Introduction

All of the states located in the Balkan peninsula, with the exception of Greece, had been under communist rule during the Cold War. When East-West confrontation subsided at the end of the 1980s, it did not open up an era of peace and plenty for the region. Instead, authoritarian political forces enjoyed considerable staying power and the scale of economic problems led to a severe decline in living standards almost everywhere. Romania, Bulgaria and Albania were affected by periodic unrest as scant progress was achieved in overcoming a backlog of problems inherited mainly from the communist era, as well as new ones attributable, in no small way, to the misrule of their post-communist rulers. But it was the collapse of Yugoslavia which focused worldwide attention on the Balkans during the 1990s.