A Public Image of Security, Defence and the Military in Macedonia: In a Broken Mirror Biljana Vankovska ON SECURITY PERCEPTIONS AND VIRTUAL REALITY IN MACEDONIA In the globalised world, and especially a world that is heading to- wards tighter integration, many concepts seem to be unanimously agreed and welcomed. Simplicity makes things look understandable and policy choices easier to make. Newly-independent states espe- cially find it more convenient to accept ready-made concepts and ideas about their own national needs. The reason is twofold – they lack previous experience in statehood and policy-making and have no tradition of communicating with their own strategic community, civil society and citizens. In the absence of strategic policy about the coun- try’s future development, these governments use a ‘shortcut’, believ- ing that uniformity is the accepted norm in the integrated world. Thus it happens that in their efforts to become fully integrated parts of the so-called international community, they try to create security policies that would comply with the expectations of the others rather than to try to become involved in interactive dialogue and policy-making with their own societies. Finally it appears that the political establishments and citizens live in two separate worlds, each preoccupied with its own perceptions of security. Contrary to the rather euphoric political claims about the country’s readiness to join NATO, the public (citizens) is caught up in a vicious circle of insecurity that originates mainly in social and eco- nomic spheres. The Existing gap between the political elite and mili- tary leadership on one hand, and the public on the other, is supposed to be bridged by means of the active role of NGOs, the media, re- search institutions, etc. An ideal picture would be that democracy, and even democratisation, should be about alternatives, dialogue between