Origins of a Catastrophe:: Yugoslavia and Its Destroyers- -America's Last Ambassador Tells What Happened an D Why

Origins of Catastrophe is a book for everyone who likes to see how Yugoslavia was broken up before it even existed. Warren Zimmerman - a former Yugoslavian U.S. Ambasador writes frankly and in details on all his encounters with the Yugoslavian beasts that lived in Serbia's parliament. When it comes to Kosovars long sufferings from serbs, he talks as if he were an Albanian but when it comes to Kosova's history he talks as if he were a Milosevic! He failed to mention Edith Durham's journals on Balkans in which she clearly explains that it was the Slavs who settled where Albanians always were at around 600 AD - but he doesn't failed to mention Rebecca West's 1184 pages book - more than half of them full of lies.This book was published in 1996 and the serbs which Zimmerman blamed and praised in his book - revealed their true selves only after the 1999 Kosova War - so I am pretty sure that Warren Zimmerman now has an even harsher view on serbs and more sympathetic views when it comes to Kosova's independence which is inevitable. Slow or fast, it is getting downloaded!After all this book became another treasure on my home library.

Despite the obvious biases and shortfalls to be expected in a book written by a former US Ambassador to Yugoslavia, the book is informative and useful in piecing together the complicated chain of events taking place simultaneously in the seperate Republics as the Federation crumbled. The book does tend to minimize the role of the US and NATO forces and focus more on the domestic events driven by local power figures but all in all I would say that the author does an admirable job of writing a relatively short, concise book about a very complex story without losing too many of the vital facts. This may not be the "definitive" book on the collapse of Jugoslavija but for the average reader it is certainly a good foundation from which to delve deeper.

Ambassador Zimmerman does a good job of candidly assessing the missteps of American foeign policy managers in dealing with the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia. He convincingly argues that Yugoslavia's disintegration was not inevitable, and that the socioeconomic factors of that nation were no more inclined to cause the catastrophe than are conditions in many other nations. He attributes the collpase to the rise of vicious leaders like Milosevic and Tudjman who used nationalism and ethnic hatred to propel themselves to dictatorial power. Ambassador Zimmerman's book is an important contribution to realizing the devastating impact that socipoathic personalities have when they work themselves into positions of power. The Ambassador's book is also a powerful argument for the value of the United States' professional foreign service officers (FSOs). Mr. Zimmerman exemplifies the best in our tradition of professional FSO's, a tradition lately undermined by neglecting to appoint FSOs to high positions in the State Department and embassies. If we had more people like Mr. Zimmerman working in the field, we would have better intelligence about the world.

Our (USA) former Ambassador to Yugoslavia, Mr. Warren Zimmermann, presents insider information about efforts to effect a decent outcome for the citizens of Yugoslavia in the midst of ethnic and religous violence. He lets us in on the interaction of the State Department, the US President, the Department of Defense and the Military of the USA, with criticism for each, and even for himself. More importantly he lets us in on the workings of the leaders, Croation Trudjman and Serbian Melosovic. He lets us in on the failed attempts of the multiethnic democratic Yugoslavians trying to hold together their country. It's clear where his heart is, and he makes a strong case for democracy under law. He emphasizes what makes a democracy work, respect for the rights of all citizens under the law, not special interest favors for this ethnic group over others or this religion over that one. It was a pleasure to read an interesting and erudite book that gave me focus on the confusing mailstrom of the recent wars which devoured Yugoslavia. My background reading of Kaplan's Balkin Ghosts was a great introduction to the history and peoples of the Balkins, but this book got me into the heart of the recent horrors from the political inside.

I am an active duty Air Force member about to deploy to Sarejevo. I picked up this book to learn more about the history of the region I would be working in for 4 months. After I finished, I felt I had gained a thorough understanding of the forces that brought about the destruction of Yugoslavia during 1989-1992. The leaders of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia, Slovenia, Macedonia, Kosovo, etc. along with numerous other important players on the stage, are detailed for you. The relationships are complex but Mr. Zimmermann does a fine job of presenting the situation for the layman.