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Newsgroups: bit.listserv.mideur-l
Date:         Wed, 29 Jul 1992 04:24:12 -0400
From:         Agnes Kruchio <kruchio@EPAS.UTORONTO.CA>
Subject:      Re: South Serbia
X-To:         MIDEUR-L@UBVM.cc.buffalo.edu
              92 12:30 pm

>
> On Tue, 28 Jul 1992 06:43:57 -0400 The Observer said:
> >Bulgarian media note with concern that a new entity has appeared on the
> >Serbian world map: "South Serbia", otherwise known as Macedonia. What
> >this is indicating - you have three guesses, folks.
> >
> >Meanwhile, in Germany there is growing certainty that the "ethnical
> >purification" of entire Bosnia is history's final word about a state
> >which wanted to be sovereign. People seem to settle with the notion
> >that the non-Serbian refugees, once being elsewhere, will never get
> >a chance to return. Silent nod of the three great arsehole organizations:
> >The UN, the EC, and the CSCE.
> >
> >The Observer
>
> Dear Observer:
> I can understand that things look different from different perspectives.
> >From the perspective of the current German government, any retailoring
> of the Balkans map without Germany's approval and getting some benefit
> from it is bad. Since Serbia or the trunk Yugoslavia is the only
> agency on the territory of xYugoslavia that doesn't ask Germany's
> government what to do and acts on its own, Serbia is Germany's major
> enemy out there. Consenquently, all Serbia's moves in the Balkans are
> proclaimed 'dangerous', 'aggressive', etc.
>
> But, it's also plausible that Serbia is in part doing what it does,
> to the extent it does, because of the German government's Balkans policy.
> Germany's backing of secession of Slovenia, and then Croatia, and then
> Bosnia, and then (??) - internationally, in DM, and in military resources -
> has forced Serbia to get messed up probablly much more that it expected.
>
> Well, that's how things look OBSERVED from this side of the Atlantic.
> Of course, everybody has interests and strives to pursue them. But
> I don't see how national government interests fit to discussions in
> computer networks. Are you, dear OBSERVER from Germany, working for
> your government, or what? Please don't take me wrong. Nothing personal!
>
> Observer2
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------
> Bob Travica, School of Information Studies, Syracuse University
> Email: BTRAVICA@SUVM, BTRAVICA@SUVM.ACS.SYR.EDU. Tel: 315/443-4508
>

One does not have to work for the German government, be German or pro-German,
be a fan of German foreign policy, or a fan of anything even remotely German
- or, for that matter, even share Germany's side of the Atlantic - to,
sadly, agree with the pessimistic view of the Balkans epxressed above.
It's too easy to dump on Germany (not that at times it doesn't only
too well deserve it) to hide our own rationalizations and prejudices -
our own sins, in other words.

With the caveat that I was no great fan of Desert Storm and of US
foreign policy in the Middle East vis-a-vis Iraq over the last two
decades either, I suppose Saddam Hussein and his ilk in Iraq also feel
beset by the external community's judgement. In their case, instead of
Germany and German foreign policy, they blame the US and US foreign policy
in the middle east ....Hmmm: I am  sure there is a thesis in there somewhere.

AK
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