ABSTRACT
Two important and complex issues have troubled observers in relation to the catastrophic events that unfolded in the Balkans during the early 1990s. First, and perhaps the less difficult of the two issues, is the matter of why the "Second Yugoslavia" collapsed. Second, there is the related and perplexing question as to why the disintegration of the federation generated so much violence and suffering. Efforts by socialist Yugoslavia's successor states to manage a smooth transition from authoritarianism to democracy, while avoiding the negative repercussions of nationalist politics, have been seriously complicated by the disastrous economic consequences of ethnic conflicts and warfare in the region. The violence engendered by assertive and reactive nationalist policies—often viewed by the protagonists as simply "patriotic" policy implementation—wrecked the economy in many areas, while the resultant economic deprivation fueled destabilizing ultranationalism. The unresolved problems of the Krajina Serbs in Croatia, and the Albanians in Kosovo, also threatened to destabilize future peace in Balkan region.
