Christopher Hitchens on Kosovo

Christopher Hitchens is one of my intellectual mentors. While I do not always agree with his platforms and political beliefs -- nor do I subscribe to his self-professed atheism and anti-theism, which he has most recently put forward in two books that he either authored or edited -- he is always fascinating to read, and entertaining to absorb.

He wrote, back at the end of February, a Slate column on Kosovo's independence. I recommend that everyone and anyone interested in the subject, or why countries like Canada were correct in finally recognizing its independence, should read it.

Amongst other things, he writes: "It's a shame, in retrospect, that it took us so long to diagnose the pathology of Serbia's combination of arrogance and self-pity, in which what is theirs is theirs and what is anybody else's is negotiable." Later still: "With the independence of Kosovo, the Yugoslav idea is finally and completely dead, but it was Serbian irredentism that killed the last vestige of that idea, and it is to that account that the whole cost ought to be charged."

As an aside: 36 UN countries have recognized Kosovo's independence. Lithuania is currently in the process of recognizing the state, while the Czech Republic, Macedonia and Portugal are slated to soon recognize it too. Other such countries include Bangladesh, Pakistan, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.