So much for the fundamentalism paradigm

When Kosovo declared its independence this past February, some of its detractors made subtle claims about the Muslim nature of Kosovan society -- much as those opponents to Turkey's accession to the European Union continue to do so -- and how this could be a destabilizing factor.

Since most Kosovans are nominally Muslim, and because of the serious social and economic problems facing it (unemployment is at nearly fifty percent, for example), so this reasoning went, the new state could become a hotbed of Islamic extremism in Europe. One has heard this same line of reasoning with regards to Albania, and also Bosnia-Herzegovina, two other states in Europe in which the titular nationalities happen to be Muslim.

Well, it so turns out that, like much else that comes from detractors that play the fundamentalism card in the Balkan region, this has been amply demonstrated to be ridiculous. As this Balkan Insight report points out, "Egypt has prevented Kosovo from taking part in the Organisation of the Islamic Conference’s second Ministrial Conference on Women because of ‘political reasons.’" Nothing further is given as a reason; just "political reasons."

It does not take much guesswork to deduce that, given the overt pro-American sympathies in Kosovo (and Albania, for that matter), as well as the reality of a near-complete lack of religiosity amongst the Kosovan population (and far more so in Albania, which was allowed to take part in the conference), most of the Muslim countries that form the OIC are iffy about courting the new state. Not sure where the planting of terror cells or jihadist warriors would play out in such an atmosphere.

While slightly unrelated, one is hard pressed to not also mention the lack of Muslim countries' recognition of Kosovo's independence: just eight out of fifty-seven OIC members have done so. Most of the so-called Islamic world is made up of countries that have perilous human rights situations on multiple levels, many of which deal with issues of autonomy and separatist demands. With so many of these countries wanting little, if anything, to do with Kosovo, where again does the fundamentalism fear come from?

I would venture to guess that such statements say a whole lot more about the detractors themselves than what is really happening in regards to Kosovo.

Haunted houses, still

One simply cannot make such news up. This particular Balkan Insight story reports on the high levels of political apathy in the Balkan region, and essentially concludes that Montenegro and Kosovo are the only optimists in a region of political and economic pessimists.

The European Union has barely grazed the region, but for Slovenia's May 2004 accession, and Croatia's current (and active) candidate status -- it will be part of the EU club in a couple years' time, by most accounts.

But Croatia is among those most pessimistic countries, which all have high levels of distrust in their political leaders, their economic situations, their future courses (including potential EU membership), and their living standards. This is hardly the kind of life-blood needed for change in the region, especially since those decisive, Brussels-based changes have barely been initiated.

But that is not all. The report also mentions this: "A clear majority across all countries thought the future of the region would be peaceful. Around one in four Serbs and Macedonians (22 per cent and 29 per cent respectively), however, felt there could be another war in the region."

Perhaps a bit of panic-mongering, here. But the makings of such volatility do still exist, even if beneath the surface. All in all, this is a murky portrait, and the proponents of EU enlargement, especially after the defeat of the Lisbon Treaty earlier this summer, have a lot of worked carved out for them.

Ninety years and beyond

11 November 1918: ninety years ago today was the armistice. It makes this particular Remembrance Day sombre and dark, nor does it help that the weather in Toronto is cold and grey.

Not surprisingly, whenever this day comes, I am always reminded of Erich Maria Remarque's 1929 roman a clef, entitled All Quiet on the Western Front. It was made into a couple film versions, the first of which, as with the novel, were banned by the Nazis upon their seizure of power.

It is a bleak, tragic, but also profoundly beautiful story of a group of idealistic young soldiers whose lives, one by one, are destroyed by the nightmare that was the First World War. The novel's chief protagonist, Paul Baumer, depicts his experiences through idealistic -- almost naive -- eyes that gradually adjust to the reality of the war. Nearing the end, the idealism is gone, with little hope of any internal redemption.

Remarque wrote several other war novels, including a sequel of sorts called The Road Back, but it is safe to say that they paled compared to his main masterpiece. This is what made him, and what has also come to symbolize the tragedy and darkness that is war.

Allow me, then, to quote something poignant from the novel. It was a hard choice to make, just because the novel is a work of poignancy.

"Had we returned home in 1916, out of the suffering and the strength of our experiences we might have unleashed a storm. Now if we go back we will be weary, broken, burnt out, rootless, and without hope. We will not be able to find our way any more...

And men will not understand us -- for the generation that grew up before us, though it has passed these years with us here, already had a home and a calling; now it will return to its old occupations, and the war will be forgotten -- and the generation that has grown up after us will be strange to us and push us aside. We will be superfluous even to ourselves, we will grow older, a few will adapt themselves, some others will merely submit, and most will be bewildered; -- the years will pass by and in the end we shall fall into ruin."

Lest we forget.