Macedonia's 2001 ethnic war: Offsetting conflict. What could have been done but was not?

Abstract

An exploration of the causes of the Macedonian confined ethnic conflict in 2001 suggests that in the first decade of its existence as an independent state (1991–2001), Macedonia did not manage to deal effectively with the major issues that fuelled ethnic tension in the country. These issues were left unaddressed and over time acted as generators of the conflict. The record of ethnic contestation over these issues in the 1990s suggests that the two parties, the Macedonians and Albanians, would probably not have been able to resolve them without the threat of war. The in-depth examination of the major issues of ethnic discord in the country, and the way they were articulated, strongly indicates that the conflict in Macedonia was over symbols. The Ohrid Framework Agreement (OFA), which ended the conflict, effectively closed some of the major issues in ethnic relations, corrected the country's multicultural genome, and improved Macedonia's prospects for stability over the long-term. The early intervention by the international community was a strong factor, which prevented the escalation of the conflict.