The Balkans Peace Program 2012 was not only a great opportunity for the foreign students that took part in it to explore Kosovo and the Balkans--both academically and culturally--but it also provided them with the unique opportunity to become published.   My Kosovo Experience: Perspectives on Europe's Newest State offers an understanding of Kosovo and the Balkans from the viewpoint of students that participated in the Balkans Peace Program 2012 organized by the Bislimi Group Foundation.

The book consists of essays that depict a foreigner's perspective on and experience of Kosovo, its people, culture, and history. This book is particularly interesting because it provides the reader with a first-hand account of what Kosovo is all about. Contributing authors have shared both their experiences as well as their personal stories about Kosovo and the Balkan countries surrounding Kosovo such as Albania, Montenegro and Macedonia.

What makes this book unique is that it combines an academic approach with an essayist one--a combination that makes for an educational and an easy read. Topics explored in the book include international development, education, peace-building and peace-keeping, state-building, ethnic conflict, and post-conflict reconstruction.

If you are not interested in reading the politicians, policymakers, professional journalists, historians, and academicians viewpoints on Kosovo and its people, but rather you want a first-hand story of ordinary people who left the comforts of their Western homes to travel to and live in Kosovo with local Albanian host families for the Balkans Peace Program, then this is the book you want.

This is a great read for all prospective students of the Balkans Peace Program, as well. They, too, will have a similar opportunity to become published as one of the features of the Program is to have an edited book come out after each Program.

The book was edited by Faton Bislimi, founder and president of the Bislimi Group Foundation. Bislimi contributed an introductory chapter to the book on Kosovo's state-building process and the roles that the US and EU have played in it. Other contributors include Masayuki Kishimoto, Laura Lussier, and Gordon MacKinnon.

All proceeds from this book will go to support the educational programs of the Bislimi Group Foundation.

You may order the book directly from Amazon.com.