Category: Daniel Serwer
Serbia is not a lost cause
Today’s wars in Gaza and Ukraine are so dreadful they eclipse other bad news. In Serbia, the President and his security services (yes, they are his, though he shares control of them with his Moscow buddies) are agitated. Two opposition figures have dared to lay flowers on the grave of a Kosovo Albanian girl Serb forces murdered in 1999. The security services arrested, beat, and tortured the first flower-layer, Nikola Sandulović. They have now prevented the second, lawyer Čedomir Stojković, from leaving Serbia. He writes:
Yesterday in Davos 2024, for the prime-time news of the most watched television, A. Vučić said the SAME WORDS about the graves of Albanians as Adolf Hitler and J. Goebbels about the graves of Jews: “Whoever lays flowers on the graves of Albanian children will bear eternal public disgrace because of that, because that is putting the face in the mud, about which the prosecution and the police should do their job….because I laid flowers on the grave of an Albanian child, the president publicly encouraged my public lynching and promised “the work of the prosecution and the police” on that gesture of mine.
Serbia is returning to autocracy
Serbia has repeatedly held elections since Slobodan Milosevic fell 2000. But its Freedom House scores have declined markedly since Vucic first came to power in 2014. Freedom House then ranked it a “semi-consolidated” democracy. In 2019 it degenerated to a “transitional or hybrid” regime.
Its ranking will no doubt decline further towards autocracy when last year’s events are considered. They include police violence against peaceful anti-violence demonstrators, a Belgrade-sponsored attempted insurrection inside Serb-majority northern Kosovo, mobilization of the Serbian army along the border with Kosovo, a free but unfair parliamentary election, and a blatantly fraudulent Belgrade election. Serbia is today what Freedom House terms a “semi-consolidated authoritarian regime” or worse.
The West is putting up with it
Parliamentarians throughout Europe are concerned. But many of its governments are turning a blind eye. So too is Washington, where officials overvalue minor bits of Serbian cooperation on weapons for Ukraine and acceptance of Kosovo documents and license plates. The European Commission continues negotiations with Belgrade on EU accession, but the process has crawled to a virtual halt.
Still, there is no concerted effort to counter Vucic or seek alternatives. In Europe, Hungary’s opposition neuters any effort to levy “consequences” on Serbia. In the US, the State Department is turning a blind eye. “Europe whole and free” is still the mantra there, despite Vucic’s slide towards autocracy. No one wants to point out that the emperor has no clothes. That would mean more work for America’s tired diplomats.
Serbia is not a lost cause
Serbia’s more liberal opposition is not everything I might like. It won’t give up on Kosovo. But it is a lot better than Vucic’s Serb nationalists and Russophiles. A relatively united opposition came close to winning the December 17 election in Belgrade, despite Vucic’s import of illegal voters from Bosnia and Herzegovina. The opposition performed less well in the country as a whole and captured only one-quarter of the parliament. But that is better than it has done at time in the past.
President Biden has long argued that it is better for Serbia to be in the EU accession process than outside it. I debated that issue with Senator Biden in a Congressional hearing in the 2000s. His preference prevailed. But I still think I was right: it was a mistake to turn a blind eye then and it is a mistake to continue to do it.
Washington needs to read Belgrade the riot act: no more goodies until we see a real turn towards democracy inside Serbia, de facto if not de jure acceptance of Kosovo’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and opposition to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Real diplomats shouldn’t accept Serbia as a lost cause.
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Quit and change course before you lose
A cold-eyed look at the Gaza war is overdue.
During the atrocious October 7 attack on Israel, Hamas killed as many as 1200 civilians, kidnapped over 200, raped an unknown number, and and committed crimes against humanity.
The Hamas attack did not however threaten the existence of the Israeli state, which struck back quickly. The attack was “existential” in the imagination of some Israelis as well as some Palestinians, but not in its real consequences.
The Israeli attack on Gaza has killed upwards of 23,000 Palestinians, 15,000 or so of them civilians and most presumably women and children. Israel has detained thousands and destroyed about half the built structures in Gaza. The International Criminal Court will decide whether Israeli conduct constitutes genocide.
Israel hasn’t lost, but it hasn’t reached its objectives either
The outcome thus far is obviously not to Israel’s advantage. The Israeli attack aimed to destroy Hamas, which Israel had previously helped to finance and sustain, as a military and governing entity. Israel has also aimed to free the hostages. It has so far fallen short of both goals. Hamas has gained support both in Gaza and the West Bank. Nor have the Israelis achieved their secondary objective of releasing the hostages, upwards of 140 of whom remain in captivity.
It will not be easy for Israel to change course. Prime Minister Netanyahu can remain in power only if the war continues. He is resisting international pressure, including from President Biden, to desist. The end of the war will open a political process certain to hold him responsible for the intelligence and military failures that allowed the Hamas attack to be successful.
Other options
A growing number of Israelis favors prioritizing hostage release over destroying Hamas. This could only be achieved in a negotiated exchange with Hamas (and possibly other Palestinian factions in Gaza) for Palestinians detained in Israel. There is no guarantee however that Hamas can or will deliver all the hostages. Nor do the Israelis want to release all their imprisoned Palestinians, at least some of whom are responsible for killing Israeli Jews.
There is little apparent support in Israel for the course President Biden is proposing. He wants steps towards a Palestinian state that would sweeten the deal for the Palestinian Authority. A reformed PA would take over governing Gaza. Biden believes that would incentivize the Arab Gulf monarchies to finance post-war stabilization and reconstration. It would also allow progress on normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel. The Israelis and Arabs who would support that course are well-intentioned but relatively few.
Some Israelis want to de-populate Gaza as well as the West Bank, claiming both as Israeli territory. This course would be sure to create a permanent threat to Israeli security in Egyptian Sinai. It would also destabilize Jordan, which would have to receive many of the West Bank Palestinians. Jordan’s pro-Western monarchy is vital to Israeli security. Any alternative would likely be far more radical and supportive of the Palestinians, who already constitute more than 50% of Jordan’s population. So forced displacement would be entirely counter-productive. That however doesn’t mean the Israelis won’t try to do it. The settlers and security forces are pressuring some West Banker Palestinians to leave.
What’s most likely?
At some point, the Israelis are likely to accept a ceasefire and try to negotiate a hostage deal. Two questions arise. Will they do so before the destruction in Gaza becomes unfixable? Will Hamas release the hostages and risk Israel re-starting the war thereafter?
Leverage in a negotiation comes from having an alternative to a negotiated solution. The alternative for Israel is to pursue Hamasees it regards as responsible for October 7 by other than conventional military means. Israel could conduct a campaign of targeted air strikes and assassinations. That is not a bad alternative. Doing it soon would maximize the odds of Gulf financing for PA takeover, stabilization, and reconstruction in Gaza.
The alternative for Hamas is to fight on, risking a war of attrition that it might not be able to sustain even if it does serious damage to Israel and PA credibility. Hamas will try to retain at least the Israeli soldiers it has captured, but getting rid of the civilians would increase sustainability. Keeping pregnant women and children captive and alive is not what most fighters want to be doing.
Bottom line
Both Israel and Hamas need to think about quitting and changing course before they lose. The sooner they do it the better. I’d prefer Biden’s two-state option, but the prisoner exchange is the more likely first step. It will be a difficult negotation and likely an incomplete exchange initially. But if it comes with a ceasefire and enhanced humanitarian relief for Gaza’s civilians, it would be a good thing. Certainly better than mass displacement.
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Stevenson’s army, January 20
– NYT says Israel weighs hostage vs. Hamas goals
– Multiple reports on splits in Israeli cabinet: WSJ; FT ; WaPo
– Biden says 2 state option has various forms
– Fred Kaplan assesses Mideast conflicts
– Russia rejects new arms control talks
– Guardian assesses European political movements
– WaPo assesses new North Korean actions.
– UN report says Sudan RSF is supported by UAE
– ISW assesses long term costs of Ukraine defeat
My SAIS colleague Charlie Stevenson distributes this almost daily news digest of foreign/defense/national security policy to “Stevenson’s army” via Googlegroups. I republish here, with occasional videos of my choice. To get Stevenson’s army by email, send a blank email (no subject or text in the body) to stevensons-army+subscribe@googlegroups.com. You’ll get an email confirming your join request. Click “Join This Group” and follow the instructions to join. Once you have joined, you can adjust your email delivery preferences (if you want every email or a digest of the emails).
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Stevenson’s army, January 19
There’s other news, but I want to draw your attention to an excellent piece in NYT on what Congress knew about the Manhattan Project to build atomic weapons. It’s detailed, accurate, and includes links to several important documents. Sadly, I don’t see it anywhere on the NYT website, but I knew it existed because I saw it in the printed paper.
Reporter Catie Edmondson shows that at least 7 members of Congress knew key details, including the $800 million initial funding, because Secretary of War Stimson had briefed them. Speaker Sam Rayburn told others “trust me,” and they did. Edmondson doesn’t mention that wartime appropriations bills were lump sum measures, with very few line items, so most details of military spending were known only to a few members. I see this as proof that there was knowledge and accountability, despite the necessary secrecy.
[Be sure to read the Rayburn interview with Forrest Pogue, which has several stories about how Rayburn operated.]
– FP has more details about the Houthi terrorist designation.
– FT says Arab nations have a plan to recognize Israel in return for a Palestinian state
– WSJ assesses Iran’s military capabilities.
– Semafor says some of Speaker Johnson’s problems come because he “talks like a lawyer”
– Lawfare ponders sources of JCS Chairman’s power
– DIA released report on Iranian UAVs in Ukraine
– It now looks as if Speaker Johnson, talking with Trump, wants to prevent a border security bill [so the GOP has the issue] and avoid any votes on Ukraine [where GOP is divided] Unclear how many GOP Senators agree with that strategy.
My SAIS colleague Charlie Stevenson distributes this almost daily news digest of foreign/defense/national security policy to “Stevenson’s army” via Googlegroups. I republish here, with occasional videos of my choice. To get Stevenson’s army by email, send a blank email (no subject or text in the body) to stevensons-army+subscribe@googlegroups.com. You’ll get an email confirming your join request. Click “Join This Group” and follow the instructions to join. Once you have joined, you can adjust your email delivery preferences (if you want every email or a digest of the emails).
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Stevenson’s army, January 18
– Pakistan has struck back at Iran.
– US has made special terrorist designation of Houthis. Note the legal nuances.
– New Taiwan leader says he’ll stick to status quo.
– US pressures Israel on Gaza electronics
– WSJ says US plans for Mideast aren’t gathering support
-Kevin Drum says the Fed is doing business differently
– SAIS prof Hal Brands assesses US support for Ukraine
My SAIS colleague Charlie Stevenson distributes this almost daily news digest of foreign/defense/national security policy to “Stevenson’s army” via Googlegroups. I republish here, with occasional videos of my choice. To get Stevenson’s army by email, send a blank email (no subject or text in the body) to stevensons-army+subscribe@googlegroups.com. You’ll get an email confirming your join request. Click “Join This Group” and follow the instructions to join. Once you have joined, you can adjust your email delivery preferences (if you want every email or a digest of the emails).
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Stevenson’s army, January 17
– WSJ sees divisions in Israeli cabinet
– Iran fired missiles into Iraq and Pakistan.
– Senate overwhelmingly defeated Sanders amendment on Gaza
– North Korea sees South as enemy
– Biden meets congressional leaders about Ukraine
– USA Today has 911 call on Austin, key personal details redacted
– Atlantic Council has special report on Defense Innovation
– Graham Allison says US allies are already planning on a new Trump administration
And on this 61st anniversary of Dwight Eisenhower’s farewell address warning of a “military-industrial complex,” newly discovered documents show it went through over 20 drafts. This article does not mention what I’ve read elsewhere, that an early version referred to a “military-industrial-congressional complex,” but that was changed for political reasons.
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My SAIS colleague Charlie Stevenson distributes this almost daily news digest of foreign/defense/national security policy to “Stevenson’s army” via Googlegroups. I republish here, with occasional videos of my choice. To get Stevenson’s army by email, send a blank email (no subject or text in the body) to stevensons-army+subscribe@googlegroups.com. You’ll get an email confirming your join request. Click “Join This Group” and follow the instructions to join. Once you have joined, you can adjust your email delivery preferences (if you want every email or a digest of the emails).
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