Author: Nebojsa Malic

According to Michael Lind, writing wistfully in the Financial Times, the Iraq campaign has punctured the “mystique” that made the American Empire possible.
Lind laments that the neocons had fouled the playground for the “neoliberals” like him – a breed that cheered Clintonian interventions as a way of establishing the Kagan-Kristolian Benevolent Global Hegemony (BGH) by using international institutions, instead of tearing them down:
“neoliberalism, like neoconservatism, depended on the mystique of American power… The horrors that we know about, and those about which we have yet to learn, are even more fatal to the neoliberal project than to its neoconservative rival…”
“What population now will want US soldiers in their country…? […] Without US forces doing the heavy lifting in UN or Nato interventions, the ambitious neoliberal strategy of muscular internationalism becomes impossible.”
He concludes:
“Now that America’s reputation for benevolence and irresistible power has been severely damaged, the US will be forced to settle for a far more modest role in the world than that sought by both neoliberals and neoconservatives.” Continue reading “Empire Discredited?!”

I’ve been asked several times what I mean by “Empire.” The best I can say is that it is not so much a place, as a state of mind (credit to Chris Deliso for the phrase).
Though historical analogies are perilous, tempting inappropriate parallels and interfering with rational analysis, they are nonetheless a sort of practical shorthand for describing modern phenomena. Today’s Empire to me is what is colloquially known as “The West,” and is not just the U.S. or the E.U., but both. Something like the late Roman Empire, divided in the 4th century between the Western – ruled from Rome – and the Eastern, ruled from Constantinople.
Over time, they developed into separate entities, which were both competing and complementary, so when Western Rome fell in 476, the Eastern (Byzantium) held on for another 1000 years. At this point, the U.S. is perhaps most like Western Rome, the dominant entity with a younger culture, while Europe is akin to Byzantium, an older civilization playing second fiddle to its American offspring, yet able to influence it greatly.
Europe also appears to be growing stronger as of recently, though appearances may not change the bottom line in the long run. (Germany may laud its participation in NATO “peacekeeping” in all sorts of places, but that doesn’t change the fact that its troops acted like frightened rabbits when facing Albanian mobs in March.) Continue reading “Defining Empire”

According to the Banja Luka daily “Nezavisne Novine,” oil has been found in the northern Serb Republic (RS), at the depth of some 2 km. Estimates are that the find runs anywhere between 20 and 50 million (metric) tons.
Chris Deliso gives a fair roundup of the story over on Balkanalysis, concluding:
“Now we do have yet another reason, however, for the Americans’ never-ending bullying of the Bosnian Serbs over compliance with the kangaroo court at the Hague.” Continue reading “Oil Found in Bosnia!”

Surely there can’t be anything more idiotic out there:
“…today, in Iraq as in Bosnia, Kosovo and Afghanistan, we’ve tied ourselves to Muslim people. We’re helping them. In the long run, they’ll understand that and appreciate that.”
– Rich Tucker, The Heritage Foundation, writing on Townhall.com

According to Belgrade daily Vecernje Novosti (Evening News), the most influential Albanian drganizer of the event was Richard Holbrooke, while many of his former cohorts from the Clinton days took part: Madeleine Albright, Wesley Clark and James Rubin, as well as local Congressman Eliott Engel, known supporter of Albanian causes.
“The purpose of the meeting was to raise funds and secure Albanian-American votes for Democratic presidential candidate [John] Kerry,” says the Novosti report, adding that in return, the Democrats promised Albanians the independence of Kosovo.
The unnamed Novosti source in New York also claims that Kosovo Albanians sent a low-level delegation to the meeting, trying to stay below radar. Among the conclusions of the gathering, the report alleges, was that the process of Kosovo’s separation was proceeding according to plan; that the March attacks on Serbs did some short-term damage to the cause, but that in the big picture, the ethnic cleansing that occurred actually served the Albanians’ purpose.
Kosovo and American Albanians were supposedly also told that if Kerry were elected, he would most likely appoint Holbrooke the new Secretary of State, and he would continue Albright’s policies, namely support the independence of Kosovo.
General Wesley Clark, reportedly admonished the Kosovo Albanians for the March events, tlling them to “influence their local commanders so as to improve relations with KFOR,” say Novosti.
According to the paper, the participants agreed to organize the All-Albanian Congress, which would formulate the new strategy of Albanian national policy in the Balkans; the Congress would take place mid-summer, in Macedonia… Continue reading “Democrats pushing Albanian cause?”

Steve LaTulippe over at LewRockwell.com does an “autopsy” of the Mess in Potamia. Even though the specifics all relate to the Iraq war, the conclusion is applicable to all Imperial adventures:

It was a geopolitical felony, committed with malice aforethought, perpetrated by a small band of admittedly cunning fanatics. They had a large mob of accessories who participated “for the cheap thrill of it.” Numerous bystanders saw what was going on, but failed to intervene because they feared the risks involved. And those few citizens who did stand up to stop it were utterly ineffective in their efforts.
It is not a pretty picture…but post-mortems seldom are.