Friday, May 25, 2007
My Balkan Odyssey--Part III: Serbian Challenges
The week before I arrived, Serbia finally formed a government based on its recent election results that holds a mandate to govern for the next four years. As such, it should be able to concentrate on moving the agenda forward, rather than "just surviving."
Serbia needs to define its national interest; one person said we need a magazine like yours here to spark a conversation. Serbia has to define itself as being something other than "former Yugoslavia" or as one part of the now dissolved "State Union" with Montenegro. For the first time since World War I, we again have "just Serbia." This reality and the reality of a new government holding a mandate to govern gives Serbia a fresh, new start, to break with the past where such a break is warranted.
I'll try to report more on this conversation as it unfolds.
Serbia needs to define its national interest; one person said we need a magazine like yours here to spark a conversation. Serbia has to define itself as being something other than "former Yugoslavia" or as one part of the now dissolved "State Union" with Montenegro. For the first time since World War I, we again have "just Serbia." This reality and the reality of a new government holding a mandate to govern gives Serbia a fresh, new start, to break with the past where such a break is warranted.
I'll try to report more on this conversation as it unfolds.
