Word: kosovo
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...rampant kleptocracy and a series of geopolitical humiliations at the hands of the West. Rising oil prices have allowed Putin to oversee a dramatic turnabout in Russia's economic position, fueling an increasingly assertive, and domestically popular, economic and political nationalism. Whether challenging the U.S. and its allies on Kosovo, opting out of previous arms agreements with Washington to protest U.S. missile defense plans, or using energy exports as a pressure-point against former Soviet territories inclining towards NATO, Putin has had few reservations about standing up to the West. And if the creeping authoritarianism of the Putin...
Burying the past "Welcome to Kosovo," Dani said, once we were in his rickety red 1997 Volkswagen, heading toward Ferizaj. An early dusting of snow covered the foothills near Pristina, and Kosovo stood on the verge both of important elections and a potential declaration of nationhood. Since 1999, some of the best hopes of this 4,203 sq. mi. (10,887 sq km) territory have been on hold, as it remains legally a part of Serbia, while being administered by the U.N. The same ethnic divisions and territorial disputes that fueled the 1999 war still linger, as do the international...
...shoulder blades is a large tattoo of a snake and the initials E.I.S., for the words "Ethnic Identity Sucks." Though the entire Serb minority fled Ferizaj after the war, Dani has met many Serbs at youth conferences elsewhere in the Balkans. He'd also traveled in Serb villages in Kosovo right after the war while interpreting for U.S. troops, and he saw one old woman who'd just been badly beaten by local Albanians. "This land we have fought over is not any of ours," he says. "The universe is the owner...
What he is eager to speak out about is politics. Like most Albanians, Dani still loves the U.S., but "sometimes more the idea than the reality." He's noticed that some U.S. troops in Kosovo come after tours of duty in Iraq or Afghanistan and bring with them prejudices against Muslims. But his main focus is Kosovo, where he says the "status" question - of when and how to extend independence to the Albanian-majority nation - has become a way for political leaders to distract citizens from more concrete problems. Basic infrastructure is decrepit (electric power is cut twice...
...where you were born and grew up," says Radomir Stojanovic, 67, whose children and grandchildren are still in Serbia proper. "So far, we are free and safe to be back here. But we are still worried." With Dani translating from Serbo-Croatian, Stojanovic tells me the question of Kosovo's independence is by now a chess match between Russia and the U.S., while Serbs and Albanians want the same things: peace and work. He tells how he used to work in a state-owned corner store, and knew all the Albanian residents. "I've known some of them since...