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Victory for Forces of Serb Englightenment - But More to Do
Dennis Sandole, ICAR Professor
Posted: 05/15/08

[Published, Financial Times, May 15, 2008] Sir, Serb voters have confounded the pundits by favouring the pro-European Union Democratic party of President Boris Tadic over the nationalist Radical party (“Tadic defeats hardliners in Serbia's elections”, May 12).

What is particularly surprising to many observers of the Balkans is that this turnaround – the Radicals were expected to come out on top as they had in last year's parliamentary elections – occurred even though Serbs in Kosovo were allowed to vote.

Whether it was the Stabilisation and Association Agreement recently entered into between Brussels and Belgrade, which conditionally places Serbia closer to negotiating entry into the EU or Fiat's decision to produce two new models at Serbia's state-owned Zastava car plant, or both, is not clear at this point.

But it is clear that the west should now do much more to further enhance prospects for the forces of enlightenment in Serbia to prevail over those that would return the country and the Balkans in general to the genocidal conflict of the 1990s.

Dennis J.D. Sandole,
Professor of Conflict Resolution and International Relations,
Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution,
George Mason University,
Arlington, VA 22201, US

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008

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ICAR News Network Victory for Forces of Serb Englightenment - But More to Do Dennis Sandole, ICAR Professor Posted: 05/15/08 [Published, Financial Times, May 15, 2008] Sir, Serb voters have confounded the pundits by favouring the pro-European Union Democratic party of President Boris Tadic over the nationalist Radical party (“Tadic defeats hardliners in Serbia's elections”, May 12). What is particularly surprising to many observers of the Balkans is that this turnaround – the Radicals were expected to come out on top as they had in last year's parliamentary elections – occurred even though Serbs in Kosovo were allowed to vote. Whether it was the Stabilisation and Association Agreement recently entered into between Brussels and Belgrade, which conditionally places Serbia closer to negotiating entry into the EU or Fiat's decision to produce two new models at Serbia's state-owned Zastava car plant, or both, is not clear at this point. But it is clear that the west should now do much more to further enhance prospects for the forces of enlightenment in Serbia to prevail over those that would return the country and the Balkans in general to the genocidal conflict of the 1990s. Dennis J.D. Sandole, Professor of Conflict Resolution and International Relations, Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, George Mason University, Arlington, VA 22201, US Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008 News Network Homepage / Armenia / 2008 Elections / Afghanistan / Diplomacy/ Egypt / Environment / Global Peace Index / Health / Immigration / Iraq / Iran / Islam / Kosovo / Nuclear Proliferation / Pakistan / Palestine-Israel / Russia / Somalia / South America / Turkey /		About ICAR Student Information Prospective Students Faculty and Staff Alumni Career Services Academic Programs Library ICAR In The News Events Technology Resources ICAR Publications Point Of View Center Center for World Religions, Diplomacy & Conflict Resolution