Military Exercises in the Post-Yugoslav States: Between Balancing and Bandwagoning

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Military exercises are a tool for demonstrating and evaluating force readiness to operate in both war and peacetime, as well as a driver of a specific form of international military cooperation. Participation in international military exercises can serve as an indicator of states’ behavior in international relations, whether in bilateral or multilateral cooperation. In international relations theory, the behavior of states toward alliances and other international actors, especially those perceived as superior in power, is often defined through two extreme forms: balancing and bandwagoning. The form of behavior that a state decides to adopt depends on several factors, such as its power relative to other significant actors, the degree of perceived threat posed by those actors, the state’s position and role in the international system, and the structure of that system. This article examines the positioning of the post-Yugoslav states in international relations, using military exercises as an indicator of that positioning. Military exercises can reflect both balancing and bandwagoning strategies, and this article explores when post-Yugoslav states have adopted one or the other. As an indicator of a country’s foreign policy positioning, military exercises show that the countries in this region continue to employ different strategies rather than a uniform approach. Instead of all pursuing a strategy of bandwagoning with respect to one power, some opt for balancing, striving for equal cooperation with all key actors.