"Although the Dayton accords were signed years ago, the conflict
among Serbs, Croats, and Muslims remains one of the central cases
for those studying conflict and identity issues. With its inclusion
of many primary sources, I believe The Myth of Ethnic War is the
best of the social constructivist treatments of the Yugoslav wars
and engages the current state of the study of ethnic conflict."
Roger Petersen, Massachusetts Institute of Technology"
"Beautifully researched and written . . . . This is an excellent
volume that makes an important and timely contribution to our
understanding of the collapse of Yugoslavia." International
Affairs"
"Gagnon presents an impressive and very original 'social
constructivist' analysis of the recent wars in Bosnia and Croatia.
In refuting approaches that assume deeply felt ethnic hatreds, the
author contends that Yugoslav elites responded to the end of the
Cold War by pursuing strategies that would ensure their hold on
power and privilege. . . . This is a must-read for those who want a
deeper understanding of the conflict processes in the former
Yugoslavia." Choice"
"Other books on the subject of the violent breakup of the former
Yugoslavia could be described as partial or polemical. V. P. Gagnon
adds the crucial dimension of a sustained analysis of the internal
political dynamics of nationalism. His powerful argument has
important implications well beyond narrow regional studies:
contrary to the common view, which depicts nationalism as a
euphoria of patriotic ecstasy, Gagnon introduces the productive and
suggestive concept of demobilization, by which nationalism operates
as a political strategy to empty political space of concrete
content and offer license to authoritarian regimes." Eric Gordy,
author of The Culture of Power in Serbia: Nationalism and the
Destruction of Alternatives"
"This book is going to make waves for all the right reasons. The
argument the use of nationalism by leaders to demobilize publics,
especially those supporting democratic reform is original and
important. Basing his arguments on considerable evidence, V. P.
Gagnon invites us to think seriously about demobilization, which is
critical in all kinds of political settings, and he challenges the
assumption that nationalist leaders invariably have large numbers
of nationalist followers." Valerie Bunce, Aaron Binenkorb Chair of
International Studies and Chair of the Government Department,
Cornell University"
"V. P. Gagnon challenges some widespread notions about the
dangerous linkage between ethnicity and the upsurge of violence in
the post-Cold War world, and he does it crisply and with plenty of
carefully marshaled data." Foreign Affairs"
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