ABSTRACT
Looking back a decade after its conclusion, and after a string of statebuilding and peacebuilding failures (most notably in Afghanistan and Iraq), the 2001 conflict in Macedonia looks like a model case of effective foreign intervention. Of some 115,000 refugees and internally displaced persons (UNHCR 2001), most refugees and all but 621 displaced persons had returned by 2009 (EC 2010a: 22). The rebel group that started the conflict has disarmed and now pursues its goals through the political process. The country has remained peaceful and all the major provisions of an ambitious peace agreement can be considered to have been fully implemented. The grievances of the Albanian minority have been addressed head on, substantially transforming the character of the state and its relationship with its Albanian population. In 2005, just over four years after the conflict had ended, Macedonia was granted official candidate status by the EU.
