October 2021 – Effective design and coordination of national security policies are becoming increasingly important given the increasing complexity of interstate relations, increased competition in advanced technologies, and a dynamic and increasingly multipolar geopolitical environment. Despite the necessity to reconceptualize Albania’s national security policies and define its role in international politics, the Albanian political leadership and the officials responsible for drafting these policies still continue to consider them within rather narrow institutional bounds.
The purpose of this discussion paper is to critically examine Albania’s national security strategies and the institutional approach to national security policymaking. It examines the three national security strategies (NSS’s) adopted in 2000, 2004, and 2014 to identify similarities in their structure and the main national security objectives and threat perceptions.
NSS 2014 is examined in more detail since it is the standing national security strategy and the information on its design and implementation procedures could be more easily accessed.
The paper further discusses five case studies of national security policy formulation and coordination to highlight some of the approaches to national security policy design that could be considered by Albanian policymakers.
Click to read the discussion paper in English / Albanian.
This discussion paper is produced by IDM in the framework of the project: “The Albanian Policy Platform: Moving forward on the EU integration agenda” supported by Hanns-Seidel- Foundation.