Serpent In The Bosom: The Rise And Fall Of Slobodan Milosevic [Paperback]

Lenard J Cohen (Author), Lenard J. Cohen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 9, 2002

The violent disintegration of the former Yugoslavia highlights the importance of a detailed understanding of the Balkan region. The political outlook and behavior of the Serbs and Serbian elites has been particularly bewildering to Western citizens and decision-makers. Serpent in the Bosom provides an analysis of Serbian politics from 1987 to 2002 that centers on an examination of Slobodan Milosevic’s rise to power, his pattern of rule, the war in Kosovo, and the recent democratic “revolution” in Serbia. Lenard Cohen examines Milosevic's shrewd admixture of Serbian nationalism and socialism and his utilization of the media, and other agencies, as part of his “technology of rule.” He explores Milosevic's complex relationship with Serbia's intelligentsia, the Orthodox church, the police, and the army, as well as Serbian-Albanian relations and the Belgrade regime’s ongoing controversy with Montenegro’s political leadership. What emerges is a clearer understanding of Serbia's enigmatic leader, his influence on the Balkans, and the process of political transition in Yugoslavia. This revised and updated edition includes material on Milosevic’s indictment before the International Tribunal at Hague and an analysis of Yugoslav political developments since December 2000.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Milosevic has been labeled a tyrant, a butcher and a war criminal responsible for the last 10 years of mayhem in the Balkans. Though he's been much scrutinized, no account has gone this far in contextualizing Milosevic's capriciousness and his troubled past in such a vital history and culture. Cohen, whose Broken Bonds examined Yugoslavia's Cold War-era political sovereignty and its demise after Tito's death, zooms in on a man whose choices were far more calculated than his often cowardly performance would suggest. Cohen tactfully and objectively discusses Milosevic's rise to authoritarian power, finding the origins of his "unbridled political ambition and brilliant political opportunism" in his youth, especially his law school days. Cohen also credibly explains how Milosevic's wife, Mirjana, silently pulled the strings and influenced key decisions. Relating Milosevic's extremist ideology to Serbia's turbulent history, Cohen stresses the crucial role that Kosovo has played in shaping the "serpent in the bosom" Milosevic's metaphor for the glum faith of Serbian nationalism. Cohen does not discuss Serbia's privileged position during Tito's 45-year reign, instead focusing on that reign's negative outcomes, and he skims over Milosevic's ill-conceived goals to conquer territories of Croatia and Bosnia. But those familiar with Milosevic's conduct during the five years of bloodshed in Bosnia will not find this a weak spot, as Cohen's exhaustive portrait offers numerous intriguing insights and is sure to incite debate. Not for the neophyte, Cohen's challenging, accessible analysis will find its most appreciative audience in academia. (Feb. 23) Forecast: More exacting than Dusko Doder and Louise Branson's well-received Milosevic: Portrait of a Tyrant as yet the only other Balkan study with Milosevic as centerpiece Cohen's book will be snatched up by historians and political scientists.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Cohen's book argues persuasively that Milosevic was a political opportunist who exploited Yugoslavia's failing Communist system and the deterioration of interethnic relations (mainly Serb-Albanian) while engaging in some skillful political maneuvering to stay in power for more than 13 years. Many have argued that the problems of the Serbian society during the past decade were just a case of a good nation gone bad in other words, that the cause of the Balkan tragedy lay primarily in Serbian and Yugoslav political, historical, and socioeconomic circumstances. Cohen shows, however, that without the existence of an adequate "political culture" susceptible to the appeals of chauvinistic nationalism as Serbian culture has evolved to be Milosevic would not have been able to hold on to power so long. Cohen's (political science, Simon Fraser Univ., BC) impressive understanding of Balkan politics is matched by his superb analysis of Milosevic's ascendance. Almost biographical at times, this comprehensive work clarifies Milosevic's overwhelming influence over recent Balkan events and also explains its ultimate demise. Natasa Musa, New York
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 496 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books; Revised edition (October 9, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813340233
• ISBN-13: 978-0813340234
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,381,222 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent one volume treatment of Milosevic's rule, July 31, 2001

By 

Frank Sellin "political scientist" (Charlottesville, VA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Serpent In The Bosom: The Rise And Fall Of Slobodan Milosevic (Hardcover)

This book is the best English-language treatment to date of Milosevic's rule in Serbia as can be found in a single volume.

It is not just a biography, though that, too, can be found in the sections discussing Milosevic's rise to power (frequently drawing on the pathbreaking work of Serb journalist Slavoljub Djukic). Cohen's work is much more a well-researched account of the main political events, players, and contexts in Serbia/Yugoslavia where Milosevic is the central, but far from exclusive, focus.

Cohen treats primarily domestic politics, but also spends a fair amount of time on the foreign context, particularly in relation to Dayton and also the Kosovo conflict. He is particularly good on summarizing the levers of power and patrimonial methods used by Milosevic, and especially Serbian political culture--something of a favorite topic with Cohen--that helped to underpin Milosevic's rule. Cohen's cultural emphasis leads him to argue that some authoritarian social attitudes are likely to trouble, though not necessarily determine, Serbian politics after Milosevic's departure.

As much as I like the political-party level details available in Robert Thomas's _Politics of Serbia in the 1990s_ (especially on party origins), and the interesting political-cultural account in Eric Gordy's _The Culture of Power in Serbia_, Cohen does a better, more thorough job fleshing out the factional character of the Milosevic regime and its opposition, with more attention paid to basic features of political economy and analysis of social support for political players. It might be possible to improve on this book by touching up details and tightening particular arguments, but for an avowed case study speaking to larger questions, Cohen has raised the empirical and analytical bar impressively high.

Cohen's treatment of the Kosovo conflict is quite good in its details, but journalist Tim Judah's book on Kosovo is better on the genealogy and players of Albanian military and political groups and the negotiations at Rambouillet and during the war. For laypeople, Cohen also gives an excellent thumbnail sketch of debates over the character of nationalism, and concrete policy outcomes in the Balkans as a result of the debate. He does not, however, really clarify to what extent nationalism on any side should be tolerated and respected, preferring instead to warn the West in general terms to be "open-minded" and "pragmatic" of the complexities behind myths and national aspirations. It's a plea for comprehension first, but short on policy specifics, which, in retrospect, is perhaps not such a bad thing.

The only other flaw I have to mention is the repeated and distracting spelling errors [e.g., "loosing" for losing] and somewhat less frequent syntactical / grammatical mistakes peppered throughout. Considering how hard it is for all of us to edit our own copy after months of staring at monitors, the fault lies with copy editors who are paid not to rely solely on their spell-checkers and who might have tinkered in mistaken directions with the original copy.

This book is fairly smoothly written, although perhaps somewhat dense for non-academics. As of this writing, you'll be hard pressed to find a better account of Milosevic's Serbia, and I count it as a good reference and analytic help in my own research on Serbia compared to her neighbors. I'd give it 4.5 stars if I could, but I'm happy to round it up to 5 because it'll be awhile before anyone tops Cohen's accomplishment.

4.0 out of 5 stars Slobo not party animal, April 29, 2005

By 

N. P. Stathoulopoulos "nick9155" (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Serpent In The Bosom: The Rise And Fall Of Slobodan Milosevic (Hardcover)

This is the best of the Milosevic books in terms of biographical information for those interested in what kind of man he really is.

Granted, there isn't a lot of detail about him, but it's most than others. Something is always missing when people describe him--he was a charming but complete cynical bastardo. One has to be impressed with the trained abiltity to just lie to people outright and make them believe it. A man with no vision but a knack for quick power plays, the wily Slobo finally committed about fifty too many war crimes and just had to go. He now resides in The Hague, where his high blood pressure will be the ultimate judge before the hasty four-year trial wraps up.

Slobo sounds like a rather banal, cold dude. His rule was hardly prosperous. Multiple wars, sanctions, NATO bombs, refugees, massive atrocities--again, Slobo's skill is his ability to paint himself as a not-so-perfect leader who is no worse than anyone else. The country was run into the ground and finally they just couldn't take the atrocities and burned the Parliament building.

A very thorough account of the Milosevic years, though obviously Milosevic-centric. More than a biography of the leader, a pretty good history book as well.

Revised edition is inevitable. If he survives sentencing, we can possibly expect the autobiography, in which Slobo writes his own history book.

1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars An example of historical determinism, July 6, 2005

By 

George Fox "George" (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Serpent In The Bosom: The Rise And Fall Of Slobodan Milosevic (Hardcover)

Cohen pays all too little attention to Kosovo in this treatment of Milosevic-era Serbia, downplays popular culture (in spite of his professions to the contrary), and urges that the reader accept a version of historical determinism in which the actions of Serbs are seen as determined by the Ottoman occupation which ended in the nineteenth century. Cohen shows himself to have been sympathetic to the Serbian nationalist-expansionist project even while expressing a veiled contempt for Serbs. If one wants to understand Milosevic or, for that matter, Serbia in the Milosevic era, one would do a lot better to turn to the splendid treatments by Louis Sell or Adam LeBor.