Serbs, Croats, and the dismemberment of Yugoslavia: War and genocide in the twentieth century

In retrospect, Yugoslavia’s meltdown seems sadly typical of the ‘new wars’ that characterized the 1990s. Yet, unlike Somalia, Chechnya, or Rwanda, this conflict was set in ‘Europe’s backyard’, and was Europe’s first example of major ethnic conflict since World War II. The participants were White, affluent, and well educated, reinforcing the sad reality that Europeans could still, in the wrong circumstances, initiate mass murder, while other Europeans pitifully stood by and did little to prevent it.