Serbia

A sustained effort to reform Yugoslavia before the country was drowned in tide of senseless nationalism has been near forgotten. The death of the prime minister who led it has lessons for today, says Goran Fejic.

The arrests of the wartime Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladić and the Croatian Serb president Goran Hadžić are a vital step in completing the work of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. In the context of previous trials, their courtroom testimony promises to deepen understanding of the conflicts and crimes of the 1990s, says Eric Gordy.

It is worth repeating once again that much of the war in Bosnia was a war of two incompatible ideologies: XIX-century-type clero-fascist nationalism vs. organic Bosnian multiculturalism. The region needs to re-address unfinished business in Bosnia and re-examine the legality, morality and sustainability of the Dayton Peace Accords, which left the country divided along artificial ethnic lines.

The latest opinion poll on the subject revealed that nearly three-quarters of those surveyed wouldn’t have informed the police about the fugitive’s secret location had it been known to them. Fortunately, their assistance was not needed.

The effect of the international tribunal where those accused of crimes during the Balkan wars face trial is to reinforce divisions in the region. It’s time to consider other justice mechanisms that could address this problem, say Katharine Engelhart & Ozren Jungic.

Since the ICJ ruled Kosovo’s independence legal last year, Serbia’s position on Kosovo has become untenable, both politically and in international law. Will the country’s politicians finally recognise that it is in their own interests to recognise Kosovo?

Two decades after the dissolution of Yugoslavia, Balkan countries have a complicated relationship with their Communist past. Two recent events in Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina highlight the complexities of regional identity, and the negative effects of compulsory ethnic identification.

Informality allows people to change their immediate circumstances for the better, but it locks the state and society in a vicious circle of reproduction of a weak state, promising insecurity for the majority and prosperity for the few

Viktor Bout, the man at the centre of a long-standing war of words between US and Russia, finally arrives in NYC; Millions of North Koreans face food-shortages despite better harvest, says UN report; Serbia asks Interpol for help in the hunt for Ratko Mladic. All this and more in today's global security briefing.

Europe’s symbolic effort to prevent Yugoslavia’s breakup in mid-1991 has a lesson for the continent today, says Goran Fejic, then an advisor of Yugoslavia’s foreign minister.

Somalian insurgents suspected of bombing Ugandan capital. Israel prepares for further attempts to break the Gaza blockade as Eiland report is released. North Korea maintains innocence as it meets with UN. US and Serbia join in calls for justice over Srebrenica massacre. Russia expresses concern over Iranian nuclear potential. All this and more in today's security briefing.

Fear of contagion leads to calls for increased deployment in Somalia. Turkey threatens to sever diplomatic ties with Israel. Bosnian ex-president in London court on extradition charges. Lebanese Shia leader dies. China deploys security forces ahead of Urumqi riots anniversary. All this and more in today's security briefing.

The war-crimes trials that divide the states of post-Yugoslavia underline the temptations of retreat to the nationalist past, says Eric Gordy.

Bombers strike at Russian police. Serbia apologises for 1995 Srebrenica massacre. FARC rebels release hostage. All this and more in today’s security briefing.

Two years on, the Pristina government is on a tightrope-walk to independence. Between the pitfalls of intenational isolation and internal division, it must tread carefully.

Japan and US military agreement could be in doubt. Attack on Somali president leaves 30 dead in Mogadishu. Pakistani brigadier killed in Islamabad. Iran nuclear deal could be agreed by Friday. South Sudan rejects referendum agreement, and more in today's security briefing