Review-Yugoslavia: An excellent collection of Chomsky’s works from before, during and after the conflicts

Yugoslavia: peace, war and dissolution
Noam Chomsky and Davor Dzalto
PM press, 2018

This insightful collection of writings provides a clear picture, both of the events that transpired in Yugoslavia, and misconceptions about them. The first section discusses the idea of Yugoslavia, its unique brand of socialism and Tito as well as Chomsky’s thoughts on them. The book then moves on to discuss the end of Yugoslavia, from the loss of Slovenia to the bloody strife which engulfed Bosnia. It discusses both the local causes as well as those from further afield, in particular, the role of European powers and the US in causing the collapse. Lastly, the book talks about the NATO intervention in Kosovo and the reasons for the intervention. The book provides a clear introduction to each of the three sections-written by Davor Dzalto-which accurately sets the stage for the events discussed and provides some context to Noam’s writings.

Of particular interest is the last section, which discusses in great detail the circumstances surrounding the NATO intervention and challenges virtually the entire story told by the media. He focuses on the ongoing atrocities in other nations which are equal or greater in scale and brutality to the events in Kosovo but are virtually ignored in both the western press and in a lot of western academia. He dispels the myth of humanitarian intervention with several solid arguments and challenges the entire premise of the action as well as its intentions according to a large section of academia.

The book does an admirable job of clearly dispelling myths about the conflict and instead paints a far more convincing if tragic understanding of the conflicts causes and its effects.

5/5

1 thought on “Review-Yugoslavia: An excellent collection of Chomsky’s works from before, during and after the conflicts”

  1. Read the book – all I can say is that it’s probably the best thing on Yugoslavia and its dissolution that can be found on the market.

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