Concerns of Authoritarianism in Macedonia, EU Membership, and Dadrian's Comparative Aspects of Genocide

A New York Times article from October 2011, Concerns Grow About Authoritarianism in Macedonia, explores recent developments in the country’s ongoing search for identity and stability since its independence from the former Yugoslavia in 1991. In the article, published the same week the European commission released its report concerning the country’s progress toward EU membership, journalist Matthew Brunwasser calls attention to a rise in Macedonian nationalism through reconstruction of historical pride and increased modernization through growing businesses: statues of Alexander the Great and shopping centers popping up throughout nation.

The author addresses domestic and international unease about growing authoritarianism in the region describing the increasing power of a patriotic, right-winged political party, the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization. He highlights a decline in press freedoms, an increase in political influence and intimidation in media, as well as increase pressure from political parties on governmental judges. Brunwasser also reports growing inter-ethnic tensions in the last five years leading to an increased alienation of the Albanian minority.

In a report from August 2011 the International Crisis Group (“working to prevent conflict worldwide”) summarizes concerns Brunwasser is reportning on: “worrying trends—rising ethnic Macedonian nationalism, state capture by the prime minister and his party, decline in media and judicial independence, increased segregation in schools and slow decentralization—risk undermining the multi-ethnic civil state Macedonia can become.”

To me, the domestic and international criticisms of conditions in Macedonia mentioned in this article relate strongly to the comparative sociohistorical genocidal threads that we discussed today from the Dadrian article. In these recent reports of the state can see a national search for identity, a growth in national pride, memories of past greatness, a push to modernize, an increase in central government’s grip on democratic freedoms, political party abuse, and a historically vulnerable minority. The concerns noted in this article made by groups such as the International Crisis Group and the European Commission highlight the presence of larger international organizations that exist to recognize patterns telling of instability/fragility today. With the creation of the European Union, Europe is obviously more of a politically and economically interconnected and codependent place than it was in the context of the two world wars that we have been discussing so far. These international changes become noticeable when simultaneously considering criticism of current conditions in Macedonia and the fragile conditions we are historically examining in 1914 Turkey and Nazi Germany. This article can help to highlight the continuing question of extent of intervention of outside groups, and the role of economic/political interconnectedness in possibly preventing potential escalation, oppressive authoritarian regimes, or tragedy.

NYT Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/14/world/europe/concerns-grow-about-authoritarianism-in-macedonia.html?pagewanted=1&ref=macedonia 

International Crisis Group: http://www.crisisgroup.org/~/media/Files/europe/balkans/macedonia/212%20Macedonia%20---%20Ten%20Years%20after%20the%20Conflict.pdf