Albania

[Uncorrected Page Proofs] -- Montgomery, David W. 2019. "The Hardest Time Was the Time without Morality": Religion and Social Navigation in Albania. In Everyday Life in the Balkans, edited by David W. Montgomery. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. 265-277.

Siyaseten Tanzimat Fermanı ile başlayan ve Türkiye Cumhuriyeti’nin kurulması ile sonuçlanan dönem tarihsel gelişmelerin oldukça hızlı yaşandığı ve Türk tarihinin yönünü değiştiren şahısların yetiştiği verimli bir dönem olmuştur. Tez konusu olan Nazım Paşa 1853 ile 1913 yılları arasında yaşamıştır. Nazım Paşa, 60 yıllık ömründe Deli Fuat Paşa Vakası, 31 Mart Vakası, Halaskar Zabitan olayı, 1912’de Meclis-i Mebusan’ın kapatılması, I. Balkan Savaşı ve Bab-ı Ali Baskını gibi olayların baş aktörlerinden olmuştur. Kendisi aynı zamanda Ayastefanos Antlaşması, Berlin Antlaşması görüşmelerine iştirak etmiş, I. Balkan Savaşı sırasında Bulgaristan ile yapılan mütarekede heyet reisliği yapmış askeri bir diplomattır. Brüksel’deki askeri ataşe olarak başladığı askerlik hayatı 23 Ocak 1913’te Harbiye Nazırı iken başına isabet eden bir kurşunla son bulmuştur. Bu çalışma, tez konusu olan Nazım Paşa’nın hayatını kronolojik bir bütünlükle ele almayı ve yaşadıklarının dönemin tarihsel gelişimine olan etkisini izlemek amacıyla yazılmıştır. Çalışma esnasında Başbakanlık Osmanlı Arşivi evrakı, döneme tanıklık eden şahısların hatırat türünden eserleri, basın, Genel Kurmay Askeri Tarih ve Stratejik Etüt (ATASE) Daire Başkanlığı Arşivi evrakı ile araştırma türünden eserlerden yararlanılmıştır. Çalışma bir hatıratı ya da miras bıraktığı evrakı olmayan Nazım Paşa hakkında yapılmış ilk ve tek müstakil çalışmayı teşkil etmektedir.

The most unusual part of Byron’s European travels in 1809–10 was probably his visit to Albania, where he roughed it for a bit and then lived and travelled luxuriously as the guest of Ali Pasha. He wrote about his Albanian travels in his letters and more famously in Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, whose few stanzas on Albania along with their elaborate footnotes have had an extraordinary fall-out. Historians, travellers and at least one army
officer have used Byron’s letters, poems and footnotes to understand the land and its people. Though Byron made Albania seem Romantic, remote, wild and exciting, few followed him into Albania. Those who did, however, tended to write about it with a verve reminiscent of Byron. This essay is about three Byron-inflected British travellers of the earlier twentieth century, Peter Quennell (1905–93), who visited Albania in the 1920s, Patrick Leigh Fermor (1915–), who walked through the Balkans in the 1930s, and the mountaineer Harold W. Tilman (1898–1977), who volunteered for duty in Albania during World War II because it was reputed to be a mountainous country.

İÇİNDEKİLER
ÜÇÜNCÜ BÖLÜM
ARNAVUTLUK
1. Analysis on Existing Ottoman Heritage Buildings inside
Fortress Walls of Elbasan City
Brunilda BASHA–Zafer SAĞDIC 09
2. Arnavut Edebiyatında İslâm Dini Yansımaları ve
Söylemsellik Modelleri
Nysret KRASNİQİ-Abdulla REXHEPİ 33
3. Theofan Stilian Noli’nin Arnavut Ortodoks Kilisesi’ne
Katkıları
İlir RRUGA 49
BOSNA-HERSEK
4. Balkan İslâm’ının Beyaz Perdeye Yansıması: Yücel
Çakmaklı’nın Kanayan Yara Bosna Filmi Üzerine Felsefi
Değiniler
Rıfat ATAY-Merve KESENCİ 73
5. Boşnaklarda Arap Dili Öğretimi -Mahiyeti ve KronolojisiSeyfettin HARUNİ 93
6. Surviving Elements of "Tradition" in the Bosnian Family-A
Contribution to Understanding the Anthropology of the Family
Amel ALİĆ 117
SIRBİSTAN VE KARADAĞ
7. Balkanların Sırbistan Bölgesindeki İslâm ve İslâmî Eserlerin
Akibeti
Eyüp SALİH 1416
8. Novi Pazar’da Din Eğitiminin Özellikleri ve Biçimleri
Emina SADIKOVIĆ 159
9. Sırbistan’ın Sancak Bölgesindeki Medreseler ile Türkiye’deki
İmam-Hatip Liselerinin Eğitim Müfredatları Yönünden
Karşılaştırılması
Yakup YILMAZ-Yasin YAYLA 171
10.Ülgün Şehri ve Yakın Çevresindeki Osmanlı Dönemine Ait
Arap-Osmanlı Harfleriyle Yazılan Mezar Taşları ile İlgili Genel
Bir Değerlendirme
Ali BARDHİ 183
KIRIM VE ROMANYA
11.Cengiz Dağcı’nın Romanlarında Siyaset: Hüzün ve Acının
Bir Toplumu Oluşturması
Celal TÜRER 197
12.Romanya ve Aşağı Tuna Avrupa Bölgesinde Geçmişten
Bugüne Türk Miraslarının Canlandırma ve Koruma Mücadelesi
Gülten ABDULA NAZARE 211
DÖRDÜNCÜ BÖLÜM
KUZEY MAKEDONYA
13.Osmanlı Döneminde Makedonya’da Yetişen İlim Adamları
Hüseyin ALGÜL 235
14.Kuzey Makedonya’daki Osmanlı Medreseleri ve Üsküp
Mefail HIZLI 253
15.Üsküp Meddah Medresesi ve Kapatılmadan Önce Yetişen
Müderrisler
Süleyman BAKİ 269
16.İştip Kazası’nın Tarihi ve Etnik Yapısı (XIX. Yüzyıl)
Bilal RUSHİD 293
17.Osmanlı Döneminde Makedonya Kratova’da Eğitim
Kurumları
Hasan TELLİ 3077
18.Osmanlı Kesriye’sindeki Eğitim Kurumları: Bir İcmal
Murat ÇELİK 325
19.Makedonya’daki Müslümanlarda Ölüm ile İlgili Belli Başlı
İnanç ve Adetler
Mensur NUREDİN 351
KOSOVA
20.Sırbistan’ın Kosova’daki Arnavut Müslüman Nüfusunun
Etnik Temizlik Politikası
Fehari RAMADANI 359
21.Müslüman Engelli Gençlerde Dini İnancın Psikolojik Etkisi
(Kosova Örneği)
Feim GASHİ 377
22.Bir Hudut Kazasında Toplumsal İlişkiler ve Yönetim
Politikaları: Gilan/Gjilan ve Asayiş Sorunları
Seda ŞAHİN AHMETAJ 405
BEŞİNCİ BÖLÜM
YUNANİSTAN, BATI TRAKYA VE TRAKYA
23.Yunanistan, Dimetoka Seyit Ali Baba (Kızıl Deli Sultan)
Tekkesi ve Velâyetnamesi
Kazım SARIKAVAK 423
24.XV. Yüzyılın Ortasında Batı Trakya’da Bir Osmanlı Nahiyesi:
Ferecik
Cengiz PARLAK 433
25.İslâm’a ve Orduya Köprü: Uzunköprü
Yılmaz BÜKTEL 461
26.Balkan Muhacirlerinin Dinî-Siyasî ve Kültürel Kimliğine
Dair Bazı Tesbitlerin Tekirdağ Örneğinden Hareketle Sunumu
Cüneyt ÖZVARDARLI 4798
BULGARİSTAN
27.Osmanlı Dönemi Bulgaristan’ında Kurulan Dârulhadislere Genel Bir
Bakış
Mustafa CANLI 491
28.1189 Numaralı Hurûfât Defteri Kayıtlarına Göre Şumnu’daki
Vakıf Kurumları
Habibe KAZANCIOĞLU 505
29.Bulgaristan’da (1933-1934) Yayımlanan Medeniyet
Gazetesi’ndeki Hadis Yazıları Üzerine Bir Değerlendirme
Alparslan KARTAL 529

In the Western Balkans, as elsewhere around the world, governments took extraordinary measures to effectively contain the spread of COVID-19, measures that entailed serious restrictions to individual freedoms. They also introduced extra powers that upset the ordinary division and balance of governmental power. In this context, several analysts have expressed concern that the authoritarian trend observed in the region during the last decade will become further entrenched. The worst fear, that some of the Western Balkan leaderships may retain extraordinary powers indefinitely, has not been confirmed. However, constitutionally prescribed procedures were disregarded and the operation of formal and informal mechanisms of checks and balances ignored. The article argues that the ease with which the Western Balkan leaders removed any checks and controls over their rule raises the valid question of how they may deal with future circumstances which may endanger their power.

Natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods, massive fires etc. inflict serious damage and so seem to be bad for the economy.

Depending on the experience in different countries, the negative impact on economic indicators mostly occurs in the short run, while in the long run these effects are transient and negligible for the economy and the state budget.

Most noticeable is the direct impact of the natural disasters that we saw with the aftermath of the 21 September 2019 and 26 November 2019 earthquake in Albania. This effect was seen in the damage to infrastructure, the capital of businesses and individuals, and the potential future threat to the exploitation of natural resources.

After the 1990s and the change of the political and economic system from a
communist system into a pluralist democracy and market economy, criminal
policy in Albania has gone through substantial changes both in its leadership,
ideology and content. As in all countries emerging from communist systems,
the forms of criminality have changed in Albania, following very quickly the
features of Western European criminality, but keeping part of the domestic
culture and tradition. Prevention and fight against criminality urged for the
approval of new laws and procedures. In that context, the criminal justice
system, built on the principles of the state of the proletariat’s dictatorship,
started to make its baby steps towards an independent, effective, efficient, and
professional system, based on the principles of the rights and fundamental
freedoms of the individual, and harmonized with the criminal justice systems
of the European Union, but preserving its specificity.
Criminal law evolved during this period, establishing the appropriate legal
basis for international cooperation in criminal matters, such as the fight
against organized crime. The special part of the penal code also became subject to substantial changes, criminalizing several offences, not known in the
past.
The penal code and the penal proceedings code existing before the approval of the Constitution of Albania (1998) were amended several times, mostly due to the need of harmonization with Conventions ratified by the Albanian Assembly. Thus, my analysis of criminal policy in Albania is focused on the impact of the models taken from Western countries and the transposition of recommendations deriving from international conventions and recommendations. This paper shows that, frequently, these changes took some time and were not based on scientific studies on crime in Albania. It also shows that criminal justice replied to the increase of crime by imposing a very harsh criminal system, consisting mainly in sentencing offenders to imprisonment and criminalizing new behaviors, but did not always lead to an
efficient criminal policy against the new types of crime.
In this paper, I argue that the reform of the criminal policy and the criminal justice system at large in Albania should be based on scientific and independent studies conducted by senior researchers with virtuous professional integrity, and provided with an appropriate financial support, and that national experts must participate in international scientific research.

Kjo ditë u tregon gjithë shqiptarëve se sa u është dashur të punojnë për buxhetin e shtetit të tyre dhe u tregon se kjo periudhë ka zgjatur deri në mbylljen e tremujorit të parë të vitit 2020. Dita e Lirisë Fiskale bie në ditën e parë të Prillit. Liria Fiskale për vitin 2020 është në ditën e 92të të vitit, që bie në datën 1 Prill. Pas kësaj periudhe, fitimet nga puna dhe kapitali i përkasin individit dhe biznesit, pasi tashmë konsiderohet se buxheti ka arritur për vetëm 3 muaj të futë në buxhet nga takspaguesit një pjesë të fitimeve të gjeneruara nga puna apo kapitali duke lënë hapësirë për tre tremujorë të tjerë të vitit që ata të punojnë për veten e tyre. Dita që feston gjithë Shqipëria nuk përkon me ditën e lirisë fiskale të secilit rajon, pasi barra fiskale për Shqipërinë llogaritet si mesatare e gjithë barrës fiskale të rajoneve të vendit.

Llotaritë me kuponat tatimorë zbatohen për të rritur lëshimin e faturave nga bizneset te konsumatorët. Në këtë mënyrë, transaksionet ka më shumë të ngjarë që të jenë pjesë e ekonomisë zyrtare (jo hije) dhe TVSH-ja mund të mblidhet me kosto më të ulët. Ideja e skemave të llotarisë është që të nxitë konsumatorët për të kërkuar faturën. Nxitja mbështetet mbi faktin se marrja e kuponit nuk është vetëm një copë letër që dokumenton transaksionin e bërë, por shërben si një (potencial) biletë llotarie, duke i dhënë konsumatorëve të drejtën për të marrë pjesë në një llotari tatimore. Llotaria nga ana e saj i jep shans për të fituar një çmim për një faturë të tërhequr rastësisht

In September 2007, a severe cockroach (Blattella germanica) infestation was reported on the premises of the Scutari Regional Hospital. The hospital was infested by cockroaches despite regular insecticide treatment by local pest control officers. The failure of treatment required a careful evaluation of the problem. It also created the opportunity for a more complete analysis of pest control in Albania.

This study examines the understudied mental health perceptions, treatment, and coping strategies of immigrants from the Republic of Albania to Southern California regarding themselves and their families. In-depth, semi-structured interviews with 12 Albanian immigrants residing in a large Southern California population center were conducted. The transcripts of these interviews were analyzed. The constant-comparative method was used to analyze the data obtained from the interviews. Thirteen themes describing the perceptions and attitudes of Albanian immigrants about coping strategies, mental health, and mental health issues emerged. Themes are discussed in the context of existing literature, and implications for practice, research, and limitations are presented.

In this article, Kurt Bassuener assesses the Biden administration's recent strong advocacy for the "Open Balkan" initiative, championed by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, in the context of the current security crisis in Bosnia and Herzegovina.  Not only has the Biden administration effectively adopted a variant of the Trump administration's transactional policy in the Western Balkans, the policy represents an embrace of the EU's functionalist approach in the region - a failure. What this means is a de facto embrace of a Serbian/Albanian/Croatian co-prosperity sphere in the region.

Erthesina fullo (Thunberg, 1783) is recorded for the first time in Europe. Collected specimens in 2020 from Albania were identified by comparing the length of their rostrum. This species can acclimatize on two local trees, namely Tilia cordata Miller, 1768 and Ziziphus jujuba Miller, 1768.

The mobile phone market in Albania is an oligopoly situation with three operators that share the market. In 2017 there was a fourth operator that closed its business at the end of 2017. This article considers the marketing strategies used by four mobile phone operators in Albania in 2016-2017 years. Marketing strategies used will be checked in the light of one of the four p 's marketing, only one of the four elements of the marketing mix, which is promotion. The article takes data from SERVQUAL model used to measure the quality of services and strategies of various companies from the customer perception. Promotion strategies and operators difference in Promotion will be studied. In this article the promotion strategies for the 4 companies will be tested and compared to each other. The strategies are seen in the consumer's view will reveal the strategies companies apply to their clients.

This book speaks about an unexplored question that had to do directly with the Greek minority living conditions in Albania and also with the way it was treated by the political world of that country. All the material for this treatise has been drawn exclusively from the Foreign Ministry archive. 
The book is separated into two parts: (a) the first one concerns the detailed analysis of the issue in question, following its chronological course of escalation, where the imaginativeness of Albanian authorities in inventing obstacles and applying pressure is revealed, a practice that gradually led to forfeiture of their property, marginalisation and finally to the expulsion of that specific, active group of the Greek minority in Albania, and (b) its critical presentation. 
Even if one could conceive the reason for the actions of the Albanian authorities at the expense of the Greek population, it would be difficult to understand the ineffective way in which the Greek foreign policy faced this question. And this was the case because, if the latter had taken good care to formulate a clear policy towards Albania, she could have promoted her interests in this country, despite the ‘aggressive’ Italian presence.  In contrast, the questions in focus were left to fester, a situation that finally had only harmful effects on Greek interests, since the only thing Greece could do was to intervene but always in the sense of firefighting, not being able to effectively protect the Greek population who lived there

How do ‘new’ and ’old’ Islamic actors in contemporary Albania define religious legitimacy, the nation and religious otherness? This chapter uses Olivier Roy’s analytical distinction between accommodationism and neo-fundamentalism as a compass to navigate through Albania’s complex religious landscape by exploring different sets of beliefs promulgated by a selection of Islamic groups (2010).  These are the Muslim Community of Albania, which represents ‘official Islam’ , and ‘mainstream’ Sunni Muslims, who are typically accommodationist. I also analyse a Sufi subgroup thereof, which is equally accommodationist, but in a slightly different manner. As a neo-fundamentalist counterpoint, I explore the ideas of a competing organisation composed of Salafi imams.

Accommodationism means that the bond between religion and a specific territory and culture of origin is tight. In this context, ‘culture’ refers to Albanian historical tradition and the language-based, secular nation-building project engineered by modernising state elites since the early 20th century. Neo-fundamentalism, conversely, is a globalised form of religion that emphasises the gap between faith and culture. As such, it represents a reformatted, exportable form of religiosity, which stands in contrast to cultural ethno-national ways of being Muslim. Neo-fundamentalist religious identity is faith-based, and seeks to ground itself solely upon explicit religious norms, at least in principle. Accordingly, these believers make their religiosity visible through a global uniform of religious markers detached from the surrounding culture.

In the Albanian Islamic context, the theoretically informed labels, neo-fundamentalist and accommodationist, roughly correspond to the ‘Albanianist’ versus the ‘Salafi’ forms of Islam. To some extent, this resonates with mainstream distinctions adopted in Albania and in the Balkans. A popular Albanian term for Muslims associated with neo-fundamentalist forms of Islam is ‘fanatic’ (fanatik). Accommodationism is commonly related to ‘old’ forms of Islam, which many be deemed as local, rooted, and European as well as tolerant and moderate. Neo-fundamentalism, conversely, refers to certain ‘new’ forms of Islam, i.e. those perceived to be imported, transnational, alien, ‘fanatic’ and a threat to local religious customs. This cultural distinction between what are deemed acceptable and unacceptable forms of Islam is often politicised and securitised. As I will show, the association between neo-fundamentalism and violence is not necessarily correct, and the Salafi community under scrutiny here can be defined as pacifist and purist (Wiktorowicz 2006). These two formats, moreover, clash and merge together as different local actors seek to recast and legitimize their respective positions.

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to comprehensively explore marketing issues for foreign industrial companies of large, small and medium size entering emerging markets (EMs), particularly transition economies in Eastern Europe. The vast majority of current studies about emerging markets focus only on defining suitable strategies related to large consumer goods corporations.

Design/methodology/approach
The research adopted a multiple case study approach. Five Italian companies belonging to different business-to-business industries that have entered emerging countries in Eastern Europe were selected for investigation.

Findings
Empirical analysis uncovered recurring issues related to: institutional factors causing market uncertainty and instability; difficulties in building a sales network; a need for product adaptation to guarantee satisfactory performance; choices related to communication, branding and trade fairs; and considerations about competition and first mover advantage. Results can be interpreted as an extension of the analysis of institutional voids by Khanna and Palepu (1997).

Research limitations/implications
The study is based on the analysis of five case studies of companies operating in specific emerging markets, namely in Eastern Europe Countries (EEc) Further research based on different samples and different emerging countries is needed before generalizing results.

Practical implications
The study shows that the main institutional void affecting business-to-business companies entering emerging markets (EEc) is the lack of locally developed sales and after-sales networks. This institutional void slows the entry process of business-to-business companies in EMs. Given these constraints, from the perspective of business-to-business SMEs, it may be fruitful to pursue niche positioning in EMs.

Originality/value
The study analyzes emerging markets opportunities and entry strategies from the business-to-business marketing perspective, uncovering the most critical issues.

Through the lens of Albanian orientalism, the discourse surrounding the word ‘shaci’ is an import of the stereotypical representation of Albanians in Germany, Austria and Switzerland to Kosovo, and a method of self-humiliation. (Article has been published in "Prishtina Insight", September 30th, 2018)
https://prishtinainsight.com/shaci-as-another-product-of-albanian-orientalism/

A safe, clean, accessible and affordable drinking water and sanitation service for all individuals is a human right recognized explicitly from the United Nations General Assembly (Resolution 64/292, July 2010). Access to clean drinking water is so crucial for development that developed countries have made significant investments in water infrastructure (production, distribution investments in investments in piping, pumps, water purification systems and wastewater treatment plants etc.), managerial structures and capacities. The picture is very different in developing countries. One of the main problems is the lack of efficiency of the water systems, leading to a higher loss rate (from system leakage and illegal connections to the system) and cost-recovery failure because of the low revenues from tap water sales. In most of the cases governments fail to finance the financial loss of the water suppliers and in this way fail to fulfill the public need for drinking water and sanitation and water treatment services. So an alternative to solve the situation is seen the privatization of drinking water sector. The paper will give a summarized picture of the phenomenon in the world having as the case study the situation in Albania during years starting from the legislative frame, previous attempts to future tendencies related to the privatization of drinking water sector. The main objective is to explore the arguments pros and cons related to the privatization of " an economic good " such as water suggesting different alternatives in this context.

Një parim i njohur i financave publike është se shtrembërim ekonomike apo kostoja e një takse të re varet thelbësisht nga taksat që ekzistojnë tashmë në sistem, pasi taksat ndërveprojnë me njera-tjetrën. Është thjesht e pamundur për të llogaritur efektet e taksës së re të akcizës pa marrë në konsideratë taksat që tashmë zbatohen në tregun që do të zbatohet taksa e re.

ALTAX Center (Albanian Taxation Center) ka pregatitur një përmbledhje që përshkruan strukturimin e biznesit shqiptar sipas tipit të modeleve të përcaktuara nga ligji për tregtarët dhe shoqëritë tregtare. Nga ana tjetër duke dashur të theksojë se kush janë tatimet dhe taksat kryesore që mbajnë sistemin tatimor është paraqitur një përshkrim për secilën nga taksat, duke u renditur sipas peshës dhe rëndësisë që mbajnë në buxhetin e vendit.

Sistemi tatimor që u hartua si paketë për vitin 2016 ka ardhur me të vecantat e tij që e bëjnë të jetë në funksion të mbështetjes së biznesit, konsumatorit dhe buxhetit. Tatimet dhe taksat janë kategorizuar në ato që konsiderohen si tatime direkte dhe indirekte.
a) tatime direkte (tatimi mbi fitimin, tatimi mbi biznesin e vogël dhe taksat)
b) tatime indirekte (tatimi mbi qarkullimin (zëvendësuar nga TVSH), akciza dhe taksat doganore).
Vitet e fundit, politika fiskale e mbledhjes së të ardhurave të buxhetit është mbështetur mbi nivelet e administrimit në:
-nivel qendror me dy agjencitë kryesore që janë: administrata tatimore qendrore dhe administrata doganore dhe;
-nivel lokal me rrjetin e administratave tatimore vendore.

Synimi i politikës është në paraqitjen e një autoriteti fiskal, i cili për arritjen e sfidave të brendshme dhe ndërkombëtare, beson se përmbushja e obligimeve të tatimpaguesve mund të arrihet vullnetarisht nga ata dhe me rritjen e rolit të administratës, si bashkëpunëtorja më e ngushtë e tyre.

Ky botim, i shtypur në 2000 kopje, nuk është në shitje.
Iu shpërndahet falas të gjithë të interesuarve që vizitojnë
Muzeun Arkeologjik Apolloni deri në përfundim të
rezervave.
Fotografitë e publikuara në këtë botim janë origjinale dhe
të realizuara nga institucionet e përfshira në projektin
3D-IMP-ACT, si dhe institucionet mbështetëse të
projektit që kanë kontribuar në përgatitjen e këtij botimi.
Mbështetja financiare për hartimin dhe publikimin e këtij
materiali është siguruar nga Programi Interreg IPA CBC,
Itali - Shqipëri - Mal i Zi 2014/2020.


The publication printed in 2000 copies, is not intended for
sale. It shall be distributed free of charge to all interested
visitors of the Archaeological Museum of Apollonia until
the number of copies available finish.
The pictures published in this publication are original
and are realized from partner institutions of 3D-IMPACT project and stakeholder institutions that have
contributed to the realization of this publication.
The preparation and printing of this publication was made
possible with the financial support of Interreg IPA CBC
Italy-Albania-Montenegro 2014/2020 Program.

Tracing the influence of institutional Islamic Public Administration in Europe, the chapter looks at the four European Muslim-majority countries, Turkey, Albania, (the Federation of) Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo. All are successor states to the Ottoman Empire, with its own specific Islamic administrative system, which has been reassessed during the last 25 years as very sophisticated and effective. Bosnia, Kosovo, and Albania today, however, are explicitly non-Ottoman, and in Turkey, only specific interpretations of the Ottoman Empire are en vogue, depending on one’s political perspective. And while none of the three Balkan countries can be said to be an administrative success, a return to the Ottoman administrative paradigm is nowhere on the agenda.

Nowadays, sustainable tourism development is a necessity for all countries that appeal for tourism. The local community is considered to be an important factor in supporting tourism development. Shkodra Lake, the largest lake on the Balkan Peninsula, is a very important protected area with great potentials for tourism development. The purpose of this study is to address the need for the regeneration of this area for sustainable tourism development. The survey was used as a quantitative research method. The questionnaire to the local community of Zogaj village was used as a research tool. The research results showed the community's attitudes about touristic values of Zogaj village and the importance of their use for sustainable tourism development, about the situation and the prospect for the regeneration of Zogaj village for STD. The findings of this research will help tourism planners and decision-makers to sustainable use of local resource of this area for the successful tourism development today and future.

International Scientific Conference Contemporary Challenges of Theory
and Practice in Economics
Challenges of Globalization and Transition - Proceedings
Faculty of Economics Belgrade 26.09.2007-29.07.2007

Abstract: Beginning with the 2003’s European Union Enlargement Summit in Thessalonica, and after the 2004’s wave of the European Union (EU) enlargement, good prospects lie ahead of the Western Balkan
countries in joining the EU. It is widely accepted that the EU integration of these countries, now representing the less developed region in Europe, will bring significant positive economic, social and political impacts for their development toward reaching the European standards. The purpose of this paper is first to detail the economic position of the Western Balkans vis-à-vis EU accession, and then identify the institutional policies that the Western Balkan countries should focus on to speed up the integration process. To this aim, the paper draws
on the successful experience of the previous EU enlargements, to infer lessons on the benchmarks of economic performance for prospective candidate countries. The long-term growth trend for the Western Balkan countries is assessed based on the Kahn form of the neo-classical growth model and then compared to European longterm growth rates to assess the catching-up process, while also evidencing the particularities of the Western Balkan countries growth patterns. Furthermore, based on transition performance of these countries, the study seeks to include and analyze some institutional determinants of the long-term growth of them such as rule of law, economic freedom, and democracy. The study concludes that in order for assuring high rate of growth and
accelerating the catch-up process with the EU, a number of policies should be prioritized in the Western Balkan countries, particularly related to capital formation, human capital quality, social conditions improvement, and rule of law strengthening.

EN : This master thesis aims to fill the gaps in the literature addressing the issue of the European influence over environmental public policies throughout the Western Balkans. It is focused on the analysis of the transformative role played by the European Union in Albania in the framework of the accession negotiations. Based on 17 interviews of Albanian civil servants, experts and environmentalists, this cross-disciplinary research combines public policy analysis with ecology, as well as European, Balkan, Communist and Post-Communist studies. We argue that (1) the European conditionality strategy exerts a pressure on the domestic level in order to increase the compliance of domestic policy principles, legal provisions, procedures, administrative structures with EU standards. However (2) this coercive Europeanization process is substantially impeded by the many routines and habits that domestic actors have inherited from the past. We then distinguish a new dynamic defined as a horizontal Europeanization: some of the Albanian stakeholders are spontaneously taking advantage of numerous resources made available by the EU with the aim of maximising their own political benefits. This thesis makes a contextualized and nuanced contribution to the sometimes very theoretical debate about the notion of Europeanization.     
FR : Pour pallier au manque de travaux traitant de l’influence européenne sur les politiques publiques environnementales dans les Balkans occidentaux, ce mémoire se consacre à l’étude du rôle transformatif de l’Union Européenne sur son voisinage proche, l’Albanie, en matière d’action publique environnementale, et ce, dans le cadre du processus d’intégration européenne. Fondé sur les résultats de 17 entretiens conduits auprès d’administrateurs, d’experts et de militants écologistes albanais, ce travail transversal conjugue tant l’analyse des politiques publiques, les études européennes et balkaniques que les études post-communistes ou l’écologie. Ce mémoire montre que (1) la politique européenne de conditionnalité exerce une pression à l’adaptation sur les acteurs albanais, altérant principes d’action, procédures, réglementation, structures administratives, etc. Cependant, (2) ce processus d’européanisation coercitive est considérablement contrarié par le poids de l’histoire et des routines des acteurs nationaux. Emerge donc une nouvelle dynamique, l’européanisation horizontale, caractérisée par l’appropriation spontanée par certains acteurs albanais des multiples ressources offertes par l’UE pour maximiser leurs bénéfices politiques. Ainsi, ce mémoire contribue de manière contextualisée et nuancée au débat parfois trop théorique consacré à la notion d’européanisation.

Report on “Design and Implementation of the second microcredit beneficiary assessment survey” implemented by Ministry of Finance, Project Implementation Unit and financed by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in 2005.

The Albanian Government has announced that to revive the economy, it will apply a progressive tax policy over the taxable income. The previous tax system that has been in force since 2008 has been using mostly a flat/proportional tax rate, which is a constant tax percentage of income, used to calculate the income tax that every individual or business entity is charged. The newly approved fiscal reform is based on progressive tax rate for corporate taxes and personal income taxation, and maintains the same Value Added Tax (VAT). By collecting thoughts of different authors regarding the issue, this paper attempts to analyze the pros and cons of the two taxation policies in the world, and to make some assumptions on whether the new taxation policy will contribute to the Albanian economic growth in the upcoming years.
Keywords: flat, progressive tax, Albania, economic growth, income, inequality.

Κατά τον 21ο αιώνα, ο ανταρτοπόλεμος συνιστά τον πιο διαδεδομένο τύπο πολέμου παγκοσμίως, προκαλώντας αέναες διαφωνίες ως προς την καταλληλότερη μέθοδο αντιμετώπισής του. Οπότε, ο Εμφύλιος Πόλεμος (1946-1949) χρίζει ιδιαίτερης προσοχής ένεκα της διττής μοναδικότητάς του: είναι το πρώτο πεδίο σύγκρουσης μεταξύ των δύο υπερδυνάμεων μετά τον Β΄ Παγκόσμιο Πόλεμο και επίσης μια σπάνια περίπτωση ήττας ανταρτών κατά τον Ψυχρό Πόλεμο. Εν συντομία, το βιβλίο ανά χείρας αναλύει σε βάθος, πρώτον, πώς η Ελλάδα πρωταγωνίστησε στις διεθνείς εξελίξεις παρά το μικρό μέγεθός της και, δεύτερον, πώς ένα ισχυρό αντάρτικο ηττήθηκε εντός μόλις 4 ετών. Σε αντίθεση με ομοειδή έργα, το βιβλίο αυτό ερμηνεύει τον Εμφύλιο Πόλεμο υπό το πρίσμα της Στρατηγικής – όχι της Ιστορίας ή της Πολιτικής. Ως εκ τούτου, το βιβλίο αυτό θα αποδειχθεί λίαν χρήσιμο τόσο στους λάτρεις της σύγχρονης Ελληνικής ιστορίας όσο και στους μελετητές των Διεθνών Σχέσεων και της Στρατηγικής – ιδίως στους μελετητές του ανταρτοπόλεμου.