Honestly, the western media doesn’t pay much mind the Balkans at all, unless it’s a violent and bloody war that makes good copy… This is despite the fact that the region is still strategically critically and still dealing with the legacy of the wars.
There is a LOT happening in the Balkans right now that is worrying and destabilizing, Croatia is going right wing again, the Kosovar President has been charged with war crimes for his role in the KLA, they also had a left wing government, but that fell over issues related to covid… But no one will pay attention unless it turns into another war.
And this week is also the anniversary of Srebenica, which will get ignored by most of the west.
25 years since Srebrenica. Where the Dutch were found only 10% liable for a fraction of the killings.
Anytime people think they’ve seen the worst of humanity, it can ways get much worse. Less than thirty years ago and thousands of people across the Balkans killed by their former neighbors. We havent come too far.
It’s hard to believe it’s been that long and yet was so recent. And how we just don’t talk about it anymore at all, despite the various acts of ethnic cleansing and genocide that happened in our lifetimes! I think that’s because, as you note, many people blame UN forces and their failures for letting the violence go on for as long as it did.
Have you seen No Man’s Land? It’s about the broader war in Bosnia, but does a good bit of parsing the role of the UN and the global media in the war. It’s about 3 guys (2 Bosniaks and a Bosnian Serb) stuck in no man’s land, and one is lying on a mine. Much hilarity ensues, until it doesn’t.
I think the European media is likely better than the US… I want to say they’ve covered the stuff on Thaci. But you can do worse than Balkan Insight for up to date stuff.
The region should get more coverage, especially right now, as there seems to be a lot happening and I’m sure the pandemic is exacerbating tensions.
Shirley I am not the only one who is absolutely giddy watching the GOP try to scramble up a convention in an impossibly short timeframe? This might just be the first one I watch on TV, ever.
I saw a post on Wonkette recently from someone who said they put together a “small corporate meeting” in JAX last summer, and that single company’s event soaked up all the available hardware and personnel in Jacksonville, and most of their resources came from Orlando. Even if their definition of “small corporate meeting” is a bit modest, that suggests we should be in for a shitshow to rival the administration itself.
The only responsible thing to do, really… even if Trump’s real reason for cancelling was almost certainly fear of another embarrassingly low turnout rather than fear of spreading Covid-19.
The great thing about this is that the GOP has now paid for two conventions but will be getting zero.
True, they’re probably going to screw over the host cities as hard as they can. But they still did spend a lot of money they aren’t getting back.
Imagine being one of the RNC folks trying to scare up donors after those back-to-back fiascoes. Remember this was written before Trump abruptly cancelled Jacksonville yesterday:
Organizers are trying to assuage vexed Republicans who collectively gave millions of dollars for a Charlotte event that has mostly been scrapped. The host committee there has spent virtually all of the $38 million it raised before the convention was moved, leaving almost nothing to return to donors, or to pass on to the new host city.
