Breakup of Yugoslavia from 1991-1995 - Case Study Example

When the Berlin Wall was brought down on November 9th, 1989 it not only represented an end of the bipolar international order and the end of the Cold War. It also the beginning of new threats to national security: national conflicts and secessionist movements. Thus the threat to national security no longer centered primarily on conflicts between states but shifted somewhat toward conflicts within states. The breakup of Yugoslavia not only draws attention to the new post-Cold War international order with respect to the secessionist movements but also draws attention to the complex causative factors behind the movements.

Academics have dissected the breakup of Yugoslavia and have explained the breakup from a number of different angles including the economic perspective, international politics, culture, empires, personality, ethnicity, and nationalism. However, as Jovic argues, neither one of these explanations can stand alone. Moreover, no explanation takes into account the view of political leaders guiding and perpetuating the conflict giving rise to the breakup of Yugoslavia.Rather than focus on a single explanatory model, this research study looks at the totality of the factors and conditions leading up to and culminating in conflict and ending with the break-up of Yugoslavia.

In other words, this research paper will not attempt to fit the facts and history into an explanatory model. Instead, this research paper will identify the factors leading up to the breakup of Yugoslavia and will let those factors provide an explanation for the breakup.