Engaging with the self-captive nation: Albania in the US official documents from 1945 to 1980 |
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Authors: | Bekim Sejdiu Lulzim Peci |
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Affiliation: | 1. Constitutional Court of the Republic of Kosovo, Prishtin?, Kosovobekim.sejdiu@gjk-ks.org;3. Kosovar Institute for Policy Research and Development, Prishtina, Kosovo |
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Abstract: | This paper aims to analyse US policy towards Albania during the cold war, as a case that illustrates Washington’s approach towards individual Communist countries in Eastern Europe in the light of the grand contest between the antagonist superpowers. This analysis is based almost exclusively on published US archival documents related to Albania from 1945 to 1980. This analysis underlines that in the American perception, the geopolitical importance of each Communist country was intrinsically linked with its position vis-à-vis the Soviet Union. Albania was no exception, despite the rigid Communist dogma it vigorously pursued. |
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Keywords: | Communist Albania American foreign policy Eastern Europe cold war geopolitics ideological alignment Soviet orbit Communist China |
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