from the advent of Venetian rule in the 15th century to the end of Yugoslavia in the late 20th century. 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