Welcome From Sarajevo

(Note: A multi-authored blog is bound to have an idiosyncratic style, as this post shows)

Sarajevo the word belongs to a list of cities, places, events deigned by the international community (which, as a recently-read book Martin read reminds us, merely replaced the more specific "great powers") as having significance as object-lessons in international crises. You know the other words in this list: Mogadishu, Baghdad, Darfur, etc. Their locales, their people, their situation is emptied out of the word they signify, and it is replaced with this empty lesson about how we (the U.S./the West/the International Community) should have done more, should have stopped something horrible, should have stood up for the dignity of human life, should have committed troops, should not have shut an eye to the crisis.

And, yet, we never change. Disaster happens, people suffer, and the journalists, poets, playwrights, and other chroniclers of the sad chapters of history profit from this breakdown in society. We are left with the words themselves, the feeling that things will be different the next time the same thing happens elsewhere, and the deeper feeling that nothing will change,

But while traces of the war are still evident here––bombed out buildings, museums "closed for public" indefinitely, and a very clear sense that things aren't quite ready for tourism––it's the beauty of the city that really stands out. Even though the war destroyed many buildings, the historic part of the city still is relatively intact, and there are plenty of markets, cafes and mosques to keep one's interest for a while. War is always irrational, but it's hard to imagine why someone would want to destroy such a beautiful city.