From Yugoslavia to the Western Balkans: Studies of a European Disunion, 1991-2011

From Yugoslavia to the Western Balkans: Studies of a European Disunion, 1991–2011......Page 4
Contents......Page 6
Acknowledgments......Page 8
Introduction......Page 10
Sources and Perspective......Page 12
Overview of This Book......Page 14
References......Page 19
Part I: Unstaking Vampires: Destroying the Yugoslav Nation and State......Page 20
Summer 1991: Terrorists and Other Foreigners......Page 22
Četniks and Ustašas: The Structural Opposition of Serb and Croat Fascists......Page 25
Coexistence and Intermingling, 1945–1990......Page 28
Vampires Unstaked: The Return of Četniks and Ustašas......Page 30
The Structure of Permanent Opposition: Symbolic Geography in the Balkans and of the Balkans......Page 36
References......Page 42
2 Recounting the Dead: The Rediscovery and Redefinition of Wartime Massacres in Late- and Post-Communist Yugoslavia......Page 44
Undermining the Myth of the Infallible Party: 1982–87......Page 47
Nationalism in the Late 1980s: The Case of Serbia......Page 49
Counting the Bodies, 1990–91......Page 52
Communists as Mass Murderers in 1945......Page 53
Diminishing the Genocidal Practices of the Croatian State, 1941–45......Page 56
Restating Croatian Genocide: Uncovering More Ustaša Massacres......Page 59
“Verbal Civil War” and the New Official Histories......Page 60
The Moral Authority of Murderous Regimes......Page 61
References......Page 65
3 The Partition of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 1990–93......Page 68
Political Partition: The Elections of 1990......Page 69
Geographical Partition: Maps and (Dis)Agreements, 1991–92......Page 72
Forced Partition: The Results of the Serb-Croat Military Campaigns......Page 77
Diplomatic Partition: The Vance-Owen Plan for B&H......Page 79
Losers and Winners in B&H Since 1990......Page 84
Calling a House Divided a Condominium......Page 86
Partition as Inevitable Tragedy......Page 87
4 Muslims as “Others” in Serbian and Croatian Politics......Page 90
Orientalist Discourse: Muslims as Non-European......Page 92
The Strategic Nature of “Othering”......Page 94
The Vanishing Category of “Bosnians”......Page 96
Constructing Differences to Deconstruct the State......Page 98
Bosniacs, Buddhists, Bogomils, or Baptists......Page 99
5 Imagined Communities and Real Victims: Self-Determination and Ethnic Cleansing in Yugoslavia......Page 102
Constitutions as Impetus for Ethnic Cleansing......Page 105
Long-Distance Fieldwork: The Ethnography of Ideology......Page 106
The Multinational Federation and its Demise......Page 107
Heterogeneity, Mixed Marriages and “Yugoslavs”......Page 110
Constitutionalizing Nationalism......Page 114
Citizenship: Denaturalization as Bureaucratic Ethnic Cleansing......Page 119
Self-Determination, Homogenization and “Ethnic Cleansing”......Page 123
From Optimism of the Intellect to Pessimism of the Will......Page 125
References......Page 126
Part II: The Power of Labeling: Discourses on Genocide, Ethnic Cleansing & Population Transfers......Page 130
6 Schindler’s Fate: Genocide, Ethnic Cleansing and Population Transfers......Page 132
Genocide and “Ethnic Cleansing”......Page 136
The Rationality of Ethnic Cleansing......Page 140
Minority Rights as Oxymoron in Central Europe......Page 142
“Genocide” is in the Eye of the Beholder: Punjab, 1947/Bosnia, 1992......Page 143
“Genocide” and the Necessity of Collective Guilt......Page 147
Schindler’s Germans......Page 148
Schindler’s Serbs......Page 150
The Comforting Morality of Amnesia......Page 151
Appendix: War Victims in Yugoslavia, 1941–45......Page 152
References......Page 153
7 Mass Killings and Images of Genocide in Bosnia, 1941–45 and 1992–95......Page 156
The Background: Competing National Identities in a Multi-National Region......Page 160
The Brutal Breakdown of Coexistence: Numbers of Casualties......Page 163
Distortions 1: Competing for Victimhood in the Late 1980s......Page 165
Distortions 2: ‘The wish to be a Jew’: The Power of Jewish and Nazi Tropes in Depicting Victimization......Page 167
Distortions 3: Numbers Games......Page 171
Looking for Auschwitz......Page 173
Finding a Bosnian Anne Frank......Page 176
The Involvement of the U.S. Holocaust Museum......Page 177
Extending the Law: The Mass Killing at Srebrenica as Genocide......Page 179
Conclusion......Page 186
8 Mass Rape and Rape Avoidance in Ethno-National Conflicts: Sexual Violence in Liminalized States......Page 190
Bosnia 1992–95: Rape as a War Crime......Page 194
Punjab, 1947: Mass Violence with Mass Rape......Page 197
Delhi 1985 & Hyderabad 1990: Mass Violence without Rape......Page 199
Some Common Features: Partition and the Importance of Women’s Honor to Men......Page 202
Rape and Territoriality: Sexual Violence in Liminalized States......Page 203
Negative Evidence: Rape Avoidance in Stable States......Page 207
Implications......Page 209
Conclusion......Page 214
References......Page 215
Part III: Humanitarian Hypocrisy......Page 220
9 Human Rights Activists and the Civil War in Yugoslavia: The Questionable Morality of Liberal Absolutism......Page 222
Tacit Calls for Violence......Page 224
Freedom for Fascist Speech......Page 227
The Necessity of Evaluation and Choice......Page 229
10 Humanrightsism: From Moral Critique of Violence to Crusade for Moral Violence......Page 232
Selective Prosecution 1: Cluster Bombs and War Crimes......Page 235
Selective Prosecution 2: Wanton Destruction of Property......Page 238
Failure to Prosecute Prima Facie War Crimes: Depriving a Civilian Population of Water......Page 240
U.S. Government Direction of Prosecution 2: Threats against Vuk Drašković......Page 241
Denial of a Fair Trial 1: Judicial Deference to Prosecutor......Page 242
Denial of a Fair Trial 2: Changing the Trial Rules after the Trial is Over......Page 246
Problems for America? State Responsibility......Page 250
“Human Rights Peccadilloes” and Humanitarian War Crimes......Page 252
Humanrightsism......Page 254
11 “Genocide Denial” Laws as Secular Heresy: A Critical Analysis with Reference to Bosnia......Page 258
An Inherently Provocative Case Study: The Issue of “Genocide” in Bosnia......Page 262
A Necessarily Provocative Analytical Framework: Secular Heresy......Page 263
Heresy in a Secular Europe......Page 264
Courts, Facts and Meaning......Page 269
The Factual Context: Numbers of Dead in Bosnia, 1992–95, and at Srebrenica, July 1995......Page 271
The Trial Chamber Decision in the Krstić Case......Page 273
The Appeals Chamber Decision in the Krstić Case......Page 275
The Trial Chamber Decision in the Krajišnik Case......Page 276
The Decision of the International Court of Justice......Page 277
“Genocide” in Bosnia?......Page 278
Politicizing Mass Killing and Other Crimes Against Humanity......Page 280
Heresy as Verbal Delict: The Criminalization of Politically Unpopular Thought......Page 283
Reconciliation and Peace as Goals of the ICTY......Page 286
What does “Justice” Have to Do with Reconciliation, Anyway?......Page 287
The Reception of the International Criminal Tribunal in the Former Yugoslavia......Page 290
Justice for Victims and Survivors?......Page 293
“Hijacked Justice”......Page 295
“Following the Money:” Doing Well by Claiming to be Doing Good......Page 296
Conclusions: International Justice as Antiwar Profiteer......Page 300
Appendix......Page 302
References......Page 303
Part IV: Un-Imagining Communities......Page 306
13 “Democracy” Without a Demos? The Bosnian Constitutional Experiment......Page 308
Research Context: Participant Observation in Constitutional Debates in the Former Yugoslavia......Page 310
Bosnia’s War: The Failure of a State Without a Nation......Page 314
Political Paradox as Constitutional Dilemma I......Page 320
From House Divided to Condominium with Absentee Landlord......Page 321
The Unconstitutional Constitution......Page 328
Political Paradox as Constitutional Dilemma II......Page 329
Constitutional Inversion: From Popular Sovereignty to Compulsory Utopia......Page 330
Sovereignty of the People?......Page 333
References......Page 335
Repetitive Failures: Constitutional Revision in Bosnia and Herzegovina......Page 338
The Analysis of Constitutional Proposals, and Specifically in Bosnia......Page 339
Square Wheels in Constitutional Machinery......Page 343
The Dayton Constitution: All Checks and Balances......Page 344
Butmir 1: From Checks and Balances to Unchecked Parliamentary Supremacy......Page 346
Butmir 2: Part-way Back towards Dayton......Page 349
The Constitutional Dilemma: Ethnic Stalemate or Structured Domination......Page 354
Modeling the Bosnian Future: Kashmir, Kosovo or Belgium?......Page 357
International Intervention and the Continuing Reinvention of the Square Wheel......Page 359
15 Moral Vision and Impaired Insight: Or the Imagination of Other Peoples’ Communities in Bosnia......Page 362
The Interpretation of the Prescription of Culture......Page 366
Celebrating Misplaced Symbolism: The Rebuilding of the Mostar Bridge......Page 369
Inventing Other Peoples’ Traditions......Page 375
Imagining Other Peoples’ Communities......Page 381
Letting Communities Re-Imagine Themselves......Page 383
Morality and Forbidden Knowledge......Page 385
Cassandra’s Curse: Thinking as Ethical Problem and Moral Act......Page 387
References......Page 390
Coda......Page 394
16 From Euphoria to EU-Goslavia......Page 396
Anti-militarism?......Page 397
Democracy and Economics......Page 398
References......Page 406
Index......Page 408