It isn’t branding
Milan Misic of Belgrade’s Politika asked a couple of questions. Here is how I replied, in an interview published today:
Q: Do you think that [Serbia’s] image is actually worsening instead of improving? And what…should Serbia start doing to re-brand herself?
A. I don’t think the problem is branding.
Serbia has benefited in recent years from an America that was willing to let bygones be bygones and a Europe that wanted Serbia in rather than out. This has meant openness to Nikolic and Dacic, both of whom had enough baggage from the 1990s to merit hesitation.
Rejection of the deal with Pristina will put Serbia in the deep freeze with both Washington and Brussels for some years. Both will try to continue to make nice (at least to Dacic and maybe even Vucic, who are not seen as the sources of the problem), but without much conviction. Serbia will find itself turning more and more to Moscow, which doesn’t seem much interested at this point as it has gotten most of what it wanted in the energy sector. I doubt the Americans and Europeans will begin to block IMF loans, but there will be many here who see that as our last remaining leverage.
Nikolic’s remarks at the UN last week were particularly egregious. Crimes against Serbs do not justify Serb crimes against others. Acquittals of others do not require acquittals of Serbs. His inability to see the Milosevic enterprise for what it was—a criminally violent effort to remove minorities from Serb-controlled territory—is truly odious. His claim that Serbia has always cooperated fully with the Hague Tribunal is laughable.
The best thing Serbia can do now to fix the problem it has created is to change its mind about the Pristina deal, which has never been published. They can announce proudly that they have gotten some adjustments (in fact I understand it contains provisions on police and justice that should relieve some anxieties in the north). There really is still time. But not much.
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3 thoughts on “It isn’t branding”
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Milan Misic is asking the classic question of Serbian history: is it better to suffer defeat (in the current case, by “sticking out one’s tongue” at the international forces whose support it needs) and triumphing once again through a noble defeat, or pragmatically to make the best of a bad deal (with Prishtina) and move on. (David Kanin has an under-50-page recap of Serbian history entitled The Serbs: Nurtured by Defeat – pdf at http://www.pecob.eu/flex/cm/pages/ServeBLOB.php/L/EN/IDPagina/3169) if you want more on the idea of the attractiveness throughout their history of defeat to a certain type of Serb.)
A recent example of tongue-sticking-out Misic discusses is Jeremic’s use of the UN to stage a stacked conference on the shortcomings of the UN’s war-crimes trials. He quotes the first part of Ban Ki Moon’s support of the trials offered as the opening speech before he left for “previous engagements” but omits the second: “[Support of the courts also] means safeguarding them from those who seek to undermine them for reasons that may have more to do with politics than justice.” But this is Politika, after all.
The rebranding idea is one that has popped up before, usually from the point of view how much it would cost and how long it might take. The American government, it seems, has been focused on improving its brand for generations. I’d recommend that Serbia look at the Nordic countries whose “brand” – we used to just call it “reputation” – is currently doing extremely well. If the Scandinavians + Finns currently enjoy an enviable reputation, it has more to do with their efforts to improve their societies for their own purposes rather than to convince others of their attractiveness.
As for Misic’s question, his indirect answer, which won’t make him any friends with his readership, is that Serbia should consider the American approach, and remember the past, but move beyond it. (If he subscribed to the Latin Quote of the Day he could quote Ovid on it being fitting to learn even from one’s enemies.) So far his suggestion is not finding any support among posters commenting on the article.
Correction: it’s the Latin Word of the Day. At http://www.transparent.com/word-of-the-day/today/latin.html#.UWweN0q1VAM.
The best thing for Serbia is to present her positions, if broad autonomy for the north great for both sides if they agree,if not straight to plan b, swap of territories with 48 hour window for the Kosovo administration to answer.