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In-Depth Information
themselves). For a few tense months, international observers watched nervously, worrying
that war might erupt in the region once more. There have been a few scuffles, especially in
some of the larger Serb settlements. But as of this writing, Kosovo's independence appears
to be holding—representing, perhaps, the final chapter of a long and ugly Yugoslav succes-
sion. Kosovo is the seventh country to emerge from the breakup of Yugoslavia.
Today, Slovenia and Croatia are as stable as many Western European nations, Bosnia-
Herzegovina has made great strides in putting itself back together, Macedonia feels closer
to Bulgaria than to Belgrade, and the sixth and seventh countries to emerge from
“Yugoslavia”—Montenegro and Kosovo—are fledgling democracies.
And yet, nagging questions remain. Making the wars even more difficult to grasp is the
uncomfortable reality that there were no clear-cut “good guys” and “bad guys”—just a lot
of ugliness on all sides. When considering specifically the war between the Croats and the
Serbs, it's tempting for Americans to take Croatia's “side” because we saw them in the role
of victims first; because they're Catholic, so they seem more “like us” than the Orthodox
Serbs; and because we admire their striving for independence. But in the streets and the
trenches, it was never that straightforward. The Serbs believe that
they
were the victims
first—back in World War II, when their grandparents were executed in Croat-run Ustaše
concentration camps. And when Croats retook the Serb-occupied areas in 1995, they were
everybitasbrutalastheSerbshadbeenafewyearsbefore.Bothsidesresortedtogenocide,
both sides had victims, and both sides had victimizers.
Evenso,manycan'thelpbutlookforvictimsandvillains.DuringtheconflictinBosnia-
Herzegovina, several prominent and respected reporters began to show things from one
“side”morethantheothers—specifically,depictingtheBosniaks(Muslims)asvictims.This
reawakened an old debate in the journalism community: Should reporters above all remain
impartial, evenif“showingallsides”mightmakethemfeelcomplicit inongoingatrocities?
As for villains, it's easy to point a finger at Slobodan Miloševi
ć
, Radovan Karadži
ć
,
Ratko Mladi
ć
, and other political or military leaders who have been arrested and tried at
The Hague. Others condemn the late Croatian President Franjo Tu
đ
man, who, it's now
known, secretly conspired with Miloševi
ć
to redraw the maps of their respective territories.
And of course, the foot soldiers of those monstrous men—who followed their immoral or-
ders—cannot be excused.
And yet, you can't paint an entire group with one brush. While some Bosnian Serbs did
horrifying things, only a small fraction of all Bosnian Serbs participated in the atrocities.
Travelers to this region quickly realize that the vast majority of people they meet here never
