To the politicians of the Balkans - almost without exception corrupt and despised by their own constituencies - the myth of Great Albania comes handy. It keeps the phobic Macedonians, the disdainful Serbs and the poor and crime ridden Albanians united and submissive: each group for different, idiosyncratic reasons.
To reiterate, the Myth of Great (or Greater) Albania is the belief that people of Albanian extract, wherever they may be, regard their domicile as part of a Great Albania and undertake all efforts necessary to secure such an outcome. Thus, to mention one example, Kosovo would, in all likelihood, become a part of this Great Albania, so the myth goes, because prior to 1912, when the Serbs occupied it, Kosovo has administratively been a component of an Ottoman mandated Albania.
Sali Berisha - a former President of Albania - talks ominously about an "Albanian Federation". The younger, allegedly more urbane Pandeli Majko, erstwhile Prime Minister of Albania, raises the idea of a uniform curriculum for all Albanian pupils and students, wherever they may reside. Albanians in Macedonia make it a point to fly Albanian flags conspicuously and on every occasion. They rapturously celebrated Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence on February 17, 2008.
Thus, a Great Albania could well have been a plausible scenario except for two facts. First: there are major, historic, and irreconcilable differences between various Albanian groups and second: a Great Albania is without historical precedent and runs contra to the self-interest of the Albanian political, business, and intellectual elites in Kosovo, Macedonia, and Albania.
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Only the Kosovars welcomed the Germans as liberators from Serb serfdom (as did Albanians in Macedonia to a lesser extent). A Kosovar, Xhaferr Deva, served as Minister of the Interior in the hated World War II government in Albania, which collaborated wholeheartedly with the Nazis. Deva was responsible for the most unspeakable atrocities against the Albanian population in Albania proper. This did not endear the Kosovars to the Albanians.
Thus, the forced re-union in 1999 was a culture shock to both Kosovars and Albanians. The Kosovars were stunned by the living conditions, misery and lawlessness of Albania proper. The Albanians were envious and resentful of their guests and regarded them as legitimate objects for self-enrichment. There were, needless to say, selfless exceptions to the egotistic rule, but they were few, far between, and the exception to the rule.
Finally, historically, there was never a "Great Albania" to hark back to. Albania was created in 1912 (its borders finally settled in 1913) in response to Austro-Hungarian demands. Kosovo was never encouraged to secede from the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (later known as Yugoslavia). The Albanian King Zog suppressed the activities of Kosovar irredentist movements in his country in between the two world wars. Albania, mired as it was in the twin crises of economy and identity, had little mind or heart for Kosovo.
Moreover, business, intellectual, political, and criminal elites in all three territories - Kosovo, Western Macedonia, and Albania - have a lot to lose from an Albanian Anschluss (unification): their elevated positions, access to funds and independent streams of income (for instance, from the customs and tax administrations), and their chances of upward social mobility. The self-interest of these powerful groups is the best guarantee that a Great Albania will never emerge except in fervent, jingoistic propaganda and nationalistic-romantic poetry.
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