Ending the impasse in Kosovo: partition,decentralization, or consociationalism?

This paper argues that current Western-backed approaches to conflict resolution in Kosovo have failed to alter Serbia's policy toward the region and have contributed to the exacerbation of political tensions between Belgrade and Brussels, while deepening ethnic cleavages between Serb and Albanian communities. While there is no possibility of Kosovo returning to Serbia's control, there is an equal unlikelihood that Serbian-populated regions of Kosovo, especially the north, will submit to Pristina's authority. Most importantly, there is little hope that Kosovo can gain full international recognition and membership in international organizations without a compromise settlement with Serbia. While territorial partition has long been a suggested option, I conclude that the best possible solution for Kosovo, given the positions of all parties involved, is a process of significant decentralization beyond the internationally supported measures in the Ahtisaari Plan. A model of consociational power sharing is one in which Serbian and Albanian municipalities are granted high levels of autonomy similar to arrangements made for Bosnia. While this solution may not be ideal and further weakens central authority, I argue that consociationalism reduces the problems of ethnic conflict, encourages local self-government, and preserves the overall territorial integrity of Kosovo.     

Book reviews

Martin McCauley and Stephen Carter, eds., Leadership and Succession in the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe and China. Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe, 1986. xiii, 256 pp.

Murray Yanowitch, Work in the Soviet Union: Attitudes and Issues. Armonk, New York: M.E. Sharpe, 1985. 196 pp.

Elizbieta Szczepanik, Republiki Azji Sródkowej. Oblicze gospodarczo‐spolteczne. Warszawa: Polska Akademia Nauk, 1983. 310 pp.

David Berger, ed., The Legacy of Jewish Migration: 1881 and Its Impact, Social Science Monographs‐Brooklyn College Press: 1983. 187 pp.

Janka Kupala andJakub Kolas in the West: Bibliography. Vitaut Kipel and Zora Kipel, compilers., New York: Belorussian Institute of Arts and Sciences, 1985. 350 pp.

Borys Lewytzkyj, Politics and Society in Soviet Ukraine, 19531980. Edmonton, Alberta: Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, University of Alberta, 1984. 219 pp.

James E. Mace, Communism and the Dilemmas of National Liberation; National Communism in Soviet Ukraine, 1918–1933. Cambridge, Mass. Distributed by Harvard University Press for the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute and the Ukrainian Academy of Arts and Sciences in the U.S., 1983. 334 pp.

Taras Hunczak, ed., Ukraine and Poland in Documents, 1918–1920. Parts 1 and 2. New York ‐ Paris ‐ Sydney ‐Toronto: Shevchenko Scientific Society, 1983. 456 pp., 468 pp.

David Saunders, The Ukrainian Impact on Russian Culture; 1750–1850. Edmonton: Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, University of Alberta, 1985. 415 pp.

J[urij] Bojko‐Blochyn, ed., Ukrainische Romantik and Neuromantik vor dent Hintergrund der europäischen Literatur: Symposium der Ludwig‐Maximilians‐Universität München und der Weltvereinigung der ukrainischen Exilschriftsteller, Literaturwissenschaftler und Kritiker “Slovo” am 11. und 12. Januar 1983. Heidelberg: Carl Winter Universitätsverlag, 1985. 152 pp.

Stephan M. Horak, The Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Littleton, Colorado: Libraries Unlimited, 1985. 373 pp.

Stephan M. Horak, ed., Eastern European National Minorities 1919–1980: A Handbook. Littleton, Colorado: Libraries Unlimited, 1985. 353 pp.

Bela K. Kiraly ed., East Central European Society and War in the Era of Revolutions, 1775–1865. New York: Brooklyn College Press, 1984. 651 pp.

Steven L. Sampson, National Integration through Socialist Planning. Boulder, Colorado: East European Monographs, 1984. 352 pp. Distributed by Columbia University Press, 1984.

The Birth of Solidarity: The Gdansk Negotiations, 1980, translated and introduced by A. Kemp‐Welch. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1983.

Anthony Hyman, Afghanistan Under Soviet Domination, 1964–1983. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1984. 247 pp.

Paul Bödy, Joseph Eötvös and The Modernization of Hungary, 1849–1870. Boulder, Colorado: East European Monographs, CLXXIV, 1985. 134 pp. 2nd revised edition.     

The African ‘oil rush’ and US national security

The world's major oil-consuming nations, led by the USA, China and the Western European countries, are keenly interested in the development of African oil reserves, making huge bids for whatever exploration blocks become available and investing large sums in drilling platforms, pipelines, loading facilities and other production infrastructure. Indeed, the pursuit of African oil has taken on the character of a gold rush, with major companies from all over the world competing fiercely with one another for access to promising reserves. This ‘oil rush’ has enormous implications both for African oil producers and for the major oil-importing countries. For the producing countries it promises both new-found wealth and a potential for severe internal discord over the allocation of oil revenues (or ‘rents’); for the consuming countries, it entails growing dependence on imports of a vital substance from a region of chronic instability, with obvious national security overtones. Both these trends are reflected in US policy towards African oil. Desperate to procure additional supplies of foreign oil (to make up for the decline in domestic output), the Bush administration has made strenuous efforts to increase the role of US energy firms in African production. But because instability in Africa is an obstacle to such investment, it has sought to boost the internal security capacity of friendly African states and has laid the groundwork for direct US military involvement in Africa. At the same time Washington has become deeply concerned by China's growing interest in African oil, provoking an intense competitive contest between the two, with growing military overtones. In the end African societies will most probably suffer from this competition as an influx of arms bolsters the capacity of entrenched African regimes.     

Bandits and blanket thieves,communists and terrorists: the politics of naming Sandinistas in Nicaragua, 1927 – 36 and 1979 – 90

This article examines the politics of naming Sandinistas in Nicaragua during two periods of intense political and military struggle: the era of the Sandinista Revolution and Contra War (1979?–?90) and the era of the Sandino rebellion against the US Marines and Nicaraguan National Guard (1927?–?36). Focusing principally on the rhetorical and narrative strategies used by the USA and its Nicaraguan allies, the article explores the delegitimising master narratives concocted by these dominant groups and the efforts of two generations of Sandinistas and their allies to challenge these narratives. It argues that the politics of naming was embedded within a larger politics of storytelling, and that effective challenges to dominant groups' epithets must be grounded in historically informed challenges to the larger narratives from which they spring.     

Alias ‘GBGPGS’: Action directe internationale's transition from revolutionary terrorism to euro‐terrorism

This article discusses terrorism as a ritual act or series of acts that expresses a message. The case of GBGPGS illustrates how complex such messages are by referring them to their French and global contexts. The group's violent struggle against political rules has a ‘sacrificial’ dimension and was justified as a response to ‘crisis’. Through attempting to re‐interpret French extreme‐left traditions, the GBGPGS campaign foreshadowed Euro‐terrorism. The most salient evidence of this shift was the group's concentration on economic globalization and the weakening of traditional state and great power structures.     

A Review of: “Audrey Kurth Cronin and James M. Ludes, (eds.). Attacking Terrorism: Elements of a Grand Strategy.”

Because of its dynamic nature, those confronting the al-Qaeda threat must follow its evolution very closely. As demonstrated here, this task is particularly challenging when counterterrorism is carried out under the aegis of international organizations. This article explores the threat identification function of the al-Qaeda Sanctions Committee (also known as the 1267 Committee) charged with supervising the UN sanctions regime against al-Qaeda and its associates. Examination of the role of threat identification in the committee's work, and of the content of the threat analysis presented in the periodic reports of its subsidiary monitoring team, suggests the marginality of strategic threat assessment and underscores the constraints created by bureaucratic and political factors. The article also demonstrates the failure of the Committee and the monitoring team to thoroughly engage in central questions regarding al-Qaeda's nature, objectives, and organizational strategy.     

Hotbed of Radicalization or Something Else?: An Ethnographic Exploration of a Muslim Neighborhood in Ceuta

A series of police raids in Príncipe Alfonso, a Muslim neighborhood located in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, “confirmed” law enforcement officers' worst fears: the barrio, long considered a hotbed of Islamist radicalization, had succumbed to the influence of extremists, making Spain more vulnerable to terrorist attacks. However, the meager results of the raids, as well as delays in the ensuing criminal investigation, raised troubling questions about the alleged terrorist plot and outsiders' perceptions of the Muslim community. Seeking answers to these questions, I conducted ethnographic field work in Príncipe shortly after the raids, interviewing residents, activists, and officials and observing the community at length. The community I experienced did not match the neighborhood I had read about. This article, the first ethnographic study of Ceuta to focus on radicalization, challenges conventional understandings of Príncipe Alfonso and highlights the value of ethnographic field work in terrorism studies.