Background: Tito's Yugoslavia | CES at UNC |

This module provides a brief historical analysis of Yugoslavia, the key role it played as a buffer zone between the West and East during the Cold War and the consequences of this for domestic politics in Yugoslavia. Under the leadership of Josip Broz Tito, who ruled from 1945 until his death in 1980, Yugoslavia's unique geopolitical situation allowed the socialist country to maintain internal cohesion while suppressing nationalistic movements within its constituting six republics (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Slovenia, and Serbia) and two autonomous provinces (Kosovo and Vojvodina).

The end of the Cold War changed the international system and its balance of powers rather drastically. Although the Cold War brought about many crises within the Western and the Communist bloc and in the third-world, it created a very stable division of power in Europe. Both the USSR and the U.S. had formed competing blocs, NATO and the Warsaw Pact, to balance each other and exert control over their half of Europe. Crises erupted sporadically within the Warsaw Pact. NATO, however, did not interfere in the internal affairs of the Soviet satellites, since the U.S. was committed to containing the USSR rather than confronting it.

In this well-balanced geopolitical environment, Yugoslavia played an essential role. Its geographic position enabled it to serve as a buffer between the two opposing blocks. Yugoslavia was a socialist state, but it did not side with either of the superpowers. Instead, it maintained its role as an independent socialist state following the uncompromised Marxist-Leninist principles. Because of its highly popular leader, Marshall Bros Tito, and his political acumen, Yugoslavia was able to maintain its independence and, at the same time, reap the benefits of the fierce competition between the two blocks.

The victory of Greek minority candidate Fredi Beleri in the Albanian mayoral election, despite his arrest, is just the tip of the iceberg. The ethnic Greek minority faces severe persecution and displacement by the Albanian government. #FreeFrediBeleri #Χειμάρρα #Μπελέρης [_link]

— Pavlos Tafidis (@Pavlos_Tafidis) May 19, 2023

US Embassy Confirms Sanctions Against Kosovo Follow the Tensions in the North [_link]

— Prishtina Insight (@PrishtInsight) May 30, 2023

Are the Dutch more Russophobic than Washington DC ... playing a leading role with the UK 🇬🇧 and Poland 🇵🇱.

Dramatic footage of violence in Zvecan between KFOR forces and protesters

'Sapere aude'

At a summit in Moldova, French President Emmanuel Macron said he and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz urged Kosovo and Serbian leaders to organize new elections in northern Kosovo as soon as possible.

Macron said that Berlin and Paris asked for election rules in the new polls to be clarified.

Protesters were demonstrating against the assumption of office by ethnic Albanian mayors after local elections that were boycotted by most Serbs, who form the overwhelming majority of the population in four municipalities in Kosovo's north.