Slobodan Milosevic R.I.P.

This last friday marked the death of one of the most ruthless (and misunderstood) dictators, Slobodan Milosevic. He died while being tried for war crimes at the Hague, at the age of 64.

Slobo - giving himself a hand...

Amazingly, he is still considered by many Serbs as a national hero. Sadly, it is the perpetuation of such sentiments that continue to dileneate the Serbs as stubbornly caught up in some of the most pervasive myths to ever be passed off on a population.

Milosevic used the cause of Serb nationalism to catapult himself into power, and he exploited nationalism's emotive grip over the people to stay in power. Yet sadly, when his postition of power came into question, it was the Serb people themselves that he was most willing to sacrifice. Throughout the Yugoslav civil war, and especially during the Kosovo debacle, he demonstrated not only an overt nationalistic disingenuity, but a loathesome lack of concern with the well being of his own people.

Hopefully, his passing will mark the closing of a horrendeous chapter of Serb history, and see to a redefining of Serbian nationalism as a spirit that promotes Serb cooperation with the rest of the world, rather than stubborn role playing of victim and agressor.