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The Balkan paradox By Shlomo Avineri Tags: EU, Kosovo, Balkan At the start of the discussion on Kosovo's independence this week, in the Council of the European Union, Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel said that Kosovan independence is the last stage in the breakup of Yugoslavia. Rupel knows whereof he speaks. Slovenia was the first republic to pull out of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, in 1991. At that time, the nationalist tendencies in Serbia under Slobodan Milosevic had prevailed; the multinational fabric that Josip Broz Tito, the longtime ruler of Yugoslavia, had woven of different peoples, who since 1918 had tried to maintain a country that would unite a number of southern Slav peoples and other ethnic groups, was unraveling. But Kosovo's declaration of independence marks a broader process, one that began after the breakup of the Communist bloc: Nationalism, in which some saw remnants of a pre-modern era, is not disappearing. It continues to exist side by side with the trend toward creating broader political entities. The Soviet Union was not only an experiment in creating a communist regime in a pre-modern society; it was also an attempt to establish and maintain a shared framework for different ethnic groups. The same is true for Yugoslavia. In the name of internationalist ideology, which was accompanied by a regime of tyranny, these frameworks were an attempt to end the national conflicts that had made 20th-century Europe the stage of terrible wars. These frameworks held up as long as this ideology rested on Soviet oppression; with the weakening of the ideology and the dissolution of the communist system of coercion, the national consciousness of the various ethnic groups resurfaced to become the hegemonic agent in the worldview of their members. Advertisement This trend contains a paradox: The democratization of multinational societies does not lead different national and ethnic groups to want to live side by side. Instead, it heightens the will for self- determination, for a national home - however small - that the members of the national group can see as their own. Thus, the democratization processes that were initiated by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, in fact brought about the rise in a number of republics on the Soviet periphery - Estonia, Lithuania, Georgia, Ukraine - of national movements that demanded a large measure of autonomy and ultimately independence as well. A similar phenomenon took place in Yugoslavia: The process of democratization that began after Tito's death, in 1980, enabled a large degree of autonomy for the various republics and reawakened the national memory and the national demands of the Croats, the Serbs and also the Albanians in Kosovo. In places where the ethnic unit was more or less congruent with the territorial framework, as in Slovenia, the national demands were fulfilled without bloodshed; in other places - certain areas of Croatia, and in Bosnia and Kosovo, where the ethnic groups were intermingled - these developments were accompanied by bloody wars entailing acts of mass slaughter (such as the massacre of 6,000 Bosnian Muslim men by Serbs in Srebrenica), mass rape and ethnic cleansing. The velvet expulsions The process also occurred in a relatively tranquil country like Czechoslovakia. It was established in 1918 as a joint home for two peoples, the Czechs and the Slovaks, which are very close in their language and culture. The Nazi aggression led to the failure of the experiment in 1938, although Germany exploited the tension between the peoples that had existed since the state's establishment. (The joke that "The Jews are the only Czechoslovakians" was no mere witticism: All the rest were either Czechs or Slovaks). After World War II, Czechoslovakia was reestablished under the umbrella of communist ideology. But after the Velvet Revolution, which led to the collapse of the Communist regime, in 1989, the way was paved for the "velvet expulsions" and the establishment of two separate states. The relations between the Czechs and the Slovaks today are far better than when both peoples cohabited in the oppressive grip of a shared state. There are, of course, examples throughout history of multinational states in which different ethnic groups did live side by side. These examples - the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Ottoman Empire - are irrelevant today. Moreover, both of these two regimes were non-democratic frameworks. The rise of democratic ideas shatters the multinational unit. Since the prevailing principle is that of the democratic majority, each national group thinks to itself: Why should I be a minority in your state when I could be a majority in my own? This approach characterizes both a large nation like Ukraine, with a population of about 50 million, as well as a tiny country like Estonia, with slightly under than one million. Size doesn't matter, but the consciousness of identity, belonging and every person's desire to live in a home of his own do. Another example of the inverse relationship between democracy and multinationalism is Iraq. The failed attempt to introduce democracy there has led in fact to the fragmentation of the state, which was the handiwork of British imperialism: The Kurds have gained a historical opportunity not to be under Arab rule; the Shi'ite majority, long oppressed by the Sunni minority, is using its power in a way that makes it difficult for Sunnis to want to live alongside it in the same state. Russia, too, is an example of the link between democratization and the rise of nationalism. The democratization during Boris Yeltsin's presidency enabled the rise of Chechen nationalism. The rise of Vladimir Putin's neo-absolutist regime entailed the suppression of the revolt in Chechnya and of the possibility of autonomy for its inhabitants. Putin has succeeded in maintaining the unity of Russia - and in so doing has shattered its advance toward democracy. On the other hand, the attempt to impose from outside (via the UN and the EU) the existence of a multinational and multireligious state in Bosnia failed: In practice, Bosnia exists only because of a massive international presence, but the existence of the state itself is a fiction. The real power is in the hands of the ethnic groups that constitute it (Republika Srpska and the Muslim-Croat Federation). This state, too, may eventually dissolve into its constituent parts. Flemish independence This trend is not unique to post- Communist states. The rise of the Basque and Catalan national movements in Spain is also the fruit of democratization. During Francisco Franco's dictatorial regime, the Basques and the Catalans were oppressed: The use of their national languages was forbidden and even dances that were identified with their unique historical memory were prohibited. One of the achievements of Spain's democratization was decentralization and the granting of autonomy to the different regions. But the Basques, and to a lesser extent the Catalans, want more: In effect they are asking for independence, or something close. Even the Spanish Socialists, who are now in power, are finding it difficult to cope with this challenge. A similar process is taking place in Belgium, which was established in the 19th century out of considerations related to the European balance of power in that period. Until recently, Belgium's Flemish and French speakers lived in uneasy cohabitation. But the processes that led to Belgium's federalization have not stopped. At present, the members of at least one group in the state, the Flemish, are seeking independence. The future of Belgium is far from certain. These trends have accelerated concurrently with the processes of European unification, and to a certain extent have even been encouraged by that unification. If everyone belongs to the EU, why shouldn't the Basque state be a member with equal rights in the EU, instead of belonging to it by means of the Spanish state, whose bureaucratic and symbolic center is in Madrid? One can predict similar developments in the former Yugoslavia. Despite the residues of the past, Croatia and Serbia now have a sound relationship. If the Serbs can free themselves of the historic myth of Kosovo and recognize the current reality, it will be possible to describe Serbia and Kosovo as EU co-members that exist side by side. If the Germans and the French can do it, why not Serbs and Kosovars? Nationalism, like any other phenomenon, such as religion, can devolve into extremist, ugly and oppressive developments, but this is not inevitable. The possibility itself does not strip nationalism of its legitimacy. The past decades have shown that it is not nationalism that is the source of violent conflicts, ethnic cleansing and oppression; rather, it is the attempt to impose a multinational framework on a place where there is no political will for it. The recognition of the liberating power of nationalism, which enables different national groups to express their identities, is in fact necessitated by the principles of nationalism and liberalism. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Deadly shelling B'Tselem slams IDF decision not to indict troops over errant strike that left 21 civilians dead. Reaching boiling point Gaza residents are told to boil drinking water as purifying chlorine runs out.

Today Online IDF kills 18, including 5 children, in Gaza, West Bank Responses: 208 Barak: Large-scale Gaza operation is 'real and tangible' Responses: 106 Editorial: Decision on Gaza operation should be daring and level-headed Responses: 51 Abbas: I oppose armed struggle, but won't rule it out for future Responses: 78 Pro-Israel evangelical leader Hagee endorses McCain Responses: 52 More Headlines 21:36 IDF kills 18 Palestinians in Gaza, W. Bank, including 5 children 20:43 Egypt plans to provide all of Gaza's electricity 20:32 Grad rocket fired from Gaza scores direct hit on Ashkelon home 19:03 Barak: Wide ground operation in Gaza is 'real and tangible' 21:27 Shin Bet arrests female terrorist suspect, 17, from East Jerusalem 21:09 Report: Chelsea fans hurl anti-Semitic abuse at coach Grant 21:43 Teenage Egyptian Bedouin girl shot to death near Israeli border 14:28 Abbas: I oppose armed struggle, but won't rule out option for future 10:55 Ban backs Wiesenthal Center's call for UN session on terror 13:10 Katsav indicted on watered-down charges after sex crime plea deal 14:01 Jewish school may forfeit basketball playoffs over Sabbath game Previous Editions Select Day 27 feb 26 feb 25 feb 24 feb 22 feb 21 feb 20 feb 19 feb 18 feb 17 feb 15 feb 14 feb

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