Between impositions and promises: democracy in Macedonia

Democratization in ethnically divided post-civil war societies is usually a laborious undertaking. In contrast, the Macedonian peace process looks like a success story. After the fighting of 2001, the remodeling of the state institutions as laid down in the peace agreement could be advanced successfully, and the political leadership of the disbanded Albanian National Liberation Army (UÇK) morphed into a new Albanian party. The present report explains why Macedonia could still not serve as a model for other post-civil war societies and it identifies the shortcomings and potential for destabilization in this young democracy.