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The Albanian Question: Reshaping the Balkans
In 1997 the previously little-known and isolated Balkan country of Albania exploded as the first armed uprising in mainland Europe since the 1920s brought the country to the brink of civil war. As the violence spread first to neighbouring Kosovo, then to south-east Serbia and finally to former Yugoslav Macedonia, the Albanian question increasingly took center stage in world affairs. This book examines Albania's place in the Balkans, a region which had been forced simultaneously to come to terms with the realities of a post-Communist world and the threat of Slobodan Milosevic's ""Greater Serbia"" project.
- GenresHistory
256 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2006
49 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 1, 2012
Although it's easy to get bogged down in the details (this always happens to me with history books that land closer to the scholarly than popular history camp), Pettifer & Vickers do an admirable job outlining the Albanian national question from the pyramid scheme collapses of 1997 through the Ohrid Accords of 2001. An interesting glimpse of what influenced international thoughts on Albanian nationalism during that period, on what Albanians themselves desire (not the much feared greater Albania, it seems), and on the regional differences and problems leaders must confront today. Really, a great read for anyone interested in Albania, in the Southern Balkans, or conflict resolution.
August 20, 2024
Four years of Albanian politics through a microscope
I’ve been interested in Albania since I was a kid and read two books about children in that country, books by Elizabeth Cleveland Miller that I later sought out, acquired online and reviewed here on Goodreads. I built up a substantial library of books on Albania, thinking I would never be able to go there. But, as soon as Albania opened, having shed its diehard Communist shell, I went there and found a very good country, though somewhat worse for the wear in 1996. I traveled all around with my wife having a positive experience everywhere. We were lucky. By the end of that year, clouds were gathering and by 1997 the country had descended into crisis. Unused to capitalist chicanery, large numbers of Albanians had fallen for pyramid schemes which, of course, collapsed. Angry people looted army weapons storehouses and made off with thousands of guns. You could buy top rifles for less than ten bucks. This did not bode well.
At the same time, a wanna-be autocrat masquerading as a “President” was trying to maintain power, despite an election that he seemed to have lost. This, melded with the loss of citizens’ funds, combined to form a very volatile situation. Albania teetered on the brink of civil war. The towns were racked every night by the sounds of gunfire, several thousand people lost their lives over the next months. Italy and Greece (as historical interferers) tried to pull strings behind the scenes, international media produced reports which displayed nearly zero understanding of actual events.
To top it off, a crisis in neighboring Kosovo boiled over. Kosovo was a part of Yugoslavia whose inhabitants were 90% Albanian, it having been occupied by Serbia in the early 20th century shifts in borders when the Ottoman Empire broke up. Perhaps as part of Yugoslavia they had been better off than in Enver Hoxha’s suffocating Communist “paradise”. Now, though, as Yugoslavia broke into its component parts, they had definite reservations about remaining under Serb control. A rebellion, smoldering for a while, broke into open war. The Serbs began massacres as they had in Bosnia and Croatia too. NATO objected—the EU and the USA got involved. Thousands of Kosovar Albanians fled across into Albania as NATO eventually began bombing Serb targets. So, as Albania reeled under its own political problems, it had to face a war next door in which one side was intimately related to them.
OK, that’s the general story. (We will omit discussion of the Albanian minority’s struggle in neighboring Macedonia, though I myself witnessed the situation between Slav and Albanian citizens there which reminded me exceedingly of Mississippi in the 1960s.)
The two authors of the book are journalists, not academics. They remained light on background and analysis but heavy on blow by blow, almost day by day reporting. Are you interested in Albanian life, history, or culture? Forget about this book—it deals with the political picture of 1996-2000. I’m sure that this is a study that will not be replicated; there will never be a more complete picture, but I’m afraid it is a look through the microscope at a small series of events. I would say that “The Albanian Question” depicts a fairly minor crisis in world affairs as if it were major. I found it interesting because, as I said, I’ve been interested in things Albanian for many years, but the sometimes breathless announcements of “what happened next” left me bemused.
Final words: without previous knowledge this book will remain opaque to the majority of readers.
I’ve been interested in Albania since I was a kid and read two books about children in that country, books by Elizabeth Cleveland Miller that I later sought out, acquired online and reviewed here on Goodreads. I built up a substantial library of books on Albania, thinking I would never be able to go there. But, as soon as Albania opened, having shed its diehard Communist shell, I went there and found a very good country, though somewhat worse for the wear in 1996. I traveled all around with my wife having a positive experience everywhere. We were lucky. By the end of that year, clouds were gathering and by 1997 the country had descended into crisis. Unused to capitalist chicanery, large numbers of Albanians had fallen for pyramid schemes which, of course, collapsed. Angry people looted army weapons storehouses and made off with thousands of guns. You could buy top rifles for less than ten bucks. This did not bode well.
At the same time, a wanna-be autocrat masquerading as a “President” was trying to maintain power, despite an election that he seemed to have lost. This, melded with the loss of citizens’ funds, combined to form a very volatile situation. Albania teetered on the brink of civil war. The towns were racked every night by the sounds of gunfire, several thousand people lost their lives over the next months. Italy and Greece (as historical interferers) tried to pull strings behind the scenes, international media produced reports which displayed nearly zero understanding of actual events.
To top it off, a crisis in neighboring Kosovo boiled over. Kosovo was a part of Yugoslavia whose inhabitants were 90% Albanian, it having been occupied by Serbia in the early 20th century shifts in borders when the Ottoman Empire broke up. Perhaps as part of Yugoslavia they had been better off than in Enver Hoxha’s suffocating Communist “paradise”. Now, though, as Yugoslavia broke into its component parts, they had definite reservations about remaining under Serb control. A rebellion, smoldering for a while, broke into open war. The Serbs began massacres as they had in Bosnia and Croatia too. NATO objected—the EU and the USA got involved. Thousands of Kosovar Albanians fled across into Albania as NATO eventually began bombing Serb targets. So, as Albania reeled under its own political problems, it had to face a war next door in which one side was intimately related to them.
OK, that’s the general story. (We will omit discussion of the Albanian minority’s struggle in neighboring Macedonia, though I myself witnessed the situation between Slav and Albanian citizens there which reminded me exceedingly of Mississippi in the 1960s.)
The two authors of the book are journalists, not academics. They remained light on background and analysis but heavy on blow by blow, almost day by day reporting. Are you interested in Albanian life, history, or culture? Forget about this book—it deals with the political picture of 1996-2000. I’m sure that this is a study that will not be replicated; there will never be a more complete picture, but I’m afraid it is a look through the microscope at a small series of events. I would say that “The Albanian Question” depicts a fairly minor crisis in world affairs as if it were major. I found it interesting because, as I said, I’ve been interested in things Albanian for many years, but the sometimes breathless announcements of “what happened next” left me bemused.
Final words: without previous knowledge this book will remain opaque to the majority of readers.
January 24, 2024
It is apparent that two authors created this book. The same points are often restated in a circular fashion, and the quality drops off precipitously at the start of Part 3. Fortunately, there are many redeeming qualities.
First, Parts 1 and 2 are well written and describe the late 1990s and Albania's spiral into grass roots revolution. By far the best narrative for how countries become dismantled with very little jingoism and a populist/street level view rather than an academic framework that only works in capital cities and board rooms.
Second, there is a lot of focus on the world's foreign intelligence services (CIA, MI6, etc.). The authors overtly reference government policies influenced by non-Albanian state actors. If you are interested in the Illuminati, this is how the world actually works and the mythos of such an organization has come to exist.
Third, the viewpoints of all parties are considered. It is a MASTERCLASS in understanding diplomacy (specifically chapter 14).
First, Parts 1 and 2 are well written and describe the late 1990s and Albania's spiral into grass roots revolution. By far the best narrative for how countries become dismantled with very little jingoism and a populist/street level view rather than an academic framework that only works in capital cities and board rooms.
Second, there is a lot of focus on the world's foreign intelligence services (CIA, MI6, etc.). The authors overtly reference government policies influenced by non-Albanian state actors. If you are interested in the Illuminati, this is how the world actually works and the mythos of such an organization has come to exist.
Third, the viewpoints of all parties are considered. It is a MASTERCLASS in understanding diplomacy (specifically chapter 14).
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews