Philip Cunliffe writes an interesting piece about Western interference in the former Yugoslavia. This interference seems to proceed from a strange blindness on the part of Westerners outside the region toward ethnic and religious realities, with results to match in the "ethnic cleansing" department. Cleansing inflicted on the Serbs, mind you.
According to The Economist, John Sawers' unilateral proclamation of independence for Kosovo is designed to send a signal to Belgrade: 'Serbia must help [Kosovo's] 100,000-plus ethnic Serbs to cut the sweetest deal they can if they want to stay there.' The implication is clear. Unless Belgrade bows to Western pressure, the West will be justified in washing its hands of any responsibility for Kosovo's Serbs - a policy whose results were seen in the lethal Albanian pogroms against Kosovo's Serbs in 2004, as well as the mass exodus of 200,000 Serbs from Kosovo after the war in 1999."Balkanisation by another name. In the talks about Kosovo's future, the former Yugoslavia is being treated as a carcass to be dissected by Western diplomats." By Philip Cunliffe, Spiked Central, 2/23/06 9 (footnotes omitted).
It is commonly held that any attempt to get a handle on Balkan politics is to step through the looking glass, in to a topsy-turvy world where ethnic irrationality rules and few of the standard political markers apply. But this topsy-turvy world is less to do with ethnic hatreds so much as the bizarre Orwellian policies that the international community has repeatedly inflicted on the region.
In the Balkans, 'independence' can be 'imposed': this is what the influential think tank, the International Crisis Group, is explicitly calling for, in anticipation of the talks over Kosovo being deadlocked. In the Balkans, 'independence' can co-exist alongside an internationally-appointed governor-general (or 'envoy' in politically-correct parlance) and whilst under military occupation. This has been the case with neighbouring Bosnia over the last eleven years, and everyone openly admits that the international 'presence' in Kosovo will continue after 'independence'. In the Balkans, democratic referendums take place not when the people decide, but on the say-so of EU bureaucrats.
The international community has redefined the most basic categories of political language, emptying the words 'independence' and 'democracy' of any meaning whatsoever. Ironically, the one word that the international community has restored to its original meaning is the word 'balkanisation', the term once used by historians and diplomats to denote the deliberate fragmentation of a region into a number of quasi-independent, mutually hostile statelets. Since the wars of Yugoslav secession ended, Western balkanisation in the region has never been more apparent. None of the peoples of the Balkans will attain any meaningful independence until the international envoys and peacekeepers are sent home.
Commentary:
Understanding the complicated history of the former Yugoslavia is extremely difficult for us. We're reading Rebecca West's Black Lamb and Grey Falcon and it brings us no closer than anything else we've ever read to getting any kind of traction in understanding where the energy lies in each community or which boundaries are solid and which ephemeral.
We have no faith in the ability of the think tank or striped pants brigades to concoct a solution. We suspect the courses are not taught at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy that will enable the graduate to divine the proper course in the Balkans. Almost certainly whatever is proposed by the greybeards will involve jamming something down the throats of some group in the area with an inevitable explosion of rage. No doubt this will be the Serbs.
The terms "incoherent," "cobbled together," and "Orwellian" in Mr. Cunliffe's article suggest the likely long-term result of Western interference will not be more stable than the sand upon which the West appears determined to build.
Our own impression of events post Western intervention is that there was an unwarranted tilt in the direction of local Muslims who proved to be not shy when it came to expelling and killing Christians, destroying churches, and concocting bogus incidents.
Color us simpleminded but we think the starting point should be the grateful recollection of how the Serbs worked to return downed Allied airmen to friendly hands during World War II. With that in mind, proceed to Plan A. The Serbs should not be penalized for the crimes of Miloševic.
Still, there's no getting around the fact that we are extremely uninformed. These thoughts are out initial ones as we try to make more sense of this complex and fascinating region.
Spiked Central, btw, is a frequent source of thoughtful articles. You can get on an email list for their updates.
Update March 7, 2006:
Interesting thought from an unrelated article about Spielberg's movia, "Munich":
Anyone who is willing to stand up for themselves, with force if necessary, is viewed with hostility. Much of the popular hostility to Israel nowadays is based on its willingness to fight. At the same time, little credence is given to the idea that the Palestinians should have the autonomy to determine their own future - as witnessed by the frequent demands for Western diplomacy to solve the conflict."Munich: a fantasy view of the Middle East. spiked-film: Steven Spielberg's 'prayer for peace' suggests that if only the Israelis and Palestinians would talk, everything would be okay. He needs a history lesson." By Daniel Ben-Ami, Spiked Central, 1/31/06.
Commentary:
This is interesting because again we see this hope that Western diplomacy can solve an intractable problem. In fact, a resolution of the problems in both areas is best left to military means.
Diplomacy has failed to grasp the nettle in both the Balkans and the Middle East. In the Balkans, Western diplomacy assumes that ethnic conflict can be contained short of conflict which is unlikely. In the Middle East, ethnic conflict has been resolved by military force but no one wants to come right out and say that.
No comments:
Post a Comment