Friday, July 10, 2015

Belgrade Bans Srebrenica Anniversary Gatherings

And so the ultranationalists have won this round:

Belgrade Bans Srebrenica Anniversary Gatherings

The "security concerns" rhetoric is so transparently disingenuous I am frankly surprised they bothered.

Wednesday, July 08, 2015

Nearing the 20th Anniversary of Srebrenica

I've been meaning to kick-start this blog for some time, and there's no better reason to resurrect it than to begin commemorating a horrific anniversary. This Saturday, July 11, will mark twenty years since the Srebrenica genocide.

20 Year Anniversary

Given the prevalence of armed conflicts involving "failed" states such as Syria and Iraq, or of fragile states with restive minorities being supported and manipulated by a larger neighbor, such as Ukraine, it is very clear that the Bosnian War was indeed both a warning of the challenges the post-Cold War era would bring as well as a test the international community in general and the West specifically. It seems increasingly clear that whatever lessons were learned were the wrong ones, and that the legacy of Bosnia for policy-makers has been distorted and misunderstood. Perhaps this stark reminder of the human cost of moral indifference and strategic fumbling will lead to some healthy re-evaluation of priorities and interpretive frameworks.