TABLE OF CONTENTS Western Media and the European 'Other': Images of Albania in the British Press in the New Millennium (by Gëzim Alpion, University of Birmingham, UK) Asylum Capacity Building in the Balkans: A Rational Answer to Leaders Concerns (by Ridvan Peshkopia, University of Kentucky, USA) Integrating Albania: The Role of the European Union in the Democratization Process (by Judith Hoffmann, Humboldt University, Germany) Political Choice in Albania. The 2005 Albanian Parliamentary Election (by Altin Ilirjani, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA) Review of Bogdani, Mirela and John Loughlin. 2004. Albania and the European Union. European integration and the Prospect of Accession. Tirana, Albania: Dajti 2000 (by Arolda Elbasani, European University Institute, Italy) Continuity or Metamorphosis? Realist Theories and the Anomaly of Medieval International Politics (by Shinasi A. Rama, New York University, USA) Virtual Irredentism? The Redemption and Reification of the Albanian Nation in Cyberspace (by Robert A. Saunders, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, USA) Electoral Institutions, Social Heterogeneity and Political Party Systems in Eastern Europe (by Altin Ilirjani, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA) Review of Tomes, Jason Hunter. 2004. King Zog of Albania: Europe's Self-Made Muslim Monarch. New York: New York University Press (by Besnik Pula, University of Michigan, USA) Review of King, Russell, Nicola Mai, and Stephanie Schwandner-Sievers (eds). 2005. The New Albanian Migration. Brighton, Portland, UK: Sussex Academic Press (by Ridvan Peshkopia, University of Kentucky, USA)

This book argues that power struggles between internal and diasporic elites play a central role in building political agendas that shift national borders. It takes Albania as the primary case study, examining how the understanding of the Albanian nation has taken on different geographical borders over time and among different communities.

The Albanian Journal of Politics (AJP) is a peer reviewed academic publication of the Albanian Political Science Association (ALPSA). The purpose of the Journal is to provide a publication venue and an academic forum for the study of Albanian politics and society. AJP seeks to provide political insight on important problems as it emerges from rigorous, broad-based research and integrative thought. AJP is published by Globic Press in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Volume V (2009) includes contributions from: Gezim Selaci, Zacharoula Karagiannopoulou, Dorjan Tozaj, Rene Mullen, Enis Sulstarova, Gezim Alpion, Satoshi Machida, on subjects such as ethnic politics in Kosovo, causes of civil war onset, instrumentalization of Albanian religious cleavages by the Great Powers, relationship between globalization and peace, and recast of an anti-Oriental Albanian identity in order to fit the European identity, as well as book reviews by Michael Ardovino, Catherine Speiser, Elton Skendaj, and Fatmir Haskaj.

This book provides a comprehensive examination of the Albanian Student Movement of 1990–1991. To date, there are no thorough studies of the first year of the post-Communist transition in Albania, which constitutes the most critical period of transition. The lessons to be learned are vast and of great importance to the debates on social movements, mobilization, and transition. Renowned scholars of modern Albanian history, led by the former leader of the Albanian Student Movement, Shinasi A. Rama, provide a study of the critical role played by this movement in the political transformation of Albania from a totalitarian cult-state to a multiparty political system during 1990–1991. Their informed analyses combined with first-hand knowledge of the events during a key period of Albanian history shed light on the Student Movement, its ideology, values, contributions, and its relationship to the system and to the ruling caste. The authors come to the core conclusion that the Student Movement remained an independent player that achieved change in the political system at a crucial juncture. The End of Communist Rule in Albania is a much-needed contribution in the fields of social movements, democratization studies, Communist and Post-Communist politics, and Albanian Studies.

The expansion of organized crime across national borders has become a key security concern for the international community. In this theoretically and empirically vibrant portrait of a global phenomenon, Jana Arsovska examines some of the most widespread myths about the so-called Albanian Mafia. Based on more than a decade of research, including interviews with victims, offenders, and law enforcement across ten countries, as well as court files and confidential intelligence reports, Decoding Albanian Organized Crime presents a comprehensive overview of the causes, codes of conduct, activities, migration, and structure of Albanian organized crime groups in the Balkans, Western Europe, and the United States. Paying particular attention to the dynamic relationships among culture, politics, and organized crime, the book develops a framework for understanding the global growth of the criminal underworld and provides a model for future comparative research.

Albania and Europe in a Political Regard is a multidisciplinary work which aims to develop different points of view in the field of social sciences. In this sense, it is not by chance that the chapters cover a variety of different disciplines like history, sociology, political science and philosophy. These chapters stand alone and, at the same time, create a whole network of relationships between Albania and Europe. An important element of this work is its multidimensional considerations of Europe; it is conceptualised on a number of different levels throughout the chapters, sometimes as a continent, sometimes as an organization, and other times as a leader. In some chapters, Europe is understood in terms of European integration or European civilization. In others, Europe is simply the idea of the continent and its reflections in the Albanian society. The main axis that drives the chapters is the idea of Albania in relation to Europe – how this relationship is understood, how it has worked in the past, and how it works today. The idea of Europe in this book is conceptualised and explored in a number of different ways, from the idea of “European modernity” to a “soft power”, from a “construction of identity” to a “model of behaviour”, according to each author’s varied point of view and discipline of studies. All the nine chapters in this volume utilise different ways of thinking and approaches, but are all connected by a common axis, that is, Albania and Europe in a Political Regard.