The Black Hole of Nation-Building

Sarajevo and Bosnia are "rising from the ashes," proclaims a recent puff piece by AFP. After a horrible war that drove millions out of their homes and cost hundreds of thousands their lives, the yarn goes, Bosnia is finally bouncing back. Well, it isn’t. Bosnia’s economy continues to founder, its demoralized people continue to flee, … Continue reading “The Black Hole of Nation-Building”

Empires and Balkans Don’t Mix

From riots in Basra to rumblings at home, it is becoming obvious that the half-witted "plan" to conquer Iraq is slowly smashing against the hard rock of reality. Unfortunately, evidence also indicates that Imperial leaders will not let something as irrelevant as reality disturb their march of power. In an effort to ex post facto … Continue reading “Empires and Balkans Don’t Mix”

The New Janissaries

This week, just as His Elevated Majesty was becoming increasingly testy about all the questioning of his feeble rationalizations for the Empire’s Middle Eastern adventure – which has turned quite sour for the troops on the ground – Washington received an unlikely morale booster. It was announced that during his late July visit to Washington, … Continue reading “The New Janissaries”

Worthless Words

Driven by the demand for information about the Balkans wars, a veritable mountain of books, pamphlets and papers have been produced over the course of the 1990s, purporting to explain and analyze tragedy of former Yugoslavia. Unfortunately, this quantity did not translate into anything resembling quality. Most of what’s been written about the fighting in … Continue reading “Worthless Words”

Liars, Halfwits, Inquisitors and Thieves

None of the events or statements that follow should come as a surprise. What is surprising is the lack of reaction by their victims, or those who unwittingly support the perpetrators. As with everything, the ongoing Balkans drama will have consequences yet impossible to foresee. Ancient Greeks used to say, "Whom gods would destroy, they … Continue reading “Liars, Halfwits, Inquisitors and Thieves”