NEW BORN : Kosovo Recap in 10 Points

After the JADE Summer Meeting of Junior Enterprises in Prishtina, Kosovo,

I feel NEWBORN.

Some Hallmark Card once told me inspiration and hope have the power to give birth to a new sense of self, understanding, and purpose. Goddamit, it was right! 

Right in the  city center of Prishtina (the capital of Kosovo), there lies the letters to make up "NEWBORN" from Kosovo Independence Day on February 18, 2008. This makes it the youngest country in the world, which currently, 62 countries recognize--including the United States and Saudi Arabia. How to truly explain/organize my time there is difficult without being excessively verbose, so I have: 

 10 POINTS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT MY TIME IN KOSOVO 

1) HOLD UP? Where is Kosovo? What is a Kosovar? 

Kosovo is located in the Balkans south of Serbia and north of Albania and Macedonia. Some of the borders are still disputed, as it is such a young country. Long story made VERY short, Kosovo for the longest time was part of Serbia. However, Kosovo is made up of ethnic Albanians mostly (though they have a multicultural/multiethnic population of Serbians and Turks) and Serbians are Serbians. Kosovars had been fighting for independence through the 90's until the conflict came to a violent head in 1999, when NATO (with the help of Bill Clinton) intervened. Later in 2008, Kosovo declared its independence. Though it is ethnically tied to Albania, there are many Serbian, Turkish, and Bulgarian Kosovars. Though they claim to practice Islam, most are just culturally Muslim. 

The country is overwhelmingly multicultural, religiously plural, and multiethnic. There is a strong sense of being a KOSOVAR (kind of like what America used to be, right?) 

2) WHY WAS I THERE???//WHAT IS JADE???

In May, I was in Brussels working with AEGEE (the European Students Forum) conducting the Ivy Europe Middle East Conference. Florent Barel, from JADE Junior Enterprises, was invited to speak at our conference. JADE is a network of 20,000+ Junior Entrepreneurs from around Europe, all of which run Junior Enterprises, which are like non-profit organizations/businesses that work in management, consulting, or product sales. The aim is to give practical experience to theoretical knowledge. JADE also has a sister network in Brazil, called Brazil Junior. 

About a month later, I get an e-mail from Lindita Komani, JADE's international enlargement manager, saying (this is me paraphrasing in "Amuurican English") "Yo, we want JADE's network in America. We know you do this sorta thing. Come to Kosovo." To which my response was (after rethinking my trips to Greece or Amsterdam), HELL YES! (When else would I have the incentive to go to Kosovo...)

Throughout the year, JADE has various meetings to bring members together. This Summer Meeting was held in Prishtina with a focus on Sustainable Development in Business in the 21st century, particularly using Kosovo as a case study. 

3) Kosovo is young. And Youthful. 

Kosovo is truly a "NEWBORN" country, with under-30-year-olds making up about 70% of the population. Lets put this into perspective: 

Upon meeting a professor from the American University of Kosovo, he invited me to meet his Professional Studies Class--where he teaches members of the cabinet about International Law, Politics, Political Economy etc.  Classes to run a country basically. I went to a local cafe and basically had a beer with Kosovo's various ministers. Most were under 30. 

The Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was 27. Yea. Most Americans this age can only do this sort of thing on "Empire Earth" or "Sim City." Youth are running this country. 

Prishtina screams youth. There are almost as many discos as supermarkets. New store and cafe facades a la New York City pop up over old buildings with concrete peeling on top and barbed wire fences. Most of the youth are coming back from the USA or Austria to claim the opportunity of running their new country. 

People are selling their farms to send their children to university. It is amazing. 

When the panelists at the conference spoke to us, they spoke to us as if we were CEO's of major companies here to invest. The thing is, there is no franchising or branding. Kosovo depends on small start ups to invest. So essentially, we were their future. There is a spirit of entrepreneurship, of starting new, of starting something of one's own after years of, after one panelist put it, "Communism, Socialism, then I don't know what." 

4) Kosovo is rebuilding with optimism

Okay, so the numbers look grim economically. 95% import with 5% export. Loans at 14-16%. Yet EVERYWHERE you look, there is building. Bricks and car sales are way up. They are trying to build a new power plant. Everyone is opening a cafe, a telecom company, an IT firm, a consultancy office, a bank, a disco. Barbed wire and the UNHCR building sit next to the Route 66 Burger Cafe. We visited many small start ups, including MDA (Consulting and Management), Cacttus (IT), and even a fashion designer, Krenare Rugova, who studied/worked at Parsons in NYC and in Paris (please see my fashion blog)

The conflict is visible, but deteriorating, quite literally. For instance, the 10-13 floors of "Grand Hotel Prishtina" where I stayed was accessible via stairs. These floors were used during the war as "Interrogation" centers (use your imagination), according to the American Journalists we met there. The floors were stripped of their carpet and there was evidence of old electrical fires. Look off the roof and you could see a city of satellites. Old concrete and barbed wire walls are falling. In their place, new facades and signs of new businesses were coming up. 

As Mimoza Kusari, from the American Chamber of Commerce most powerfully said at a Panel on July 18th,  “We exist. The war is over, it is long over. We have to be in charge. We have to be trusted.”

5) Religious Plurality (ahem Secularism) in Kosovo

Most people are surprised to know that Kosovo is made up of primarily Muslims. This is almost a misnomer. No where else can you hear an electronic, recorded call to prayer. This would be so Harram anywhere else. Most Kosovars are very secular. Religion is a cultural thing that poses no problem to them. 

I did go to a 15th century Serbian Orthodox monastery in Kosovo, where I crashed three weddings in 30 minutes. It was guarded by Swedish military forces and I saw Irish NATO walking around. Kids were singing 50 cent to me while asking for money. I saw the most beautiful frescos of my life in that little monastery. I kissed them. The smell of incense came over me and a reverence filled me, like an imploding explosion. The Serbian Nun (who spoke perfect English) had help me out after a moment... 

Christians and Muslims live in peace in Kosovo. They drink together, that is for damn sure. 

6) Kosovo is Safe

Kosovo recently joined the IMF and the World Bank, as well as OPIC. This is a testament to the development of the country. Never did I feel directly in danger (though I always kept my guard up!) While there remains to be some ethnic tensions between Albanians and Serbians, some small crimes arising etc, this is nothing compared to say NYC or something. The War is over though. Move on friends. 

7) Kosovo is Wired

I cannot get Youtube in Turkey, but I can in Kosovo. Free wi-fi zones are EVERYWHERE. We visited many small IT companies. Everyone has a cell phone, yet Vodafone does not exist there yet, only the domestic carrier, Ipko. Everyone is very knowledgeable of global news, culture, events. Satellites are everywhere. It was their only way out. 

Driving down the broken highway on a flat tire listening to Kanye along the border is something I will never forget. 

8) Kosovo LOVES America

Rt. 66 Burgers and Fries. American Flags everywhere. More than America. Bill Clinton Street intersecting with Mother Theresa Street. Celebrations for the 4th of July. People blessing me everywhere I went. People naming their children Bill Clinton or Hillary. This is about the only place on the European Continent where you see so much pride for America. Everyone speaks English too! (Along with Albanian)

9) Kosovo can be the Future

People seem to have forgotten about Kosovo in the scholarly community. Everyone is packing up and going to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict or Iraq. Perhaps rightfully so. 

Yet Kosovo offers itself as a multicultural, multiethnic, religiously plural country, who needed help to be liberated with US intervention. Sounds like Iraq, right? Kosovo could be a model of post-conflict development if we only give it the chance to be so. We need to study it, give it a chance, invest in it, REMEMBER it. 

In the main square, there is a building that says, in English, "WE ARE THE FUTURE." In many ways, they are. They have the capability to fashion a whole new sort of state and be the model to the world for this. 

In short, this multiethnic, multicultural, religiously pluralistic (Muslim and Christian!), youthful, and young country is everything the EU wants to be and everything America stands for--at least value/ideal wise. Granted, Kosovo has a long way to go, but the fact that it symbolizes these values is gigantic. 

10) Kosovo and Me

I suddenly find myself as a "soft" diplomat for America. I find myself thinking of different business plans every moment. I'm reading everything I can on the Balkans. I am basically giving myself a crash course in international investing and real estate. I'm so eager I cannot sleep. 

I had a long conversation with Lindita (which I won't share entirely here). Lets just say that the memory of what Kosovo has gone through is definitely not forgotten, but there remains a spirit, not just in business, but in art, politics, and music too that exists to keep everyone going. 

I don't know how such a small country can have such a huge power on me. Everyday, I get bombarded with emails and Facebook messages from curious Kosovars, who want to know why I was there, if I'm coming back, if I liked the country. They are the most curious, proud, and kind people I have met in quite some time. 

I'm exhausted but energized with life. With pride. With Hope. With innovation. With creativity.  "Yes, We Can" is a motto for the world, but "NEWBORN" is an idea for the future of it.