Oliver Kamm Blog

The latest in my series of "I've been reading this for a long time and I can't believe I forgot to include a link until now" posts:

Oliver Kamm

This is simply an excellent blog by an ideological soulmate (i.e., an internationalist/leftist who is appalled by the isolationist tendencies of the "multicultural", moral-relativist contemporary Western Left). My failure to include a link to this blog before now is especially strange since I actually linked to a particular post from his blog nearly two years ago.

I have rectified this baffling oversight* and I encourage anybody who hasn't already done so to begin reading Mr. Kamm's blog on a regular basis. It is a reliably excellent read. Don't take my word for it; check out his latest entry, a hilarious update on the pathetic saga of Srebrenica-denier and all-around conspiracy-monger Neil Clark. Kamm gives the deluded and laughable Mr. Clark all the respect that a paranoid defender of the Milosevic regime deserves.


*Any and all readers of this blog are always welcomed and encouraged to bring any relevant online resource to my attention.

"Muslim Identity and the Balkan State" ed. by Hugh Poulton and Suha Taji-Farouki

I have read most of the collected essays in this fine collection:

Muslim Identity and the Balkan State

Published in 1997, no doubt some of the data and interpretations are now dated; also, because the status of Bosnia was very much in doubt in late 1996 when this volume was being prepared for publication, the editors chose not to discuss the Muslims of Bosnia. Rather, this book looks at the Pomaks of Bulgaria and Greece, ethnic Turks throughout the Balkans, the Slavic Muslims of Macedonia, ethnic Albanian Muslims in Macedonia, Kosova, and Albania proper, and the Slavic Muslims of the Sandzak.

The book can be read in its entirety, or individual essays can be read independently. For a general reader intersted in gaining a broader perspective on the complexities and varieties of different Muslim communities throughout the region, this book is an easily readable resource.

Recent Coverage on Kosova

I have a couple of books I plan to cover in the next few days, but in the meantime Roger Lippman's excellent website Balkan Witness has gathered several new stories on Kosova's independence, as well as some other articles from recent months and years for context:

Articles on the Kosovo Conflict: Kosova Independence

Ian Williams contributes a good article, and Peter Lippman's contribution is succinct and fair.

Canadian General Lewis MacKenzie: Still a Liar

If you can resist the urge to punch your PC monitor while listening to this pompous pimp for Serbian nationalism, I suggest you check out this recent interview with well-known Serb-nationalist apologist, Canadian General Lewis MacKenzie, courtesy of East Ethnia:

Lewis MacKenzie Pollutes the Canadian Airwaves

It is the height of journalistic irresponsibility that this Mike Duffy allowed MacKenzie to regurgitate such easily refutable nonsense like the "staging" of the Racak massacre without challenge. And if there were still any lingering doubts that MacKenzie is little more than a compliant mouthpiece for Serbian fascism, his reiteration of the "Serb Jerusalem" argument should put them to rest.

Absolutely disgraceful that this man represented both the UN and the Canadian armed forces; equally disgraceful that he is active in Canadian politics today, and that he is given a public platform from which to spread his poisonous disinformation.

Troubling Sign of Sectarianism

On February 12 of this year, the OSCE Mission to Bosnia released what, in a liberal secular society, should be a thoroughly uncontroversial press statement:

Education in Bosnia and Herzegovina Should Be Inclusive, Not Exclusive

Anyone familiar with the multi-confessional composition of Bosnian society and of the need to nurture a shared civic culture, regardless of his or her own beliefs or affiliation.

Unfortunately, the The Cabinet of Reisu-l-ulema in Sarajevo opted to respond with shrill, disingenuous hysteria:

We Are Sorry the OSCE Has Joined General Anti-Islamic Histeria

This is both frustrating--because it is so patently false, a rather severe mischaracterization of the actual text of the original statement designed to muddy the waters of discourse--and dangerous, because the last thing Bosnia needs is any prominent representatives of any of the three main ethnorelgious groups reverting to tactics of outraged victimhood.

Fortunately, the OSCE is sticking to their guns:

DANI Barometer - Religious Classes in Kindergartens

I'm glad to see that the OSCE didn't allow any undue "sensitivity" to distract from the central issue--the introduction of explicitly religious instruction into public schools.

Fortunately,

Bosniak American Advisory Council for Bosnia and Herzegovina

A belated edition to my "News and Advocacy" Links:

Bosniak American Advisory Council for Bosnia and Herzegovina

This council is run by Bosniaks here in the the United States. It's mission is twofold--as an active voice in the interest of the large Bosniak-American community, and to serve as an advocate for the interests of Bosnia-Herzegovina with the US government.

I highly recommend visiting their site and supporting their work; there could be no more obvious manifestation of my belief that the interests of the USA and Bosnia-Herzegovina are similar and connected than the fact that some 300,000 Bosniaks live here in the United States. It is in our interest to strengthen our bond and develop our dialogue.

"Genocide and Resistance in Hitler's Bosnia" by Marko Attila Hoare [8]

CONCLUSION

Dr. Hoare concludes by briefly recounting a central theme of his book; namely, that the war in Bosnia was a war of competing--and fundamentally incompatible--ideologies. The war was, at root, political rather than ethnic--which is not to say that the "national question" wasn't important, or to deny that widespread tribal bigotry was an important factor fueling much of the resulting violence.

"Genocide in Bosnia" makes this argument forcefully and convincingly. In the final page, Dr. Hoare concludes by noting that the Partisans and the postwar Communist never completely succeeded in ridding the country of some of the baser passions and more chauvinistic political impulses. In this light, the Bosnian war of the 1990s was in many ways a continuation of the same political/ideological war that raged in the 1940s.

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I highly recommend this well-documented, assiduously argued, and quite readable book to anyone interested in the development of 20th Century Bosnia as well as anyone looking to broaden their understanding of Yugoslav history. More importantly, this book is an authoritative refutation of the simplistic histories of Yugoslavia's World War II experience wielded by nationalists and their enablers. As such, this isn't just a valuable work of history, but also a substantive piece of academic activism. Dr. Hoare's book stands both as a sober piece of scholarship and a strong rationale for supporting and believing in the integrity of Bosnia-Hercegovina.