Semi Regular Book Review #1

Balkan Ghosts by Robert Kaplan.

A book that at first helped lead President Clinton to avoid involvement in the war in Bosnia, precipitating only further chaos and bloodshed, despite the author's clear belief that only through the strength of US and NATO forces could the history of ethnic violence in the region be quelled; Balkan Ghosts leads the reader through the history, culture and passions of a little known, but historically vital region. (While showing clearly, once again, that the foreign policy of the Clinton Presidency was a haphazard, directionless result of the current conventional wisdom and scandal of the day.)

Through Croatia and Alexander's Macedonia, Romania, Bulgaria and Greece; the brutality of the long Balkan history comes across sadly through Kaplan's eyes and one is left to wonder how such an eclectic, faithful and vibrant people could be continually brought low by such small prejudices. In this way, the region is a glimpse into the mindset of a large part of our world. As Kaplan writes, while refuting charges that the Balkans are an exceptionally backward and dangerous region, "So what if the Balkans are a confused, often violent ethnic cauldron? Welcome to much of the world."

This travelogue provides a clear view towards dealing with eternal strife in a region that may always seem to contain such violence, as well as remind one of the dangers we face if we choose to withdraw and ignore such a place. It was the Balkans who produced the assassin who triggered World War I, It was the Balkans from where the origins of Nazism can be traced, and it was the Balkans who produced the 20th century's first terrorists, IMRO.

As Kaplan writes, "Here men have been isolated by poverty and ethnic rivalry, dooming them to hate. Here politics has been reduced to a level of near anarchy that from time to time in history has flowed up the Danube into Central Europe....a breeding ground of ethnic resentments..(where)...Hitler learned to hate so infectiously."

What is born and nurtured in such a place will inevitably grow large enough to threaten our own world, whether from the Balkans of the last century, or the present day Middle East. Kaplan writes that "the struggle for bare survival leaves little room for renewal or creation", something to consider seriously before we abandon an inflammable region under a false belief that our involvement only makes the situation worse and could not possibly help, leaving the "bare survival" of a potentially great people up to the terrorists and despots of our time, and giving no chance for renewal or creation, or our own peace.

Balkan Ghosts was written of a different region and a different, pre 9/11 era, but provides clear lessons for the challenges we face today and should be read by people who hope to understand the consequences of action, or more importantly, inaction, within the violence and strife of the Mid East.

-BMP