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Preparing for the Balkans

I confess I haven’t done a lot to prepare for my next two weeks in the Balkans, apart from one or two subjects I need to be up to date on, but maybe my fans there will find it interesting to know what I’ll be reading to get ready. I’ll also be delighted if they would make some suggestions.

I was inspired to this blogpost by reading Ted Galen Carpenter’s piece in The National Interest.  Ted does not quite merit the “Srebrenica denier” category, because he doesn’t really deny it–he just doesn’t mention it, preferring instead to refer to Ratko Mladic as “repulsive” and responsible for “repulsive” acts.

Instead he attacks inflated figures for overall civilian deaths in the Bosnian war and claims the Muslim/Croat fighting has been ignored.  The civilian casualty figures were corrected many years ago, but that correction really has no bearing on the issue Ted raises of whether genocide was committed, which depends more on intent than numbers.  I don’t use the G-word myself except for Srbrenica, where the Hague Tribunal has made the determination.  I hardly need mention that the United States paid a good deal of attention to the Croat/Muslim fighting and was instrumental in bringing it to an end–I was the special envoy responsible for maintaining that peace from October 1994 to June 1996.

That short, disappointing piece was just an accidental read, but it reminded me of how polarized opinion on the Balkans can be.  No one ever wants to let anything rest, even the Americans.

My more intentional reads are these:

• B92 (English service), which I use regularly to stay up to date with regional events–my hat is off to Veran Matic and his team for their decades of hard work;
• Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, which is a bit less every day events and more broader issues and commentary–a tip of the hat to them as well;
• Foreign Policy Initiative papers, especially their recent piece on the “myth” of closure of the Office of the High Representative;
• Matthew Parrish’s latest tirade against what the “international community” has done in Kosovo and Bosnia, published in  the Journal of Eurasian Law;
• Anything interesting I find on the website of the Kosovar Stability Initiative;
• The Coordinator’s Office for Strategy Regarding the North of Kosovo, “Report on Parallel Institutions:   Belgrade – with a foot on the north and an open hand in Brussels”;
• My own “Albanians in the Balkans” published more than 10 years ago (!);
• Ditto Bosnia’s Next Five Years: Dayton and Beyond;
• As an antidote, whatever strikes my fantasy on the TransConflict website;
• Everything Tim Judah has published lately;
• Anything friends–some unnameable, so I won’t name any–in the Balkans send me.

ICG’s stuff is the obvious omission, but unless they put out something new before I get to the region, I think I’ve read it all.

Some people will see obvious bias in my reading material.  I like to think that I am reading broadly and gathering diverse perspectives.  And I’ll welcome more if you send me links or attachments!  Best to do that to daniel@serwer.org, since daniel@peacefare.net does not see to be working perfectly these days. With appreciation for those who respond,