Intergroup Ethnonational Conflict - Resolving Kosovo’s Gordian Knot

The Kosovo conflict is a frozen intergroup ethnonational conflict, historically long-lasting, complex, and burdened with accumulated conflicting interests and stereotypes. By relying on several analytical instruments, work in the paper focuses on determining the typology of conflict and its characteristics. Based on Hofstede's scale of cultural factors, the components of the strategic culture of Albanians and Serbs have been determined, which determines their attitude toward resolving the conflict. The essential preconditions for establishing the environment necessary to create a sustainable solution to the conflict are presented. The Circle model was the basis for a hypothetical answer to the Kosovo conflict that would lead to a stable and mutually acceptable solution. With all the limitations and generalizations of this complex conflict, the paper provides a general framework for the possible "intersection" of the Kosovo conflict, a kind of Gordian knot in the Balkans.