Sammy was raised in the United States and educated there, but returned to the region just as the Clinton Kosovo War was in full force with all of it's media propaganda.
Sammy and her friend at work though were nothing like the stereotype being driven of the people of that region. She was the most delightful of souls and allowed me to pester her to laughter daily. I deeply cared for her, but in the realities of life she was married and about to quit work in having her first baby.
I never forgot this European girl and she so affected me in being an unknown ambassador of her people, that I have grown a fondest attachment to people the people of the Balkans as readers of this blog have experienced.
In that, I am going to do something which I have never done and that is feature a Gentleman whose mind processes I value. His name is Ioannis Michaletos.
I will place his biography below, but want readers to know him as the face of these people I speak of. He is intelligent, gifted, kind and highly capable. He is an intellectual with the intellect to back up his reasoning.
I am grateful he has agreed to an interview, for the reason his region of south central Europe is going to become more and more involved in the coming events of this world and I desire my readers to associate a person with that region you met here, so that when stories come out as in "Obama cancels Missile Defense" to future stories, readers will know someone there to understand events more thoroughly.
With that, welcome Mr. Ioannis Michaletos, an Ambassador of thought speaking to Americans.
INTERVIEW:
Question #1: Mr. Michaletos, your background is fascinating in having served in the Greek Armed forces to being a leading voice on Serbianna. In starting with your history, could you provide a bit of history in why it seems that Serbia to the Balkan states have an allure which empires of the past and today just seem not to be able to resist.
Your people, raw wealth, treasures and religion have been the backbone of the world powers in shaping them, why does it seem that the world always turns to the Balkans?
Thank you first of all for this very important question. The Balkan Peninsula and Serbia in particular, -being in the center of the region- is one of the most important territories in Eurasia in terms of geopolitics.
This is due to the placement of the area close enough to Europe, Russia, Middle East and North Africa and in essence creates a zone which is vital for any "Empire" that strives for global dominion.
Therefore in all historical periods, the Balkans were a battlefield between aspiring Empires. Moreover this is an area where Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholics and Muslims are to be found, making it rather easy for foreign elements to take advantage of the religious cleavages. I would also add to the above the mineral wealth of the Balkans and the substantial historical tradition beginning from the "Cycladic era" in 4000 BC to the Minoan, Mycenean, Kurgan, Ancient Greek civilization up to the Greco-Roman world, the Byzantine Empire and so many other timelines of importance, for Europe especially.
Therefore the Balkans attract as a geopolitical magnet the interest of all "global players" and that causes conflicts and intense antagonisms, such as the one being felt since the early '90's.
Question #2: The West has been so mesmerized by it's own problems that it has failed to notice the plight and plunder of the Balkans.
Could you explain the rampant dismantling of the Balkan peoples authority on economic, military and territorial issues please?
Since the collapse of the iron curtain in 1989, the most important event was the dismantling of Yugoslavia, a large but divided nation which dominated most of the region. In the years before, the iron hand of Tito and the Communist ideology, kept the country united, but the wide differences between Serbs-Croats-Albanians and other, soon emerged and with the assistance of foreign powers, they became strong enough to lead the country into a series of vicious civil wars.
The consequences were disastrous. Most of the nations in the Balkans have lower actual GDP per capita than they had 20 years ago; their infrastructure is in dire need of capital and modernization and their security forces experience great issues of corruption and ineffectiveness. It will take another generation or so before a prosperous Balkan region could emerge, if of course no other catastrophe occurs.
It should also be noted, that most of the Balkan countries lost control of their productive resources that were bought often at minimal prices by global multinationals. The war in Yugoslavia in 1999, for instance had a as a result the destruction of a significant part of the industrial base of Serbia which hasn't recovered yet.
Question #3: Given the abandonment of Eastern Europe by the Obama administration on the Brzezinski Holbrooke continuing policy, which concerns are troubling the people most in the rise of narco Islam, Russian Bolshevik expansionism or the European triad of German, Italian and Greek investment overtaking the Balkans?
The economic issues, are the ones most affecting and concerning the Balkan people. Also expansionist tendencies by restive minorities (Albanians or Turkish-Muslims), are also great issues. Most of the Balkan nations want to be accepted in the EU since they view Brussels as a kind of an economic "Garden of Eden", although voices are being heard louder that the EU will not support them and instead it will render the region's economic base and seriously handicap its agricultural production.
My personal estimation is that the German economy and most possibly the Russian one, will sooner or later emerge as the great winners, in the economic field at least, and by 2020 the Balkans will be tuned to the voice of Berlin and Moscow.
The "Islamic axis", is still a major concern and it relates to the influence of Middle Eastern and Turkish interests in the Balkans, through the use of minorities and most importantly criminal groups that deal heroin and weapons, a grave danger for the whole of the Western security system.
Question #4: In noting the narco Islam, the Balkans in 2008 had a major shift in an American supply route of cocaine being met with the shifting opium of Afghanistan.
None of this expansion could be occurring without full government support from the Americans, Russians and Asians.
The Balkans have become the centre of the European smuggling hub. How does the average Serb to other Balkan peoples deal with such criminal fronts, noting how much of a problem America now has with Mexican human traffic to Texas becoming a narco battle ground?
The Balkan police and security forces, despite their chronic corruption issues, are continuously fighting the expansion of organized crime, that uses the region as a hub due to its ideal geographical placement and due to the existing culture of contraband, prevalent in Montenegro, Kosovo and Albania. Of course nothing of importance could be made if the international authorities do not pay their utmost attention in all of these.
Apart from the significant narcotics issue, I would also add that weapons trafficking is a major source of concern, since explosives and other material that can be used in mass terrorist attacks, are being bought and sold in the Balkans in large quantities. This is something that the European authorities should pay special attention and honestly I cannot comprehend why the alarm bell hasn't rung yet.
Question #5: Faith is the foundation of the Balkan peoples which has sustained them for thousands of years in existing under harsh conquest. What are your thoughts about this special miracle God has wrought for Serbians, Macedonians, the Slavic peoples etc... in creating in the Balkan Christians a most intelligent, gifted, kind, resolute and enduring people where other states simply vanished?
In essence, your people have been plundered for generations and never once turned to terrorism in mass nor became a sullen conquered people. Are you not like Joseph in so many ways sent to Egypt for what was deemed evil, but God intended for good?
Churchill once famously said that "The Balkans proclude more history than they can consume". This is absolutely correct. Even in the most remote village in any Balkan state, tales and traditions are very strong, lively I would say and there are numerous great civilizations that imprinted with their spirit the soil of the region. Actually no other part of Europe can claim more volatile, yet truly interesting history than the Balkans.
Further, the Balkan people, are used in confronting enemies and have lived under various forms of occupation or oppression for countless of centuries. Therefore they have developed a sense of great pride for their history and at the same time they have made themselves ready to fight for their freedom. Other nations in the West, have recently decreased their levels of national pride and are steadily entering a stage were the communal structures and history are of no importance. My opinion is that the key to the European - American problems of social alienation and intoxication by "post-modernist" tendencies, is the study on the Balkan history.
Faith for ones country, community and religion could be the key for the whole of the West, which is rapidly loosing its space due to the competition of other non-Western nations. The Balkans have a lot to teach if one truly wants to examine the status of the world as it is and asks himself of what can be done in order to solve issues such as the ones described.
Ioannis Michaletos
Editor South East Europe
Coordinator of Southeastern European Office
World Security Network Foundation
Ioannis Michaletos has been educated in the UK in the fields of Political Science (BA) and HRM (MSc).
He is occupied as an independent journalist-security analyst for Greek & international organizations and media, including Jane's information Group, European Oil & Gas Monitor and European Energy Review.
He is a correspondent analyst for ISRIA a security assessment agency.
He speaks Greek, English, and French and has a passive knowledge of Italian.
agtG
