News first!
Gotovina has been found guilty on 9 out of 10 counts, including Joint Criminal Enterprise. He was sentenced to 24 years in jail. This is interesting on a lot of levels, first of all many Croatians feel like it questions the entire existance of their country, as if their country was built on war crimes or ethnic cleansing. Personally, I dont think it really casts the country in that light within the broad international community. A lot of people also find the rulling unfair, citing other war criminals from Serbia who received less prision time. My role is simply to listen and absorb the many different points of view people hold in this country. Here is a NYTimes article that outlines a bit of what is going on and also speaks to the controversial role the American government maz have played in Operation Storm, the four day operation that is the source of most of Gotovinas criminal charges. NYtimes article on Gotovina
International bits that caught my attention-
On immigration policy and the EU- Npr Morning Edition Blurb
On the Obamas handling of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)-Npr Morning Edition, DOMA
A paragraph to wet the taste buds.
Friday April 15, 2011 a Croatian general who led troops on behalf on an independent Croatia and in a military operation to reclaim Croatian territory in 1995 was convicted of war crimes and sentenced to 24 years in prison by The Hague.[1] Only three days ago, this case reminds the international community and Croatia itself of how newly minted Croatia truly is. The war for independence occurred in recent memory; the events have barely become legends. The Croatian identity that is alive and thriving amongst youth today is newly constructed. While based on conceptions of Croatian tradition and histories, youth are also encountering an ever available global culture and the constant dialogue about Croatia entering the European Union. In addition to negotiating these traditional values revived alongside Croatian nationalism with the pressure to present themselves as contemporary, modern Europeans (whatever that may mean), they have also been raised by a generation who grew up under a communist Yugoslavia as Tito’s pioneers.[2] Understandably, it begins to seem a little confusing. In the last couple of decades Croatians have experienced overhauls of political and economical ideologies and structures, as well as significant shifts in national and religious identities. These large-scale institutional shifts affect basic social norms and the conceptions of identity and self on individual micro-levels. Even one of the most basic identities used to define the self—gender—is transform in relation to such shifts.
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Updates in regards to my time in Bulgaria, coming soon!
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