[ALBSA-Info] Fwd: [balkans] Book Review: Buckley, Kosovo: Contending Voices on Balkan Interventions, reviewed by Biljana Radonjic

[Agron Alibali]

  Florian Bieber <bieberf at gmx.net> wrote: From Florian Bieber Tue May 21 03:11:55 2002
To: balkans at yahoogroups.com
From: Florian Bieber 
Date: Tue, 21 May 2002 12:11:55 +0200
Subject: [balkans] Book Review: Buckley, Kosovo: Contending Voices on Balkan
Interventions, reviewed by Biljana Radonjic

Balkan Academic News Book Review 20/2002

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William Joseph Buckley (ed.), Kosovo: Contending Voices on Balkan Interventions, Grand Rapids, Mi./ Cambridge: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2000. 528 pp., ISBN 0802838898, 35 USD (softcover). 

Reviewed by Biljana Radonjic (Civilitas Research, Cyprus), Email: biljana.radonjic at civilitasresearch.com

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Kosovo: Contending Voices on Balkan Interventions, edited by William Joseph Buckley, is a comprehensive collection of sixty-seven insightful essays by Balkan and Western authors about various interpretations of NATO intervention in Kosovo/a. The editor is explicitly opposed to the primordial reading of the Balkan conflict as “intractable fratricidal hostilities”. Instead, he attempts to present balanced view by means of engaging numerous diverse perspectives, ranging from testimonials and eyewitness accounts of Albanian refugees and Serbs exposed to bombs to the historical and social analysis by local and international journalists, politicians and NGO activists. A number of very important and representative themes are touched upon in the book, such as just war doctrine, distributive justice, the role of Catholic and Orthodox churches, the use of air power, collective guilt of the Serbian nation, the right to self-determination of Kosovo Albanians, etc. 

Kosovo consists of seven thematically ordered segments, the first of which- “Voices Under the Bombs”, includes deeply stirring emotional accounts of personal traumas experienced by both Albanian and Serbian civilians and humanitarian workers. It is a precious bottom-up perspective that uncovers an impact of war on individual destinies. The second chapter sets the historical and cultural context through works of respectable Western and Balkan scholars and journalists and provides an important background for understanding the present-day conflict. The next section, “Voices of Today’s Balkan People”, is a peculiar set of polarized and passionate views by intellectuals, journalists and politicians as well as thinkers from diaspora communities, and which introduces the reader to a kaleidoscope of contemporary local narratives. The fourth and fifth parts present an important compilation of famous and often cited articles by world leaders and political commentators during the course of the Kosovo/a conflict. An indispensable view “from the inside” of the decision making process is presented in essays written by highly influential figures such as Javier Solana, Henry Kissinger, Kofi Annan, Jurgen Habermas, Vaclav Havel, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Archbishop Jean-Louis Tauran, Michael Walzer, General Wesley K. Clark and others. The next chapter voices diverse opinions of ethical and religious academic thinkers who examine philosophical rationalization behind interventions and sanctions, while the contributors to the last segment, “Voices for the Future” consider several practical solutions for the subsequent status of Kosovo/a and the Western involvement in the province. 

Ironically, both the strength and the weakness of Kosovo lie in the style of writing adopted more particularly with contributions from anonymous and lesser-known academic and non-academic Balkan thinkers. On the one hand, marginalized and silenced indigenous voices are heard, while on the other, a reader has to endure many texts of extremely low language quality (Haxhiu), unconvincing quasi intellectual argumentation (Kadare, Papic), abundant with stereotypes (Anastasijevic, Sells), generalisations and “convenient” opinion polls (Bugajski) and false analogies (Maliqi). Certainly, some local scholars are able to offer unique approaches, such as Denisa Kostovicova’s essay about the impact of segregation, which had initially enabled peaceful resistance and parallel political structures of Kosovo Albanians but consequently intensified the inter-communal conflict. 

Although Balkan contributors to the volume are hardly ever self-critical, the exception worth mentioning is Lubonja’s unique piece which focuses on commonalities between Kosovo Albanians and Serbs and takes an unusually reconciliatory stance. The author draws attention to the importance of myths and historical narratives in the building of the national consciousness of Balkan peoples, especially conveniently forgotten historical evidence that goes against the dominant “truth”. Lubonja reminds us that “Albanians, too, fought alongside the Serbs against the Ottomans at the Battle of Kosova under the flag of Christianity” and that the Albanian main national hero and liberator, Skenderbeg, was born to an Albanian prince but also a Slav mother, Vojslava.

The book confirms how important particular naming is for local population and politicians. Most Kosovo Albanian authors call themselves “Albanians of Kosova”, stressing their nationality as a basis for self-determination and justifiable rights to the territory. Serbian contributors call them simply Albanians suggesting that their claims to the territory of “Kosovo and Metohija (the land of monasteries)” are illegitimate. The majority of western writers use the official term Kosovo for various reasons. Some of them are unaware of the significance of terms in the Balkans; others are against the intervention, which often does not presuppose the agreement with the position of Serbian officials. Those in favor of the Albanian cause call “the field of the blackbird” Kosova. 

The last chapter is a perfect example of how diametrically opposing interpretations of the conflict by Kosovo Albanians, Serbs and international actors influence the way each side view the most appropriate solution to the situation. Kosovo Albanian authors unanimously opt for independence of Kosovo/a, Serbian contributors are mostly for the partition while some of them believe that the strengthening of a democratic regime in Serbia could ease tensions. The common position of representatives of the international community in this volume is that Serbia should guarantee the autonomy of the province and special minority rights together with self-government for Kosovo/a. The issue most contributors agree about, however, is that the current international presence is vital, but that it should not be prolonged into never-ending dependence and unsustainability. Instead, as some authors suggest, the right strategy of the West is to encourage the active local participation of both communities in democratic institutions within strong civil society as well as improved political culture in Kosovo/a and Serbia as a whole. Both Kosovo Albanian and thinkers from Serbia are also rather pessimistic about the possibility of peaceful coexistence of the two communities in Kosovo/a.

The editor, William Joseph Buckley, manages to maintain a healthy enduring conversation between various conflicting perspectives, opinions and genres throughout the course of this volume. Although a limited resource for senior scholars with specialized interest in the Kosovo problematique, this book is an excellent starting point and a systematic reference source for IR scholars new to the subject and general readers who wish to get acquainted with the overall complexity of the war in Kosovo/a. Kosovo gathers many diverse topics, debates, official positions, alternative sources and private reflections. It is also a valuable collection of thorough regional maps, basic Balkans spelling and pronunciation rules and an extensive number of on-line resources. Finally, Kosovo: Contending Voices on Balkan Interventions powerfully illustrates how incompatible conceptions reflected in diametrically opposed claims and ambitions can exacerbate a conflict. It also reminds the reader that “truth” about Balkan interventions can only lie somewhere in between these divergent views. 


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This an earlier book reviews are available at: www.seep.ceu.hu/balkans


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© 2002 Balkan Academic News. This review may be distributed and reproduced electronically, if credit is given to Balkan Academic News and the author. For permission for re-printing, contact Balkan Academic News. 
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