The Future Of Molecular Civil Wars

``There are countries where one feels at home; one speaks the language, has friends there... For me Yugoslavia has never been one of those countries. I've never felt I knew enough about it. What I came across was darkened Belgrade, as if the city is poorly lit. But I'm not sure this is really true or is it the feeling that it got dark here? Strain is written out on people's faces, perhaps it's because they are finally beginning to make out the price. It was thought that everything will end as a triumph, but that illusion is now being shattered, the people are cooling down... There is a kind of euphoria in the countries which are winning. I've seen nothing of it here,'' Hans Magnus Enzesberger told VREME.

VREME: There is not a vision of Europe in the epilogue of your book ``Ach, Europa.'' That vision is not really awful. The odds of a future skyline of Bucharest you described becoming a reality don't seem to be great. Were you surprised by the developments in Europe, especially in the East?

ENZESBERGER: As far as the image of Bucharest is concerned, I envisioned a skyline of the city of speculators and gangsters. But, on the other hand, also the villages where nothing has changed and the people remained poor. I haven't been wrong about that, have I? Nevertheless, I could not anticipate that it would be this bad. And, finally, the people from Bosnia, Croatia or Serbia I meet in Germany keep telling me that they little dreamed that this would be happening to them and that they are still unable to comprehend what's happening to them. I also find it difficult to understand what has happened here, primarily because I can't see a concept behind all of this. There have been horrible concepts in history, such is an old example of Genghis Khan. There are concepts worth hating, but they can still be understood. There is no concept here. The only thing which is clear is that there are no winners, only losers.

* Is there a danger, according to you, that the civil war, or, more specifically, the situations similar to civil war, may spread from the East to the West?

I've even come up with a phrase to describe what I think is in store for us what we are bound to have in the future is a molecular civil war. Such relations are already evident in a number of the world's metropolises New York, Lagos, Bombay or Rio de Janeiro. We will have small conflicts, also without a concept. Some city districts will simply become inaccessible, wars between gangs will break out as well as uprisings in ghettoes and racial conflicts... But, all of them belong on a different scale they are degenerated class fights deprived of any revolutionary perspectives. All societies will have to face that in the future. the only question is whether they will turn into a state affair, i.e. war, or remain to be a sort of social unrest.

* During the Gulf war you drew a parallel between Hitler and Saddam Hussein. Could you possibly extend that parallel and include the Balkans?

That was a typological comparison. There were attempts in the thirties to negotiate with Hitler. It was clear that he was a dictator and opponent, but it is usual to conduct trade when it comes to politics. It was thought that he would deliver peace if he got something else in return. However, there are people in power who don't realize how important it is to negotiate. I compared Hitler and Saddam in that sense. Like Hitler, Saddam is not capable of conducting negotiations. He refuses to recognize either a compromise or a calculation of interests. He must attack, he must kill.

Milosevic is not like that. He is a cunning politician. His only fanaticism boils down to desire to remain in power. I don't think he has ever been seriously interested in communism. By the same token, Serbian nationalism is only an instrument for him. Milosevic can change his stands every day, depending on what advantages loom up that day. He's already appeared as a warmonger, a peacemaker, a man ready to make deals. If one were to be cynical, one can negotiate with him, since for him everything is a subject to trade. Nothing is sacred to him, and, therefore, he betrays everything and anything without any strong convictions. Opportunism makes him a suitable person for negotiations. Only remember that Hitler would never enter into negotiations on antiSemitism, he was much too fixated to do that. Milosevic can buy and sell both feelings and territories, the main thing is that he remains. Hitler lacked the strength to negotiate. That's why he died in a bunker. I think Milosevic will die in a nice way. In bed.