RIP, 2008 elections

The post I'd wanted to publish today wasn't on Obama, but you'll understand why it is and how it relates to the image in a moment. Indeed, I'm having some HTML issues in copying and pasting from Word the blog I'd written, so I suppose it's fate that I should write on this topic. I must be short given that it's Halloween eve and party preparation is in order, but the elections and the duration of the campaign that now nearly comes to its end warrant one last farewell. Perhaps that's appropriate too--an RIP for the 2008 elections.

I think a first note is in regards to the fact that these elections didn't begin in 2008, but some two years ago. While the political machine is well lubed and the money's been a flowin' for it, it's a rather sad system when seen from afar. No European democracy allows its senators (or MPs) to be so absent from their positions while they campaign and no system allows such atrocious amounts of private money to finance campaigns and thus buy votes and influence. But that it Washington, that is America--we have extreme corruption masked as business lobbying and campaign finance, and the media just follow along. As Studs Terkel (RIP) once responded when asked whether there were still gangsters in Chicago: "Yes, but these days they're mostly in business, or politics." Thus, we need serious campaign regulations put in place so that future campaigns are transparent, truly democratic, and last only a few months--not dozens. But that's another story.

Speaking of Chicago, what I want to write about is the one problem with Obama--from a SE European and primarily, Macedonian perspective. Indeed, there is one thing that's really bothered me about Obama since I've been back in the Mak, mostly because my support of Obama is met with swift opposition in frequent conversations: It's his blind support of the Greek and Serbian diaspora lobbies in America (via Chicago no doubt).

Briefly, and as I mentioned in an earlier blog, Greece has blocked Macedonia's entrance into NATO and threaten to do so with EU entry unless the country changes its name. As 125 countries recognize Macedonia by its constitutional name--and as most sensible people would agree, any country should be allowed to call itself what it wants--this is the largest domestic, neighborly spat the country is currently embroiled in. What's worse, Greece has gotten even nastier recently by getting other random countries like DR Congo, Mexico, and Panama to call Macedonia "FYROM," as Greece does. It's pathetic and petulant, but it is alive and real. (May we grant it its RIP soon.)

The international mediator's current proposition to this problem is to call this country the Republic of Northern Macedonia. But [sigh] Macedonians will continue rejecting any proposition until the international community changes its willingness to negotiate on Greece's behalf at all. Like a bad student in class, Greece certainly doesn't deserve the attention.

Anyhow, back to square one--unfortunately, under the pressure of the Chicago Greek-American lobby, Obama's led the proposition in Congress which accuses Macedonia of irrendentism, in short. It's an example of poorly educated politicking, and my good friend, Eric, explains further in his blog so read on if you're interested.

http://polysemic.org/?p=166

And to play devil's advocate (I'm enjoying this Halloween theme) a scholar at Kingston University (UK) has some good points about Republican foreign policy in the Balkans, and it being the better choice for the region.

http://greatersurbiton.wordpress.com/2008/03/20/john-mccain-would-be-best-for-south-east-europe/

That said and to conclude--I am an American first and foremost, am disgusted by the havoc the Bush administration has wreaked on the world, and thus look forward to an Obama victory next week. Dare I be optimistic, I even believe that a new era of more hawkish Democrats and diplomatic realpolitik foreign policy in the Balkan region is possible. (As yes, being more hawkish now might actually prevent greater conflict in the future. Keep your eyes on Bosnia--it's post-war reconfiguration was impractical, has not been effective, and is stoking another conflict.)

Lastly, RIP neo-con Republican Party!

Go tell it on the mountain

Topography is a unique characteristic of every country. There are lowlands and highlands, rivers, valleys, hills, and mountains. And often these geographical entities—for they do seem lifelike in the character they bring to a place—serve as the borders between neighboring lands. What makes up the southern borders of the SE Midwest? The Ohio River. What makes up the borders of SE Europe? Well, a few rivers but mostly mountains (and plenty of politics!).

Politics aside, what’s even more interesting are the effects the land has on people. It has always fascinated me in the Balkans how much one community can differ from another based on where and how they live, what customs they cultivate, and what they consume. Sea-side communities tend to have a maritime history and an ongoing influence from the adventures of the sea. They live and work on and near it, reaping and consuming its fruits. In lowlands people are agricultural, growing the grains that feed so many. They work the land, but perhaps through their steady life and conservative customs, are also the heart of a nation. As elevation increases and depending on the climate, so does the availability of what can be grown or raised. In Macedonia, with its lowest point barely above sea level in a Mediterranean climate and its highest point over 9,000 feet in a continental climate, there’s little that can’t be cultivated here. From citrus and olives on the border with Greece, to the Pelagonian plains of grain, to endless vineyards to the north, people grow what they can where they can. Most vegetables are grown throughout the lowlands of the country, and as one travels up they see rice paddies, varying fruit trees, and shepherds tending their flocks and herds—goats, sheep, cows.

Living in the lowlands of Skopje and usually traveling to other low-lying towns and cities (for that’s where most towns have been settled since antiquity and thus people in fact live), it was a rare treat to head up into the highest mountains of the land last weekend. The Shar Mountains, which stretch from the northwest to the southwest of the country, make up the border with Kosovo and Albania. They are the tallest peaks in the country, reaching up into the clouds and as I witnessed, pulling the clouds over their ridges.

I had the company of two friends, Marc and Eric. Marc is a Peace Corps volunteer here and Eric a Fulbright Scholar. We had planned this trip since early-September, at which time I thought we were planning too far ahead and it would not come to pass. Well, a rainy and cold September has led to a beautiful October thus far, and we had stellar weather at the onset for our journey.

We made the drive to the city of Tetovo—an hour from Skopje—last Saturday morning, and drove on up to the resort village of Popova Shapka from there. At nearly 5,000 feet, it’s largely a tourist spot for skiing in the winter and cooler weather in the summer. Despite the golden leaves of autumn and mild weather though, it was dead as could be this time of year.

Not knowing exactly where we were going, but with the goal of summiting the highest peak within 20 miles—Tito’s Peak, we stopped into a small café for an espresso and directions. Well, we got vague directions from the teenage server working that morning, so after checking out the Turkish toilet (always an adventure in itself!) we parked a few hundred feet further down the road and headed off for our walk.

We began at some small ski lift called “Aerodrom”—'airport'—and just started winding up over the bare slopes from there. An important addition to our team came at that point, however, as two local mountain huskies joined us. Only puppies, these “Shar Mountaineer” (Shar Planinec) dogs, as they’re called, started bouncing along as we paced ourselves for the uphill climb.

According to the local mountaineering society who I’d been in touch with, there were supposed to be markers on the trail. While we saw a few red marks here and there, however, the trail came and went and never a cairn did I see. We thus carried on, climbing one hill only to see another, but enjoying ourselves as the sun shone, the puppies paced, and we made good conversation. Not being accustomed to the mountains and wanting to enjoy rather than work too hard, we took our fair share of breaks. While the walking is good exercise, it was during those moments of playing with the dogs and relaxing on the soft ground that I felt such peace. And oh, how nice it was to get away from the chaos of Skopje!

After a couple hours hiking and having arrived at some early season snow patches, we saw what was going to be our primary goal for the day—a rocky ridge touching the clouds overhead. As we’d lost the trail completely by that point (a factor which earlier had led us to an amazing rock massif but in a mountain cul-de-sac of sorts, which we then had to climb out of), we trod over bushes that were only inches high and spread out across the mountainside as we headed upward. The view to the east at that point was splendid, but nothing prepared me for the cauldron like valley on the other side, with high peaks surrounding it nearby and and jagged ones off in the distance. When we arrived we stood on flat ground for the first time in an hour, the sun remained, and the puppies sat with us as we prepared to ascend the ridge to a higher point. Where Tito's Peak was at this point, however, was unclear. I saw a peak of sorts to the southwest, but it didn’t seem high enough. As 3pm was nearing and the clouds looking more ominous, we made the decision to halt our expedition within the half hour and to eat lunch.

We enjoyed the sun as we hiked a ways more up, but upon reaching some old antennae and deciding it was a good place to rest, we had a new angle and saw only briefly the peak of Tito—Titov Vrv. It was further over and up than I’d thought, yet the clouds that soon consumed us put a clear halt to any ambitions of making the ascent. We needed some lunch badly, so I got out the giant tub of pasta I’d made and dished it out. Fortunately for the dogs, a fourth friend didn’t join so I had extra noodles for them. They ate voraciously, as did we all. The serene sunshine having given way to whistling winds, however, forced me down into a crevice where the wind wasn’t so strong in order to eat without gloves on (which I’d in fact forgotten). But the cold air was rather unpleasant, so after a good sojourn and laugh over pasta and chocolate, we turned back to descend.

Despite no trail wearing on my feet, I enjoyed the descent—even using my backpack as a sled down the grassy mountainside—and we discovered the trail and a better way back for the next trip. We warmed up with tea where we'd earlier had espresso and watched the sun set. But given that we didn’t make the peak as planned, I intend to return once again sooner rather than later!

To see pictures from our hike, please see my Flickr slideshow at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/31046246@N07/sets/72157608107648246/

The Macedonian Question

An Anthropologist, Manning Nash, once said that “a language is a dialect with an army and a navy.” His point was that the languages of the world number far greater than the number of countries, and that further, the language of a country can be a very contentious matter. Macedonia is no exception.

From before the onset of Socialist Yugoslavia to the present, the literary Macedonian language has been a demarcating line. Writings of southwestern Macedonians in the 19^th & early 20^th centuries clearly show a different dialect of a south Slavic tongue similar to Bulgarian, but when Tito split Yugoslavia off from Stalin’s cominform—and grand Soviet Communist plan—post-WWII, he bolstered the development of the Macedonian “language” in order to forge a stronger Macedonian identity. The goal was to give this melting pot region of the southern Balkans a more distinct character in order to separate it from Soviet linked Bulgaria.

Politically, closed borders between Yugoslavia and Bulgaria meant things would go their own way. But culturally and linguistically, Macedonia shared a good deal with Bulgaria. A century ago the main cultural cities where Macedonians—including the famed revolutionaries who overthrew the Turks and the Ottoman Empire—went for education and international flavor were not so much the current capital, Skopje (which was then capital of the Ottoman province of Kosovo), but the capital of Bulgaria, Sofia, as well as the provincial Ottoman capital in southwestern Macedonia, Bitola, and the greater Macedonian port city of Thessaloniki/Solun (now in Greece). The majestic Lake Ohrid (which borders Albania), with its hundreds of Orthodox churches and monasteries, was the patriarchate of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, founded in the year 927. The Macedonian Orthodox Church (MOC), however, didn't gain its autonomy from the Serbian church until 1959 and then declared autocephaly in 1967.

Therefore, a Bulgarian identity clearly preceded a Macedonian one, as Macedonia was more of a geographical reference point (though no doubt with its own culture and character). Early south Slav immigrants from the region to the US, for example, corroborate this: they claimed to be Bulgarian but from Macedonia. It’s akin to my being American, but from Indiana. The former is my political identity, but the latter is my geographical and cultural one.

How we perceive our identity is thus a changing, fluid notion, and the repercussions of this are unequivocally present in the “Macedonian Question” and today’s political climate. The Macedonian Question refers to the overlapping use of the name Macedonia to describe geographical and historical areas, languages, and peoples. For most of its millenia long history and until the Balkan Wars of 1912-13, the territory of Macedonia was twice as large as today—covering what is now southwestern Bulgaria and northern Greece. More contemporarily, from the time of the Ottoman Empire, the region was increasingly populated by large numbers of Sephardic Jews, Vlachs, Turks, Greeks, Albanians, and Roma, in addition to Macedonians and other South Slavic groups such as Bulgarians and Serbs.

Consequently, with so many people and vying powers yet so little territory, Macedonia has had ongoing quarrels with its more powerful neighbors, all focusing on issues surrounding the development of an ethno-national Macedonian identity. With Serbia to the north, there is the conflict of Macedonia’s separation from the Serbian Orthodox Church and creation of the MOC.[1] Having strong kinship, trade, and former political ties to Macedonia, Serbs have seen the region as theirs, even calling it southern Serbia when they occupied it in the interwar period. Their presence was not appreciated, however, as one scholar on the region writes.

Macedonia at times appeared to exist in a state of virtual war between the population and the forces of government, which many civilians perceived as foreign. Against this backdrop violent clashes continued between armed bands and police, and assassins targeted Serbian officials, reinforcing the view that the Macedonian Question here remained unresolved and posed a vital threat to domestic order.[2]

Along with Greece, who got its spoils by receiving southern (Aegean) Macedonia, Serbia sought to divide the region then. Nearly a century later, Serbia may oppose the MOC but it is only Greece who truly counters Macedonia’s right to exist as a nation-state. Despite the US, most of the EU, and dozens of other countries’ recognition of Macedonia by its constitutional name—the Republic of Macedonia—Greece immaturely refuses to call it as such, calling it either FYROM (an acronym for “former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”) or just Skopje.

Greece's irredentist claims to the Macedonian territory come from ancient Macedonia’s Hellenic ties. However, a more suitable explanation is that they seek to cover up the events of the past century. Indeed, fierce assimilation and draconian measures under the Greek dictatorship and until recently made Macedonians and other minorities into “Greeks.” Harassment, arrest, and imprisonment of those speaking the south Slavic tongue have been all too common in Aegean Macedonia. Thus, while perhaps the ancient home of democracy, modern Greece lacks any erudite traditions of yore by behaving as they have and blocking Macedonia’s entry into NATO—an issue all the more important not just for peace in the region but for international peace, as Russia clears the way for its re-igniting of the Cold War.

The last neighborly spat is with Bulgaria, who consider Macedonians to still be Bulgarian. What Bulgaria has cleverly done, and which many Macedonians have taken advantage of, is allow those who willingly claim Bulgarian identity to acquire Bulgarian citizenship and the valuable accompanying passport. This began five years or so ago, but now that Bulgaria is a member of the EU, that new political affiliation is all the more valuable for visa restricted Macedonians (who can only visit three of their five neighbors without a visa—Albania, Kosovo, and Serbia). This surge in Bulgarian affiliation is most evident on the streets and roads of Skopje and the country—Bulgarian license plates abound like never before. Whether it will affect the identity of those who took the carrot remains to be seen, but 21^st century Macedonia is at present a clearly demarcated, autonomous, and democratic nation.

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[1] This even came up when I mentioned my Macedonian affiliations at the Serbian Church in Indianapolis on Easter this year.

[2] Brown, The Past in Question: Modern Macedonia and the Uncertainties of Nation, 42.