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| Home Front: Politix |
| Kosovo Was Then, This Is Now [Victor Davis Hanson] |
| 2008-02-18 |
| Quite apart from the undeniable merits of independence, in political terms Kosovo 2008 is not quite Kosovo of 1998. Let us count the post-9/11 ways: 1. The rise of radical Islam, especially in Europe, has made Western publics edgy about Muslim-identified states, especially inside Europe. 2. Russia is no longer a basket case, but rearming, aggressive, overflowing with petro-dollars, and eager to use oil — and more — as a weapon. 3. Milosevic is long dead. 4. For six years there has been a steady anti-American drumbeat in Europe and caricatures of the use of “preemption” and “unilateralism”; Euros have so turned off Americans that there is no support for reintervention to solve a “European” problem that should of course, if it worsens, be adjudicated at the Hague and other European Utopian agencies. 5. This was a Clinton thing, and predated George W. Bush. The current tension reminds us of our forgotten American Balkan presence, that seems to have been necessary for the past decade — and without a treaty no less! And did we ever ask Congress to bomb over there, or did we go to the sacrosanct U.N.? Suddenly there are few liberal Harry Reid/Nancy Pelosi talking points to be heard on Kosovo. 6. After Afghanistan and Iraq, there is no likelihood that Americans want a third war, especially for Kosovo. Can you imagine the EU begging the Texan, twangy Halliburtonite, bible-thumping George Bush to please do something now!? I imagine right now President Bush is getting a different sort of phone call from his European friends, “Yo George?” 7. Yet given NATO’s dismal performance in Afghanistan, it has little fides in the Balkans, and the American attitude might be ‘you didn’t want to fight much for Afghanistan, so why should we for Kosovo?’ 8. There is some EU support, especially in Eastern Europe and among Orthodox and Greek-speaking communities, for Serbia. Perhaps unfaddish and most un-European, but support nonetheless. Where does all this leave us? It might be a fine and noble thing for the Kosovars to have their own state like the rest of the regions of the former Yugoslavia. But let us pray that neither Serbia nor Russia calls the Western bluff about guaranteeing Kosovar autonomy, because in the present climate it really would be, well, a big fat bluff. |
| Posted by:Sherry |
| #3 RJ__ I have to stick with my example because of the role of NE in American history, birthplace of the revolution, etc. and the parallel with Kosovo's role in Serbian thinking. No offense to anyone in the area, but the southwest was sort of an afterthought - Hell, Arizona didn't even become a state until 1912.... |
| Posted by: Mercutio 2008-02-18 23:16 |
| #2 Mercutio, a better example would be Mexicans into the US southwest. Still a good point. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2008-02-18 23:01 |
| #1 Considering the Serbian point of view. I have read the following history on-line but cannot vouch for it. Kosovo represents one of the earliest areas of Serbian presence in the area. It has a place in their view, comparable to New England or Virginia. Now assume that in 100 years there has been such an influx of Canadians (Muslim, if that makes a difference in your thinking) into upper New England with a corresponding exodus of yankees, that they declare themselves no longer part of the US - and Russia and China say that's fine and recognize the new country of Canuckistan. What would your reaction be? And how is that likely to be different from the Serbian reaction (other than the attempted pre-emptive genocide they tried in the 1990's). |
| Posted by: Mercutio 2008-02-18 20:00 |