The country of Kosovo and its citizens have suffered from wars, exploitation, and destruction.

The Southeastern European country currently has a republic and since the country’s integration with the rest of the world has been a positive impact. The 2014 Index of Economic Freedom currently has the country as an overall score of 59.4 which gives it a rank of 95, meaning it is the 95th freest economy. To put this into perspective the country has a 59.4 while the world average is 60.3. However, in the regional average 67.1. The country’s today score is still a considerable improvement from its former years where in the early 2000’s it was hovering below 50 and even just above 40. The political situation in Serbia is continuing to develop especially with the international community. Serbia applied for membership into the European Union in 2009 and EU accession negotiations are projected early in 2014. Admission into the European Union would provide tremendous improvement socially, politically, and economically.

Economic Development: Growth is associated with structural, social change and change in the important institutions of the economy.

According to the World Bank, from 1993 to 1998, poverty rate has reduced by 14 percent in developing countries, similar to about 107 million people. This may result from receiving foreign investment that plays an important role in local economy growth. For example, the proportion of population living in poverty in India decreased by half in the two decades, from the 1970s to 1990s, while the number of Chinese in poverty declined by approximately 210 million during twenty-one years, from 1978 to 1999 (Healey 2008). In other words, the standard of living is improving due to the benefits of international economic activities.

At the end, subjective conclusions will be made about whether transition itself is worthwhile. Each reader is welcome to draw his or her own conclusions. Whether transition is worthwhile is a question that will be approached from the people’s point of view and it will rely on comparison between Bosnia’s economic performance and the living standard in the country before and during transition. It will also consider future estimates. Political events that affected the process of transition will be taken into consideration because of their enormous relevance. Hopefully, the conclusions will be unbiased and provide important considerations relevant to Bosnia’s future.

The first battle of the Kosovo war which was meticulously planned with stomach revolting malice was less than a mile from my house and it resulted in the death of over 50 members of the Jashari family. As the Serbian Army surrounded the three homes the Jashari’s began to prepare for the onslaught that was to come. Although less than 20 men had arms they valiantly defended their house, their land, and most importantly their family from a determined and well organize Army. These men, farmers by trade, equipped with simple Kalashnikov rifles defended their homes and lives for hours and didn’t allow for their bloodthirsty enemies to advance even one step towards their precious brothers, sisters, mothers, and fathers. The amount of power

Elaine Monaghan traveled to Kosovo in 1999 for six weeks to report on the Kosovo war. She was prompted to go there after she saw a specific image of thousands of Kosovo citizens confused, lost and scared. She realized that these were human beings whose stories needed to be told.

Can Kosovo ever be a strong enough country to stand on its own is a question that we have to ask! Will they ever become a place that will be able to grow to a power nation? With their enemies next door to them; will they be able to stand and fight for their country? Do they have enough resources to help them just to get started on a road back to be a country that the people will be proud of? With the US and all their allies helping them; what state will we be in financially with all the other debt that we have? These are the question I have to ask you concerning this country, the country of Kosovo!

Kosovo as an independent country is facing serious economic problems. Although the media propagandizes its growth during the last two year, it is still the poorest country in the region and decades will be needed to make obvious progress. For this reason Serbia’s interest in a country like Kosovo with very low level of development, high level of unemployment and serious debts, have always surprised me. After Kosovo’s independence, Serbia refuses to let go of the north of Kosovo and continues to interfere by hoping that it can retain control of Mitrovica, where Trepca Mines are located. Trepca has been a key source of development during Yugoslavia, as the statistics have shown that it employed around 20,000 in the 1980s and produced 70% of the Yugoslav mineral reserve; while Stan Terg, located in the southern Mitrovica, is controlled by Albanians and it is the only region where the processing plants are still active and those controlled by Serbians are inactive. That is why I believe that after the independence of Kosovo, Serbia’s interest have shifted from symbolic, historic claims to potential economic gains.

she can’t go up to one of their posts in Albania. The soldier would reply “We

The institutions listed in the above section incentivized a multitude of behavioral consequences. The first is almost comprehensive gridlock. Under the 1974 constitution each of the republics, including the areas, namely Kosovo and Vojvodina, which were normally considered peripheral, were given veto power. Beyond causing an upset with Serbia, the veto power that each republic now had, made any substitutive state reform virtually impossible. This is because the republics had differing demographic and economic makeups, which influenced the individual republics to have vastly different idealized versions of what a Yugoslavian federation or confederation should look like. Over and over constitutional reforms were proposed only to run into

The land of Kosovo has been plagued with tension for hundreds of years being claimed by several surrounding countries. The two biggest contenders, Albanians in Kosovo and Serbia have been fighting for the land, which culminated in a full war from 1998-1999. The war brought international attention to the war crimes committed by both sides, and proved that the two countries had years to go before coming to a solution. The Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) led by Kosovo Albanians, and the Serbian militia led by President Slobodan Milošević committed heinous crimes against their enemies. Crimes range from ethnic cleansing to rape and destruction of whole villages. The violence created a serious refugee problem that is still relevant today.

Inflation during this same period remained tame and the currency, the kuna, was stable. Economic slowdown in 2008 and has yet to recover; growth was stagnant or negative each year since 2009 (CIA). A high unemployment rate of twenty one percent and uneven regional development continues to be a problem. Croatia joined the European Union (EU) on July 1, 2013. The city of Zagreb has cut spending since 2012 to reduce public debt, sixty-six percent of the GDP. The county also raised additional revenues through a more stringent tax collection and raising Value Added Tax and the government has sought to accelerate privatization of non-strategic assets (CIA). Twenty-one percent of the population is below the poverty line (CIA). Industries in Croatia include: chemicals and plastics, machine tools, fabricated metals, electronics, aluminum, paper products, construction materials, textiles, shipbuilding, petroleum, and tourism. Labor force consists of 1.715 million people (CIA). Exports are $12.36 billion and include: transport equipment, machinery, textiles, chemical, and fuels. Imports are $21.74 billion and include: machinery, transport and electrical equipment, chemicals, fuels, lubricants, and foodstuffs (CIA). Natural resources are oil, some coal, iron-ore, natural asphalt, clays, salt, and hydropower. The land consists of 15.85% arable land with1.47% permanent crops: wheat, corn, barley,

    By the war's end, the Bosnian Conflict claimed the lives of 100,000 civilians and soldiers, and forced another 2 million from their homes. The war began over ethnic and political conflicts within Yugoslavia, especially the republics of Bosnia, Croatia, and Serbia. Bosnians faced many challenges coming from all sides with the help and manipulation of Serbia’s president, Slobodan Milosevic who wanted to gain control of Bosnia. In the face of all the attempts to stop Bosnia from becoming independent, the Bosnians stood their ground, protected themselves and their land, and gained their freedom in March 1992. Nevertheless over the next 4 years, Bosnian civilians were ravaged by Serbian militaries and their use of “ethnic cleansing” that killed masses and caused millions to become refugees.

During the Regression of Human Rights under the Putin Administration following the collapse of the Soviet Union, there were many changes enacted to the Russian government that sought to reform (over time) the former Communist Soviet nation into a peaceful picture of Western Democracy. By the turn of the century Russia was beginning to demonstrate several signs that hinted at a healthy democracy was beginning to emerge. These signs included such promising practices as the public debate of policy issues, a healthy competition of political parties, a variety of opinions presented by the media, a strong community of regional governors, and an expanding community of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) (Russia 2005). Although many of these

Development has recently become a new buzz word in international relations. Through an exploration of political, social and economic development around the globe, scholars are trying to understand which policies are most beneficial, and why certain policies are effective and why some fail. The connection between different types of development is often an important part of this research as well. The connection between political and economic development is of specific interest since the end of the Cold War and the failure of most communist-based systems. The emergence of capitalism as the dominant world economic system at the conclusion of the Cold