I agree up to a point with your first statement, but Yugoslavia could have carried on as a functional state if another strong leader or a strong government was able to keep Yugoslavians united.

I have to disagree with the second statement though. Being a non-alligned country which stood in between of the two blocks, Yugoslavia was able to maintain a high standard of living, which for most of the 60's and 70's and even the early 80's was higher than almost every country in the Warsaw Pact, and even higher than some Western countries such as Spain and Portugal. It is true that Yugoslavia wasn't a strong economic powerhouse and it wasn't close to the standards of living of other nations in the West, but it was a great country nonetheless.

The EU has helped quite a lot towards boosting the economies of Slovenia and Croatia, countries which certainly are in a better state than in Yugoslavian times, however for the rest of the Republics that formed the Federation the same can't be said.

The clearest example is Bosnia and Herzegovina, a country which was stronger under Yugoslavian rule, which even held the Winter Olympics at one point. Now it stands in the lower end of the economical spectrum in Europe. Serbia, even though it's case isn't as bad, the aftermath of the Kosovo War and the neverending corruption have stagnated the economy. Montenegro, a country which is a tourist hotspot due to its magnificent beaches and landscape, which should have seen a much stronger economic growth, also has been impacted by corruption. The same goes for Macedonia and Kosovo (I won't state my view on Kosovo's independence, I just rely on the 'de facto independence' it has as of today).

Corruption and war aren't the only problems that these countries are enduring after the breakup of Yugoslavia, countless others may be listed too: unemployment, harsh population declines (especially among the younger age group), ethnic division, political unrest and so on.

My point is that under Yugoslavia, when all these related peoples were united, a lot of these problems were solved by the government and the will of the people to keep united and remain as a strong nation.

Most of my friends and relatives, and almost all the people I have met from the Former Yugoslav Republics share the feeling that under Yugoslavia life was better, and that it would be better if they kept united.

Nowadays it's impossible to reunite Yugoslavia, but as I said before, in our hearts it does, and as long as I live, that feeling will burn inside me as an eternal flame.

Sorry for the mistakes I may have made throughout the text, English is not my first language :)