ABSTRACT
The Albanians emerged from communism illprepared for the painful transition to a market economy. Many Albanian analysts have asserted that communism’s most serious damage to Albania is not economic, but rather, moral and cultural: the destruction of Albanians’ national traits and dignity. Pressured by growing international demands to permit political pluralism, Ramiz Alia introduced the notion of “pluralism of ideas,” which meant Albanians would be allowed to express their ideas but not to form other political parties. The Albanian media’s accounts of Alia’s visit put the best face on what were insignificant official meetings. Meanwhile, Alia chafed under the burden of the disastrous failure of Albanian communism, but evidently feared that an acknowledgment of the devastation that the Albanian Party of Labor’s policies had brought to the Albanian people would imperil the regime’s survival. Instead, he intensified his efforts to restructure the Communist system.
