“I initially thought the former Yugoslavia might be a bit far afield from my usual beat in the Middle East, but the more time I spent there, the less I thought so. The troubles that wrack that part of the world really are identical to many of those in the Middle East. This should not be surprising. Most of Europe’s Balkan peninsula belonged to the Turkish Ottoman Empire and was cut off from the West and rest of Europe for hundreds of years. The peoples of Belgrade, Sarajevo, and Prishtina belonged to the same political entity as most of the Arabs for a longer amount of time than the United States has existed as a country. Al Qaeda and like-minded fanatics insist the region will belong to their future caliphate once again.”

““I could live here,” Sean said. I was tempted to agree as I took a swallow of my locally brewed Serbian beer. Belgrade was my kind of place – intriguing and troubled, yet attractive, cultured, and fun.”

Michael Totten, an internet journalist and blogger, recently wrote about his trip to Belgrade. The post is entitled “A Dark Corner of Europe Part I” and it appeared on June 2, 2008. As you can see above, he brings a Middle East perspective to the Balkans. Interesting take on life there. He has some nice photos also. He interviews Belgrade writer, Filip David. Below is the Mr. David with Totten’s friend in front of the Serbian parliament house. This has been the center of Serbian media this month with the long deliberations of between the parties to form a majority government.

Totten is pretty opinionated and the comments on the article are interesting to follow. I will be curious if I agree with his observations after living there.