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Fools' Crusade: Yugoslavia, Nato, and Western Delusions Paperback – Illustrated, November 1, 2002

by Diana Johnstone (Author)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 109 ratings
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Military interventions on supposedly humanitarian grounds have become an established feature of the post-Cold War global order. Since September 11, this form of militarism has taken on new and unpredictable proportions. Diana Johnstone's well-documented study demonstrates that a crucial moment in establishing in the public mindand above all, within the political context of liberalism and the leftthe legitimacy of such interventions was the "humanitarian" bombing of the former Yugoslavia in 1999.
In the course of the civil wars that led to the break-up of Yugoslavia, a complex history came to be presented as a morality play in which the parts were scripted to meet the moral needs of the capitalist West. The identification of Muslims as defenseless victims and Serbs as genocidal monsters inflamed fears and hatreds within Yugoslavia, and prepared the way for power to be shifted from the people of the region to such international agencies as NATO.
Deceptions and Self-Deceptionstests the popular myths against the reality of Yugoslav history. Johnstone identifies the common geopolitical interests running through such military interventions, and argues persuasively that they create problems rather than solving them. She shows that the "Kosovo war" was in reality the model for future destruction of countries seen as potential threats to the hegemony of an "international community" currently being redefined to exclude or marginalize all but those who conform to the interests of the United States.
A concluding chapter shows how the script prepared for Yugoslavia is being re-enacted in Afghanistan. Whether Milosevic's trial before the International Court at the Hague or the capture of bin Laden will provide an adequate conclusion to this ideological play-making, remains an open question.

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  1. Print length
    288 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Monthly Review Press
  4. Publication date
    November 1, 2002
  5. Dimensions
    5.26 x 0.63 x 8.48 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    158367084X
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1583670842
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Book Description

A discussion of the political illusion created by the humanitarian bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999 that tests popular beliefs

About the Author

Diana Johnstoneis a distinguished researcher and commentator on contemporary global politics. She is the author of The Politics of Euromissiles: Europe’s Role in America’s World (Verso, 1985). Her writings have been published in New Left Review, Counterpunch, and Covert Action Quarterly.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Monthly Review Press; First Edition (November 1, 2002)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 288 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 158367084X
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1583670842
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 13 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.26 x 0.63 x 8.48 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 109 ratings

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4.6 out of 5 stars
109 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book provides good, well-researched information in an easy-to-read style. They appreciate the historical context and facts that were missed. The story integrates historical tragedies with immediate motivations, providing a thorough study of a forgotten war. Readers describe the author as knowledgeable and skillful, writing compellingly but dispassionately.

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Information qualityWriting qualityHistorical contextPacing
11 customers mention "Information quality"11 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the book's well-researched and informative content. They find it well-written with accurate historical context and numerous footnotes from respected journals, newspapers, and other sources. Readers appreciate the author's interest in truth rather than politics.

"...The book itself is very well written and very well documented...." Read more

"...The prose is elegant and straightforward . This lucid documentation of NATO's first bombing war is vital to understanding our present and..." Read more

"...She achieves her objective in well documented and easy to read prose...." Read more

"...The book is well researched with hundreds of footnotes from respected journals, newpapers and other sources...." Read more

7 customers mention "Writing quality"7 positive0 negative

Customers find the book well-written and easy to read.

"...The book itself is very well written and very well documented...." Read more

"The author is an excella t writer and digs deep to explore and provide historical context and facts that were ignored,obscured,or otherwise..." Read more

"...Easy to read, essential to understand." Read more

"...She achieves her objective in well documented and easy to read prose...." Read more

5 customers mention "Historical context"5 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the historical context provided in the book. They find it an insightful study of a forgotten war, the systematic destruction of Yugoslavia by the U.S. The story integrates historical tragedies with immediate motivations. Readers praise the author's command of Balkan history and wise writing style.

"...author is an excella t writer and digs deep to explore and provide historical context and facts that were ignored,obscured,or otherwise mishandled..." Read more

"The author has a deep soul, an incomparable command of Balkan history, and writes both wisely and dispassionately—without pretending to be neutral..." Read more

"...summing-up of the background, issues, events, and bigger picture surrounding this series of wars...." Read more

"Excellent alternative history. Truth in all the information. Well done Diana Johnstone." Read more

3 customers mention "Pacing"3 positive0 negative

Customers find the book has a good pacing. They say the author writes well and compellingly, while also being wise and dispassionate.

"The author has a deep soul, an incomparable command of Balkan history, and writes both wisely and dispassionately—without pretending to be neutral..." Read more

"...then you're up for a sober, compelling, and, for once, believable account of what happened there...." Read more

"Diana Johnstone writes well and compellingly. However, what was omitted from her book was intriguingly missing...." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Hemingway
    5.0 out of 5 stars A Very Good Book
    Reviewed in the United States on March 30, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    I would firstly say to ignore, or to at least treat very cautiously, the one star reviews of this book. It is quite evident that some of the reviewers have not read the book, but are simply challenging it's premise on moral grounds. Secondly, there is an obvious emotionally charged bias against this book - its a book that challenges the most fundamental truths of not only what happened in Yugoslavia during the 90's, but also of US foreign policy of which we have witnessed 'blow back' to in the most tragic and spectacular fashion.

    The people who rate this poorly are the very same people that, time and time again, believe so willingly anything the western media tells them (they probably still believe that the Vietnamese *did* attack US ships in the Tonkin Gulf, and that Iraq does have WMD's...). They are the 'moral majority' fed on lies and ignorance. But being morally correct makes them feel better and it makes them better people - and not inhuman monsters that question the legitimacy of claims made by governments that have, throughout history, sought to distort the truth for political aims (in reality economic ones). I hope these same reviewers have condemned the US for the millions of Vietnamese civilians that were murdered by the US govt during the Vietnam War..and that Nixon, Johnson et al should be found guilty of the 'joint criminal enterprise' of murderous US aggression in Indochina. Hmmm...i wonder.

    Let us not forget that crimes were committed during this war..as they are in every war..and that BOTH sides committed them. This is something that this moral majority seems to forget. No one is disputing the crimes, but only the intent (as this is the basis of the so-called 'justice' being metered out by the ICTY). What is being disputed is the readiness of media agencies to only report those crimes committed by the Serbs. This readiness was founded not on the preservation of peace, or some genuine humanitarian objectives, but on individual gain, and for broader geopolitical aims that in the process have attempted to ruin a country and its reputation.

    The book itself is very well written and very well documented. Even 6 years after it's publication, little in the way of additional facts have surfaced that could be said to refute the arguments raised in this book.

    Buy this book. It is worth every cent.
    24 people found this helpful
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  • Terre Quinn-Guerrieri
    5.0 out of 5 stars "Humanitarian War gives NATO a new lease on life and makes members very happy.
    Reviewed in the United States on May 12, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    The author is an excella t writer and digs deep to explore and provide historical context and facts that were ignored,obscured,or otherwise mishandled by the main stream media during the U.S.A's final "humanitarian"dismemberment of Yugoslavia.

    .The prose is elegant and straightforward .
    This lucid documentation of NATO's first bombing war is vital to understanding our present and future experience with NATO's existence.
    One person found this helpful
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  • David E. Stewart
    5.0 out of 5 stars Essential
    Reviewed in the United States on June 14, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    If you were to read one book about how the Left was enlisted into supporting the USA's military adventurism this is it. If you wanted to understand why the destruction of Yugoslavia is important in understanding events in Ukraine today, this is it. Easy to read, essential to understand.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • The Escapists
    4.0 out of 5 stars Important Piece of the Puzzle
    Reviewed in the United States on March 17, 2004
    Verified Purchase
    While I disagree with many of Jonhstone's conclusions, the information and viewpoint she provides is water in the desert for those trying to grasp the issues surrounding the collapse of Yugoslavia. To understand any complex conflict, one must attempt to understand what the antagonists are arguing, evaluate ALL facts, and attempt to synthesize this information in a meaningful and useful way.
    While most books on the subject are written without challenging the basic assumptions we have been taught through governmental and non-governmental agencies and the media, Johnstone focuses on the Serbian perspective, which few in the West have heard. This viewpoint is vital to any student of Yugoslavia, whether studying Croatian, Slovenian, Albanian, or any other former Yugoslav national group's history or anthropology, since it provides rare but crucial keys to understanding why Yugoslavia failed after the fall of the Soviet Union.
    I would certainly not read this book in a void of other detailed information. Ms. Johnstone herself limits the scope of the book to the Serbian perspective and to challenge the assertion that NATO's intervention was just (see page 14). She achieves her objective in well documented and easy to read prose.
    I would also suggest "Neighbors at War: Anthropological Perspectives on Yugoslav Ethnicity, Culture, and History" published by Pennsylvania State University Press.
    In a conflict where Western society has received a simplified version of a complex conflict, Johnstone provides enough information to empower the reader to challenge and test generally accepted assumptions about the conflict.
    43 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

  • Baby Jane
    5.0 out of 5 stars Impartial
    Reviewed in Australia on May 7, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    Best book written on this topic.
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  • Hazel Lytle
    5.0 out of 5 stars Bosnia today; Ukraine tomorrow with stops in Libya, Egypt and maybe Syria along the way...
    Reviewed in Canada on January 31, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    Having just read the book and now the reviews it is interesting to see the variety of opinions. My opinion is that if you want to understand what is happening in the Ukrainian in 2014 you need to read what was going on in Bosnia in 1990-1995 and, more importantly, what happened in Kosovo in 1997 - 1999. And a very good place to start in that education is this well researched book by Diana Johnstone. We will never know what happened at Srebrenica or Racak but we know that what we were told in the press was not true - eyewitnesses have seen to that. Are Ms. Johnstone's views of these events the right ones? She doesn't claim that they are, is so why would I. But I lean a long way in her direction. My feeling, after reading this book, is the same as when I read the Gulag Archipelago... there is no plumbing the depths of human depravity whether sponsored by Soviet thugs or Western thugs. Reading this book does not leave one feeling exhilarated to be alive and happy to be human but it is very, very important stuff to know.
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  • ADAM
    5.0 out of 5 stars Fatally misled
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 27, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    When the Berlin Wall was destroyed in 1989 and the USSR ceased to be a world power opposing the West and the USA, Yugoslavia, which had been considered a bulwark between the West and the Soviet Empire, ceased to be of importance to the West (by which I mean the USA and its NATO allies). Furthermore, the ending of the Soviet Empire removed the chief obstacle to the expansion of the USA's global imperial ambitions.

    This excellent book by Diane Johnstone describes how the West was both misled by irredentist nationalistic groups in the former Yugoslavia, and how it allowed itself to deliberately misinterpret facts which did not suit its own aims. The aim of the West was to demonise Serbia for a multitude of reasons, some of which were self-serving. Western military and financial aid was given to anti-Serbian factions for 'humanitarian' reasons, to counter the atrocities allegedly perpetrated by the Serbs against, for example, the Catholic Croats, the Bosnian Moslems and the Kosovar Albanians. In each of these examples, there were undoubtedly atrocities perpetrated by both sides: Serbs killing Albanians or Bosnians AND vice-versa. However, the Western media only chose to recognise killings carried out by the Serbs, or those that might have been carried out by them but were never proven.

    Before, international 'humanitarian' assistance in the form of NATO troups could be provided to the so-called oppressed minorities in Yugoslavia, it was necessary to encourage the break-up of the federation into smaller nation states such as Bosnia, Croatia, and Slovenia. This way, conflicts that should have correctly have been considered as civil wars within Yugoslavia suddenly became international disputes in which it was deemed suitable to provide international military aid.

    The break up of Yugoslavia was aided and abetted by the West, for example by Germany. Germany during WW2 championed the formation of an independent Croatia and an enlarged Albania that included large parts of Kosovo. In the 1980s and 1990s, this country, no longer led by the Nazis but instead by social minded liberals including the Green Party, encouraged the re-formation of what had been achieved in the early 1940s. The Croats and Slovenians were considered by the Germans and others in the West as being 'civilised' Europeans, whereas the Serbs were considered as uncivilised barbarians. Even worse, the Serbs, thanks to their poor public relations compared to those of the Bosnians, Croats, and Albanians, became the new 'Nazis' of Europe - purveyors of 'genocide' and a new 'holocaust'.

    Johnstone goes to great pains to demonstrate that not only has the word 'humanitarian' become corrupted in its usage, but also the far more emotive words 'genocide' and 'holocaust'. In the famous Serbian 'massacre' at Srebrenica, not only the Bosnian women and children were spared by the Serbs, but also wounded men. This does not happen in true genocide. Furthermore, in the case of this particular unfortunate incident, it seems that the Serbian massacre of the Bosnians might well have been engineered by the leader of the Bosnian Moslems in order to gain further 'humanitarian' (i.e military and financial) aid from the West.

    What was in it for the West? Why was the bombing of Serbia so important or even necessary? Had Yugoslavia been allowed to continue as an independent multi-cultural country as it had been prior to the downfall of the USSR, it might not have been amenable to the expansionist, power hungry designs of the West, for which you should read 'USA'. One of these was the construction of an oil pipe-line from the Black Sea to the Albanian port of Vlora on the Adriatic coast. This would allow oil from the Caspian to avoid travelling along the already congested Bosphorus, and also to use the larger tankers which the port of Vlora would easily accommodate. It is therefore not surprising the the USA have built Camp Bondsteel near to Urosevac in Kosovo, conveniently located to guard the proposed pipe-line.

    Even if only 5% of what Johnstone claims in her meticulously annotated text is true, then what she writes should send shivers down the spine of anyone who values the true, old-fashioned meanings of words such as 'freedom', 'independence', 'humanitarian', and that favourite American word 'liberty' as well as 'genocide' and 'holocaust'. Johnstone successfully demonstrates how the citizens of the West were misled into believing a simplistic version of events in the Balkan peninsular, and were then bamboozled into thinking that aiding forces hostile to the West (eg Croatian fascists and Islamic mujahidin in Bosnia) and bombing Serbia would somehow resolve the problem. Instead of resulting in a humanitarian victory, the West wittingly and unwittingly magnified the suffering of the ordinary person, Serb and otherwise, in the former Yugoslav territories.

    This is a book that is a must-read if you are interested in Balkan matters and/or the growing malevolent influence of the USA on world affairs. The author writes well, and apart from achieving her main aims, gives a remarkably lucid view of the complex history of the country that was once known as 'Yugoslavia'.

    Reviewed by the author of "SCRABBLE WITH SLIVOVITZ" , a book about Yugoslavia before its break-up commenced in 1991.
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  • Knez Misa
    5.0 out of 5 stars A really great read from Diana Johnstone
    Reviewed in Canada on October 21, 2016
    Verified Purchase
    A really great read from Diana Johnstone! I had referenced this book before during my undergrad, her articulation of the events leading up to and during the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia were interesting and a great insight was provided. Compared to many of the Western approaches to this conflict it is a nice perspective hearing from another side of everything.
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  • MT
    5.0 out of 5 stars truth and accuracy
    Reviewed in Australia on January 5, 2020
    Verified Purchase
    Great account of what really took place. Item was delivered promptly and as advertised.
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