While Albania didn't become a full member of NATO until 2009, the country's involvement with the Alliance dates back to the years directly following the fall of the Soviet Union and the subsequent political instability throughout the former Eastern Bloc. In 1992, Albania joined the North Atlantic Cooperation Council, laying the groundwork for increased cooperation between the Balkan state and those of NATO. Throughout the 1990s, Albania sought membership in - and lent support to - further international organizations, including the Partnership for Peace, a NATO-sponsored program directly aiming to promote cooperation between the states of the former USSR and those of NATO. In 1996, Albania joined forces with the NATO peacekeeping force in nearby Bosnia and Herzegovina. The humanitarian crisis and following NATO military action in Kosovo, in 1999, saw further cooperation, with the Albanian government allowing for a NATO logistics headquarters to be established in Tirana, the Albanian capital.
The new millennium has witnessed even more developed NATO-Albania cooperation, from the 2002 establishment of a semi-permanent NATO regional headquarters in Tirana (in support of the NATO-led Kosovo Force), to Albanian assistance in the stabilization of Macedonia, to the continued Albanian troop support for the ISAF in Afghanistan (135 Albanian troops currently deployed). Albania's apparent willingness to lend support to NATO operations and goals, alongside their continual hosting of Partnership for Peace exercises, surely had a significant part in NATO's 2008 extension of an invitation to Albania to become a full member of the Alliance.
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partnership_for_peace
http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/topics_48891.htm
The extension of an invitation to Albania to join NATO as well as its involvement in NATO could also reflect policy change and a power shift that is expected to occur during the next 50-100 years regarding global policy. I have read material predicting that countries who previously and currently dictate global policy and action could within the next 50-100 find challengers among smaller states who previously and currently were submissive. With the development of technology and the effects of previous and current financial crises this 'shift' could defiantly occur. Albania's addition to NATO as well as its proactive involvement could be a reflection of this shift and in the change in overall global policy. I believe that it is possible that global policy could become more regionally focused in the future instead of dictated by particular countries, such as the United States. Albania's inclusion into NATO is a reflection of this as well.
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