Nebojsa Malic

One of the pitfalls of writing history is that things that happened tend to seem inevitable in retrospect. Coupled with wishful thinking, this can lead to a dialectic mindset, in which the course of human events seems preordained somehow. The “end of history” wasn’t the invention of “liberal democrats” – before them, Communists and Nazis … Continue reading “The Long Retreat”

Eighteen years ago, "peace in Bosnia" seemed as elusive as peace in the Middle East. Every effort to negotiate an end to the bloody civil war had failed. But on November 21, 1995, after three weeks of drama in Ohio, the "General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina," also known as the "Dayton … Continue reading “An Unlikely Peace”

Is democracy just civil war, only with ballots instead of bullets? Like chess, or football, politics is a stand-in for war, designed to ritualize conflict so as to prevent bloodshed. As long as everyone abides by the rules, and accepts the restrictions of the system, that is all fine and good. Once someone decides to … Continue reading “Breaking the Game”

If recent news from the Balkans sound stale, that is only because the problems of the region never really get solved. The political class of the peninsula – as well as that of the European Union and the Empire – has a vested interest in keeping problems alive, so they can pretend to be the … Continue reading “The Sorrow and the Pity”

One could always count on Bill Clinton for two things: "feeling your pain" and shameless self-promotion. The former Emperor got to combine both earlier this week, with a symposium at his presidential library extolling the virtues of his administration (and the CIA) during the 1992-95 Bosnian War. The event was dedicated to the release of … Continue reading “Reality Bites Back”

Just as it seemed the Empire was going to embark on yet another evil little war, a miracle happened on the road to Damascus. A sensible solution proposed by Moscow caught the Washington warmongers off-guard, and removed their justification for war. Between that and the overwhelming lack of popular support, the Empire backed down – … Continue reading “Imperial ‘Exemptionalism’”

Attacking Syria has been the talk in Washington for years, all the way back to Bush II’s infamous "Axis of Evil" speech. The current (un)civil war started back in March 2011, out of the failed attempt to topple the government through another "Arab Spring" revolution, organized by the American Empire. As in Libya, the response … Continue reading “Yet Another Evil Little War”

What is the state? In the Lockean language of the U.S. founding documents, it is the apparatus of government "instituted among Men" to secure "certain unalienable Rights" such as "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness". A more cynical perspective, informed by the experience of the 20th century, would term the state a protection racket … Continue reading “Pride Before the Fall”

Hashim Thaci has long been a darling of the Washington establishment. In 1999, while veteran of Croatia’s Serbicide Agim Ceku managed the “military” operations of the “Kosovo Liberation Army,” Thaci was the KLA’s public face. Kissing Madeleine Albright, hugging Tony Blair, shaking hands with Gen. Wesley Clark, Bernard Kouchner and Gen. Mike Jackson – Thaci … Continue reading “KLA Boss and the Empire”

In February 2011, a series of protests began in North Africa, spreading from Tunisia to Egypt and then into Syria and the Arabian Peninsula. It was described as a popular revolt demanding more democracy, and dubbed the "Arab Spring." Soon however, details emerged about the involvement of activists funded and trained by the Empire. Here … Continue reading “The Meaning of Words”