Since its establishment as an independent state, North Macedonia has faced four fundamental issues arising from its multi-ethnic and multi-religious structure. The presence of various social groups and their ascendance to power have sha-ped the country’s internal and external political preferences within this struc-tural context. The heterogeneous nature of the state and society, particularly regarding issues related to the Albanian population; the overlap and disputes between Macedonian and Bulgarian identities; the international uproar genera-ted by the assertion of Macedonian identity rooted in Ancient Greece by Greece; and the refusal of the Serbian Orthodox Church to recognize the Macedonian Orthodox Church have all contributed to the country’s ongoing concerns about unity and security versus division. These four issues have resulted in the inability to stabilize the Macedonian national identity in ethnic, religious, and historical contexts, leading to an in-complete process of “invention” or acceptance by regional states/societies. This process has caused the political fragmentation of Macedonians into nationalist/conservative and socialist/social democratic blocs, while the involvement of va-rious factions of Albanians in the political arena has often resulted in deep frag-mentation. Similarly, these four issues have created obstacles to the country’s in-tegration with NATO and the EU, while simultaneously presenting opportunities for major powers such as Russia and China.