The Black Book Of Bosnia: The Consequences Of Appeasement

by Nader Mousavizadeh (Editor)

The war in the former Yugoslavia has shamed the leading nations of the world. Unspeakable crimes against humanity have been committed in Bosnia, Croatia and Serbia, yet American and European policymakers have cravenly stood aside while whole villages and communities were erased from the face of the earth. Americans are appalled by the images on their television screens of the carnage, but most of us are confused. What are the issues that have brought this conflict to a head? How can it be that fifty years after the Nazi Holocaust, the civilized world is once again unable to stem a tide of atrocities that include concentration camps and civilian massacres?One of the few consistent voices raised against aggression and genocide in the Balkans has been that of The New Republic. The Black Book of Bosnia brings together the magazine’s best analysis, reportage, commentary, and editorials to explain how the war came to pass and what it portends for America, the West and the world.The essays in this volume offer a road map through the tangled history of the Balkans, along with vivid on-the-scene reports that reveal the bloody aftermath in our own time. And the magazine’s editorials, written throughout the course of the war, themselves tell a story of missed opportunities and moral abdication. Future generations will see Bosnia as the first test of the post–Cold War international order, and this book reveals how and why the West failed the test.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Politics

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 4, 1996

Reviews

[Steven Godin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book focuses a lot at the failures of both the Bush and Clinton administrations, as well as the war itself and its genocide. The last time I wrote a review for a similar book of this nature I got slammed by a Serb for taking sides in something I don't know anything about, so I'll just say that it was a thoroughly detailed account that was troubling, sometimes overwhelming, and that had me continually shaking my head in disbelief. It's been a long time since I read a book that raised so many questions.

[Colleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found the first portion of the book very helpful in understanding the conflict of the 1990s. Most the books on The Balkans that I have read focused on the history and didn’t do a very good job of explaining the complexity around the dissolution of Yugoslavia.

[kirkesque · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a collection of essays published during the wars by New Republic Magazine, and in almost every one of the articles, the magazine's own political agenda is glaringly displayed. Almost every one of the essays is heavily biased. Extremely biased. To the point of being myopic, if not outright prejudicial. In instance after instance, the Serbs and Bosnian Serbs (though the two are rarely distinguished from the other—a trait common in writings on the Yugoslav Wars) are absolutely to blame while both the Bosnians and Croats are innocent victims. Even in instances where the Serbs are not involved (Mostar, for one example; the shelling of Dubrovnik is another), niether Bosnians nor Croats are blamed for what took place or, if the slightest hint is given that they are (e.g. the destruction of the Stari Most), the culprits are rationalized and forgiven as being victims of circumstance.

The three best essay in the collection are those by Arthur Miller (which is more of what its title proclaims, a parable, and seems to be included to give a roundabout way of introducing the status of Where You Are From as being crucial in the time and place of the wars), and the two by Slavenka Drakulić—her commentary on the Stari Most is heart-wrenching.

This is the sort of commentary which takes a narrow view of the complex situation in the Balkans and renders it, as too much media does, into a simple blame-game. With only one side (as two entities are not separated by distinction) taking the brunt of blame. It is just this sort of "analysis" that leaves this area a simmering cauldron awaiting fresh flames.

I had hoped the entirety of the book would have been either personal testaments like Miller's and Drakulić's, or offering a spectrum of opinions on what took place in Bosnia, Kosovo, and the Krajina, but instead it was mostly comprised of blameful rants aimed at stirring American/Western anger towards Serbia.

Disappointing, at best. But such as could be rationalized as politically understandable at the time the articles were originally written.

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

an interesting collection of essays about foreign policy during the Bosnian war. Worth reading if you are interested in why Bosnia was treated the way it was and the effect that the policies of the US and EC/EU had on Bosnia.

[B · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a suprisingly quick read; I was fascinated by the horror of real life! A history of the Balkin states and contemporary views that spare no country or leader's feelings!

[Emile · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book lends itself poorly to any serious examination of the Bosnian experience.

Bosnia, as was and may yet be, demands better treatment.