ABSTRACT
The Balkans constitute a region with an unusually rich heritage of tribalist myth as well as political leaders willing and able to use them for their own purposes. It has often been remarked that ethnicity is central to individual and group behaviour in the Balkans. An important part of the political culture in contemporary Romania, Bulgaria, Albania-, and ex-Yugoslavia is the notion of a glorious past that was somehow ‘hijacked’ by ‘others’, thus preventing the ‘nation’ from reaching its full potential and its rightful place in the world. The movement of national liberation in Balkans in the nineteenth century was spearheaded by elements of the clergy, thus adding a strong religious element to it. The fact that Albania maintains excellent relations with Turkey adds to the cauldron of international relations in the Balkans. Given the momentum of verbal and physical conflict, no political leader could afford to preach moderation (which, by and large, had been done in Bulgaria and Albania).
