Never is a long time Miss Secretary. I wonder who made Condoleezza Rice the absolute ruler of the world? I am sure Serbia and Russia would disagree with her statement. It is one thing to state what you wish to happen and it is another thing to declare something temporal to be an absolute truth forever. It is an arrogant statement and it will be seen that way in Serbia and Russia. The main reason why the US gets into so many wars is that leaders in the US want to force everyone in the world to be the way that they want them to be. What Rice is supporting here is also not going to have a good outcome.
VOA News – Rice Says Serbia, Kosovo, Will Stay Separate: “U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Friday Serbia and Kosovo will never be part of the same country again, and all those concerned should work for a stable outcome in the Balkans based on that reality.”
I just read that Serbia’s president is, well, pissed about the support the 27 EU member states are officially giving to an independent Kosovo, and he’s halting Serbian-EU negociations for future EU membership. So for the moment, it’s looking like Serbia is not going to become a EU member. They might become part of the Putin project to revive the old Soviet Union instead.
By the way, I must admit I don’t have a strong opinion on this issue. I don’t agree with the arrogant way in which American and EU member states are pushing for the independence of Kosovo. On the other hand, I do think there’s a point in that it’s difficult for the mostly Albanian population of Kosovo to remain part of Serbia in view of the wars in the region. But there is of course the religious islamic factor which may play a role in this too. Nevertheless, the people of Kosovo are pretty pro-American from what I’ve seen, like Albania’s population which is staunchly pro-American. At the same time, I think it should be Serbia’s business to deal with this and not that of the rest of the world. So I don’t necessarily oppose an independent Kosovo but neither do I strongly support it. I simply think it’s none of our business. I would also agree with you that the way the West is pushing this down the throat of the Serbians is going to do more harm than good in the long term.
There’s a lot of controversy in my own country about the idea of Flemish independence, thus the end of the Belgian state. There’s the Czech Republic and Slovakia that peacefully gained their own nation states. But there’s also the issue of Northern Ireland, the Basques in France and Spain, the Kurds, the Palestinians, the Tamil minority in Sri Lanka, the Azeris in Iran, the Baluchis of Iran and Pakistan, the Berbers of the Maghreb, etc. I think you can’t blindly oppose or support every single group of people that want their own state, and especially not force a nation to comply with your ideas. That’s dumb and often dangerous to do from a diplomatic point of view. There are so many factors that one needs to take into account. History, language, religion, culture, politics… even what the Bible says (like on the issue of Jersualem). While I think the nation state is often the best solution (in which each people or ethnic group has a state of its own), it would be stupid to approach all these different, unique and highly problematic and controversial cases with simplicity. So usually it’s better for nations not to mingle in delicate affairs like these. Not that a nation should always be pragmatic and entirely neutral, but being overtly ideological and simplistic isn’t the way to go either. Rulers should be wise and principled rather than idealistic and arrogant.
But oh well, the world will never change. I found this great verse, I thought it kinda suits the issue:
“He who planted the ear, shall He not hear? He who formed the eye, shall He not see? He who instructs the nations, shall He not correct, He who teaches man knowledge? The LORD knows the thoughts of man, that they are futile.” — Psalm 94:9-11
Its rather ironic that the more national borders are broken down in the name of globalism the more new states are actually created in the name of ethnic separatism.
The world is actually breaking up into more nations not coming together. Even the native Indian’s in my country want to be separate nations. Many if not most countries have similar issues.
Kosovo is Muslim in the West and Serb Orthodox in the East. At least if they are going to create separate nations they ought to let them draw the boundaries on ethnic lines.
Most of the hot spots in the world today are because foreign powers dictated modern day borders that have no ethnic rhyme or reason. Iraq and the Middle East are prime examples.
In the Bible, nations actually meant ethnic groups. We ought to let nations be nations unless the nation is a newer melting pot like the US made up of people from all nations.
When migrants with different cultures and religions will not assimilate into the native populations they always cause friction. We see that happening in Europe with the Moslem’s, It is starting to happen in the US with the Latinos and it is happening in many other places in the world.
Nations are not usually melting pots and when you try to force the issue it brings division and strife not peaceful coexistence.