Yugoslav Federation Research Articles

СЛОВЕНСКАЯ «ДОРОЖНАЯ АФЕРА» 1969 Г. (ИЗ ИСТОРИИ БОРЬБЫ ЮГОСЛАВСКИХ РЕСПУБЛИК ЗА ИНВЕСТИЦИИ)

The Slovenian «road scam» is an acute conflict between the leadership of Slovenia and the Yugoslav federation over the distribution of foreign loans. It was provoked by the pressure of world financial capital on the Yugoslav government. Favorable internal conditions have developed for the crisis. In Slovenia, the team of S. Kavchich was in power, it advocated the creation of a national republican economy. For many years, the Slovenian press criticized the union center and supported the public opinion that all other republics lived at the expense of Slovenia. In 1969, these factors caused a campaign of pressure on the federal government, which was openly led by the leaders of the republic. Such a massive and public uprising against Belgrade had no precedent in the history of the Yugoslav federation. The crisis was overcome thanks to pressure from the country’s top party leadership, but did not lead to any systemic changes. The Slovenian leadership formally submitted and admitted that they were wrong. The “road scam” showed that the economic reforms of the 1960s, designed to eliminate the basis for conflicts between the republics and the federation, did not lead to the desired goal.

유고슬라비아 연방의 해체, 그리고 ‘포스트-유고슬라비아(Post-Yugoslavia)’ 연구를 위한 일례(一例)

The retrospective work of political analysts studying “post-communism” issues has so far been limited to the study of each of the republics that were part of the Yugoslav federation. Now, more than 30 years after 1992, the study of “post-Yugoslavia” must move in the direction of examining the cultures of each of its members, both individually and in combination. Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Kosovo, the former members of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, shared a common history of “Yugoslavia” and “Communism,” but they have already gone their separate ways for more than 30 years, resulting in different economic and political outcomes. Now that the political and economic consequences have been realized, it is time to look to a different future, not back to the past. “Post-Yugoslavia,” meaning “after the breakup of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia,” and post-Yugoslav studies, meaning “after the dissolution of the Yugoslav federation,” are not terms limited to politics, economics, language, or literature as they have been. In this paper, I will argue that, more than three decades after the breakup of the former Yugoslavia, ‘Post-Yugoslavia’ studies have been primarily concerned with the political and economic spheres. It is time to shift the focus of scholarly research away from such tendencies and towards the social and cultural spheres, presenting as examples the common culture of the former Yugoslavia and its individual development after independence.

Bugarska vanjska politika i priznanje Bosne i Hercegovine

This paper explains that Bulgaria took the responsibility to be the only country to recognise the independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina already in January 1992, with the deep conviction that only in this way equality could be achieved between all former Yugoslav republics, and specifically for Bosnia and Herzegovina – the impending tragedy could be prevented. The chronological framework of the article presents Bulgarian foreign policy from the mid-1980s to the international recognition of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s statehood in April 1992. In the early 1990s Bulgaria had a special interest and a specific concern regarding the process of rethinking the existing relations between the detached republics in the multinational Yugoslav federation. When negotiations on the future of Yugoslavia ended in failure in the spring of 1991, the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry developed a new approach in relations with Yugoslavia. The emphasis shifted from contacts with the leadership of the federation to contacts with the leaderships of the republics. As soon as Croatia and Slovenia declared their independence on June 25, 1991, the official Bulgarian position followed that of the European Community (EC), which had initially advocated the preservation of the Yugoslav federation. At the same time, Sofia expressed its principled view that the individual Yugoslav republics were free to exercise their inalienable right to self-determination. Already during the early autumn of 1991, Sofia officially received guests at government level from Croatia, Slovenia and Macedonia. After them, Bulgaria’s attention turned to Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Bulgarian ambassador in Belgrade visited Sarajevo on 22 and 23 October 1991. He held an impressive number of meetings covering the whole spectrum of state and party institutions. At the end of 1991 Bulgaria was preparing to establish full relations with the Yugoslav republics. It was ready to recognise their independence, but it had stated an official position that it would synchronise concrete steps in this respect with the moves of the EC. The positions of Turkey and Greece were also important for Bulgaria. On January 13, 1992, the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry decided to include Bosnia and Herzegovina „in a package” with the other Yugoslav republics to be recognised as independent states. The Bulgarian government’s decision was officially announced on 15 January 1992. Some Bulgarian politicians had some concerns about Bosnia and Herzegovina, which had not even yet held a referendum on secession from Yugoslavia. The opinion of the Bulgarian Prime Minister Philip Dimitrov was decisive: „It was more beneficial for me to look incompetent in constitutional and legal terms on the issue of Bosnia than to create a mess for me and be one of the people who encouraged Milosevic to enter Bosnia”. Although it claimed that it was relying on the criteria adopted by the EC, Bulgaria actually went much further than the EC, which only recognised Slovenia and Croatia. Sofia’s recognition of Bosnia and Herzegovina was symbolically important because it came in a moment of rising extreme internal conflict when the whole of Europe was silent and hesitant how to react.

Mechanisms of Centralisation towards a Post-Yugoslav Dominant Class: The Case of Slovenia

Abstract This article analyses Slovenia’s independent statehood as the result of interactions between three relatively autonomous societal groups which had coexisted, albeit not harmoniously, since the liberal reforms of 1960s socialist Yugoslavia: the political bureaucracy, the ideological–cultural bureaucracy, and the technocracy. The transformation of these three groups into the dominant class in the newly independent Slovenia materialised through mechanisms of mediation of state power, as identified by Göran Therborn. Specifically, these mechanisms of centralising the three groups consisted of coercion, ideology, and extraction. Over the course of the 1980s, the three groups coordinated and began to project themselves as one class. They presented themselves to the working class through the emerging state institutions, and completed the transition to capitalism in Slovenia by dismantling the Yugoslav federation. Ultimately, the configuration of this dominant class through the process leading towards sovereignty created the conditions for its subsequent reproduction.

Book reading: a compensation for rare personal contacts

This article deals with four books by Matjaž Kmecl, which belong to the early period of his writing academic and student manuals (Mala literarna teorija / Little Literary Theory, Od pridige do kriminalke / From Sermon to Criminal Story, Rojstvo slovenskega romana / The Birth of the Slovenian Novel) and a collection of essays (Slovenska postna premišljevanja / Slovenian Lenten Meditations). I present them in a way that summarizes Kmecl’s innovations in literary-historical writing, while at the same time recreating the experiences of a student on the path of becoming a professional reader. The discussions on the rise of the Slovenian bourgeoisie and fictional storytelling in the second half of the 19th century, as well as the reflections based on personal experiences from the times of crisis just before the dissolution of the Yugoslav federation, are permeated by the same attitude from the author: a witty discovery of the natural primordiality and integrity of existence, a tireless gathering of evidence for perseverance, defiance, vitality and faithfulness in the face of despondency, fear, and inhibition. This attitude is rooted in Kmecl’s insightful analyses of the literary past and evolves into a sympathetic assessment of contemporary anomies. In the former, in particular, he recognizes the rich cultural capital that generations of creators have accumulated, despite weak political and economic power, and passed on to their contemporaries and successors with the hope for a self-confident survival of the Slovenian people.

The Policy of Belgrade towards the Turkish and the Albanian Minorities in the Yugoslav Federation with an Emphasis on Demography from the End of World War II to Tito's Death

In the article, the subject of research and analysis is the situation and status of the Turkish and Albanian minorities in the Yugoslav Federation after the Second World War, with an emphasis on Kosovo and Macedonia and the Yugoslav policy towards them. Because of the conflict with Kominform in June 1948 and the deterioration of the Yugoslav-Albanian relationship, the Belgrade leadership was worried about the reaction of the Albanian population in Yugoslavia. At the same time, to limit the demographic and ethnic invasion of the Albanians in Kosovo and Macedonia, Yugoslav authorities started a political campaign for their exportation. After the signing of the Yugoslav-Turkish agreement in 1953, which confirmed the convention from 1938 for the exportation of Turks from Yugoslavia in Turkey, the emigration into Turkey not only of Turks, but also Albanians, was legalized. Albanians in the Yugoslav federation got the possibility to define themselves as “Turks”, and thus to immigrate to Turkey (not Albania). In that way, many Albanians in Yugoslavia, mainly from Kosovo and Macedonia, declared themselves as “Turks”. In those years, Belgrade decided to intensify and renew the idea of emigrating the Muslim population, such as the Turks and Albanians, after World War II.

The Ghost of the Ottoman Scourge: Ottoman Hauntology and Dystopia in Socialist Yugoslav History Textbooks (1945–1990)

This article studies the depiction of the Ottoman period, and the dystopian narratives about that period, in history textbooks printed in Bosnia and Herzegovina during Socialist Yugoslavia. It connects literature on nationalism and education in the peculiar context of Bosnia-Herzegovina within former Socialist Yugoslavia. Housing a substantial native Slavic Muslim population, Bosnia was unique in that it was not a ‘national’ republic, but rather the only multi-national Republic within the Yugoslav federation. This population dates to the Ottoman period in Bosnia (1463–1878), when a significant part of the population converted to Islam. The period in question has been much maligned by Serbian and Croatian historiographies. It was presented as a ‘Dark Age’ in which a foreign imposition hindered the development of the nations into modernity. Conversely, Marxist writings too decried the backwardness of the Ottomans and Islamic Civilization as a whole. This intersection of nationalist and Marxist understandings of the past both envisioned a grand utopian future set against the abuses of the period, making it highly interesting to examine how textbooks presented it to younger generations. As representations of ‘official knowledge’, the textbooks therefore largely used the language of dystopia (a society worse than the reader’s) to present Ottoman rule. It was shown to be a period of unjust extraction, violence, and the end of independent development. However, this article argues, the books not only aimed to decry the historical injustices. They presented the regime and its modern values positively. Unfortunately, despite the political gains the Bosnian Muslim population gained in Yugoslavia, the textbook image of the Ottomans has hardly changed. This would have disastrous consequences in the Wars of the 1990s, when the Bosnian Muslims were conveniently cast as the ‘Turkish’ nemesis, as the Ghost of the House of Osman roamed largely free through Yugoslavia’s history textbooks.

The Theology of the Ethnocultural Empathic Turn: Towards the Balkan Theology of Political Liberation

The theology of the ethnocultural empathic turn, on the general level, encompasses ethnocultural empathy, which, as a branch of social psychology, strives for a thorough understanding of the life context of those ethnically and culturally different from ourselves. In the context of Christian theology, this turn also embraces the turn reflected in Mt 15:21–28 (Mk 7:24–30), in which Jesus expands his missionary work from the locally based “House of Israel” into the global realm to include the entire “inhabited world”. In this essay, the theological discourse of ethnocultural empathic turn is embedded within a specific sociopolitical context, which brings us to the Balkans, i.e., the post-Yugoslav framework, where we discuss the legacy of Bishop Srećko Badurina and layperson Franjo Starčević. During the disintegration of the Yugoslav Federation, they vigorously resisted the dominant ethnonationalist-religious persuasions of the Croatian Catholic and Serbian Orthodox communities. They stood up for those who faced elimination due to the policy of ethnic cleansing. Today, both can serve as the foundation for the establishment of the theology in question, aiming at the development of the first post-Yugoslav contextual theology based on the political theology and the theology of liberation, capable of tackling the phenomenon of ethnoreligiosity as one of the most pressing problems plaguing this region.

Instytucja Prezydenta w systemie politycznym Republiki Serbii

The institution of the President of the Republic of Serbia was established under the 2006 constitution. Previous experience of the country was limited in terms of the structure of the executive power. In 1953, the office of President of Yugoslavia was introduced in the former Yugoslavia. From 1971, the function of the head of state was performed by the collective Presidium of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY), consisting of representatives of individual republics and autonomous districts (i.e. Vojvodina and Kosovo). The presidium was headed by Tito, who was president for life. After his death in 1980, the function of the chairman of the Presidium was held by representatives of the republic on a rotating basis. The office of the President of the Republic of Serbia was introduced by the Basic Law of 1990 (still within the framework of the functioning of the Yugoslav federation). The provisions of the Constitution define the powers of the head of state, which are characteristic of parliamentary systems. The current president is also the president of a political party, which means that his prerogatives go far beyond the provisions provided for in the constitution.

The foundation of the independent Republic of Macedonia – A decade of international recognition (1991–2001)

The process of the disintegration of the multinational Yugoslav federation at the end of the 80s and the beginning of the 90s had a strong impact on the process of the constitution of an independent Macedonian state. In those years, the Yugoslav Federation underwent a transition from the one-party rule of the Union of Communists to the establishment of a pluralistic multi-party political system. After the legalization of the possibility to create new political parties in the Socialist Republic of Macedonia, various parties and associations emerged, which brought great diversity to the political life of the republic and laid the foundations of party pluralism in it. The grouping of the parties is based on the attitude towards the future development of Yugoslavia, which divides them into “pro-Yugoslav” and “national”. Along with the Macedonian national parties, political parties and associations on a national and ethno-religious basis are being created in the SR Macedonia. The difficulties in the Republic of Macedonia started parallel to the process of declaring its independence and especially after the breakup of Yugoslavia. Thus, in the early 90s, after the collapse of the multinational federation and the declaration of independence of some of its republics, such as Slovenia and Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia faced serious problems in its own state. Internally - the final independence of the state and liberation from the Yugoslav People's Army, and externally - its international recognition. And while the last decade of the 20th century was mainly related to the international recognition of the Republic of Macedonia, the first decade of the 21st century saw the country face serious international problems and confrontations mainly between the Macedonian and Albanian ethnic groups in the country, as well as the dilemma of further and steps towards membership in the Euro-Atlantic structures - in the EU and NATO.

Yugoslav Totalitarian Society, Discrimination Against Albanian and Bulgarian Minorities in Macedonia

The Balkans as a region of Southeast Europe is one of the most sensitive regions of Europe; this is where the sparks of war arose from the time of the Ottoman Empire until 2001 when a political solution was finally given to each problem of nationalities and inequalities in this region. The former Yugoslavia as an artificial creation of a state, lacking nationality, is one of the sources of conflicts which erupted with bloody wars caused by Serbia. The Yugoslav federation which gained political power after World War II consisted of 6 republics and 2 provinces. According to the Federal Constitution of Yugoslavia, all peoples must be integrated into Yugoslavia. Unfortunately within Yugoslavia there were privileged peoples, and others who were treated as secondary-class people. Albanians in Yugoslavia, most of whom belonged to the Autonomous Province of Kosovo, did not experience the status of equal population in Yugoslavia; Bulgarians were treated the same, most of whom lived in the Socialist Republic of Macedonia. The Republican government in Macedonia influenced by the Federal one has directly influenced Macedonia in the manner of discrimination against national minorities such as Albanians, Bulgarians, Hungarians, Roma, Ashkali, Turks, etc., while the: Serbian, Montenegrin, Macedonian people have been the most privileged ones within the Republic, as well as in the Yugoslav Federation.The communist regime in Yugoslavia denied any minority efforts for equality and prosperity. The most vocal in the quest for rights were Albanians and Bulgarians, who faced torture, draconian punishments, internment, and even murder in Yugoslav concentration camps. Yugoslavia, namely the Socialist Republic of Macedonia from 1945 until 2001, was the most dictatorial regime in the history of Southeast Europe for Albanians and Bulgarians; unfortunately the Bulgarian community in Macedonia, even with the new constitution, has not resolved its political, cultural, educational status etc…

Titoizam protiv nauke: primer „kritičkog osvrta“ Zorana Janjetovića

The paper addresses the phenomenon of relativization, denial, and marginalization of significant historical facts from the period of socialist Yugoslavia in order to defend the stereotypical image of that era that exists today. Using Zoran Janjetović’s text from the first issue of the journal Tokovi istorije in 2023 as an example, the paper examines the mechanisms used in domestic historiography to ensure that historical facts do not threaten the traditional narrative about the history of federal Yugoslavia, which was formed during the League of Communists’ one-party dictatorship.

Resolving the Historical and Cultural Heritage Conf lict Between Macedonia and Bulgaria in Terms of the Relationship Between Power And History

This study discusses the relationship between power and history along the axis of the ongoing fight between Macedonia and Bulgaria regarding the shared historical heritage. Since 1944 when Macedonia became an independent republic within the Yugoslav Federation, this struggle over the historical and cultural heritage of the region has been based on many historical events and historical figures in these regions. and other public actors. Both countries have emphasized and appropriated the national character of the historical and cultural heritage of the region into their historiographies. These two countries’ attitudes have made discussions on sharing history and culture political and ideological. Because the source of these disagreements is political, the attempt has been made to resolve things through political means. Based on this perspective, the study will reveal the relationship between history and power by discussing these disagreements regarding historical and cultural heritage between the two countries. In other words, the study will examine how history and historiography have been politicized and how this politicization and ideologization have become sources of political problems between the two countries by discussing the disagreements and disputes between the two countries with regard to their shared historical heritage. This study’s main claim involves the main motif of these countries’ dispute to be the ideology of nationalism and how it essentially reflects the conflict between their two nationalist ideologies.

ZNAČAJ ISTRAŽIVANJA ISTORIJSKOG PROCESA REVALORIZIRANJA NACIONALNOG IDENTITETA MUSLIMANA U SOCIJALISTIČKOJ JUGOSLAVIJI (1956–1971) / THE IMPORTANCE OF RESEARCHING THE HISTORICAL PROCESS OF REVALUATING THE MUSLIMS' NATIONAL IDENTITY IN SOCIALIST YUGOSLAVIA

After defending her doctoral dissertation at Uppsala University in 2016, Dr. Iva Lučić edited the book In the Name of the Nation, translated from German into Bosnian by professor Sulejman Bosto. The book presents a comprehensive historical research of the genesis of the Muslim nation recognition in socialist Yugoslavia during the period 1956–1971. Based on the study of archival material in the institutions of the Yugoslav Federation and the Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as an insight into the reference literature, Dr. Iva Lučić scientifically elaborates one of the crucial historical questions for the development of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s statehood. It is about the recognition of the Muslim’s national subjectivity, which during the several decades course led to a positive historical outcome at the Central Committee of the League of Communists of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s 17th Session and at the implementation of the Yugoslav population census of 1971. In the book’s final part, Dr. Iva Lučić does a comprehensive historical and sociological-political synthesis of the wholeness of her research. The scientific findings released by Dr. Iva Lučić represent a contribution to the study and establishment of contemporary political history of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 20th century.

A Man Without a Corner of His Own. Domestic Migration, Social Inequalities and Housing in Post-Second World War Rijeka

Abstract In the aftermath of the Second World War, the city of Rijeka experienced dramatic demographic changes. A significant part of the local population left for Italy, and domestic migrants arrived from the territories of the Yugoslav Federation. Besides the need to create a new urban fabric, the local authorities had to manage the chaotic – and often unorganised – influx of labour, that ranged from unskilled workers to party cadres. One of the main challenges that the city had to tackle was to provide newcomers with decent accommodation in what was then a war-torn city without proper housing. Housing became a barometer of how integrated a person had become, or how marginalised those at the bottom of the social ladder were. As the article argues, access to decent housing not only mirrored class differentiation but also fostered boundaries of exclusion or inclusion within the social fabric. Those living in makeshift accommodation were burdened by additional stigmatisation, despite them being integrated into the labour market.

Preispitivanje identiteta - Vojvodina devete decenije prošlog veka

The paper represents a consideration of attitudes related to the national-political status of Vojvodina after the death of Josip Broz, during the (re)affirmation of the constitutional and national identity of the socialist Yugoslav federation and its constituent elements. Relying on the existing continuity of discussions about the position of Vojvodina in the Republic of Serbia and the Yugoslav Federation, temporarily interrupted due to the honoring of the personality and work of Comrade Tito, the transition process, which increasingly turned into a process of disintegration of the joint state, testifies to the increasing number of contradictions regarding the future of the status of AP Vojvodina. Arising from ambivalent motives, they soon transformed into uncompromising antagonisms that persistently insisted on their own orthodoxy at the cost of a decisive conflict. In such circumstances, all interested parties ignored the fact of an overly cumbersome and bureaucratized party apparatus, and thus the state apparatus, which had long since lost any foothold in the political will of the population. For this reason, the massing of support, in one moment, became a decisive moment of prestige that led to the final political triumph. The accompanying populist manifestations decisively influenced the specific development of democratic pluralism, which intended to make a departure from the compromised ideology of the Yugoslav federation.

Słoweński patriotyzm w okresie socjalistycznej Jugosławii

Slovenian Patriotism in the Socialist Yugoslavia The article presents an analysis of the essence and form of Slovenian patriotism in the socialist Yugoslavia, with particular emphasis on the 1980s (when the crisis of the Yugoslav idea becomes evident). It deals with issues related to the forms and manifestations of the patriotism of a small nation such as the Slovenes, who for most of their history were under the domination of larger and stronger nations. The argument is divided into five parts. The first, introductory one contains a brief outline of the ideological foundations of the Yugoslav federation, which were also important for the Slovenian patriotism at that time. For this purpose, the most important ideas and values promoted by Titoism in politics and education are recalled, and the progressive national and cultural emancipation of Slovenes is indicated. The second part discusses the views and positions of Slovenian intellectuals (Edvard Kocbek, Primož Kozak and Drago Jančar) fundamental to the understanding of the discussed issue. They are an expression of a deep reflection on the condition and position of a small nation in the specific conditions of a multinational federation, but also with reference to a wider (i.e. European and American) framework. The third part shows the Yugoslav background of discussions on Slovenian patriotism, which, in the rest of Yugoslavia in the 1980s, was considered nationalism shattering the federal unity. In the fourth part, the symbolic forms of “love for the homeland” in Slovenia (including those in tourism and sports) are cited, emphasizing their importance in the process of shaping the national awareness. The last part outlines the contemporary perception of Slovenian patriotism in the period of socialist Yugoslavia. The conclusion emphasizes, above all, the departure from patriotism based on the universalist ideology of socialism in favor of patriotism understood as love for the native land.

Historical Development of Education and Social Work in Kosovo

<p style="text-align: justify;">The aim of this article is to highlight the history of social work in Kosovo, regarding the major political climate from 1945 to the present. Unfavorable political developments that have existed in Kosovo for a long historical period have made it impossible to develop the social work profession compared to the countries of the region. Although the Former Yugoslav Federation claimed to be a socialist country, the social differences between states and provinces within this were large. The findings of the paper show that social work did not develop in Kosovo as a profession until specific structures, such as the emergence of the University of Pristina as a legal structure of education for Kosovo Albanians, which has been offering a degree program in social work for almost a decade now. The political orientation and organizational infrastructure are highly relevant for the execution and education of social work. Literature review is the methodological framework of this paper. Education and social work have been shown to be an extraordinary opportunity for the transformation of society.</p>

문학 속의 정치

The causes of the collapse of the Yugoslav Federation can be found in many ways, but ‘nationalism’ is the most decisive. However, the issue of “should only the Serbian people be held responsible for the dissolution of Yugoslavia and the civil war?” is a very sensitive issue, and looking at the history of nationalism that existed before the formation of Yugoslavia shows that Serbia and other republics cannot be completely free from that responsibility. In this paper, we examine the historical development and characteristics of ‘nationalism’ in Yugoslavia, particularly in Serbia and Croatia, and based on this, the relationship between ‘literature’ and ‘nationalism’ in Serbia and Croatia around the 1990s. The Serbian and Croatian literary circles have clearly differentiated their position over the dissolution of Yugoslavia since 1991, while the Croatian literary community, which sought to gain independence from Yugoslavia, sought to find its national identity in literature and to make it as distinct as possible. Based on the overall position of Serbian and Croatian literary circles, we examine representative Serbian and Croatian writers who worked on literature around the breakup of Yugoslavia and the Bosnian civil war at the end of the 20th century.

Preserving Peace in a Troubled Region: the Case of Montenegro

In the wake of the Cold War, Yugoslavia and its successor states were engulfed in a series of conflicts, including armed ones. In all of the republics - the newly independent states of Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, and Serbia’s then-province of Kosovo, but with the exception of Slovenia - these conflicts were primarily ethnically driven. The only former Yugoslav republic to avert armed conflict in the 1990s was Montenegro, which regained its independence peacefully in 2006. In this article, the authors respond to the research question of why, out of all of the republics of the former Yugoslavia, was it only in Montenegro in which there was no ethnic conflict during the disintegration of the Yugoslav federation? The authors apply the Randall Collins theory of social conflicts to the case study of Montenegro. This theory combines geopolitical and ethnic factors for the absence or outbreak of conflicts, something which has a strong explanatory potential for this case study. Through a multidisciplinary approach, based on a case study as a qualitative method, the authors analyse various factors so that they are able to reach concrete conclusions in a comprehensive manner. The analysis covers historical, demographic, political, and special ethical aspects in Montenegro. Our explanation of the most important causes which ensured the absence of ethnic conflict in Montenegro is based on perspectives of what can be referred to as the neo-Weberian and anti-foundationalism approaches which emphasise the behaviour of the state, as well as geopolitical circumstances, as prime examples for the emergence or absence of ethnic-based conflict.