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 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
