Post-Cold War Perıod in the Balkans
What were the constituent republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY)?
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia.
Which economic system (ideology) did the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia follow from 1965 until its dissolution in the early 1990s?
Market socialism.
What was the basic rule under which the Collective Presidential Council system, created following the death of Tito, operated in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia?
Under the Collective Presidential Council system, the Secretaries General of the local Communist Party from the constituent republics would take turn to serve as the Federal Head of State for one year.
What were the two relatively rich constitutent republics of Yugoslavia where, at the same time, the breakaway tendency was first observed at the end of the Cold War?
Slovenia and Croatia
Between which constitutent republics did the debate over centralization and decentralization take place that contributed to the dissolution of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia?
"The tension between decentralization and recentralization mainly occurred between Serbia (on the one hand) and Slovenia and Croatia (on the other)...Slovenian and Croatian leaders favored a looser and decentralized administration, while Serbian leader Milošević favored a more centralized administration."
What was the underlying or the root cause of the dissolution of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia?
Ethnic nationalism.
Who was the main architect and the charismatic leader of Yugoslavia whose death in 1980 also heralded the dissolution of the Socialist Federal Republic?
Josip Broz Tito
What was the critical reason related to Milošević’s policies vis-a-vis the regions of Yugoslavia that increased the tendency of Slovenia toward independence?
"Slovenia’s tendency toward independence in this process became clearer especially after the abolition of the autonomy of Kosovo and Vojvodina in 1989. Milošević’s policies shaped Serbian nationalism, and the dream of Greater Serbia worried Slovenia due to the possibility of sharing the same fate with Kosovo."
Due to historical relations, which was the first state to recognize the independence of Slovenia?
Germany was the first state to recognize Slovenia’s independence due to historical relations between the two countries.
What was the name of the Croatian group that sympathized with Hitler and resorted to the policy of ethnic cleansing in the region during World War II in an attempt to realize the dream of "Greater Croatia," but finally was forced to flee to Germany and Austria following the creation of Yugoslavia by Tito?
Ustasha
What was the main reason for the non-confrontational withdrawal of the JNA units from Macedonia in the late 1991 and the early 1992?
"The reason for the non-confrontational withdrawal of the JNA units from Macedonia was the ongoing conflicts in Croatia as well as the conflicts that started in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1992."
How may the acts of the Serbian forces and the JNA toward the Bosnianks and Muslims during the break-up process of Bosnia from the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia be characterized and conceptualized by international law?
They may be characterized and conceptualized by international law as crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing. "Bosnia and Herzegovina’s secession from the Federation was the scene of extremely violent conflicts and crimes against humanity ...Muslims were subjected to ethnic cleansing by the Serbs in front of the international community."
What did Alija Izetbegovic propose in the early stages of the Yugoslavian conflict toward maintaining the integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina?
"Alija Izetbegović… was aware that the integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina passed through the unity of Yugoslavia. Therefore, he proposed that Yugoslavia should be structured as a loose federation.”
What is name of the international agreement that was brokered by the United States and signed by the Bosniak, Serbian, and Croatian parties in 1995 in an attempt to end the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina?
The Dayton Peace Accords.
What was the main policy proposed by the Bill (William) Clinton Administration in the Bosnian conflict?
"Lift and strike" was the name of the policy proposed by the Bill Clinton Administration. President Clinton proposed a policy on Bosnia that included lifting the arms embargo imposed on the Bosnians and launching air strikes against the Serbs.
What were the two critical institutions created by the UN Security Council Resolution 1244 (adopted on June 10, 1999) toward ensuring security and stability in Kosovo?
"The UN Security Council resolution 1244 was adopted on 10 June 1999, and with this resolution, the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) and the Kosovo Peace Force (KFOR) were established under the umbrella of the UN to ensure security."
What were the names of the two peacekeeping missions launched by the UN Security Council to help solve the Macedonian crisis by way of adopting Resolutions 795 and 983 in 1992 and 1995, respectively?
The United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) and the United Nations Preventive Deployment Force (UNPREDEP).
The European Union has launched the Stabilization and Association Process (SAP) that offers a membership perspective for Western Balkan countries. Besides the 1993 Copenhagen criteria, what additional criteria did the SAP introduce for the full membership in the EU?
The SAP introduced additional criteria "such as cooperation with the International Criminal Court of the Former Yugoslavia, enabling the return of refugees, adherence to the provisions of the Dayton Agreement, and regional cooperation and good neighborly relations".
How did Russia characterize possible membership of the former Soviet republics and those countries seceded from the former Yugoslavia in such Western organizations as NATO and the European Union in the 1990s?
Russia characterized these countries' possible membership in Western organizations as part of the "containment policy".
What was the main reason for China to have sided with the Serbs during the dissolution process of Yugoslavia?
China has been concerned over possible separatist movements within its own borders (in regions such as Tibet, Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, or even the Dai (the ethnic Thai) of Xishuangbana in Yunnan province.)