On the Balkans

This book is a mammoth and it took me quite some time to finish, especially given that Glenny does not outline his arguments very clearly. Above all, this is meant to be an introduction to the modern history of the Balkans. The argument, if there is one at all, is that the Balkans are generally viewed with apathy by the Great Powers (today, this is the West, but in the past this category could include Russia/USSR, the Ottoman Empire, etc.), but when the Great Powers do set their sights on the Balkans, it is normally viewed as a place of violence and backwardness.

Glenny argues that there were three (now four) critical periods of Great Power involvement in the Balkans and all of these have hurt the political situation of the region more than they helped (leading the Balkans to be far more backward today than it could be). The first was the Congress of Berlin, where the Great Powers attempted to grapple with the “Eastern Question” and the potential future fall of the Ottoman Empire; the second was World War I and its aftermath; and the third was World War II and the establishment of Communist states. Finally, the fourth is NATO intervention in the Yugoslav Wars, especially the airstrikes over Kosovo in 1999.

I learned a great deal from this work and look forward to reading more about this rarely discussed region. Recommend.