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,
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2 thoughts on “Preparing for the Balkans”
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Well, since you asked …
“Kosovo heads for ruin while its watchdog looks on” by a former international who does not like the disobedience the Kosovars are exhibiting – from a couple of days ago at the Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/may/30/kosovo-imf-international-civilian-office.
Are the internationals as uniformly negative on Kosovo as articles by them in the world’s press suggest? Don’t the Albanians have any friends in the world?
(Do you remember similar disobedience from South Korea? It also built a road across the country the international community thought it didn’t need, but that proved crucial in building the economy.)
As for B92, you do realize that the comments in the English section are mainly by diaspora types? (2nd generation, most of them). Or guys with Serbian wives/girlfriends. Who claim to represent “the American view.” Their posts often vary considerably from those posted by Serbs writing in Serbia, and in Serbian. For example, the day after Mladic’s capture, it sounded like the country had taken a communal cold shower – in the Serbian posts. Albanians also chime in (their posts are usually more cheerful), but there are fewer now than when B92 used to come in up at the top of Google searches for anything to do with Kosovo. You might try to find out whatever happened to B92, BTW – the organization is doing useful community-service type things – mobile breast cancer x-ray units, collecting for mutilated dogs, safe-houses, investigative reporting – , but its other news often sounds like unrewritten government handouts.
The English-language posts used to serve a useful service, when they would stay up for days on end while Team Serbia and Team Albania bashed away at each other. It wasn’t all name-calling – sometime useful facts, personal experiences, etc. showed up. Information on train travel… Based on my experience, the posts were selected to favor the Serbian side, but it was their dinar, and of course all their international readers realized this. Right?
Sorry for the digression. – And how about the EULEX Programme Reports? Fascinating reading: for example, in the first one they identified reasons for problems with the legal system – poor facilities (judges had to hold sessions in their chambers, no way to protect witnesses from view in courtrooms …) and low pay: as soon as lawyers got experience, they’d leave for private practice. Low pay, low prestige, low respect for the laws being enforced. Not to mention the possibility of corruption. And now we see that the EU is starting work on a new Palace of Justice, Thaci is doing him damndest to get judges and police better pay. Despite the ominous noises coming out of Belgrade, there does seem to be hope for improvement.
And what’s EULEX accomplishing, anyway? People are begging them to arrest corrupt officials, the crooks operating out of the the North (especially) – and the months and the years go by, and nothing happens. They could do nothing by themselves.
(Feel free to cut or delete – B92 taught me it was good for my soul – and my nick probably shows up too often here, anyway.)
A word of thanks to Amer, Blerim Dervishi, Adam Moore and Roland Gjoni, who sent wonderful pieces in response to this appeal. I count myself fortunate indeed!