Below is a note from Tim Bent, OUP’s Executive Editor of Trade history, about Tim Judah author of the upcoming OUP book, Kosovo: What Everybody Needs to Know.
Dear OUP Blog Readers,
We need to know what is going on in Kosovo. And Tim Judah can tell us.
On February 17th, this former province of Serbia, whose population is overwhelmingly (90%) ethnic Albanian, declared its independence. Kosovo was recognized as an autonomous state by the U.S. and the European countries; recognition of its independence was denied by Serbia, Russia, and others. Judah, who is the Economist magazine’s correspondent for the Balkans, has been in Belgrade, monitoring both the events in Kosovo and the reaction in Serbia. The Serbs view Kosovo as holy ground and claim it as theirs. The Russians, close allies of the Serbs and lately more aggressive and assertive in their dealings with the West, support that claim. Serbia will not easily let Kosovo go, and Serbian nationalism, as the world well knows, has proven toxic. In the recent debate between Clinton and Obama, moderator Tim Russert asked the candidates whether as commander in chief they would act militarily should Serbia invade Kosovo in an attempt to keep it from breaking off; both responded that they would rule out no options.
When it is published Judah’s book will provide both a context for the February 17th declaration, explaining and exploring the history of the region, and clear-eyed analysis of how the crisis there is apt to play out in the coming months. Kosovo: What Everybody Needs to Know will do for Kosovo what Ahmed Rashid’s book on the Taliban did a few years ago. It is the right book at the right time.
Tim Bent
Get a taste of what Tim Judah has to say by reading his BalkanInsight article “Kosovo: Old vs New Style News” and his BBC.com article, “Could Balkan break-up continue?.” Or check out The Economist’s coverage of Kosovo.
Getting started with Project 2 my English Composition II course was one of my greatest challenges of the year. Possibly, because I had no idea what the project was clearly about so I resented it head on. After review from my professor, I started out very shaky and was definitely on the wrong track. I had to start over focusing more on researching cultures in conflict. Sure enough surfing through the Encyclopedia I found a cultural conflict that I found interesting and examine for my project. Overall, I chose to analyze the conflict in Kosovo, southern Serbia.
I applied myself fully while researching, taking notes and forming ethical principals while preparing to side with one of the groups in conflict. For those who may not be familiar with the conflict in Kosovo, in brief, it started when the president gave direct control to the capital city of Serbia. There were two ethnic groups throughout the province, Serbians and the Albanians. The Albanian group did not favor the change of status of the region so they formed the Kosovo Liberation Army to fight to change the status back autonomy. As a counterattack, the Serbians raveled up special police, militias and the military and savagely killed the ethnic Albanians and the other inhabitants. They refer to this attack as the ethic cleansing. I believe that the Albanians were ethically right, in the sense of; they foresaw an issue that they knew could not be address peacefully so they formed a defense for protection of their opposition. They were only fighting for their country. On the other hand, Serbia’s government whom were mainly Orthodox saw the Albanians Muslims gaining demographic control of an area sacred to the Serbians. The Albanians reaction of the government change only justified the ruthless killing of the Albanians. As a result of the small war in Kosovo, many lives were taken on account of the government status change of the region.
To say more, the Albanians were only looking out for its regions best interest. There was no way the land could be civilized after the political change from autonomy to a dictatorship government. Rightfully, the conflict in Kosovo was stimulated by differences between the two ethnic groups, Serbians and Albanians, politics and religion. The Albanians were the real victims of the Massacre in Kosovo. In the end, if I was asked “for the people or against the people?” you would know that I definitely for the people.
Getting started with Project 2 my English Composition II course was one of my greatest challenges of the year. Possibly, because I had no idea what the project was clearly about so I resented it head on. After review from my professor, I started out very shaky and was definitely on the wrong track. I had to start over focusing more on researching cultures in conflict. Sure enough surfing through the Encyclopedia I found a cultural conflict that I found interesting and examine for my project. Overall, I chose to analyze the conflict in Kosovo, southern Serbia.
I applied myself fully while researching, taking notes and forming ethical principals while preparing to side with one of the groups in conflict. For those who may not be familiar with the conflict in Kosovo, in brief, it started when the president gave direct control to the capital city of Serbia. There were two ethnic groups throughout the province, Serbians and the Albanians. The Albanian group did not favor the change of status of the region so they formed the Kosovo Liberation Army to fight to change the status back autonomy. As a counterattack, the Serbians raveled up special police, militias and the military and savagely killed the ethnic Albanians and the other inhabitants. They refer to this attack as the ethic cleansing. I believe that the Albanians were ethically right, in the sense of; they foresaw an issue that they knew could not be address peacefully so they formed a defense for protection of their opposition. They were only fighting for their country. On the other hand, Serbia’s government whom were mainly Orthodox saw the Albanians Muslims gaining demographic control of an area sacred to the Serbians. The Albanians reaction of the government change only justified the ruthless killing of the Albanians. As a result of the small war in Kosovo, many lives were taken on account of the government status change of the region.
To say more, the Albanians were only looking out for its regions best interest. There was no way the land could be civilized after the political change from autonomy to a dictatorship government. Rightfully, the conflict in Kosovo was stimulated by differences between the two ethnic groups, Serbians and Albanians, politics and religion. The Albanians were the real victims of the Massacre in Kosovo. In the end, if I was asked “for the people or against the people?” you would know that I definitely for the people