Encounters in Kosovo

Here's the long-promised post about observations from my short time in Kosovo -- specifically, the southern city of Prizren, which I decided to visit for two nights since it was easily accessible from Macedonia's capital Skopje. You might be interested to look at my photos from Kosovo in conjunction with this post -- either on facebook or panoramio.

Many people's first comment on hearing that I went/was going to Kosovo was something along the lines of "Is it safe?". The natural thought being that it's only little over a year ago since we were hearing about huge unrest in the area. Well, I understand that there is still tension in some areas of Kosovo -- especially the northern border area with Serbia -- but I didn't detect any of it in Prizren. The place seemed, on the face of it, to be relaxed and inviting. I'm aware that there is still underlying tension, which is evidenced by the fact that you can still see NATO peacekeeping troops patrolling the streets. They don't appear to have anything to do -- the French troops asked me for directions to one of the tourist monuments -- but I guess they're there in case something kicks off. Other indicators are NATO protection of Serb monuments like Orthodox Churches, and lots of pro-Albanian (and some anti-Serb) graffiti.

Some of the most eye-opening happenings were encounters I had with locals and members of the international communtiy (of which there are still many in Kosovo). The most enlightening was over my breakfast in Prizren. Also staying in my small B&B was an American anthropologist (who helped me to order breakfast, since the hosts only spoke Albanian and German). She told me lots about her work and I learnt lots from her about the predicament of the Albanians in Kosovo throughout the 20th century.

She's studying the failure (and, more rarely, the success) of international organisations who've been in Kosovo over the last decade. She was particularly scathing of the UN's actions in Kosovo, saying that they've come in with their own static self-imposed plans which weren't sensitive to the needs of the people. The success stories, she says, are those who customised their actions to the needs of local people -- which sounds ridiculously simple, but apparently hasn't been practised very much. She cited a Catholic organisation whose local boss was a Muslim (I forget what they were doing, but that detail stuck with me). She also taught me lots about just why the Albanians are so justifiably pissed off at the Serbs -- to cite a current example, the Serbs constitute 5% of Kosovo's population yet they have a veto on any legislation that passes through parliament. It's been said that the Serbs in Kosovo have more rights than any other minority in Europe. There are also countless horrific stories about how the Serbs have oppressed the Albanians throughout the 20th century.

In sum, it's all a huge mess. And it's difficult to see how the region could become stable -- my anthropologist friend said that those who think it'll all be fine in a decade are overly optimistic.

Nevertheless, Prizren was a fascinating and beautiful place, and I'm pleased I took the time to visit. It seems to be coming around to the idea that it might be a genuine tourist destination -- the town centre boasts a recently-installed 'touristic map'. But it's still the case that on hearing that you're a tourist, locals are visibly *slightly* surprised. (If I were better-built, they would have assumed I was a soldier -- the only other tourists I met, Germans, said they'd had this happen to them.)

Mixed Reviews

A quick observation about Metacritic -- which, if you haven't come across it before, is a site which collects reviews of music, films, games, etc, in one place and combines them into a 'meta-review' for each item.

The observation is that music is reviewed much more leniently than film and video games. Take a look at the music pages -- almost all releases get 60+/100. But for films and games, the picture is much more patchy -- films, especially, are incredibly harshly reviewed and most get below 60.

I wonder why this might be? Are music critics just lightweights? Or are film critics overly, er, critical?

Kosovo

I'm going to write about Kosovo properly soon, but here are a few quick facts about the place for context before I report on my brief time there:

• Kosovo is small, slightly smaller than Jamaica, slightly larger than Cyprus, and about half the size of Wales. It's bordered by Serbia, Montenegro, Albania, and Macedonia.
• 2 million people live in Kosovo, 70% of which are 27 or under.
  
• In modern-day Kosovo, 92% of the population is Albanian and just 4% Serb. (In 1968 the percentages were 68-23). Around 90% of the population is Muslim.
  
• Kosovo was an autonomous province in Yugoslavia for much of the second half of the 20th century.
• The Albanians and the Serbs have been at odds with one another for most of the 20th century.
• Kosovo is most infamous for the 1999 war between NATO and Yugoslav forces, which aimed to expel Yugoslav troops from Kosovo, send in peacekeepers, and allow refugees to return.
• In 2008 Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia. 57 countries have recognised its independence; Serbia has not, and still views Kosovo as a UN-administrated province of its own country.
  

Mangoletsi Lectures: God, Science and Philosophy

If you're in the Leeds area at all during May you might be interested in this series of public lectures at Leeds:

The Mangoletsi Lectures 2009: God, Science and Philosophy

Peter van Inwagen, John Cardinal O’Hara Professor of Philosophy, University of Notre Dame

6th May: God and Science I
13th May: God and Philosophy II
20th May: God and Philosophy II
27th May: God and Science II

The lectures will take place at 5.30pm in the Miall Lecture Theatre, Baines Wing. ALL WELCOME. If you would like to attend any of these lectures, please contact
Robin Le Poidevin, Department of Philosophy (r.d.lepoidevin@leeds.ac.uk)


Synposis of lectures

Lecture 1: God and Science I

In this lecture, I defend three theses. The first is the thesis that, although science has proved the non-existence of many things that various people had believed in, science cannot prove the non-existence of God. This conclusion is based on some very general reflections on what it is that science does. No particular scientific facts or theories are discussed at any length. (In the fourth lecture, we shall examine the theological implications of one important scientific theory, the Darwinian theory of evolution.) The second thesis is that if science cannot prove that God does not exist, any proof that God does not exist must be a philosophical proof. The third thesis is that, with the possible exception of arguments for the non-existence of God, there are no compelling arguments in philosophy; there are indeed no reasons that can be adduced in support of any philosophical thesis that decisively outweigh the reasons that can be adduced in support of its denial. If this is so, and if philosophical argument can establish the non-existence of God, there is exactly one important thesis that can be established in philosophy. That seems unlikely—but unlikely things have turned out to be true, and we shall go on to examine philosophical arguments for the non-existence of God.

Lecture 2: God and Philosophy I

There are only two philosophical arguments for the non-existence of God that are worthy of extended philosophical examination: that the vast amount of suffering in the world is incompatible with the existence of an omnisicent and benevolent being; that—since the natural sciences explain everything—it is superfluous to postulate the existence of any supernatural being (God or any other). The former argument is called “the argument from evil.” The latter has no standard name; I call it “the superfluity argument.” After a general discussion of the two arguments, I turn to the argument from evil.

Lecture 3: God and Philosophy II

The examination of the argument from evil that was begun in the second lecture continues. The latter part of the lecture is devoted to the superfluity argument.

Lecture 4: God and Science II

I return to the topic of a possible scientific disproof of the existence of God. Unlike the discussion in the first lecture, this lecture considers a particular scientific theory in detail—the Darwinian theory of evolution. I give a statement of the theory, present some reasons for being skeptical about whether it is in every respect true, and, present an argument for the conclusion that, whether the theory is true or false, its truth is consistent with the thesis that the universe was created by an intelligent being. Finally, I defend a stronger position than the consistency of the Darwinian theory with the existence of an intelligent creator; I defend the thesis that, if the Darwinian theory were true and known to be true, our knowing that it was true would not provide us with any reason to believe that the universe does not have an intelligent creator.

Skopje and Ohrid

I'm writing from Prizren, Kosovo. So much to tell about my day in Kosovo -- but in the interests of chronology I'll write about my time in Macedonia first and then post about Kosovo later. It's all just words for now, I'm afraid -- pictures will follow upon my return.

Skopje, Macedonia's capital, was unlucky enough to lose much of its notable architecture in an earthquake in the 1960s. (The old railway station building retains a clock which stopped at the time of the earthquake and has never worked since.) As anyone who's visited the UEA campus knows, the 60s was a bad decade to have to rebuild your city. So the 'new' part of Skopje will not win any prizes in beauty contests. For most, Skopje is simply a necessary stopover on the way to more interesting places. But parts of Skopje have a certain charm. North of the river is an old Turkish district, Čaršija, which we owe to the Ottomans who ruled here for centuries. There are old mosques, markets, and streets, as well as a monaestery, Sveti Spas, which has an incredible interior.

I spent three days in and around Ohrid, which is a large town on the lake of the same name. Ohrid is a very popular tourist destination in the summer (it always baffles me how this can be true of a place whilst it's still completely unknown in the UK). Lake Ohrid is one of the oldest lakes in the world, is apparently the cleanest lake in Europe, and has a beautiful setting surrounded by mountains on the Macedonia-Albania border. The town at Ohrid is picturesque, too, with loads of very old Orthodox churches etc.

I met several characters around Ohrid. I was amused by a boatman, Nikola, who was so proud that his tours are recommended in the Bradt Guide to Macedonia that he can tell you the exact page on which he's mentioned (in the English edition, the Chinese edition...you name it). Then there was another boatman, Kristofer -- in order to convince me that I should go on a trip with him, he first had to regale me for some time about many many things irrelevant to boating, Ohrid, or even Macedonia. He was a funny guy, though, and made for a good guide. Then there was the Bulgarian tourist group who I coincidentally ended up sharing both of the above boat trips with -- an odd bunch they were (though a couple of them were friendly and seemed genuinely interested in what on earth I was doing in Macedonia on my own).

For Skopje and Ohrid, pictures will tell the story better. For Kosovo, there are lots of words to be had as well. But they will have to wait for another day.