There are so many action groups that one wonders where they are coming from. My doubts about the Balkan Action Council were answered in an article by its director, James Hooper, which Edith Coliver kindly forwarded to me. It is realistic and sensible; he stresses that NATO will have a long-term commitment in the area.

That leaves the question as to what to call the area. "The Balkans" includes the whole peninsula, and WAISer John Brademas wants to set up an organization headquartered in Thessaloniki. However, the first difficult but necessary task will be to put Humpty-Dumpty together again. "U.S.S.R." is not ambiguous, but "Yugoslavia" is, since it can refer to the whole area or to the present rump. Incidentally, we were trapped by the confusion when we referred to Peter Galbraith as former ambassador to Yugoslavia; he was ambassador to Croatia.

This brings up the role of Croatia, about whose present role little is said. Croats hate the Serbs almost as much as the Albanians do. They are certainly not indifferent in the present fighting. Keep an eye on them!

Ronald Hilton - 04/05/99