Salon.com > Tamara Straus

A good war?

Wed, 19 May 1999 16:00:00 +0000

The future of Yugoslavia is not all that's at risk thanks to continued NATO bombings. The fallout from the Balkan conflict could well change the definition of universal human rights, as well as the way the world's rights advocates think about the notion of a "just war."

With various human rights groups both defending and opposing the bombings for humanitarian reasons, clearly the rhetoric of human rights is already being exploited to meet political ends. Wayward allied bombing attacks, which have hit Yugoslav civilians buildings and killed Kosovar Albanian refugees, have only intensified the debate and worsened the cleavage between human rights organizations around the world.

"If we are bombing Serbia in the name of the human rights of the Kosovars, what about the rights of the Serbians whose rights are ignored by our bombs?" said Margot Light, professor of international relations at the London School of Economics and Politics. "Indeed, what are Kosovar rights if there are hundreds of thousands more refugees now, as a direct and indirect result of the airstrikes?"

Milosz: Peaceful coexistence is still possible in the Balkans

Mon, 10 May 1999 16:00:00 +0000

The bloody war that Slobodan Milosevic is waging in Kosovo is a testament to the power of nationalism. But why has nationalism, an ideology previously associated with the turn of the 19th century, resurged with such fantastic strength in our time?

There is perhaps no one better suited to address this question than Czeslaw Milosz, winner of the 1980 Nobel Prize for literature. Milosz has long been regarded as a voice of hope in an age darkened by war, death and destruction. Milosz knows from firsthand experience that countries can simply cease to exist: His own beloved "native realm" (to use the title of his superb memoir), Lithuania, was devoured by the Soviet Union. His magnificent poetry bears eloquent witness to human dignity and resistance in the face of our century's evil. Milosz's work has inspired anti-Nazi demonstrators, Polish Solidarity workers and opponents of totalitarianism in both Eastern and Western Europe.

The recent proposal by the G-8 countries -- which include the largest NATO powers and Russia -- to reach a U.N.-monitored compromise in the Kosovo conflict could bring an end to the current impasse. But nationalism will remain the primary barrier to peace in the Balkans.

A specter haunting Europe

Tue, 13 Apr 1999 09:49:00 +0000

The post-Cold War relationship between the United States and Russia has
always been uneasy, but the past week saw a level of tension unrivaled in
recent years. President Boris Yeltsin escalated his rhetoric denouncing
the bombing in Yugoslavia, and warned that the cordial state of East-West
relations could deteriorate into a European and possibly world war if NATO
persists with airstrikes against Yugoslavia. While reports last week that
Russia would re-target its nuclear missiles toward NATO nations and forge a
union with Serbia were denied soon after they became public, they served to
underscore the sudden frostiness between the two Cold War antagonists.

Does the tension foreshadow a permanent frost? Certainly Yeltsin's
complaints are reminding U.S. leaders of Russia's ability to act as a
destabilizing force in the Balkans region. Although Russia is in economic
and political turmoil and appears unwilling -- and probably unable -- to
take military action on the ground, the Yeltsin-Primakov government still
has at its disposal a large nuclear arsenal. Moreover, Operation Allied
Force has intensified anti-American sentiments in Russia, tarnishing the
image of the United States as a helpful partner in reform and a model of
democratic humanism.