Located on the fringes of Europe with a population of over three million inhabitants, Albania has been gradually sinking into total chaos – while the rest of the world looks on, fully informed but indifferent to its fate. The country has been tearing itself apart since 1997 when a political landslide swept President Berisha from power, and with him one of the most despotic and closed popular democracies of Central Europe. Geographically situated in the heart of the Balkans, Albania is in danger of involving neighbouring nations in the upheaval and sparking off a global conflict. The authors, historians Pierre and Bruno Cabanes, share with the reader their lengthy experience of Albanian studies in an effort to understand the existing situation. How did it reach its present proportions? Why did Albania’s Communist regime fail? Why has Albania been unable to find stability? What is the explanation for the crisis of 1997 and subsequent events? What are the historical roots of the "Albanian disease"? And setting aside political and historical considerations, what does it mean to be Albanian today?Written in a spirited manner, L’Energie du Désespoir contains numerous portraits of major players in the present upheaval, as well as of intellectuals and ordinary citizens. It is a concise work of contemporary history which will provide readers with a serious and highly accessible reference to one of the most volatile regions of Europe. Pierre Cabanes is Professor Emeritus of the History of Antiquity at the University of Paris X-Nanterre. As the head of France’s archaeological and epigraphic expedition to Albania, he has visited the country regularly for the past twenty-five years. He is the author of several works on ancient Illyria and the Empire.A graduate of the Ecole Normale Supérieure, Bruno Cabanes teaches modern history at the University of Paris-I.