Reassessing the ‘Peace vs. Justice’ Trade-Off: International Justice and Democratic Stability in Post-Milošević Serbia

The impact of the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) on target states has been primarily assessed in terms of the Court’s contribution to peace and reconciliation in the region. In contrast, this article explores the effects of ICTY conditionality on democratic consolidation in Serbia. It posits that the enforcement of international standards of accountability on recalcitrant states may hinder democratic stability and undermine the goals of transitional justice in the target countries. In the context of a fragile and uncertain transition, the Serbian authorities had to balance the demands and priorities of the ICTY with those of competing domestic groups. By examining the politics of state cooperation with the ICTY in Serbia, this article sheds light on the conflicting effects of the policies of conditionality and shows how the outcomes of externalized justice are affected by domestic political developments.