International Journal of Sciences: Basic and Applied Research (IJSBAR) ISSN 2307-4531 http://gssrr.org/index.php?journal=JournalOfBasicAndApplied The Reasons for the Collapse of Yugoslavia Dejan Marolov Goce Delchev University, Pance Karagozov 31 , 2000 Shtip, Republic of Macednia marolov.dejan@yahoo.com Abstract The former Yugoslav federation dissolved in early 90's creating five independent successor states. There are many theories that are trying to explain why this happened. However it is extremely hard task to declare which of those theories is the most relevant. This paper is making attempt to combine the most popular and famous theories concerning the issue and to separate the most relevant aspects of each of them. Key words: Yugoslavia; collapse; theories; international system. 1. Introduction The former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) was important subject of the international community. Internally this federation was composed by six republics, and two autonomous provinces. It was country located on the historically very important geopolitical region in the Balkans. Yugoslavia dissolved in a bloody civil war in the first half of the 90's. The literature review offers a wide range of explanations for the causes that led to the breakup of the Yugoslav federation. Especially controversial are some conspiracy theories. In this respect the paper is treating the issue concerning the reasons for the collapse of Yugoslavia by reviewing the existing theory, reconsidering them and finally offering its own conclusion that the collapse should be searched equally in both inside and outside the federation. 2. Theoretical and literature framework The literature review offers a wide range of explanations for the causes that led to the breakup of the Yugoslav federation. Some authors find the roots in the economic sphere. So according to Pleshtina [1] the reasons for the dissolution of the federation should be sought in the sensitivity of regional economic disparities within the Yugoslav federation. Pleshtina [1] actually makes the division of the federation into two parts. Northern part, which is economically developed and the southern part, quite behind in its economic development. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ * Corresponding author. E-mail address: marolov.dejan@yahoo.com. 250