Confronting the Yugoslav controversies : a scholars’ initiative

This book presents the findings of an international research initiative of over 160 leading historians, social scientists, and jurists that brings together in one volume key evidence presented by all sides in the recent Yugoslav conflicts. It represents a direct assault on the proprietary interpretations that nationalist politicians and media have impressed on mass culture in each of the entities of the former Yugoslavia. Given gaps in the historical record and the existence of sometimes-contradictory evidence, the volume does not pretend to resolve all of the outstanding issues that divide the peoples of the former Yugoslavia. Yet, a combination of original research, the validation of existing evidence, and the exposure of widely held, bogus myths that anchor public perceptions should narrow considerably the parameters within which opposing sides can still engage in reasoned debate.