Kosovo Bear Trap

Fire of Liberty

While a lot of folks in the MSM are ecstatic about Kosovo declaring its independence from Serbia and claiming itself an sovereign nation, I'm somewhat disinclined about this abrupt and somewhat provocative move of of the leadership and people of Kosovo. Now I'm all for folks living in their own nation under a common identity, but believe that such a move, especially in an tinder-box like the Balkans, is something that should be done gradual in an effort to allow a impoverished, and inexperienced area and people time to transition from a wholly owned area of Yugoslavia(Serbia) to a independent nation with all the rights granted to a nation. As an admirer of Russell Kirk, Edmund Burke, and the Founding Fathers, I have to say that its in the best interest of the people in Kosovo and the region is for them to take a more conservative approach to the situation by laying out a gradual plan of transition rather than making such an abrupt decision like they did this past weekend. I have to say the best thoughts and arguments I've read so far on the subject of Kosovo is this op/ed in the Washington Times by John Bolton, Lawrence Eagleburger, and Peter W. Rodman, which note that the folks of Kosovo and the United States should be very cautious with regards to sparking more ethnic flare-ups in the Balkans, angering Serbia with its highly temperamental patron Russian, as well as the safety of people in Kosovo(As well as to our nation, being we defended them.) by declaring nationhood. Maybe the politicians in Kosovo should have read this piece prior to announcing independence and maybe they could have prevented various acts of violence that sparked up or Serbia's actions, which included recalling its ambassador from the US. From reading the news, I would conclude that we'll see more problems in the Balkans in the near future.

*Here's Victor Davis Hanson, historian and professor of the classics, take on Kosovo and how things have changed and become more complicated in the region since 1998/99.

*+ Anne Applebaum has a good column in the Washington Post that points out how Kosovo's declaration of independence from Serbia will create further problems throughout Europe because it will prompt peoples of differing ethnicities into forming their own "republics" by declaring independence. (One can only guess what kind of problems coming down the pike in the near future.)