1. Introduction; Part I. Theory: 2. The international politics of assimilation, accommodation, and exclusion; Part II. Empirical Evidence: 3. Why the Balkans?; 4. Cross-national variation: nation-building in post-World War I Balkans; 5. Odd cases: analysis of outliers; 6. Subnational variation: Greek nation-building in western Macedonia, 1916–20; 7. Temporal variation: Serbian nation-building toward Albanians, 1878–1941; 8. Application of the theory beyond the Balkans; 9. Conclusion.
Mylonas argues that foreign policy goals and international relations drives a state's assimilation or exclusion policies towards an ethnic group.
Harris Mylonas' research focuses on the processes of nation- and state-building, the politicization of cultural differences, immigration policy, and political development. He completed his Ph.D. at Yale University in 2008 and then joined the Political Science department at George Washington University as an Assistant Professor in the fall of 2009. He is also an Academy Scholar at the Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies where he conducted research during the 2008–9 and 2011–12 academic years. His work has been published in Security Studies, Comparative Political Studies, Ethnopolitics, the European Journal of Political Research, and various edited volumes. He has also published opinion pieces in international newspapers and magazines (Los Angeles Times, ForeignPolicy.com, CNN.com, Newsweek Japan, and the Hurriyet Daily News and Economic Review, among others). He is currently working on his second book project - tentatively entitled The Politics of Ethnic Return Migration - analyzing the policies that states develop either to attract and/or to incorporate people returning to their country of origin, allegiance, or citizenship.
'Mylonas deftly combines quantitative analysis of cross-national
data with an in-depth study of policies toward non-core groups in
Greek Macedonia and provides impressive evidence to support his
theoretical propositions. Summing up: recommended. Graduate,
research, and professional collections.' A. Paczynska, Choice
'Mylonas highlights a hitherto understudied aspect of minority
policy making in the Balkans: whether newly nationalizing states
tolerated, assimilated, or forcibly removed ethnic minorities from
their territories crucially depended on whether or not these
minorities were supported by other states and whether these other
states were allies or enemies. Combining broad statistical analysis
with detailed archival research, the book puts the international
aspects of domestic nation-building into sharp relief.' Andreas
Wimmer, Princeton University
'There is much to praise in this book. To begin with, Mylonas is
one of those rare scholars who adopt a sophisticated positivist
methodology that combines large analysis with a detailed knowledge
of (some) historical cases obtained through patient archival
research. Second, while much scholarship discusses two policy
options (inclusion or exclusion), Mylonas interestingly broadens
the analysis to include three policies - assimilation,
accommodation and exclusion - producing, respectively,
co-nationals, minorities and refugees. And, third, in an age of
liberal interventionism Mylonas advances sober and thoughtful
recommendations on how the international community may be able to
diminish the recurrence of crimes of mass atrocity by intervening
less, not more.' Roberto Belloni, Buchbesprechungen
'The core of the argument is that the international system plays a
key role in determining the types of policies that states pursue as
part of their nation building strategies. Mylonas makes several
theoretical moves that each constitute a major contribution to our
understanding of nation-building policies … Mylonas' book is
destined to influence future scholarship on nation-building
policies, not just in the Balkans but throughout the world.' Dmitry
Gorenburg, Harvard University
'Harris Mylonas is one of the rare scholars who combine
sophisticated knowledge of political science techniques with
in-depth historical expertise. This book will be of great interest
to political scientists, international relations scholars, and
historians, and it will also be a valuable resource for policy
makers. Most of the events it discusses happened a century or more
ago, but the repercussions from those events are still very much in
evidence in the Balkans today.' Mark Kramer, Harvard University
'Through thorough analysis of archival records and integration of
theory from both international relations and comparative politics,
Harris Mylonas argues that external factors often override internal
factors in the formation of nationality policy. In contrast to more
common approaches, Mylonas concentrates on the processes underlying
nationality policy formation. He persuasively shows how elite
perceptions of international threats shape such decisions.' Roger
D. Petersen, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
'This book makes an important, original argument about the
international factors that exert substantial influence on a state's
decision to assimilate, accommodate, or exclude its ethnic
minorities. Based mainly on analytic comparisons of case histories
of Balkan nation building, Mylonas shows that states are much more
likely to exclude, expel, or exterminate such groups when they
receive backing from foreign enemy states and when the host state
is a dissatisfied power harboring a grievance over lost territory.
Many readers will find Mylonas's insights to be of great interest.'
Jack Snyder, Columbia University
'In The Politics of Nation-Building, Harris Mylonas shows the
direction to which the next generation of researchers might turn …
Mylonas is not only a good historian, capable of conjugating the
microlevel of everyday life with shifting macrohistorical
structures. He also proves himself a virtuoso political scientist,
capable of formulating fruitful puzzles and illuminating hypotheses
where all might seem so painfully familiar … The result is a
richly textured and compelling analytical narrative that supports
the main argument of the book.' Georgi Derluguian, New York
University Abu Dhabi
'The Politics of Nation-Building by Harris Mylonas
distinguishes itself on several dimensions. It addresses an
important question at the intersection of international and
comparative politics by productively combining insights from
theories of Comparative Politics and International Relations and by
reformulating key concepts in the study of nation-building …
Mylonas fashions creative hypotheses linking these elements and
tests them on a body of rich empirical material; his analysis is
sophisticated, subtle, and insightful.' The Katzenstein Prize
committee
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