I was fortunate enought to read this book while taking a class taught by the author, Dr. Peter Sugar, at the Unversity of Washington in 1983. This is not light reading, but will be engrossing to those to whom History is a passion. I would also recommend any of Dr. Sugar's books regarding the History of Eastern Europe and the Balkan States (Dr. Sugar is a Bosnian, raised in Hungary who came to the United States at about the time of WWII, as I recall) as the author's insights and clarity are superb!!

"Stabilizing and Integrating the Balkans" is an extremely insightful and timely analysis of how-in a globalized world-national governments and international organizations can form a network to deal with regional conflicts. As the foundation for his analysis, Paul Welfens describes the conditions in the Balkans at the end of the Kosovo War and analyzes how the international community has tried to create the conditions for sustained economic growth and political stability in the region. In addition to providing relevant and detailed economic, political, and institutional information, Paul Welfens looks critically at the key actors of the Stability Pact. The book shows that the approached used in the Balkans could become a model for future cooperation among national governments and international organizations to deal with similar political and economic challenges in other parts of the world. Paul Welfens, however, also identifies inconsistencies that should be overcome. Areas of particular concern are the future transatlantic relationship between Europe and the U.S. as well as the enlargement of the European Union.

While the book focuses on the Balkans in the aftermath of the Kosovo crisis, the reader cannot avoid asking the question of how the experiences from the Balkans could also be used to overcome political instability and poor economic conditions in other conflict regions of the world. For example, in the aftermath of the events in the U.S. on September 11, the international community is confronted with a volatile situation in Afghanistan and the surrounding countries such as Pakistan and India. In many respect, a network approach similar to that in the Balkans will be required to stabilize the conditions in that part of the world as well.

The book is an extremely valuable source for anybody interested in the Balkans. However, it appeals to an even larger audience and is very useful for economic policymakers as well as political scientists. It is highly recommended.

This collection of articles results from the first-hand experience of scholars who are specialists in studying the countries they are writing about. The articles focus on contemporary Eastern Europe, are readable, understandable for the non-academic, and interesting.

This book is an examination of the people that lived in the Dalmatian hinterland of today's Croatia. It looks at the ways the people of coastal Dalmatia and the West perceived these people. Not an easy read for the average reader but well worth the read for those with a real keen interest in Croatian and Venetian history like myself.

Tomasevich did a phenomenal job on a daunting subject: the political and economic history of Yugoslavia during the Second World War, focusing on Slovenia, Croatia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina. This massive book will be especially valuable for the chapters on economic activity in the Axis-occupied Independent State of Croatia from 1941 to 1945, material that has rarely been presented in English in such detail (over a hundred pages in the two chapters on this subject). The sections on the many religious groups of Yugoslavia are likewise comprehensive, with a great deal of new information. The bibliography is in itself a triumph of thoroughness.

What makes the book not only useful but remarkable is the author's story of how he conducted his research, interviewing contentious sources and wading through the conflicting evidence on controversial topics such as the numbers of people murdered by the several parties to the conflict (Nazis, Italian Fascists, Ustase, Chetniks, Partisans). His analysis is masterful and sensible.

My only complaint is the book's high price. I can only hope that there will be a paperback edition, as this work is too significant to go out of print.

This book is a "must" source if you want to learn about the former-Yugoslavia's history, economic system, and its recent war (and related Balkan crisis). I found it indispensible to use during a course study, and an easy-to-follow, knowledge-packed source for a paper related to the recent Bosnian war.

"NATO in the Balkans" is a must for anyone who seeks the full truth about the US/NATO war against Yugoslavia. Tired of the CNN version of reality? Tired of the lies and half-truths? "NATO in the Balkans" is the best antidote for what has been passing as "objective" journalism. It shows, in a fully documented scholarly way, how the war against Yugoslavia has its roots in the desire of the U.S., and its NATO partners, to dominate the world economically--that is, to expand capitalist exploitation globally. This is what's behind the expansion of NATO--a cabal of right-wing militarists who became even more emboldened with the break-up of the Soviet Union. This magnificent book balances the lop-sided, ahistorical view of the conflict being pushed by the big-business media. It talks about the tens of thousands of Serbs, for example, who were "ethnically cleansed" from their homes in the Krajina region of Bosnia, with hugh numbers dying during the NATO-backed expulsion. It exposes many of the atrocities allegedly committed by Serb forces as being carried out by groups aligned with the U.S. to justify intervention. The book documents the source of the bloody conflict in the Balkans, which was instigated by the U.S. and Germany. How many people have heard about "Foreign Appropirations Law 101-513" passed by the Congress in 1991? Well, "a section of this law suddenly cut off all aid, credits and loans from the U.S. to Yugoslavia within six months. The law also demanded separate elections in each of the six republics that make up Yugoslavia, requiring State Dept. approval of election procedures and results before aid to the separate republics would be resumed," wrote author Sara Flounders in a chapter entitled "Bosnia tragedy: The unknown role of the Pentagon." In addition, "only forces that the U.S. State Department defined as 'democratic' would receive funding," wrote Flounders. This is neo-colonialism at its worst! It was the classic ploy of divide and conquer. The law was, in fact, the spark that ignited the civil war in Yugoslavia that led to the breakup of that multi-national country--one that had been peacefully united for decades under socialism--a system that the U.S. must now seek to fully crush in Europe--for starters. A simple review cannot describe the treasure trove that is "NATO in the Balkans." I have already purchased, for friends and co-workers alike, at least ten copies. Do yourself a favor, come into the light of independent thought and scholarship. Get yourself a copy soon.

The book will open your eyes. It will help you understand what is happening in the Balkans. It will inform the new generation of anti-war activists now emerging in opposition to U.S./NATO expansion and the savage bombing of Yugoslavia. Anyone interested in the truth should rush to get a copy of "NATO in the Balkans."

Nato in the Balkans was such an interesting, information-filled book that helped so tremendously in clearing the cobwebs of corporate media cleansing, that I finished the book in record time.

It is well written, very clear, documented to the hilt. It exposes how the U.S. government (and Germany) stirred up ethnic rivalry in the Balkans so that they could have a pretext for intervening. It was a coldly calculated plan to take over the area, in a move towards the oil wealth of the Caspian Sea.

The U.S. and its NATO allies don't give a hoot about human rights, not here in the U.S. or elsewhere. But this is the new cover. Before these imperialist wars were fought for "freedom and democracy." Now it's supposed to be about human rights. Well, these warmongers might as well be talking abount humming mites, or humid nights; they couldn't care less about the human rights of anyone.

It's all about corporate greed and the need for the capitalist system to keep expanding or face collapse.

The disintegration of the former Soviet Union--which the U.S. also helped to engineer--only emboldened the warmongers in Washington and at the Pentagon, along with their junior partners in Europe.

Come out of the deep sleep of U.S. consumer society. Open your mind to what's going on in the world. Make the links between imperialist war abroad and reactionary domestic policies, like the gutting of the Welfare system.

Guess who's paying for the Pentagon war machine? It ain't the Rockefellers or the Mellons.

Pick up a copy of Nato in the Balkans asap, and tell your friends about it. It's like a breath of fresh air. And in the rancid atmosphere of north America, we all need it.

Noel Malcolm attempts to provide a general overview of history of Bosnia in this highly acclaimed work. Though a serious scholarly work on this subject has yet to appear, as of 1999, this book is by far the best guide to Bosnian history. Despite the fact that it is overtly polemical and biased against nationalist histories that fueled the genocide against the Bosnian Muslims, it still remains a considerable work whose main strengths are its lucid stye and its wealth of information.

Malcolm's BOSNIA: A SHORT HISTORY is an outstanding work. The book shows the range of Bosnian history and the rich complexity and texture of its various religions. It puts into perspective the savage attack on Bosnia, both by nationalist militias and by propagandist media within the former Yugoslavia.

Particularly impressive is the discussion of the Bosnian Church, which brings into a clear and accessible language the breakthroughs by Balkan and Western historians on early Bosnian Church history. Malcolm demolishes the mythologized history of the Serbian and Croatian militias by showing that the patterns of conversion in Bosnia were historically complex. He refutes the notion that present day Catholics, Orthodox, and Muslims are derived in a straight pattern of blood descent from the 15th century. Indeed, there were large-scale conversions back and forth throughout the history of Bosnia.

This is no abstract scholarly debate. The stereotype that present-day Bosnian Muslims are descendants of "traitors" in the 15th century who betrayed Christianity is a key element in the attack on Bosnia and also a part of the mythology of "age old hatreds" promulgated by the architects of ethnic-cleansing and adopted by some Western policy makers and journalists.

Malcolm shows that Bosnia was for 500 years, despite its many tensions and wars, a successful civilization with different religions that engaged each other in complex ways far beyond the cliches of age-old hatreds.

This book is recommended for anyone who cares about the Balkans or who wishes to understand the stakes involved in the struggle against "ethnic cleansing."

Malcolm's analysis of the radical Serbian nationalism in Belgrade was unfortunately dismissed by some British political leaders and intellectuals. The horrors in Kosovo today are a tragic vindication of his analysis. Those who dismissed him with a facile refusal to acknowledge an unwelcome message, are left brutal evidence of what they denied.

Malcolm no doubt, and all of us, wish he had been wrong--or at least that his warnings, stated with such cogency and scholarly accuracy, had been heeded. There is still time to read this book now and allow the history of Bosnia to come through the smoke of genocide, ethnic-cleansing, and desires for religous apartheid based on historically false and destructive mythologies of age-old hatreds.

Being a Bosnian, I find this book highly valuable and unusually accurate. As my fellow Bosnian Adnan Mesic pointed out in his review, this is a very accurate and comprehensive account of Bosnian history. I agree with Adnan that it is a shame that the most lucid and most importantly unbiased book was written by an American. Malcolm divulges in his book major historical events which may have contributed to the war in Bosnia. It is clear that Malcolm had conducted a meticulous research before he completed this book; this is highly evident from the great number of references which are included. All in all, this is an indispensable reference that will provide an important insight into the history of Bosnia. Strongly recommended.

For a great intellectual like Noam Chomsky, this is a dissappointing and terribly misleading work. While he might make a few plausible arguments against the bombing campaign (ie. double standard concerning Kurds, East Timor etc.), he gives little background to the entire conflict in the Balkans. As one reviewer put it, he manages to completely leave out important events in places like Sarajevo or Vukovar. Perhaps that might be justified since Chomsky only meant to focus on US involvement in this specific instance, but it can be very misleading to the average reader.

While he might give excellent analysis on other subject areas such as the Mideast or Media and Propaganda, sadly the Balkans seem to be where he lacks in knowledge. As I have mentioned earlier, he makes a few good points, but on the whole his argument against intervention and his background on the Balkan conflict are very poor. This book displays the failure of the left to truly understand the Balkan conflict. It seems their main concern is American hegemony in the world (which is no doubt a serious issue) and they have bent and shaped a history of the Balkans so it may fit the party line.

If you want a good analysis of this conflict, then don't read this book.

With this analysis of the NATO bombings on Kosovo, Noam Chomsky questions the new humanism, which seems to currently characterize the political action in the Western countries. So, is this humanism guided by power interests or by real humanitarian preoccupations? Is recourse to force inspired by concrete principles and values, or are we facing the usual and narrow-minded hypocrisy of the potents? Via a detailed examination of historical and diplomatic events, and using his incisive and pungent style, Chomsky considers all the particulars of the Kosovo situation, in order to unmask the rhetorical affirmations according to which the United States and their allies would be fighting to create and defend a world where there would no longer be space for ethnic purging, genocides and dictatorships. Whom do we believe?

I'll begin by disclosing a personal interest: Prof. Chomsky and I have the same publisher, and I had the honor of voicing the book-on-tape version of this book. But facts are facts, verifiable whatever the source, and the information presented here is well-researched, largely unpublicized, and deeply disturbing.

The mass media's consistent parroting of NATO's shifting versions of the causes and purposes of the war, and their Orwellian convenient forgetting of their own earlier reports as need be, are chronicled in detail. The Balkan war is placed in the context of ongoing US, UK, and NATO policies in other parts of the world (Turkey, for example) to devastating effect. And the final chapters, detailing the reasons for the ongoing expansion of military force and flouting of international law -- and how current NATO policies are actually making the world a more dangerous place -- left me chilled while doing the reading.

This is terrific, important work. I was honored to be associated with it, and I recommend it in the strongest terms.

Robert Kaplan picks up where he left off in this book of travels. Kaplan, whose "Balkan Ghosts" became the point of departure for those State Department and other US government officials requiring a quick education about the complexities and entrenchment of the Balkan mind in the days leading up to the NATO confrontations with Serbia (including Bill Clinton, who is rumored to have delayed action in Yugoslavia in part because of Kaplan's insights), travels to the Balkans, Turkey, the Middle East, and then on to the Trans-Caucuses (known as "Tartary" to the Elizabethans). Like Kaplan's other travel books, this is more than a traveler's book of anecdotes; this is a book of history and lost histories and life on big historical divides. Especially relevant is his section on Armenia, a nation with its own (lowercase) diaspora and rich history. More generally, this book provides a workable education on the state of the Trans-Caucuses region, which is among the least understood regions on the planet - no small matter since, with Russia's increased importance in the energy markets, this is a region that stands to gain hugely in relative world importance.

Robert Kaplan's book "Eastward to Tartary" is a bold and incisive firsthand look into the present and possible futures of Eastern Europe, the Near East and the Caucuses.

Kaplan's reflections on his journeys give the reader great food for thought. Kaplan deftly traces the possible fault lines of future conflicts and global problem spots. His conclusions give fresh urgency to the Biblical injunction to "be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves" (Matthew 10:16).

"Eastward to Tartary" is not your typical piece of travel writing. It not only describes the areas dealt with, it analyzes the possible future of each region. The book is no mere academic missive written by a policy wonk either. Chapter after chapter, Kaplan demonstrates his skill as a writer. He is a true craftsman with words. I read this book quite quickly due to how compelling and well written it is. Each chapter draws the reader into the next.

Books like this should be required reading for leaders in the West. Not everyone will agree with Kaplan's conclusions. This notwithstanding, "Eastward to Tartary" is one heck of a wake-up call. I recommend it highly.

I have read several of Kaplan's books and he continues his winning streak in this one. Unlike many travel writers who merely offer westernized descriptions of people and scenery in places that are already well known, Kaplan covers areas that most of us in the western world are unfamiliar with. Interesting places in this book include Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Turkmenistan. He also focuses on history and politics, and has remarkable insights into the possible futures of the regions he visits, and how the past influences the present and future to a much greater extent than in the West. Some key insights offered by Kaplan here include the notion that Europe is currently splitting into regions that are eerily similar to the Ottoman and Holy Roman empires of ancient times, with the collapse of communism and the weakening of NATO. Kaplan also predicts that the next Yugoslavia-style bloodbath, which will drag in the rest of the world, will occur in the Caucasus region (Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan). Tellingly, Chechnya is not too far away. Kaplan knows what he's talking about, as he predicted the Yugoslavia disaster back in the late 1980's. And throughout the book Kaplan proves that the collapse of communism and the rise of so-called democracy is only a good thing at a high level of international politics. But for millions and millions of regular people, life has become far more dangerous and miserable.

Since the portion of this book covering Romania and Bulgaria is meant as a sequel to Kaplan's earlier "Balkan Ghosts," and since some of the other areas covered are also featured in "The Ends of the Earth," this book is slightly weaker than those two masterpieces. Kaplan also occasionally stumbles into cultural arrogance when dealing with non-Western people and politics. However, these are slight weaknesses in a very strong book that offers highly enlightening insights into the history and peoples in areas that Americans should stop ignoring.