The siege of Sarajevo is carved into my memory, apparently it was the longest siege of a modern city since WWII. For years snipers watched the streets, and for years people in Sarajevo had to run from building to building to avoid snipers’ bullets. Can you imagine?
Before the civil war Serbs, Muslims and Croats peacefully shared Bosnia and Sarajevo for several hundred years. And then nationalism took root, with the usual consequences.
Given nationalism’s consistently awful track record, you would think people would learn but we don’t. It gave us Brexit, it gave us Trump and it solidified Putin into dictatorial power. We’ve learned nothing, it’s happened before and it will (or is) happening again.
A trip to Bosnia is a powerful reminder of how embracing nationalism is to dance with the devil.
That all said, Sarajevo and Bosnia are beautiful and fascinating – they are more than just a cautionary tale.
A jumble of pictures from that trip features below. I went to Mostar, the abandoned Winter Olympic village and the Holocaust Museum. Most of my time was spent wondering Sarajevo’s Muslim old town though.
Dr Martin James 