The Bosnia and then the Kosovo Wars, which
were conceived in much of the world only in terms of Serbian nationalism
under Milosevic, have yet another dark side to them that is not widely
discussed, and that is the rise of Islam in the Balkans.
During the Ottoman domination of the
Balkans, many of the region's inhabitants: Bulgars, Serbs, Albanians,
Montenegrins and Croats embraced Islam as a way to elevate their status in
the eyes of the occupying Muslim Power. But when those peoples attained
independence through bitter wars of liberation, Muslim populations
remained in their localities, for the most part as minorities in the
countries where they belonged.
Yugoslavia, which was constituted of a
federation of six states and two autonomous territories (both belonging to
Serbia), elevated Bosnia-Herzegovina to the status of an "ethnic" state,
like all others, by making Islam as an identity, parallel to the
identities of the the Serbs, Croatians, etc. So, when Yugoslavia
disintegrated, Bosnia had to assert its Muslim identity because it had
none other, in spite of the fact that the majority of its population was
either Serb or Croat.
In Bosnia it was the revivalist Islamic
ideology of Ilia Izetbegovic which was the engine of this new Bosnian
Nationalism, which was aided by Iran and other Muslim countries, happy to
see Islamic politics back in Central Europe. Then came the Albanian
uprising in Kosovo, which duplicated the same situation, and driving the
re-Islamization of that land under the support of the West.
The result is that while the Muslims have
established a continuity which drives a wedge within Christian Central
Europe, the West is looking with indifference to that evolving situation
which they hope would create a docile Turkish-like Islam. But in view of
the trouble Turkey itself is suffering from Muslim fundamentalists, it is
doubtful whether these hopes would be fulfilled.