After Banjska
This second miscalculation gives Aleksandar Vucic a lot of work to do. By David B. Kanin Milan Radoicic’s botched raid against Kosovo was... Read More
Serbia
Serbia and three Germanies
The West deals with Serbia by straddling victors’ policies toward Germany in 1918 and 1945. It also punishes Serbia for crimes of the 1990s after... Read More
Serbia must play fair too
As the U.S. and its fellow EU members of the Quint pressure Pristina to offer solutions, they must either pressure or entice Vucic to allow... Read More
NATO’s two choices in Kosovo
NATO now has two choices under its UN mandate, to escort those forces back south of the River or to open the border and allow Serbian... Read More
What agreement?
Once again the West struggles to enforce a deal of questionable value on unwilling Balkan participants. By David B. Kanin The old saying... Read More
Kosovo: not up to NATO
The U.S., EU and now NATO have long acted in Kosovo as if they had the authority to act for the United Nations. Belgrade would... Read More
Kosovo: should/could Serbia intervene unilaterally?
Should Belgrade send forces into the north to lance this boil? It may be the only way to force the hand of the U.S., EU... Read More
Kosovo – lancing the Boil?
NATO would be well within its UN mandate to allow some Serbian forces to return to Kosovo. Perhaps this is the way to lance the... Read More
Congratulations, Serbia – leader and model!
The EU begins to adopt Belgrade’s two stool approach to Russia’s war against Ukraine (sort of). By David B. Kanin European notables owe... Read More
Orban and Vucic … and Tito
Skillful security managers can stand astride two stools indefinitely, as long as one of them does not collapse. By David B. Kanin The... Read More
Sovereignty for Metohija
Treat the Serbian Orthodox Church as a respected partner in a comprehensive, single-stage agreement on the status of Kosovo. By David B. Kanin I... Read More
What will trigger the next Balkan conflict?
Look past the usual noise emanating from EU-sponsored meetings and the panic of former diplomats and pundits. By David B. Kanin The current security... Read More
Sweeten the pot, or there will be no pot
Belgrade would need a good reason to give up its “curse” of leverage. By David B. Kanin Ed Joseph has a serious proposal. It... Read More
Please colonize us.
Balkan Westernizers avoid a post-Imperial world. By David B. Kanin Not long ago, I took part in a conversation about the long-running soap opera... Read More
Kurti in the driver’s seat – of a driverless vehicle
Kosovo’s Prime Minister will retain multiple options no matter how any renewed Western effort to pound out a deal between Pristina and Belgrade turns out.... Read More
Time for Kosovo to secure its true independence
To be sure, the Kosovo public can now exercise their electoral power to demand all of the above and other areas of concern from the... Read More
Kosovo needs an election
Hashim Thaci’s indictment blows apart the politically-motivated diplomacy of the last few months. By David B. Kanin The fix was in. Thaci and Isa... Read More
Church, state, and rock and roll
Montenegro’s controversial law on religion is – unusually for Milo Djukanovic – a poorly thought through mistake. By David B. Kanin My son went... Read More
Vucic’s plan B should become plan A – treat the EU as it treats you
The latest in the series of broken EU promises and failed EU initiatives stand in sharp contrast to the modest but constructive “mini-Schengen” agreement among... Read More
Of tariffs and statehood
At this point, removing the tariffs against Serbia without recognition by Belgrade would be a serious setback to Kosova’s wobbly sovereignty. By David B.... Read More
Dveri and the protests in Serbia
Nationalism in Serbia, like in most countries, cannot be reduced to a single current or strand of thought. Where Dveri stands out is in its... Read More
Weaponizing white terrorism – the boomerang effect on the Balkans
Attempts by Balkan nationalists to weaponize links of international terrorism with the Bosnian war have had a boomerang effect. The simplifications are the boomerang; and... Read More
The Balkans – the feast feeding Russia’s and Turkey’s hunger
The EU should insist on democratic reforms and adherence to human rights, against which it would accelerate the membership process of Balkan states. This will... Read More
Spinning Russia in the Balkans
Bismarck had warned at the close of the Congress of Berlin in 1878 that the next war in Europe would probably result from “some damn... Read More
Ghosts of protests past
So far, the current set of weekly street performances in Serbia appear to have as much in common with demonstrations in March 1991 as with... Read More
The Kosovo dialogue – must the show go on?
It is clear that “rallying ‘round the flag” is not a phenomena which is limited to the Kosovo territory, but something which represents a mainstream... Read More
Precedents – entering an unstable era
The lack of consensus regarding what a certain territory makes special (and its corresponding rights especially different comparing to others) is not only a specificum... Read More
Connectivity for Development – taking the highway for economic growth
A panel discussion to promote the regional study, ‘Connectivity for Development – Taking the Highway for Economic Growth’, was organized in Belgrade.
Diploma recognition between Serbia and Kosovo – integration or a palliative measure?
Though diploma recognition is a positive step forward for relations between Belgrade and Pristina, the prospects of an integrated education system in Kosovo remain slim.
Land swaps and other conversations in the Balkans
If the international community does not appreciate ethnic partition in the Balkans as a mode for division of the region, then it should not have... Read More
Kosovo-Serbia – a “land swap” for élites, not the people
The proposed partition of Kosovo would negate the day-to-day realities on the ground, particularly of those Kosovo Serbs living outside the four northern municipalities. It... Read More
Let Kosovo be partitioned
It’s wrong to close down the partition option. If this is what the local parties can agree on, let Kosovo be partitioned. The US has... Read More
Kosovo – partition is not the point
Whether Kosova/o has sovereignty remains the only relevant question.
Shape the deal, take the deal, manage the deal
The latest Western proposal on Kosovo could work, but only if the EU this time is willing to do the work required to support an... Read More
Serbia, Turkey, and Russia – alarm bells for Europe
The European Union should warn Serbia that it must weigh its options carefully and undertake the necessary socio-political and economic reforms if it wants to... Read More
A review of the bidding in the Balkans
Save one, conflicts in the region are frozen, EU accession process or not.
Assassination of Serb leader in Kosovo signals gathering political storm
Narrow nationalism has led to changes in population distribution toward more mono-ethnic areas, but each state still has ethnic minorities who live uneasily side-by-side. Kosovo... Read More
Kosovo without EULEX?
The latest kerfuffle about ending the Special Chambers – which elicited strong negative reaction from both the EU and US – is just one indication... Read More
Condominium in Kosovo
Is there an alternative to zero sum competition for possession and sovereignty? By David B. Kanin Whether there is any point to dialogues about... Read More
Separatism in Europe – Catalonia and the others
Might we see some revival of some secessionist movements in Europe due to the situation in Catalonia or maybe not so much, and why?
Secession blues
Make no mistake; the ongoing Catalan crisis is a disaster for Kosova.
The West should get out of the Kosovo debate
If the so-called peaceniks are genuinely interested in peace, then they must stop expecting the Serbs to put aside their core values and interests and... Read More
Engage them
Vucic and Dacic are mixing political interests with substantive proposals. So what?
Kosova-Metohija?
Do Kosovars and Serbs have options other than work avoidance?
Belgrade-Pristina – a false promise of normalisation
The structural flaws in the foundations of the Brussels Dialogue may deal a painful blow to the aspirations of the European Union as the champion... Read More
Hacking the future
TransConflict is pleased to present a new project – initiated with the Belgrade Fund for Political Excellence, Democracy for Development and NGO Aktiv – which aims... Read More
In the Balkans, perhaps it is time for an Ummah
The fraying status quo in the region gives Islamists an opportunity to broaden and deepen their influence.
The Balkan treadmill
The last thing the region needs is more “attention” from the European Union.
Doing harm
Bakir Izetbegovic should make public any new evidence he has relating to his appeal of Serbia’s acquittal regarding the 1995 Srebrenica Genocide. In detail. Now.
Abdic, Dodik, Djukanovic, Etc…
Whatever happens patronage, not notional civic politics, will remain the bedrock structure of political, economic, and social organization in the Balkans—and not just the Balkans.... Read More
Paying for peace in Presevo
The recent agreement on providing Albanian-language textbooks for schools in southern Serbia suggests that lessons have been learned from previous relations between Serbia’s Albanian minority, Kosovo,... Read More
Refugees in Belgrade and the rise of ‘prickly spaces’
The official response to the refugee crisis across Europe and beyond has been a failure to engage in the hard work of imagining how newcomers,... Read More
Kosovo – going nowhere fast
Kosovo is not, by itself, a sustainable economic or political entity. Waiting for Serbia to recognize Kosovo as independent (in order to enter the EU)... Read More
Dr. Radovan Karadzic – the triumph of death against life
Radovan Karadzic has shown that the impulse of death can be stronger than that of life. It is reported that, following the pattern of Slobodan... Read More
Karadzic’s conviction and Serbia’s rights trend
Given its neighborhood, Serbia may feel stable. But allowing toxic narratives to fester at home is dangerous. EU leaders should ask themselves whether this is... Read More
2016 Serbian general election – five key observations
Ahead of general elections in Serbia on Sunday 24th April, it is clear that current prime minister, Aleksandar Vučic, is king of all he surveys, that... Read More
Kosovo – the defenestration of Oliver Ivanovic
Oliver Ivanovic is today a political prisoner being held as a result of an unholy – and rather short-sighted – alliance between the internationals, Belgrade... Read More
The asterisk gets bigger
Kosova’s defeat at UNESCO was as decisive as it was narrow because its stunted sovereignty leaves Pristina no room for error.
Between Russia and the west
Dysfunctionality in Serbia and Bosnia reflects the larger economic conflict between Russia and the west.
Recent Comments