A NEW WAVE OF NATIONALISM: How we became traitors

In recent years, I have seen nationalism slowly awaken even among people who managed to resist it during the war. Some of them accept the imposed reality and look for a comfortable position in a divided society. Others have simply lost their temper, years do not always bring wisdom, and resentment over missed opportunities is more frequent. The third are professionals, unscrupulous strategists of their own better future, continuing the tradition of the first generation of "democratic change". 

THE ONLY TRUE CONFLICT

The third are the most dangerous. From the 1990s until now, there have been different views on the future of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Those who saw the realization of their own national interests only through the reduction of others, were not constantly opposed, no matter how illogical it may seem. On the contrary, they have been sharing power, cooperating and trading for decades. The only two currents that have always clashed are between those who aspire to a state - in which it would be good only for them and theirs and others who dream of a country where it will be good for everyone. The former have always been dominant, and in recent years they seem to be getting closer to victory.  

These others never had a chance in that conflict. The nationalists had better logistics, regular introduction of fresh forces, stronger motivation and all state apparatuses on their side. And time was on their side, you just had to wait for the opponent to get tired. They had no problem with that. When one generation is satisfied and financially secures further and closer relatives, a new one emerges from the background, even hungrier and crueller, but rested and well-motivated. During this time, the forces that opposed them barely survived outside the occupied state apparatus, their ranks thinned out, desertions, betrayals, wandering ideas, and sudden withdrawals were frequent.

BASIC IDEAS 

As is usually the case in environments where family and interest ties have been closely intertwined for years, the last generation of nationalists has mutated strangely - they are more primitive, direct and cruel than their predecessors, and all their ideas are simplified as much as possible, as fundamentalists usually do. I will single out just a few of the most important ones.

 - The idea of a civil Bosnia and Herzegovina, in which many honest people have believed since the beginning of the 1990s, they have reduced to the possibility of re-election, in which the majority would subjugate the minority economically and in any other way.

- They insist on collective guilt and in that way prevent any reconciliation. Confidence among nations is currently at its lowest level since the end of the war, the state is completely divided on a mental level, more clearly than the current boundaries of public (read party) corporations. 

- The fight against corruption and institutional crime has been declared a betrayal of state interests. After mastering the judicial system, thanks to which state property has been looted with impunity for years, they plan to remove the very mention of corruption from public communication. In that way, in absolute silence, the project of reducing Bosnia and Herzegovina to interest feuds would be finally completed.

- The possibility of war has been revived, mostly because war psychosis cannot stand reason and logic. In the face of fear of war, the mention of human rights, corruption or the absence of an economic strategy becomes misplaced. In the post-war period, nationalists used the possibility of war to divert attention from their own bandit actions. When that strategy is revealed, they make a big turnaround - they push the thesis that pointing out corruption is a distraction from war plans! With this lovely twist, all those investigating corruption have become traitors who weaken the defensive power of their country. 

TRACE OF MONEY

There is no doubt that Milorad Dodik and Dragan Čović are working together to dispel any idea of a normal Bosnia and Herzegovina. To this end, only briefly, they were stopped by a new geostrategic rearrangement caused by the war in Ukraine. What are the forces doing that are declaratively defending a single state during that time? Instead of taking advantage of the precious respite and trying to renegotiate to reduce tensions, they stand aside, incite and rejoice. After twisting the idea of a civil state into the possibility of re-election and domination of the majority, they now hope that foreign diplomats will enable them to realize their dark desires - dominance in controlling more public companies from which they will extract money and more public goods to sell or split. Because that's all they care about - money and even more money.

Money has always stood behind every national strategy in Bosnia and Herzegovina. During the alleged struggle for national interests, able-bodied parts of nations emigrated, cultural institutions collapsed, and education declined… No nation experienced a renaissance, on the contrary, we are facing a demographic catastrophe, only national tycoons multiplied. We were so preoccupied with national issues that we forgot other fundamental human rights, the first two we neglected fundamentally - the right to human dignity and the right to life.

In the fight against organized crime, all the world's police use the same strategy - they follow the trail of money. In this way, they reveal the intentions and far-reaching plans of mobsters. If you are interested in the real reason for the unusual moves of the local national leaders, use the same method - follow the trail of money. That trail is bloody and disgusting and following it is dangerous, but that is really the only right way. If you are interested in the results of national strategies - just look around. And if you are declared a traitor, accept that as a compliment, I don't know what else to tell you.

(zurnal.info)