Saturday, October 25, 2008

A Wiser Southeast Europe Policy in an Obama Administration

President Barack Obama will be faced with formidable challenges once assuming office on January 20, 2009 - a declining economy by the day, rising oil prices (as of today declining but for how long?), energy issues, a worse than ever public image of America around the world, and a military blunder with Iraq and Afghanistan (civilians dying by the day, and American troops in harms way). Why should President Obama care about Southeast Europe?

Southeast Europe is a strategic location for U.S. interests. With Albania and Croatia on their way to full-fledged NATO membership, Montenegro and Bosnia offered NATO membership action plans, Romania and Bulgaria NATO and EU members, and Macedonia soon to become member of NATO and already candidate for EU membership, Southeast Europe has never been in a better position to support U.S. interests. Several problems exist in Southeast Europe. Kosovo, although, being recognized by more countries, still is a haven for drug and human trafficking (we do not hear about these problems that much anymore). It has a 60% unemployment rate and the country faces several obstacles politically, economically, and diplomatically. Serbia is blocking its UN membership and recently won a UN vote to take up Kosovo's independence to the International Court of Justice. Serbia's government is quite nationalistic and has very strong ties to Russia. Russian interests thrive in Serbia and the so-called Orthodox Brotherhood is alive and not going away. This country still has a lot of anti-American and anti-NATO sentiment since the 1999 bombing of Yugoslavia. Going further south, Greece continues to be a "Trojan Horse" in the EU when it comes to Russia and traditionally with Cyprus sides with Russia and protects Russia's interest in the EU. Interestingly enough Greece is the only NATO Ally that buys Russian weapons.

An Obama administration must not lose focus when it comes to Southeast Europe. Even though, we as Americans face bigger foreign policy problems like Iran, Pakistan, Iraq, Afghanistan, an Obama administration must keep a close eye on the developments in Southeast Europe. During this past April's Bucharest NATO Summit, Greece put a veto on Macedonia's membership into NATO. Membership into NATO of all Southeast European states is of great strategic interest to the U.S. An issue of non-security importance - such as Macedonia's name - was put before a security alliance such as NATO. This is set precedent. A key question during the first few months of Obama's administration will be how long will we keep Macedonia out of NATO to appease a NATO 'Ally' that only contributes 140 troops in Afghanistan. President Obama must do what is right, and fight for what is right. American interest is to see a socio-economically democratically stable Southeast Europe, with Macedonia and others members of NATO and EU, helping to build a better world.