Multipolarity then and now: Macedonia’s perspective

International Academic Conference 150 years since the Herzegovina Uprising: impact on regional security and European geopolitics, June 10-11, 2025, Belgrade [pp. 32-44]

 

AUTOR(I) / AUTHOR(S): Biljana Vankovska  

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.46793/Herzegovina.032V

SAŽETAK /ABSTRACT:

This paper explores the parallels between the multipolar world of the late 19th century and the emerging configuration of the 21st century. The Congress of Berlin (1878) serves as a historical case study of great power diplomacy, where empires redrew borders to preserve a balance of power. Macedonia—then a contested region within the waning Ottoman Empire—was central to regional rivalries among both global powers and rising Balkan states. The Congress set a precedent for external intervention and strategic calculation, a pattern that continues to shape international politics. By comparing the power dynamics of the past with those of today, this paper examines how small states such as Macedonia navigate shifting alignments and global rivalries. Territorial expansion and imperial competition characterised 19th-century multipolarity, while economic interdependence, technological rivalry, and fragile security alliances characterise today’s version. By tracing both continuities and divergences, the paper asks: are small states today more autonomous than they were in the 19th century—or are they still pawns in a larger geopolitical game?

KLJUČNE REČI / KEYWORDS: 

multipolarity, great powers, small states, Congress of Berlin, Balkan geopolitics, Macedonia

PROJEKAT / ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:

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