Balkan Powder Keg: Round II
by Ross James ‘09
Political Editor ··································
In mid-February the tiny area of Serbia known as Kosovo declared its independence to a round of Western recognition. More importantly, however, is not only the impact that this radicalizing move will have on the fragile Balkan region, but Russia’s response. The area itself has become awash in recent years in the sect of Islam exported by the likes of Saudi Arabia, that is to say radical Wahabism.
The increasingly irrelevant nation of Russia won’t go quietly into the night. The tuberculosis and HIV ridden country is struggling to keep its head above water, and can’t maintain. With one of the lowest birthrates in Europe (somewhere around 1.3), Russia is a declining population. What happens when a storied, one time super-power with nukes begins to fade into the dustbowl of history? As they say, it will end with a bang, not a whimper. Putin’s Russia has sought to rebuild its sphere of influence, and will not give up so lightly. When an area like Kosovo thinks that it can rattle its sabers, Russia will not be slow to save face, especially if it means sticking it to the West one more time. Russia knows that if Kosovo can get away with secession so easily, every nationalistic territory in the Balkans will be heartened to follow, and with the U.S. so eager to hop in on Kosovo’s side, not much would be stopping them. The Russian cut-off of oil that brought Ukraine to its knees last year and the cyber attacks on Estonia aren’t to be taken lightly; they perhaps represent the death throes of a nation that doesn’t look like it’s headed back from the brink. It is exactly the sort of mess the U.S. needs to leave to European powers to handle. Europe hasn’t had to pony up anything substantial for its continued protection under the U.S. military, and it’s high time they start pulling their weight in the war on terror.
Should Kosovo be threatened, it is just one more area the U.S. will be forced to bankroll, whether directly, through NATO forces or through the U.N. (we pay for them all, so pick your poison). If the rest of the West were so eager for Kosovo’s independence this would be a great time for them to step up and show that their support is more than words alone. Germany, France, and Italy (among others) all recognized the claim of Kosovo’s independence, now it’s time for them to show it. We must set the precedent, that although we wish to spread freedom and democracy around the world, our interests come first. Kosovo poses more of a threat now as an independent nation than it ever did before. Robert Maginnis writes (via Humanevents.com) that: “Historically, Greater Albania denotes the territories claimed as the traditional homeland of the ethnic Albanians: Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro and the Epirus region of Greece. These regions are rapidly becoming Islamic havens.” A “Greater Albania” is all the more possible if the individual states are small and weak, the type of state a free Kosovo becomes. A “Greater Albania” could also be largely supplied by Saudi Arabia, if not directly then through the funding of mosques and schools preaching the radical and deadly Wahabist form that the Saudi’s are so fond of. Not all Islam supports terror, but when it only takes 19 to bring down the Towers, our thinking must be revamped to combat the spread of all radical Islam.
Kosovo being recognized as independent is stage-one thinking at best. Yes, for a time it may be a free and peaceful country and yes, it may for a time pay lip-service to the West. It will, however, further disgruntle Europe’s new sick man, help to destabilize the loaded area that is the Balkans, and most importantly, could spell the fall of yet another country to radical Islam and could ultimately serve as a vehicle to push further into the West.
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