Nowhere in a smaller geographic area than the former Yugoslavia after the end of the Cold War have emerged more new states. From 1991 up to 2008 no less than seven states became independent. Also, their processes of becoming independent and state-building proceeded in different circumstances, but with a key influence of a range of the actors of international relations, from certain organisations and integrations (UN, EU, OSCE) to particular states (USA). This influence does not relate only to the resolution of the multi-stage armed conflict which accompanied the collapse of the former Yugoslavia, but also to the dynamics of the process in which particular countries became independent and to the building of particular institutions in them, even their whole political systems. Twenty-five years after the beginning of this process, the crucial question is whether the international community has succeeded in this or failed.
