The Albanian Question: Reshaping the Balkans - Softcover

Pettifer, James; Vickers, Miranda

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1848850956 ISBN 13: 9781848850958

Publisher: I.B.Tauris, 2009

Synopsis

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.

About this title

About the Author:

James Pettifer is author of The Blue Guide to Albania and Kosovo and, also with Miranda Vickers, Albania: From Anarchy to a Balkan Identity. Miranda Vickers is the author of Between Serb and Albanian - a History of Kosovo and The Albanians - a Modern History.

Review:

""This pioneering book, by two foremost experts on Albanian affairs...is a brilliant account of key events in recent Balkan history."" -- John Phillips, The Tablet

""They are to be congratulated on the objective way in which they have presented the Albanian history of the last ten years"" -- Tom Winnifrith, Times Literary Supplement

""Pettifer and Vickers provide a first-class analysis of the always intricate, and at times convoluted, relationships between Albania’s political elites and the ethnic Albanian communities of neighboring countries."" -- Gabriel Partos, Transitions Online

""a very detailed account of some aspects of the transition to democracy in Albania and the relationship of Albania to surrounding Balkan states, in particular Serbia and Kosovo."" -- John Loughlin, Professor of European Politics at Cardiff University and Senior Associate Member at St. Antony's College, Oxford

""Anyone with a general and professional interest in Albania and the Balkans would benefit from this meticulously researched book."" -- Gezim Alpion, JOURNAL OF SOUTHERN EUROPE AND THE BALKANS, August 2007

About this edition

• Publisher: I.B.Tauris
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 1848850956
• ISBN 13: 9781848850958
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 288