Word: yugoslav
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1990-1999
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Totalitarianism dies hard, taking innocents with it. But the Soviet military campaign against the Baltics has a spasmodic, last-gasp quality. Similarly, the late, unlamented Warsaw Pact was probably the only military alliance in history that did nothing but invade its own member states, and the Yugoslav army has finally seen action -- in a civil war. The federal government's bullying of Slovenia is a reminder that fear and force are all that keep these decrepit regimes together...
...meeting the challenge. In the aftermath of Operation Desert Storm, the leaders of France and Britain nudged Bush into establishing sanctuaries for the Kurds. The Ukraine, which is untying many of its bonds to Moscow, finds Paris and Rome more supportive than Washington. In their attempt to defuse the Yugoslav crisis, the Europeans did their share of flailing around. But they still seemed a bit more responsive to the Slovenes than the U.S initially did. The explanation goes beyond geographical proximity and relates to the transformation of the continent itself...
Neither those locked in conflict within the country's borders nor those watching from a distance could explain exactly what guided events last week as the showdown between the Yugoslav People's Army and the secessionist republics of Slovenia and Croatia first pushed toward all-out civil war, then pulled back in a shaky cease-fire. What baffled most was not so much the sporadic bloodshed -- all but foreordained by centuries of ethnic antagonisms -- but the political and military muddle. No one seemed to be in charge, and the country appeared to be sliding into chaos. The federation's civilian...
...Slovenia had hoped to use its bold declaration of independence as a negotiating card, by week's end the republic had its stalwart performance to buttress resolve. The Yugoslav army, by contrast, will have much to explain. The use of missiles on Ljubljana's airport seemed excessive, given the purported objective of restricting access to Slovenia. More inexplicable still, Yugoslav jets fired on civilian trucks and reportedly entered Austrian airspace...
There is reason to hope calmer emotions will prevail. Slovenes are ) undoubtedly dismayed that no country has recognized their independence. The Yugoslav army, in turn, has received no encouragement for its actions, and speculation is keen that senior officers will be held accountable for excesses once civilian order is restored. Perhaps the most encouraging sign is that many among the estimated 500 prisoners of war taken by Slovenia turned themselves in. If civilians and troops alike can signal their interest in cooling the hotheads, perhaps there is still hope that Yugoslavia can settle its differences peacefully...