Yugoslav Crisis
January 1990 - December 1995

Brana Markovic

For the past three years International Problems, journal of the Institute of International Politics and Economics, has been publishing regularly "The Chronology of the Yugoslav Crisis". It covers the events within the territory of the former SFR Yugoslavia and reactions of the international community to the crisis since its onset in 1990 up to April 1995.

The roots of the Yugoslav crisis can be traced to many dates in the recent and distant past. We thought, however, that it would be useful to offer the readers the chronology starting from that year, because this relatively short period in historic proportions abounds in events which directly caused the breakdown of the SFR Yugoslavia and led to war and destruction in some of its parts. When analyzing the basic causes of the Yugoslav crisis it is necessary to point out to the ones of internal nature. The key for understanding the roots of the crisis lies in serious and unsolved internal national, religious, economic, social and political problems that in various forms and with variable intensity had smoldered almost all the time during the seven decades of existence of this multi-national and multi-confessional community of the South Slav peoples. Therefore, the principal responsibility for the crisis as well as for the future resolution of the Yugoslav drama lies on domestic protagonists.

It is also obvious that foreign factors have had considerable impact on the situation in former Yugoslavia. Ever since the internationalization of the Yugoslav crisis in mid-1991 various international actors - the European Community (Union), CSCE (OSCE), NATO, United Nations, USA, Russia, Great Britain, Germany, France, etc, have been acting with variable effects in their attempts to find a way out of the vicious circle of the Yugoslav conflict. This Chronology offers impartial documentary material which would, we hope, more thoroughly present the role of all the factors in the Yugoslav crisis.

Having in mind that many foreign readers have shown interests in the Chronology published by our journal, we decided to publish it in its entirety in English, in a somewhat amended version, now under the title "Yugoslav Crisis and the World - Chronology of Events: January 1990 - April 1995". We think that this kind of documentation could be useful not only to those interested in learning more about the processes taking place in this part of the Balkans, but also as a guideline for the future research of the tempestuous and tragic period in the history of the former Yugoslavia.