Masters of the Universe: NATO's Balkan Crusade [Paperback]

Tariq Ali (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 2000

Harold Pinter, Edward Said, Oskar Lafontaine, Yevgeny Yevtushenko and other distinguished dissidents explain their opposition to NATO's war in the Balkans.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The essays in this book on the Balkans, notes editor Tariq Ali in his introduction, "share one common approach to the region: all regard the break-up of Yugoslavia as a major European disaster." They are also uniformly and often vituperatively negative when it comes to NATO's 1999 war against Serbia. This event dominates the book, and the contributors have nothing good to say about it. The war gave a "green light" for Russia to assault Chechnya ("Could it be that this is Moscow's reward for helping to end the war in Kosovo?"), intensified poor relations between India and Pakistan, and made China more aggressive toward Taiwan and Tibet. Ali even asserts that the Chinese embassy in Belgrade--whose bombing was called an accident at the time--was "clearly included" on the NATO hit list. (Stranger still is Ali's approving quotation from Hitler's Mein Kampf on the subject of English media manipulation; his point is the moral equivalence of NATO's press relations and Nazi propaganda.)

All the views contained in Masters of the Universe? are way to the left of mainstream opinion; essay authors include Noam Chomsky and Edward Said. A spirit of anti-Americanism also pervades the book. Gilbert Achcar, for instance, notes "the current level of the U.S. defense budget corresponds rationally to the U.S. aspiration to imperial expansion and exclusive global hegemony." In other words, the United States fought in Kosovo because it wants to rule the world. Somewhat underscoring this claim, Ellen Meiksins Wood cites an ill-advised comment by President Clinton about Kosovo's importance: "If we're going to have a strong economic relationship that includes our ability to sell around the world, Europe has got to be a key.... That's what this Kosovo thing is all about." But, overall, the left-wing slant of the contributors of Masters of the Universe? makes it a less-than-balanced assessment of what has happened in the Balkans. --John J. Miller

About the Author

Tariq Ali is a writer and filmmaker. He has written over a dozen books on world history and politics, and scripts for both stage and screen.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Verso (April 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1859842690
• ISBN-13: 978-1859842690
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,042,563 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An accurate account of geopolitics beyond Balkans Wars, June 23, 2000

By 

Eric Vertommen (Brussels Belgium) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Masters of the Universe: NATO's Balkan Crusade (Paperback)

Involved in children humanitarian help during the Bosnian War and despite knowing the Western media bias, reading this book was an eye-opener. It showed all the interests of major powers in the region and explained the rational beyond the wars (Bosnia, Kosovo). Combined with Brzezinsky's 'The Great Game' title of the books could read: Realpolitik, theory and practice. A must read for anyone wanting to understand South-Eastern Europe and Middle East politics today.

19 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Read this Book, November 10, 2000

By 

"llllllllkjhgffss" (Chico, Ca USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Masters of the Universe: NATO's Balkan Crusade (Paperback)

...this is an excellent book. It is a must read for all those people who care about what actually goes on in the world. Although some articles are quite long, they are interesting and are great at showing how we have been misled by the media. How many people who have not read this book honestly knew that the "dictator" Milosevic doesn't even have a majority in parliament? Also great at showing how we don't think about things, such as how will bombing people help them? Or did the U.S. really intervene for humanitarian reasons, and if so why haven't we invaded Turkey?

7 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Absurd revisionism, June 6, 2005

By 

Srebrenica Forever (Sweden) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Masters of the Universe: NATO's Balkan Crusade (Paperback)

This book questions the real U.S. motives in the Balkans. Its central question is why did the NATO intervene in Bosnia and Kosovo. Despite the fact that this is a legitimate question, this book grossly fails to provide honest answers. Every author of this book (all left intellectuals) seems to be oblivious to the following indisputable facts:

1. The war in Bosnia was an aggression, NOT a civil war. Therefore, the NATO intervention against Serbia was both warranted and justifiable.

2. Serbia attacked Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and ultimately Kosovo in order to create a "Greater Serbia" and ensure Serbian hegemony.

3. We are all obliged to act whenever someone is defenseless and powerless. The people of Bosnia and Kosovo were facing a much more powerful aggressor. How do you fight someone who is armed to the teeth?

4. The international community refused to rescind the arms embargo and also at first refused to intervene in Bosnia and Kosovo. NATO should have intervened sooner and the bloodshed in Bosnia could have been prevented. 300000 people had to die before the NATO decided to put an end to the Serbian aggression.

5. What was the alternative to military intervention? To allow Milosevic to exterminate all non-Serbs and realize his dream of a "Greater Serbia"? Why negotiate with a war criminal?

6. The NATO intervention in Kosovo did not exacerbate the situation on the ground. Even if it did, it was only a temporary escalation of the conflict. Perhaps we should have done what these left intellectuals suggest: continue negotiating with the tyrant (Milosevic) while his troops continue killing innocent civilians?

7. It is one thing to criticize the U.S. transgressions but it is a completely different thing to deny atrocities. Diana Johnstone, the notorious apologist for the Serbian atrocities, for example claims that the Serbs were the victims of the U.S./German conspiracy to destroy Yugoslavia. Johnstone denies that genocide took place in Bosnia. These assertions are so ridiculous that they warrant no serious comment.

8. Even if the U.S. had an ulterior motive for intervening against Serbia I do not think that the people of Kosovo care. All that matters to them is that someone (be it the U.S. Russia or France) comes to their rescue. If attacked by a vehement assailant, would you honestly care why someone saved your life?

All in all, a despicable book full of vicious lies, propaganda, preposterous revisionism and factual errors. If you want to condemn the U.S. imperialism, fine with me but when you start denying atrocities I say: shame on you!