Balken Reigon Essay, Research Paper

Balkan Region

The Balkan Region has always been considered the Powder Keg of Europe. Usually when a war starts in Europe, the starting incident is always somewhere in the Balkans. One of the reasons for this is that through out the region, many different social and religious groups are all living in the same country and all trying to rule. In the past the ruling power has always been the Serbs. Recently the other majorities in the region have decided that they wanted to become an independent country, which of course displeased the Serbs. These problems have been around for a while and still prevail today.

The wars in the 1990 s have happened for many reasons boiling together until the pot overflows. One of the reasons that many people point to is the leader of Serbia, who is Slobodan Milosevic. Milosevic is for a Greater Serbia, which basically means one whole Serbia and little regard for the other nationalities in the Balkans. Milosevic has used anything possible to accomplish this goal of his, including war on the other nationalities, armed or not. Another reason for the wars in the nineties is the act of the HDZ to suggest a Greater Croatia, and reject the Serbian dominance.

The war in the spring 1991 in Slovenia started when a meeting was held without Serbian representation. While this was going on, the Serbs started to barricade Sarajevo. This led to a minor disturbance that lasted ten days and was settled for the time. The most recent two conflicts were very similar. Both of these conflicts involved ethnic cleansing by Milosevic and the Serbs. One was started in Croatia in the spring of 1991 and settled in 1993. The last of the three wars was in Bosnia and Herzegovina and was fought until the UN stepped in and settled it. Ethnic Cleansing is a harsh policy implied by the Serbs. It involved the killing of many people in the towns and villages who were not Serbs. This last war was the worst of the three, with the United Nations stepping in to help stop the injustice.

The Future of the Balkan region is in constant change. It can be ignited with the smallest of problems and affect the whole world. There are talks now about separating into different nations, which most people that live there (95%) prefer, but the powers that are in charge are a long way off from making that move. For now the Balkan region has evolved into a mini-state, and the moves are being made to make the region a safer and less explosive place. Until everyone is satisfied with the state and freedom of different nationalities, the balken region will continue to be one that is closely watched and scrutinized. Hopefully one day it will be settled to everyone s satisfaction, but that day is far off and many talks away. Until then, the Balkan region will continue to be known as the Powder Keg of Europe, and one of the most volatile regions in the world.