A dispassionate, intelligent introduction to the civil war that has
destroyed the former Yugoslavia. A useful first book by Bennett, a
British journalist who has the good fortune to speak both Slovenian
and Serbo-Croatian, a skill that has enabled him to draw heavily on
literature of the region that would be unavailable to most American
or British journalists. Unlike many recent histories of the
conflict, this volume dwells neither on the ancient ethnic
squabbles of the Middle Ages nor on the appalling atrocities
committed against the Bosnians. Instead, it traces political
developments from the middle of the last century through the
present, showing how the cynical manipulation of nationalist fervor
for political gain has been a theme running throughout the region's
recent history. Bennett's thesis is that there is little truth to
the claims by some journalists that "events which took place half a
century earlier" caused the current civil war. Rather, he places
much of the blame on the local media for fanning the flames of
ethnic hatred, in concert with politicians like Serbian leader
Slobodan Milo??evi??. While there is no denying the pernicious role
played by the media in the former Yugoslavia, Bennett may be just a
little too quick to downplay the role of ethnic strife in the
turmoil of the period between the world wars. On the other hand, it
is helpful (and painful) to be reminded that Yugoslavia was once
the great success story of the Eastern bloc. He is also concise and
to the point in his treatment of the WW II period, reminding
readers that the Croatian fascists were in fact a minority whose
power was handed to them by Hitler and was not the expression of
the will of the Croatian people, as some pro-Serb writers have
alleged. A good, coolly analytical review of the Yugoslavian
conflict. (Kirkus Reviews)
Christopher Bennett argues that Yugoslavia's disintegration was
not, contrary to accepted wisdom, the product of inherent and
irrational ethnic animosities and centuries of strife - an
interpretation which helps to vindicate the West's policy of
inaction. He suggests that the decisive turning-point came in 1987,
when a struggle was waged within the Serbian Communist party
between adherents of a Serb nationalist ideology (embodied by
Slobodan Milosevic) and those Yugoslavs who clung to the concept of
a multinational state. As soon as Milosevic gained the upper hand
he ruthlessly purged his rivals and launched a massive campaign of
media indoctrination to stir up Serb nationalist sentiment. This
new Serb nationalism, which has so revolted the world since 1991,
is thus Milosevic's creation and not the result of historical
enmity. The author's examination of this phenomenon is set within a
concise and accessible history of the former Yugoslavia.
General
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