Albania in the next ten years - Politics, Economy, Society - Perceptions - Misha, Maklen (AIIS Albanian Institut for International Studies, 2012)
Albania in the Next Ten Years marks the conclusion of a twostage project entitled Twenty Years After: Rethinking Democracy and the State in Albania. The aim of the project was to gauge the perceptions of the Albanian public on the period in Albanian history commonly referred to as the 'transition,' as well as to understand Albanians' expectations about the future. The data gathered by this project constitutes a valuable addition to the rich body of data gathered over the years by the Albanian Institute for International Studies through a considerable number of surveys that have, for the most part, focused on the issues of Euro-Atlantic integration, state and institution building, the implementation of democratic standards, and, to a lesser extent, on social issues and the economy. This project is distinct because it is the first attempt to offer an overview of not only the way in which the Albanian public has experienced the post-Communist transition, but also the way in which this experience has shaped their expectations for the future. The next decade will show whether Albania decides to complete the transition process, or to remain tangled up in the limbo of a hybrid regime. Whereas last year we answered the question "What is Albania like twenty year after the collapse of the communist regime?" this year we try to answer the question "What do Albanians expect for their country in the next ten years?" And as one can expect, given the confusing nature of developments in Albania, the responses given to the survey also show a level of confusion, a combination between pessimism and optimism, satisfaction and dissatisfaction, that would have been hard to understand without taking into account the rollercoaster that has been the last years of life in Albania