This article is dedicated to the essential phases in the political/geographic restructuring of South East Europe after the political changes in 1989.
South East Europe is understood in terms of cultural regions such as those sustainably formed by the Byzantine and Ottoman cultures south
of the Danube and Save Rivers including Bosnia and Hercegovina. Our deliberations will also include Slovenia and Croatia as the follow-up
states of Yugoslavia and Romania. The different types of communism in this region will be discussed in detail as the point of departure of
path-dependent transformation processes. The resurgence of the national issue in the final phases of communism was the key factor for the
disintegration of Yugoslavia, but also for the emergence of the political and social situation in the other states. The international community
of states reacted to the violent conflicts during the disintegration of Yugoslavia with a containment strategy that expressed itself by bringing
South East Europe closer to European structures. However, there are still acute and latent flashpoints in the form of Kosovo, Macedonia and
Bosnia-Herzegovina. National antagonisms make it difficult for South East Europe to escape its position as the European periphery and to
gain its own stature. However, it is beginning to regain its traditional function as a bridge between Europe and the Middle East to which its old
Muslim population groups make an important contribution.