For nearly a decade, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia managed to escape the kindof brutal ethnic conflict in Croatia, Bosnia, and Kosovo that accompanied the breakup of the formerYugoslavia in the 1990s. The international community gave high priority to preventing the spreadof ethnic conflict to Macedonia, since it was feared that war in Macedonia could quickly involvesome or all of Macedonia's neighboring countries and lead to a broader Balkan war. Macedonia washeld up as a model, albeit an imperfect one, of inter-ethnic coexistence and democratic rule, withactive participation of the Albanian community in political institutions, despite persistent discordin inter-ethnic relations. The swift emergence in early 2001 of a militant ethnic Albanian guerrillamovement in western Macedonia therefore caught many observers by surprise. By March 2001, violent conflict between the rebels and Macedonian security forces had spread to several areas around the city of Tetovo, prompting the Macedonian government to embark on amajor military campaign to quell the insurgency in western Macedonia. With strong internationalbacking, the government opened all-party talks on inter-ethnic issues in April. A national unitygovernment comprised of all major political parties was created in May. Clashes between rebel andgovernment forces continued in some areas of the country, as marathon talks among all coalitionparties on political reforms remained deadlocked. Negotiations finally reached agreement on keyreform issues in early August. The political parties signed a framework agreement on August 13,paving the way for the deployment of a small NATO force to begin disarming the rebel forces. Operation Essential Harvest, comprising 4,500 European forces, began collecting rebel weapons onAugust 27 and completed its mission within a month. A much smaller task force has remained inMacedonia to provide security for international civilian monitors overseeing the process ofimplementing inter-ethnic reforms. Implementation of the framework agreement has progressedslowly, but has moved forward in recent months. Several factors may have accounted for the emergence in early 2001 of the rebel insurgency in Macedonia. One may have been the increasing radicalism of disparate ethnic Albanian militantgroups operating in Kosovo, Serbia, and Macedonia, and linked to organized crime and regionalsmuggling rings. The unresolved status of Kosovo and limited progress in realizing Kosovarself-government since the end of the Kosovar war in mid-1999 may have fueled ethnic Albanianradicalism. (1) In addition, the international embraceof the post-Milosevic Yugoslav and Serbianleadership after the fall of Milosevic in late 2000 may have discouraged some ethnic Albanians'hopes for Kosovar independence, to which the international community has not agreed. Some ethnicAlbanian rebels in Macedonia (as well as in Serbia) may have sought to provoke a heavy-handedresponse by the Serb or Macedonian forces, in order to elicit Western sympathy and support. Another contributing factor to the Macedonian conflict was the continued activism of members ofthe Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), who were supposed to have disbanded and given up theirweapons to the NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR) after the end of the 1999 conflict in Kosovo. Instead, many former KLA members regrouped in the demilitarized buffer zone around Kosovo andtransferred arms and personnel to Macedonia. A border agreement between Macedonia and theFederal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) in February 2001, intended to tighten border controls, mayhave also triggered clashes between Macedonian border police and ethnic Albanian smugglers. Finally, underlying inter-ethnic tensions and poor economic conditions (especially among ethnicAlbanians) in Macedonia provided fertile ground for a drawn-out conflict. Macedonia is one of six former republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. (2) Under Yugoslav leader Josip Broz Tito, Macedonians were granted the status of constituent nation,language, and culture equal to that of the other Yugoslav republics. Following the example ofSlovenia, Croatia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia declared its independence in late 1991 afterholding a national referendum on the issue. Under the provisional name "The Former YugoslavRepublic of Macedonia," Macedonia became a member of the United Nations in May 1992. Itsubsequently joined several other international organizations under this provisional name. Macedonia has a unicameral parliament, the 120-seat National Assembly (Sobranje), and a popularly elected President. From 1991 to 1999, socialist leader Kiro Gligorov served as President. Gligorov took credit for Macedonia's success in achieving international recognition and forpreventing the country from being drawn into other Yugoslav conflicts. In the last parliamentary elections held in October and November 1998, the Macedonian electorate voted out the long-standing former communist leadership in favor of a coalition headedby the nationalist Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization-Democratic Party forMacedonian National Unity (VMRO-DPMNE), led by Ljubco Georgievski. The coalition includedthe Democratic Alternative (DA) party led by Vasil Tupurkovski, and the Democratic Party ofAlbanians (DPA) led by Arben Xhaferi. (3) Coalitiontensions, especially between the DA andVMRO-DPMNE, persisted (though the tensions were unrelated to inter-ethnic issues). Thegovernment underwent several cabinet reshuffles and steadily lost popularity. In the 1999presidential elections, Boris Trajkovski of the governing VRMO-DPMNE party narrowly defeatedTito Petkovski of Gligorov's Social Democratic Party (SDSM), primarily on the strength of theethnic Albanian vote. Some voting irregularities were reported in the presidential vote as well as inlate 2000 municipal elections. In November 2000, the Democratic Alternative party withdrew from the coalition in an apparent effort to bring down the government and join ranks with the opposition. However, the Georgievskigovernment quickly replaced the DA with the small Liberal Party and managed to remain in power,despite low popularity ratings and numerous political scandals. The opposition, meanwhile, was notable to unify as a governing alternative to the VMRO-DPMNE-led coalition. In May 2001, at theurging of the international community, an all-party coalition replaced the previous government ona temporary basis until early elections could be organized. The next elections will likely be held inSeptember 2002. Formerly the poorest republic in the Yugoslav federation, Macedonia continues to face economic difficulties stemming from internal reforms, external challenges, and more recently,internal ethnic conflict. Macedonia's economy was hit hard by U.N. sanctions against the FederalRepublic of Yugoslavia (FRY) from 1992 to 1996, by a unilateral Greek trade embargo from 1994to 1995, and by the Kosovo conflict in 1999. GDP growth, extremely modest in the second half ofthe last decade, reached nearly 5% in 2000. The 2001 insurgency, however, drove up militaryspending, expanded the budget deficit, and contracted economic activity, trade, and investment. Asa result, GDP declined nearly 4.6% in 2001. Unemployment estimates range from one-third toone-half of the work force. Corruption is considered endemic. (4) In April 2001, Macedonia becamethe first southeast European country to conclude a Stabilization and Association Agreement with theEuropean Union. However, the EU repeatedly postponed a planned donors' conference forMacedonia because of Macedonia's lack of progress in implementing political reforms. Theconference was finally held in March 2002, during which donor countries pledged over $500 millionin financial and developmental assistance. Macedonia's military, the Army of the Republic of Macedonia (ARM), has been undergoing a major restructuring and reform process. Macedonia participates in NATO's Partnership for Peace(PFP) program and is among the "Vilnius" group of ten countries seeking to join NATO. The Armyof the Republic of Macedonia comprises about 16,000 active duty soldiers, 60,000 reserves, and10,000 paramilitary police. It is organized into two infantry brigades and one border guard brigade. The ARM includes a small marine wing and an army air force with a limited number of aircraft andhelicopters. (5) Since early 2001, Ukraine and Bulgariahave served as Macedonia's primary armssuppliers. In addition to the state security structures, other armed groups gained prominence duringthe 2001 conflict, including the ethnic Albanian National Liberation Army and Albanian NationalArmy. Several Macedonian paramilitary groups also emerged, with some reportedly in close contactwith the regular army and police. (6) Prior to the conflict in 2001, relations between the Slav Macedonian majority and ethnic Albanian minority in Macedonia were considered tense, if not explosive. Though not to becompared with the situation in Kosovo under Milosevic's rule, Macedonia nonetheless remained alargely segregated country. Albanians in Macedonia as a whole demanded greater cultural andeducational rights, such as recognizing Albanian as an official language and providing state supportfor their underground Albanian-language university in Tetovo. (7) Albanians long sought greaterrepresentation in the government, armed forces and police. They objected to the preamble of theconstitution that made reference to the Macedonian nation, claiming that it thereby relegatedAlbanians to the status of second-class citizens. They claimed to represent as much as 40% of thecountry's population, not the 22.9% recorded in the June 1994 census. A new census was scheduledto be held in June 2001, but was postponed in view of the recent conflict. In contrast, many Macedonians asserted that the Albanian minority enjoyed sufficient rights, comparable to or better than other minority communities in Europe.