Doomscrollers by day, gamers by night : patching digital sovereignty in the Western Balkan states amid US-China technological rivalry

Vangeli, Anastas (avtor), Bojinović Fenko, Ana (avtor), Kočan, Faris (avtor)

This article examines the complex landscape of digital sovereignty inthe WB states against the backdrop of the technological rivalrybetween the US and China and the region’s EU accession. A doubleanalytical lens is introduced to analyse digital sovereignty: ‘sovereigntyover’ and ‘sovereignty through’. The article shows that WB states arenot merely passive recipients of external technological initiatives.Instead, they are portrayed as opportunistic and sometimes strategicactors operating within digital dependencies. Their technologicalchoices are shaped by formal policy frameworks, market forces, andinstitutional capacities, with a focus on cost efficiency. In particular, thepaper analyses the interplay between China’s Digital Silk Road and theUS-led Clean Network Initiative in the region. It shows that some WBstates join US pressure to ban Chinese technologies (e.g. Albania,North Macedonia, Kosovo), while others (e.g. Serbia, Montenegro,and Bosnia and Herzegovina) maintain cooperation with Chinesedigital companies, often for pragmatic reasons. Ultimately, the articleargues that digital sovereignty in the Western Balkans is a function oftechnological and institutional capacity, geopolitical pressure, discur-sive framing and strategic adaptation by local actors, which raises thequestion of whether their hedging strategies truly represent digitalsovereignty or illustrate a permanent lack of it.

• Jezik: Angleški jezik
• Ključne besede: Western Balkan states, digital sovereignty, technology, technological initiatives, US-China technological rivalry
• Vrsta gradiva: Članek v reviji
• Tipologija: 1.01 - Izvirni znanstveni članek
• Geografsko pokritje: Balkanski polotok; Združene države Amerike; Kitajska
• Organizacija: FDV - Fakulteta za družbene vede
• Status publikacije: Objavljeno
• Različica publikacije: Objavljena publikacija
• Datum objave: 24.10.2025
• Leto izida: 2025
• Št. strani: Str. 1-23
• Številčenje: Vol. , iss.
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-175432
• UDK: 327
• ISSN pri članku: 1478-2804
• DOI: 10.1080/14782804.2025.2578698
• COBISS.SI-ID: 254750211
• Datum objave v RUL: 27.10.2025

Gradivo je del revije

• Naslov: Journal of contemporary European studies
• Založnik: Taylor and Francis
• ISSN: 1478-2804
• COBISS.SI-ID: 512251417

Licence

• Licenca: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0, Creative Commons Priznanje avtorstva-Nekomercialno-Brez predelav 4.0 Mednarodna
• Povezava: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/deed.sl
• Opis: Najbolj omejujoča licenca Creative Commons. Uporabniki lahko prenesejo in delijo delo v nekomercialne namene in ga ne smejo uporabiti za nobene druge namene.

Sekundarni jezik

• Jezik: Slovenski jezik
• Ključne besede: države zahodnega Balkana, digitalna suverenost, tehnologija, tehnološke iniciative, Ameriško-Kitajsko tehnološko rivalstvo