[Hamiltonian]

Had we acted responsibly in former Yugoslavia and not treated Russia like a beaten dog back in the 1990s, Putin may well never have come to power. We could have had Russia as a quasi-ally vis-à-vis China, our true rival.

Outstanding point. The 'toon administration had a real success back then when their new creation of Bosnia wound up being run by an Iranian proxy.

[CatHerd]

And Western journalists were shocked and dismayed to see Mein Kamf in the windows of Sarajevo bookstores after the war was over. I wasn’t surprised. It was in the windows of Zagreb bookstores during the war. Some things are very, very slow to change. But it looks like Croatia has come a long way and I am glad to see who they elected as their current president (and he refuses to meet with neo-Nazi veterans’ groups, the first to do so).