The Albanian Question: Reshaping the Balkans

Kosovo's declaration of independence in 2008 - and the overt manipulation of this precedent by Russia in its war with Georgia and South Ossetia shortly afterwards - has focused the world's attention once again on the Balkans. But Albania's role within the region remains little known and less understood. In this revised edition of a major work of contemporary history, two well-known and internationally-respected authorities elucidate Albania's place in the Balkans, from the explosion of violence in the 1990s, which brought the country to the brink of civil war, to the present day. Since 1997, the Albanian region has 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. Its people, the authors, argue are involved in the process of national self-emancipation: the re-establishment of free markets and ending of Communist border controls have renewed long dormant cultural and economic links between the Albanian people and the wider region. The future of the Albanians in the Balkans is the most pressing issue in the region today, a fact which the West must pay close heed to if this long neglected nation is to become a European partner. Indeed, the authors argue, in this rapidly evolving political climate, failure to come to terms with the importance of the Albanian question could return the region as a whole to armed conflict.

Table of Contents:
Map of Albania, Kosova and region Introduction Chronology of Recent Events PART ONE 1997- THE CRISIS OF POST-COMMUNIST ALBANIA 1 The Pyramid Banks and the crisis of the Democratic Party government 2 The March Uprising 3 Political Crisis and Government Transition PART TWO THE STRUGGLE FOR POWER 1 The Crisis in Northern Albania 2 'Operation Alba' - A Coalition of the Willing Map of military situation in southern Albania March 1997 3 The revival of Socialist Power and the Royalist Challenge PART THREE THE KOSOVA DIMENSION OF THE NATIONAL QUESTION 1 Tirana, the crisis in Kosova and the origins of the Kosova Liberation Army 2 The War and the 'First Offensive' Map of the military situation in Kosova June 1998 3 Tirana and the International Crisis PART FOUR THE POLITICAL CRISIS IN ALBANIA 1 The Northern Crisis- Preparing for a Coup d'etat 2 The Assassination of Azem Hajdari and the 'Coup' PART FIVE ALBANIA AND THE DEEPENING KOSOVA CRISIS 1 The Spread of the Kosova war Map of refugee crisis in 1998 2 Tirana and the January Crisis 3 Rambouillet and NATO commitment 4 The Kosova Refugee Crisis and the Region PART SIX THE NEW ALBANIAN SPACE AND THE FUTURE 1 Tirana and the new Kosova 2 The Preshevo Conflict and the Macedonian Conflict of 2001 3 Panalbanianism- Tirana and the wider Albanian World Glossary of Names and Acronyms Index

About the Author :
Miranda Vickers is an independent scholar based in the UK. She is the author of The Albanians: A Modern History (2011), The Albanian Question: Reshaping the Balkans (with James Pettifer, 2009) and Albania: From Anarchy to Balkan Identity (also with James Pettifer, (2000). James Pettifer is Professor of Balkan History at the University of Oxford, UK. He is the author of numerous studies of modern Balkan history, including The Making of the Greece Crisis (2015), The Kosovo Liberation Army (2012) and The New Macedonian Question (2001). Alongside his academic work he has reported for the Times and the Wall Street Journal on Balkan issues.