Kin State Non-Interventionism: Albania and Regional Stability in the Western Balkans

Open lecture by Dr Elvin Gjevori (Malmö Högskola). Dr Gjevori gives an overview of Albanian regional policy since 1991.

Situated in a conflict-ridden region and surrounded by co-ethnics living in Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia, Albania has faced pressure to undertake an interventionist regional policy. Nonetheless, Albania has followed a policy of non-intervention.

Dr Gjevori traces the development of Albania’s regional policy as a function of its inter-mingled domestic politics, regional, and international dynamics, concluding that Albania’s regional approach has been shaped by the legacy of communist isolation, state weakness, and recognition that pro-Western policies would overcome its constraints and advance the rights of Albanians living in the Western Balkans.

These issues are important not just for understanding Albania’s actions, but also for disentangling the relationship between regional policy, nationalism, and a kin state’s domestic and international constraints.