Terrorist violence is NOT increasing, according to the real experts

In December 2006, I put up a short post concerning the decreasing number of wars in the world as outlined in the Human Security Brief 2006, the follow-up to the well-respected Human Security Report 2005. Today, the Human Security Brief 2007 was released by the Human Security Report Group at Simon Fraser University's School for International Studies. (They were formally based at the Human Security Centre at UBC, when I worked there.)




I highly recommend you take at least a quick look, and think twice when you hear or read people saying that terrorism is an ever-increasing problem, wars are on the rise, etc. They need a sharp lesson in real world stats. And I'll keep hoping that this trend doesn't reverse.

"Challenging the expert consensus that the threat of global terrorism is increasing, the Human Security Brief 2007 reveals a sharp net decline in the incidence of terrorist violence around the world."

For more info, see: http://www.humansecuritybrief.info/

Adventures in Sarajevo

I arrived in sunny Sarajevo at 4pm on the 8th and got a cab to the hostel, where I met up with five other students from my program at Uppsala who had arrived the night before by bus from Dubrovnik. We were in Sarajevo on a self-organised study trip, to visit various organisations involved in humanitarian and development work and the reconstruction of Bosnia and Herzegovina after the wars of the 1990s. Although a lot of the photos in this post might seem to give a negative and depressing impression of Sarajevo, it's actually a very bright (at least when it's sunny) place, both literally and figuratively. It's a beautiful city, small but pleasant, and there are lots of really friendly people there.

At present, no one really knows whether the country will succeed in overcoming the ethnic divisions that tore the region apart in the 90s, as politicians especially continue to try and twist things to emphasize the divisions and use them for political gain. But many seem to see the same thing as the solution: joining the European Union. And the EU is putting a lot of money into the region to help the formerly war-torn area develop and eventually join the EU. Croatia is already en route to EU membership, Serbia just signed a Stabilisation and Association Agreement, and Bosnia & Herzegovina will follow soon. It's a beautiful area of the world, and tourism is back on the upswing these days as safety for foreigners is again quite high. Sarajevo itself felt, to me, far safer than many cities I've stayed in. I guess that's a good sign, right?

One of our group, Sunny, had lived in the area for about two years, a few years ago, so he was in charge of getting us in touch with various organisations and helping us figure out when / where to do different things around town a bit; very useful! He also introduced us to some of his friends there, which was great.

I didn't take too many photos in the small city centre, not sure why, but I wasn't particularly inspired despite the fact that it was quite a nice place. I did pull the camera out at the Cathedral Church of Nativity of the Theotokos, while watching a chess game for a few minutes.




Which ones are real?






In the evening on the 9th, Sunny took us to a concert by a famous band called Mostar Sevdah Reunion. Mostar is a city a few hours away (next post!) and Sevdah is the short name for Sevdalinka, a traditional style of folk music from Bosnia and Herzegovina (from now on, abbreviated to BiH) and popular all across the ex-Yugoslav states. I thought they were interesting, although the crowd was an older crowd so they were playing slower songs than their usual according to Emir, Sunny's friend, who's a big fan.




The next day we were up nice and early to visit BH MAC, the Bosnia and Herzegovina Mine Action Centre. BH MAC is the government agency in charge of demining in BiH. We had a short powerpoint presentation with info about demining progress and future projections, then we were off in two landcruisers to a demining operation on the hills around the city.




Greg thinks this sign belongs to him. It does not.




Hmm... that doesn't look like the BiH flag to me...




Turns out the Canadian International Demining Corps is involved in demining in BiH, with funding from the Canadian International Development Agency and donors are big on visibility so the Canadian flag was everywhere on this demining site, including helmets, protective vests; even the yellow tape that says "MINE MINE MINE" has red maple leafs and CIDC printed on it every so often.






This is the view from the mine site, looking northwest over the city of Sarajevo:




You can't tell, but that's a little maple leaf sticker on the front of his helmet.




None of the deminers spoke any English or French, but they were quite happy to answer a LOT of questions through the BH MAC staff who acted as translators. They really know a lot about what they're doing, which is a good thing considering the severe risk. Note the house behind them... yes, people live in the area again, but they know which areas are being demined across the road. The guys were on break and it was really hot outside, but two of them still kindly agreed to pose for a photo; they even put their heavy, hot gear back on for the photo!






We also visited the International Organization for Migration (of which I am a big fan, and with whom I would love to work in the field somewhere) and the Research and Documentation Center. Sorry, no photos! But very interesting visits.

This is the Eternal Flame, a memorial to those who died during the Second World War in Sarajevo. To highlight the fact that the three major ethnic groups in BiH (Bosniak Muslims, Serb Orthodox Christians, Croat Catholics) all got along just fine before the wars of the 90s, here's the translation of the text on the wall behind the flame (pulled from Wikipedia, no idea if it's a 100% accurate translation).

With Courage and Jointly Spilled
Blood of the Fighters of the Bosnian-Herzegovinian,
Croatian, Montenegrin, and Serbian Briagades
of the Glorious Jugoslav National Army
with Efforts and Sacrifice of Sarajevan Patriots
Serbs, Muslims and Croats on the 6th of April 1945
Sarajevo, the Capital City of the People's Republic
of Bosnia and Herzegovina was liberated
Eternal Glory and Gratitude to the Fallen Heroes
of the liberation of Sarajevo and our Homeland
On the First Anniversary of Its Liberation
a Grateful Sarajevo




A few blocks from our hostel:




On the 11th, Emir drove Sunny, Greg, Evelyn, and me to a restaurant way up a bunch of hills on the southwest of the city for brunch. It was quite good food, though it turned out to be very expensive too, big surprise for all of us. There was a great view of the city.

Looking northeast:




Looking northwest:




This building was apparently a prison before the war, and hasn't been restored since it was bombed out from the hills above.




A Muslim cemetery:




My Bosnian coffee:




At 2pm, Evelyn and I met up with Emmanuel and Sarah in town for a tour of some important areas during the siege of Sarajevo that lasted from 1992-1995 (3.6 years). Sofia from the Swedish International Development Agency had suggested a particular guide, Zijad Jusufović, and I'm glad we did take her suggestion.

First, we visited the oldest Jewish cemetery in the area, with some tombstones dating to the 1500s according to Zijad.




Bullet holes:




The really old tombstones:




We then made our way to Trebević, the mountain where the 1984 Olympics bobsled / luge track was built, and destroyed during the siege.








We stopped again later for a few minutes at a sniper position from which many people had been killed on the stretch of road that was nicknamed Sniper Alley during the war. This is part of the view from that point. The Olympic Stadium with cemeteries in the foreground. The largest cemetery is just off to the left, which you'll see further on.




Next up, we drove to the famous tunnel dug from a Bosnian-controlled area under the UN-controlled airport, to a house on the other side. This made it possible for Bosnian forces to bring supplies by land from outside the city, through the tunnel, and then into the city. Taking supplies above ground for this 800m stretch was impossible because of the Serb-held areas on both sides. We could only walk through a short section of the tunnel; the rest was closed because of airport security - no one wants a tunnel beneath their airport these days...






The family home, now also a museum, from which the tunnel began.




This is a retirement home that was opened shortly before the war began. It was apparently the nicest in ex-Yugoslavia, but still lies riddled with bullet holes, half destroyed.






The Avaz Business Center, where the main newspaper has been based, with its revolving restaurant at the top.




We also stopped by the largest mosque in the area, King Fahd Mosque, right beside these apartment towers:




Note the size of the shell holes relative to the size of the doors/balconies/windows. Those are not small holes.




One of the minarets:




A rocket-propelled grenade (mortar) exploded here; they call these marks "Sarajevo Roses."






We then headed to the Olympic Stadium. Looking West, we see the biggest cemetery:




On Marshall Tito street, a Sarajevo Rose filled in with red rubber a few metres from the market where another bomb fell, killing 68 people in the single largest massacre of the siege, and wounding 144.




Our guide, Zijad Jusufović. Nice guy, crazy in a very good way, with some interesting reflections and answers to our questions. If you google his name, you'll see that he's pretty well known.




Happier thoughts: food! We asked Zijad where we should go to get quality, cheap, traditional Bosnian food. This is the food at the place he suggested - it was DELICIOUS! I could eat that almost every day! Onions stuffed with meat and other things, potato, rice, sour cream (crême fraiche?), more meat rolled in cabbage (I dislike cabbage, but this was so well made that I actually really enjoyed it!), and of course bread somewhat similar to naan. Soooo tasty! And it cost $6.




Greg amused himself by launching sugar packets at his tablemate. Look at his focus! And at the flying sugar packet!




On Monday we visited EUFOR, the European military force whose responsibility is "to provide a military presence in order to contribute to the safe and secure environment, deny conditions for a resumption of violence, manage any residual aspect of the General Framework Agreement for Peace (aka Dayton Peace Accords) and thereby allow all EU and IC (Int'l Community) actors to carry out their responsibilities." They were very friendly and had the best service of any organisation - not just coffee, but cans of pop, coffee, tea, water, cookies, and chocolate bars! And when we left, the Irish Sergeant who was taking care of us told us to take a bunch with us! Terrific!

And of course, being the important people that we are, we made the news! Really!




We then visited the International Commission on Missing Persons where their director, Kathryne Bomberger, really impressed us. Seems like a terrific and efficient organisation, and she comes across as extremely capable and knowledgeable, and of course super friendly!

Next up we stopped by the Organisation for Security Co-operation in Europe, which was not terribly interesting for me, but partly because the day was growing long and I was lacking caffeine.

After that, we went to the UNHCR where we had the best coffee out of the various organisations we had visited, and a very interesting presentation from two of their staff. I'd love to work for UNHCR in a field operation someday.

Well, that's our trip to Sarajevo. And that was the SHORT version.



Next up: Mostar!

Hilarious

I know I said Sarajevo would be the next post; it will go up tomorrow. Today, this just has to go online. From the Guardian Online, a hilarious quote from George Lucas about the new Indiana Jones movie:

According to Lucas, they did not set out to "one-up" the many action movies since the hero's last outing 19 years ago.

"We weren't going to have F14s flying under freeways. This is a real story about real people," he said of the film, which involves a race to control the minds of the entire human race, and a mystical Mayan temple created by hyper-intelligent extra-terrestrials.

Ljubljana, Slovenia - nice city, nice people!

I was asked in April, by the director of my Master's program, to participate in a small conference / seminar, the 2nd NOHA-ECHO Presidency seminar, "The Changing Scope of Humanitarian Action." Of course I accepted, and on May 4 I landed in rainy Ljubljana. My taxi pickup was conveniently not there, so I had to take a private taxi for 40 euro (luckily reimbursed later). The next morning I woke up and it was still raining outside... no good! I decided to stay inside for the first part of the day, getting some more rest and trying to do some school work. This is the view from my window on the 9th floor of Hotel Park (really nice room, quite nice hotel).




In the afternoon, when the weather was better, I walked to the University of Ljubljana's Faculty of Social Sciences for the opening session. The participants were about two dozen Slovenian students interested in humanitarianism, six representatives from different NOHA network universities (I was representing Uppsala), three program heads, two Marie Curie fellows, Rene Guth from ECHO, and a handful of professors from the University of Ljubljana.

I won't comment much on the seminar content, since it's not particularly interesting to people outside this field of study / work, but suffice it to say that the evening session and the full day session the following day were at times interesting and at times useful, and I'm glad I was there.

After the end of the seminar on the 6th, a bunch of us met up at a bar for a drink, and we later went to the famous Skeleton Bar for another drink. The place is really neat, there are skeletons everywhere! And at a certain time (midnight, I think), they all start rattling and the eyeballs of the paintings on the walls start moving.




The next day I was due to fly out at night, so I decided to spend the sunny, sunny day outside taking some photos and exploring town more. The old town in Ljubljana is a really pretty place, and the rest of the city is not too bad either. The Ljubljanica river flows through Ljubljana and is crossed by a bunch of different bridges, including the Tromostovje, known in English as the Triple Bridge.




The riverbanks in some places have restaurants and other businesses built in, or terraces for cafes. Here, they've planted a tonne of tulips, pansies, and something pretty I can't quite identify in the back.




The triple bridge again:




I walked a bit past the old town, sat down on a bench to eat a sandwich, and heard a helicopter coming, so I grabbed my camera out of my bag and got the settings adjust just in time to catch the chopper as it flew past at full speed. Note it says 'Policija' on the bottom.




I liked these little window outcroppings, or whatever you call them:




In Prešeren Square, I thought this building was neat:




Ljubljana Central Pharmacy, also in Prešeren Square:




In the afternoon, I was invited to lunch with three Slovenian students I had met at the University: Špela, Maša, and Juri. They took me to Hostel Celica, a former prison converted into a hostel, where they treated me to a tasty meal. I had great bean soup and a massive, and very colourful, Greek salad. Mmmm.

After lunch, they showed me through Metelkova, "an autonomous social centre on the site of former military barracks (the Slovenian headquarters of the Yugoslav National Army)" according to that ever-useful, but never fully trustworthy, Wikipedia. It was really neat! So much art on the outside of the buildings! They hold concerts and workshops and all sorts of stuff there, and we could hear a band practicing inside one of the buildings as we walked past. Here's a selection of art on the outside of the buildings:












"Lahko noč!" means "Good night" in Slovenian:




If you know me, you know I consume enough coke in a year for a small island nation, so I spotted this without even trying:










After Metelkova, it was time to say goodbye to Maša and Juri. Špela and I then set off to see a bit more of the city before my cab to the airport. Here are Špela, Maša, and Juri, super nice people! They, and the others I met, definitely gave me an extremely positive impression of young Slovenians!




Špela and I wandered around, and she explained different places to me as we passed them. At one point we saw a couple looking at a map so we stopped and offered help, and Špela knew exactly where they had to go. We ended up talking to them for a few blocks walk, very nice Americans from Washington, DC. While they were talking with Špela, I took a picture of this tower of the Franciscan Church of the Annunciation.




I dunno what this is, but it looks nice! [edit: Špela has now told me that this is the main post office]




This is the main building of the University, though it's only used for administration, not classes, anymore.




A close-up, and my idea of making it more artistic, of the crest on the building:




While we were walking about town, I got a call on my mobile phone from Adria Airways, Slovenia's flagship carrier. They decided to cancel my flight to Sarajevo that evening, and I was stuck with two options: fly out at 6am to Munich and from there to Sarajevo, arriving just after noon, or fly direct at 3pm and arrive an hour later. I chose the second option, because the first option would be too tiring, and because I felt I hadn't spent quite enough time in Ljubljana yet.

Špela had to head home to do crazy amounts of school work, and I walked slowly back to the hotel I had stayed at to pick up my backpack. Near the hotel is the Dragon Bridge, which has four dragons mounted on it. I wish I could have taken a better photo to show how awesome these statues are...




I got myself out to the airport a couple hours later, where they sorted out my new itinerary and arranged a hotel room and meals for me nearby. I arrived at the hotel and, after a quick supper, went up to my room. Turns out the "single room" that Adria Airways booked for me was in fact a rather massive and quite pleasant place. I took photos just to remember! It had 4 beds, a couch that was also a 5th bed, a bathroom and good shower, aircon/heater, basically everything I could possibly need!




This couch is also a bed if the cushions are removed:




Beds 1, 2, and 3:




Bed 4:




In the morning, I had quite a few hours to waste so I caught a bus back into the city and hung out with Špela, Jovan, and a bunch of other Slovenian students in the hot, hot sun for almost three hours before heading back to the airport in time for my flight. This is the view of the Julian Alps (Julijske Alpe in Slovenian) on the way from town to the airport:




And this is the plane that was NOT cancelled, and did indeed get me from Ljubljana to Sarajevo:




I really loved my too-short stay in Ljubljana, and I hope I can make a trip to Slovenia next year when I'm living in Sweden again, to see some more of the country and the people!


Next post: Adventures in Sarajevo!