albania the land of eagles
Past and present, ancient and modern, young and old, Muslim and Christian, rich and poor, north and south, urban and rural, monarchist and socialist: the extremes of Albanian society are vivid, it's tensions palpable. But Albania is not "another Yugoslavia:" it is more like a framework, a stable structure of rigid poles positioned in space -and linked together by flexible cables. The cables are stressed but, barring catastrophe, they will not snap. Albania, this land that is very beautiful, but only some Americans can tell Albania from Albany or Alabama, and fewer still would be able to find the country on the map. Despite it's spectacular and varied beauty, it's rich natural resources, and it's extraordinary tradition of hospitality, Albania is still struggling to leave its communist past and the almost eternal post communism transition behind and find the right route to economical, political, and social stability and prosperity. Since 1991, Albania has welcomed foreign visitors but, as the poorest country in Europe, it has attracted relatively few of them. Yet there are many reasons why the outside world should be interested in Albania and concerned for it's future. Albania is a Balkan country and thus a crossroad of East and
The absence of incentive in every field of life led to a regression of everything from the politics and economy to the arts and every aspect of social life. Although isolated for decades and ruled by a repressive regime that denied them their most elementary rights, the Albanians have undergone significant cultural, social, and economic transformations; they are no longer a largely "uneducated" peasant people, characterized by a clan mentality, as often portrayed by the Western media. " And they are ready to get the money by all means. Much has been written about historic "transition" from communism, but Albania's transition is ignored in most of these accounts. But the worst is that Albanians have lost their hope, the last thing to die, that things will get any better. " But Albanians are not Slavs, and the Albanian language is not Slavic. Most responsible for the actual situation in Albania is the political class that has inherited every thing and member from the past communist political class, but as always with a few exceptions. It is true that with the type of dictatorship that Albania had to deal for 50 years the transition was not expected to be easy, but now after ten years seems that the situation there is declining every day that passes. The majority of the Albanians evidently recognize that it is them who are responsible of their country and not the western world. The centralized government managed to control every thing from the economy to the common individual and even his or her mind. Maybe having the same ruler for more than 40 years contributed to that too. Enver Hoxha, the dictator that ruled Albania for 40 years, was at least as tough as a dictator as Stalin was in the former Soviet Union. Since 1991, when finally Albanians won the 50 years war over communism, the country has experienced and is still experiencing one of the longest and most painful post-communist transitions. It is them that have to make the change and look forward to the future and not to the past. ------------------------------------------------------------------------**Bibliography**.
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Acceptance Essays
