Southern California Proposes Secession

Souther California wants to secede from the rest of the state.

See the article in the LA Times here.

The state would be more populous than Pennsylvania and Illinois!

Just when I thought my studies secession were getting interesting, it pops up in my own country!

Failing Parallel Systems: Serbia Can't Afford Kosovo

For the past 12 years, driving through many Serbian enclaves in Kosovo one would see an abundance of people sitting as "security guards" at banks, post offices, and courts. However, none of these banks, post offices, or courts were run by Kosovo. Rather they were part of a parallel system funded by Belgrade. The many people employed there were also funded by Belgrade. For 12 years, many of these Serbs in Kosovo collected a check from Belgrade to resist assimilation into the Kosovo state system, or to even open businesses, go to Kosovo run schools, or take advantage of other benefits from the international community that was aligned with Kosovo.


For many years, these Serbs were under the patronage of Belgrade, collecting checks. That said, there were other checks from other internationals, and from Kosovo. Lets just say, there was money from different people at different times.

This kind of apathy and stagnation trickled down to the kids in the population, as described by my friend from Belgrade working there with the international community (excuse the vagueness, I just don't want to "expose" him). When the system was such that you could collect a check, very few youngsters made an effort to take advantage of opportunities within Kosovo or beyond.

This same friend mentioned before, working with Serbian IDPs in an enclave here, then told me something crazy. He could not get into his office because of very large protests of Serbians. He inquired into what was happening.

Belgrade had cut funding. They could not afford to pay for the six security guards at the post office in this parallel system. With economic troubles, it just was unfeasible to keep the remnants of this protest against Kosovo alive. At a certain point dollars speak louder than nationalism.

To boot, no one really reported this on the news; neither in Kosovo, nor Serbia, nor the English sources. Naturally, there is a strategic interest to not report this. Serbia doesn't want to seem like it is giving up on Kosovo and Kosovo often times doesn't want to admit this parallel system.

Naturally, all of this information is from word of mouth and from spending time with Serbian IDPs in this country. However, this is a critical sign at a critical moment in Kosovo. Serbia can't afford Kosovo anymore. There are bigger fish (like EU membership) to fry. With money leaving from many of the serial donors of days past, Kosovo could be facing a lot of civil unrest from the youth and now, even from the old who received those checks. Time is ticking in Kosovo.

Congrats South Sudan: Reflections from Kosovo, the 2nd Youngest

Last night, I sat in the NATO military base in Kosovo, Film City. With the American and Portuguese troops, I had delicious BBQ, sang 50s songs, and joked about riding a tank with them that is still on the base. These troops were still getting combat pay, meaning to say that they get the same pay in Afghanistan and Kosovo if they are the same rank. We drank to the fact that NATO will never leave in 100 years (the hope of many here) and that Kosovo was no longer the youngest country in the world.

Today, at a constitutional law conference designed in part by USAID to consult on amending the articles of the constitution dealing presidential elections, revamping the presidency (possibly making changes from vote by parliament to direct vote), and rethinking presidential powers. Considering 2/3 presidents in Kosovo have violated the constitution, serious problems exist in both the constitutional court and very possibly the constitution itself. Anyways, one person with a kind of melancholy announced, "KOSOVO IS NO LONGER THE YOUNGEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD."

The room was quiet for a moment. Suddenly constitutional reform was not as much an adventure of a new nation, but a task and duty that had to be readjusted because of failure. Naturally Kosovo is still new born, but the branding of "THE YOUNGEST" is not there. There was a lot of work to do, a lot of laws to change, a lot of rewriting of constitutions, a lot of corruption to kick, and a lot of mandates to meet.

Reflecting on all of these things, I realize that the term "STATE-BUILDING" is perhaps more of a vogue thing in Political Science terms; it sounds nice and when you look from afar, it certainly does seem like "building" a state. It was very attractive for a while until I think many realized, on the ground and not from afar (with the challenges--sometimes failures--in Kosovo, Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia, etc.) that you don't go in and "BUILD" anything. I argue the better term is "TRANSITIONING" not so much building. "STATE-BUILDING" seems vain, imperialistic even as a term. Frustrating at times. Perhaps some think it is like building a country in Sid Meiers Civilization. The thought is that "THE PEOPLE" will build this government and state, when in reality power remains in the hands of very few, if not completely foreign individuals. "Building" is one thing. "Getting by" seems more like it. Even just not falling backwards, but moving forwards. With failed missions like the ICO in Kosovo (recently insinuated by many journalists and newspapers as a failed mission), there are a lot of haunting and frustrating things ahead in the future for young states coming out of serious conflict zones.

I think about what is ahead for South Sudan. Secession is easier than building a country. "Getting by" is hard enough. The expectation of international assistance has its own complications as well. While I tend to be happy for South Sudan for its secession (and its recognition, something Kosovo will continue to struggle with), I can't help but think of the challenges of just putting together a decent constitution... and making sure people follow it. Luckily its secession was recognized by Sudan (Serbia still refuses to recognize Kosovo), but challenges still lie ahead. one challenge out of the way...

Kosovo is a lot better than it was 12 years ago, but it has a long way to go and optimism is beyond even waning. While I am happy for South Sudan, I can't help but think about where it may possibly be 5 or 10 years from now.

Liminality: Kosovo in Stages

Pardon my perhaps "aimless" reflection. Indulge me in this post. I promise some more investigative and interesting posts after this:

A dear friend of mine once describe me as a liminal person: always between one belief, place, status, identity or another one. I would say this may be true, but less because of liminality and more because of my own personal interest in both sides of the same coin.

Perhaps this is what draws me to Kosovo, South Ossetia, Abkhazia, Palestine, Nagorno-Karabagh and many other places that have a liminal status.

The fascinating thing about Kosovo is that I have seen it develop and change in three years now. Someone has joked to me that Kosovo is kind of like Hotel California. You can check in any time you like, but you just can't leave. You can stab it with your steely knives but you just can't kill the beast. Its a kind of place that endlessly has something to change, develop or grow. Because of the general openness of the population here, most things like national politics, information, gossip, networks, and news are in your grasp. Learning about how development, change, transitioning, and growth (or decline) after a high profile war is all at your finger tips here and there is a temptation to continue to watch where it goes.

In any case, I have seen Kosovo on the threshold of many different stages each year. When I first arrived in 2009 for only 4 short days in Kosovo, NATO (KFOR, the Kosovo NATO mission) was just beginning to pull out its street patrols in the capital. I could still see Italian troops in the street, guarding Mother Theresa street. Kosovars, still high from independence were very optimistic; I was, after all, at a youth entrepreneurial conference. Many internationals were very obviously still here. The following year, the first day I touched down in 2010 there was a some several thousand Muslims protesting for the right to wear hijab in school. A stray away from the farm? NATO still patrolled parts like Mitrovica and I witnessed IDPs that still did not have homes. KFOR billboards lined the streets and so did Tony Blair's face!

This year, I had to search for NATO cars and the billboards were not as obvious. Barbed wire still abound, but rusting everywhere, the first thing I see are Muslim protests in the street for the right to mosques. Major mergers in parties had occurred between a very pro-economic reform group and a seemingly anti-internationalist, near anarchist group (that had not been a political party until recently). One politician, recently charged with war crimes, had his party pay for billboards showing their support for him and denouncing any allegation of violent crime. Somehow, things were on a different stage entirely. People were restless. There were recent protests against government corruption as well. That said, the IDPs I had visited, now had houses. Something had developed and grown, though the main street (Mother Theresa) still had not been completed and was the same as it was last year. Kosovo seems to be a place that always changes but always stays the same.

Perhaps there is a constant state of limbo in Kosovo that is of interest to a scholar or journalist. The general openness of all the people here allows you to get a glimpse into everything from pop culture, corruption, islamic fundamentalism, politics, education, and the military. Though now 12 years after the war, Kosovo has a long way to go, but with every year, takes a step towards a new "inbetween." I am fascinated to see its direction and its development and have been honored to watch it.

An Act of Balance: Street Artist Tüfujeger

Living in a hostel, some pretty diverse types of people run into you. I've met Scottish Red Cross Workers, American English teachers, a Polish couple with a kid who have been on the road for a year, some random Iranians, a Latvian man who is finding himself, and German foresters.

However, meeting the Swiss street artists, Tüfujeger, exposed me to an underground world of street art.

Tüfujeger (his street name) has been on the road for almost a year. Starting in his home of Switzerland, he biked through Austria, Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Albania, Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey and finally Georgia. Never taking planes or buses, he insists on sleeping in his tent and living cheaply. When not biking, he is painting. Check out the website of his work here.

When talking to Tüfujeger, you get a real sense of a man embodying the idea of "Everything in moderation, even moderation." He is truly, as he says, "an act of balance." Having studied Art at University in Switzerland, getting a teaching degree to appease his father, Tüfujeger realized that he was not cut out for galleries or classroom, but rather the more deviant underground world of street art.

Ever since youth, he has been "playing soccer and painting" to fill a need to express himself in a public forum--whether you want to hear/see him or not! He likes going to the streets because its a public space that challenges the right to speech and also what we perceive as acceptable or beautiful. Working both slow and fast, he has trained his body to move with the environment that he paints within, adjusting each work not to some preconceived plan, but to the environment, the stories, and the people in each area. If there is something Tüfujeger does not like, its a white wall. He much prefers stories to layer, to interact with.

While he says he does not like to philosophize about his art, he told me that one should not go into street art with the expectation of analyzing or judging. You should just feel what you see. He told me when writing this blog, "Don't write about me, write about the paintings!" Such a fascinating man deserved some recognition though! That said, his works usually feature twisted figures that interact with the surfaces upon which they are painted. Here, in the hostel courtyard we see a figure with a bottle of chacha, some tomatoes (someone was eating them during this), some dice because of a common game played here, and more. There is something fluid about his thought and work. It may seem deviant and even a little creepy, but there is a flow that makes it beautiful, or at least very much Tüfujeger!

The Autonomous Republic of Adjara

As I walked past her in Batumi, one woman carrying a shopping bag stopped in front of me and gazed at my tourist map, and then my eyes. The hopeful and excited look on her face said, "THEY'RE HERE!"

This seemed to be the trend during my time in Batumi, a Black Sea-side resort town in the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, the Republic bordering Turkey that is officially part of Georgia. Batumi and Kobuleti, two tourist destination cities on the coast, have been eagerly awaiting tourists from the West for many years, but it really hasn't been until this year that it had any attraction that would bring Western tourists en masse. While investments are rolling in and construction is 24/7, the signs of what Batumi once was are everywhere. The delay in development was not helped in that it was governed by an authoritarian dictator for many years who treated Adjara as his own country--not part of Georgia. It also did not help that for many years before that it was barricaded from the Western world by the Red Wall that was the Soviet Union.

By the looks of Batumi today, you would not guess that even 5 years ago, electricity was rationed off to only a few hours a day and most homes around the city still had straw roofs. Yet, as I was boarding the Mashrutka (minibus) to return to my 8 hour overnight sleeper train (for a trip that would take 3 hours anywhere else) back to Tbilisi, an old Russian man explained all of this to Misha and myself. Batumi had come a long way, and I'll tell you why.

For the longest time, Adjara, like Georgia, had been under Soviet Control. When the fall of the wall came around, a new fellow, Aslan Abashidze, came to power. Because of Georgia's general lack of a strong and cohesive government, and its desire to appease its separatist provinces so long as they stay part of Georgia, Abashidze could rule Adjara as if it were his own country. He collected taxes on the border with Turkey, had a standing militia, and was essentially distinct from Georgia. Naturally Abashidze was not the best ruler (later, he was charged with embezzling over 98 million lari and murdering a civil servant). When the Rose Revolution happened in Georgia, deposing long time leader Shevardnadze and putting in Sakashvili, it wasn't long before the new leader tried to get Adjara under control. Sakashvili eventually got Abashidze to flee to Moscow. While military tensions were high, not a single shot was fired.

So finally, this beach town long a favorite of Soviet tourists could open itself up to the world. The lonely Sheraton there had long been a symbol of the potential for tourism, but it wasn't until this very year for anything substantial to be built, including a new chic Radisson and a Kempinski hotel. Boardwalks, restaurants, attractions, and renovations that make the city look like a tropical, Parisian, St. Petersburg-ian paradise, juxtaposed against the relative poverty surrounding such new buildings make Batumi a very apt location to study budding development in a post-Soviet zone.

Last year when Misha went, most buildings were either mossy unfinished skeletons of a time when development was more prominent and promising.

Today, development is a reality and the skeletons will not be skeletons for long. While most tourists come from Turkey, Iran, Armenia, and Azerbaijan still, there is a slow trickle of French, German, British, and Americans backpacking in.

During the day, an old woman stopped Misha and I--not wanting to give us a homestay surprisingly; she just wanted to know where we were from and it we were enjoying Batumi. When I said I was an American, she blessed me and "spat" on me in that my Big Fat Greek Wedding kind of way. I was welcome in Batumi.

8 Proud Hours in Warsaw

When I think of Warsaw, I think of something like this (Photos are my own):

After getting off of a rickety Polish airlines flight (LOT)-- (they lost my baggage even before I got on the plane, and just told me so), my suspicions were confirmed: Catholic, elements of post-Soviet architecture and broad avenues, European in the center. Sure, I stereotype.

What I did NOT expect, right as I was visiting one of the last synagogues in Warsaw, was a lot of loud, a lot of rainbows, and a lot of pride in this thriving "young" country.

The Spaniards gone wild. (Reminds me of my first pride in 2006, Madrid)

Whatever you are, you can be proud. (The rest of the sign reads, "Proud by choice")

SRSLY

This one is for a special friend. Notice the flag.

Warsaw was hopping with pride. Announcers, men "dressed" as priests, drag queens, lesbians, gays, straights, purples. We all marched together with the support of the police (who were thanked, by the little Polish I could understand). We marched together to the armory (I think?) towards Old Town where dancing, chanting, laughter, and love ensued. Balloon (wo)man, my favorite.

Of course, Poland is a traditionally ethnic country, and at the fringes of every Pride, there is always some not so proud people, held back by police (don't let this picture fool you, those police are just getting off duty).

Anti-Gay posters.

One man was even sprinkling holy water on the crowd.

As I was being shoved around by lenses much larger than mine, I decided to get some lunch before I starved to death from lack of food for almost 12 hours (or edible food). In the process of getting some perogies (sp?) I stumbled upon a movie set, WWII something:

Lord knows today, I was both in front and behind a lot of pictures...

For a country that went from communist to European Union capitalist (and the president of the EU is polish this year) in only a span of about 15 years, I am really impressed at how far they have come and the amazing direction they are going. I AM PROUD!