A River Runs Through It, Thoughts on Kosovo Independence
So Kosovo has proclaimed its independence from Serbia with the tacit blessing the US and the cheers of Foreign Policy Wonk Joe Biden. Wonks Anonymous would like to add a small cheer and a healthy dose of skepticism to the celebration.
Now, Wonks Anonymous fully believes that the Albanians/Illyrians of Kosovo were not treated well by the government of Serbia under Milosevic and his successors. In fact, Wonks Anonymous has always regarded Milosevic as a crude opportunist who was willing to exploit the worst traits of the Serbian nation in an attempt to preserve his own power. By the time the world got around to looking at the situation in Kosovo, partition of Serbia was inevitable. The excesses of the Yugoslav army on the one side and the excesses of the Kosovo Liberation Army on the other have effectively soured relations between the two peoples who once shared the land of Kosovo.
What Wonks Anonymous cannot figure out is: Why this partition? In our vast wisdom, we have decided – against the protests of the Serbs and the Russians – to give the Kosovo Liberation Army government the entire former province of Kosovo, including the region north of the Ibar river, which runs through the disputed city of Kosovska Mitrovica. The truth is that since 1999, the population north of that river has become largely Serb, while the population to the south of the river has become mainly Kosovar. (For a view of the disputed city see the linked map.)
Given recent history, Wonks Anonymous thinks that dividing Kosovo at the Ibar would be the most reasonable long term arrangement.
Nevertheless, it would appear that for all the ostentatious negotiations on the subject, this division of Kosovo was not considered. The rationale appears to have something to do with the promotion of diversity and ethnic harmony in the Balkans and the prevention of "further population exchanges". For details of the argument see The International Crisis Group.
The upshot of this is that Serbs who choose to remain in Kosovo will have the privilege of living in a nation run by their former enemies where they can never hope to attain any political power.
You might think that this would cause problems but we have an answer: There will be a continuing NATO presence to promote peace and harmony. And that's not all, we are sending a contingent of judges, police, and other nation builders who will, no doubt, carry the glorious message of liberal democracy to Muslim and Orthodox Christian alike.
Wonks Anonymous does not believe that he would trust these efforts to assure his security were he a Serb. He wonders: If the boundaries of the nation of Serbia are not immutable, why are the boundaries of the province of Kosovo sacrosanct? Is this really about ethnic harmony in the Balkans or is it about rewarding our "friends" and punishing those who dare to oppose us?



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