Another Failed State?

To Histrsian 2008....According to your thinking you know the history of Vatican better than Pope himself???...Since when do you think you know the history of Albania better than an Albanian himself??? I agree that you might know some but not in full or in the measure than an albanian historian himself...
Since you are talking about respecting this and that and law etc...etc....i wander why those people from Kosovo want to be independent ...and...since Serbians treated the Kosovo people with respect, love, righteousness, law, dignity...I really wander why a people treated with all this kindness from serbians wants to be indipendent??? Maybe you can answer this...
Thanks

For all the people who are interested in learning the truth about Kosovo supported with documents, photographs, reports please read the following:
An overview of the historical info about Serbia (and thus about Kosovo too) may be found at http://kosovo.net/default3.html The same website also documents some of the fruits of the Albanian 'liberation' by NATO:
For example, along with the images from the war in 1999, (NATO operation 'Merciful Angel') the link http://kosovo.net/default2.html shows examples of destruction of the Serbian cultural heritage (mainly monasteries and churches), which occured (long) after the bombing was over.

You, an Albanian, certainly know the history of your country better than any historian in the world, because you grew up with your country folk songs and ballads. They make you strong and love your country.
But let me give you another example from history (which you surely know). In 1453 Byzantium fell to the Ottoman Empire. What used to be Byzantium was brutally marauded. Myriads of Christians were killed and Orthodox Temples were pillaged, burnt and leveled to the ground. The most precious Christian relics were looted and perished for ever. Byzantium, the stronghold of Eastern Orthodox Church, was utterly destroyed. Constantinople, Byzantium capital, used to proudly stand on the site of what is now Istanbul, what became the capital of Ottoman's Empire and Turkey now. Does it give any right to the Greeks or Orthodox Christians to declare Istanbul the capital of Byzantium again, declare a newly independent state of Byzantium based on the fact of the historic losses? Greece stays in the borders defined by history and law, and respects the law of present day Turkey. Law makes us all one happy world community, and prevents crazy ideas from destroying peace and integrity of every country on earth.

You, an Albanian, certainly know the history of your country better than any historian in the world, because you grew up with your country folk songs and ballads. They make you strong and love your country.
But let me give you another example from history (which you surely know). In 1453 Byzantium fell to the Ottoman Empire. What used to be Byzantium was brutally marauded. Myriads of Christians were killed and Orthodox Temples were pillaged, burnt and leveled to the ground. The most precious Christian relics were looted and perished for ever. Byzantium, the stronghold of Eastern Orthodox Church, was utterly destroyed. Constantinople, Byzantium capital, used to proudly stand on the site of what is now Istanbul, what became the capital of Ottoman's Empire and Turkey now. Does it give any right to the Greeks or any Orthodox Christians to declare Istanbul the capital of Byzantium again, declare a newly independent state of Byzantium based on the fact of the historic losses? Greece stays in the borders defined by history and law, and respect the law of present day Turkey. Law makes us all one happy world community, and prevents crazy ideas from destroying peace and integrity of every country on earth.

TO HISTORIAN 2008...NOW I KNOW THAT YOU ARE NOT A TRUE HISTORIAN...OR KNOW MANY WORDS BUT NOT THE TRUTH ...OR...I AM AFRAID YOU ARE AFRAID OF THE TRUTH....WHY???
BECAUSE THE ANSWER WAS VERY VERY EASY...AND EVERYONE THAT HAS THE SMALLEST KNOWLEDGE ABOUT HISTORY KNOWS THAT....ALBANIANS ARE BY FAR OLDER THAN SERBIANS ON THE REGION AND MAYBE ALBANIANS ARE THE OLDEST PEOPLE IN EUROPE.....
HAVING SAID THIS,...I DO NOT BELEIVE YOUR "STORIES" ANY MORE...UNLESS YOU SAY THE TRUTH...
ALL THE BESTS TO YOU....

To historian2008 , For individuals like you, many wars are waged today in the world. If Illyrians gradually disappeared and were replaced by the Bulgars, Serbs, Croats and Bosnians which all are Slavic, then would you tell me where the Albanians came from, which are not Slavic? As a kid, I do remember the answer of a Serb historian, he said the Albanians came from the moon, do you think the same? The Serbian nation is built on self-created history, history is written by the winners, so Albanians were all the time occupied and never had a chance to write their true history. Songs and words of mouth saved most of Albanian history, which were carried from generation to generation. Thanks to today???s archeology, the truth is surfacing, so whatever you say is not making any sense, your words may make influence to some uneducated people, but it doesn't matter, because the highly educated ones already know the truth. I believe all your history came from Serbian, Greek or any other Slavic books, so talking to you will just waist my time. If you think you have proof of what you say, then you are welcome to come to independent Kosova one day and share your knowledge with our historians. I know for sure you???ll change your opinion by hearing the truth about Balkan and Albanian people (Bush, Clinton, Blair, Solana even French government close ally of Serbs, and many others, did change their mind about Albanians, so you???ll do too).

Some historians consider (opinions differ) Albanians to be the descendents of one Illyrian tribe that was named Albanoi which was located in modern-day Albania. There is no proof that this hypothesis is true and the origins of Albanians has been for some time a matter of dispute among historians.
The fall of the Western Roman Empire and the age of great migrations in the early Middle Ages brought radical changes to the Balkan Peninsula which was populated by the Illyrian people. Barbarian tribesmen overran many rich Roman cities, destroying the existing social and economic order and leaving the great Roman aqueducts, coliseums, temples, and roads in ruins. The Illyrians gradually disappeared as a distinct people from the Balkans, replaced by the Bulgars, Serbs, Croats, Bosnians and Albanians and their lands were gradually overtaken by them. The first historical mention of Albania and the Albanians as such appears in an account of the resistance by a Byzantine emperor Alexiu I Commenus.
As far as Kosovo history concerned (should be truly called Metohija which means "the church estate" in Serbian) please read my historic notes which I posted yesterday.

I am not a professor but an educator: a college instructor and a pedagogue.
My job allows me to extensively travel both to different parts of Russia and Europe. Due to my profession I am an educator in the first place and always find time for a good discussion and for teaching.
Your mentality is outdated and is still in the last century. You should update yourself on the changes that have taken place since the last millennium. Both hands have fed and cared about me, a Russian hand and an American hand, and I am very grateful to both of them. When I work in Russia I open the eyes of those Russians who are still asleep and have not got out of the cold war mentality (usually they are very old folks). Here in the USA I open the eyes to those who need some help. I am happy that I serve as a bridge and can show and tell the best about both countries and cultures.
Here are some sites that will acquaint you with some Russian cities, spiritual centers, and you may want to go and visit them. You will be amazed! Here is the website of St.Petersburg, my beloved city,where I come from. You can take a virtual tour around the city as well as around its magnificent environs: http://www.saint-petersburg.com/virtual-tour/
http://www.saint-petersburg.com/video/index.asp

Here is the website of the Moscow Patriarchate in English: http://www.mospat.ru/index.php?lng=1
Here is Valaam, mount Athos of the North (http://valaam.ru/en/), Here is the site with videos of Valaam and http://valaam.ru/en/video/ which show gorgeous Scenes of Valaam, interviews with monks ??? beautiful faces. Here is the website featuring Sochi (http://www.sochi.ru/info/foto.htm), the beautiful resort town on the coast of the Black Sea. The site presents wonderful pictures of the city of Sochi which is the largest city in Europe, 145 kilometers long along the coast of the Black Sea and 80 miles deep into the Caucasus Mountains. The Olympic games of 2014 will be held there.

Russia has always been a big friend of Serbia and will always supported its sovereignty. It is time for the world countries to come to solutions only by mutual agreement, on no account unilaterally. As an Albanian you may dream to be independent in Kosovo, but it is unrealistic and impossible, because there is LAW. The disruption of the sovereign country's constitution is an equivalent of the declaration of WAR. According to the Constitution of Serbia Kosovo IS an autonomous region. You are given all the rights to enjoy your autonomy. Nobody cares about what the US President or Russian President think. All abide by the LAW. And the sovereign country's constitution is the first and most important LAW for all the country!!! If you are unhappy as an Albanian in Serbia you can immigrate to Albania. It is also LEGAL.

Some historian consider (opinions differ) Albanians to be the descendents of one Illyrian tribe that was named Albanoi which was located in modern-day Albania. There is no proof that this hypothesis is true and the origins of Albanians has been for some time a matter of dispute among historians.
The fall of the Western Roman Empire and the age of great migrations in the early Middle Ages brought radical changes to the Balkan Peninsula which was populated by the Illyrian people. Barbarian tribesmen overran many rich Roman cities, destroying the existing social and economic order and leaving the great Roman aqueducts, coliseums, temples, and roads in ruins. The Illyrians gradually disappeared as a distinct people from the Balkans, replaced by the Bulgars, Serbs, Croats, Bosnians and Albanians and their lands were gradually overtaken by them. The first historical mention of Albania and the Albanians as such appears in an account of the resistance by a Byzantine emperor Alexiu I Commenus.
As far as Kosovo history concerned (should be truly called Metohija which means "the church estate" in Serbian) please read my historic notes which I posted yesterday.

TO HISTORIAN 2008...I HAVE A QUESTION FOR YOU ....PLEASE, BE VERY VERY SHORT AND PRECISE ON THE ANSWER SINCE YOU ARE A HISTORIAN...AND PLEASE...JUST SAY ONE OR THE OTHER AND NO MORE EXPLANATION...HERE IT IS THE QUESTION....

WHICH ONE OF THESE TWO PEOPLE IS THE OLDEST OF THESE TWO IN THE REGION WHERE THEY LIVE THUS FAR...

1. ALBANIANS....OR 2. SERBIANS...

PLEASE, BE VERY SHORT NO MORE EXPLANATIONS....THIS OR THAT...
THANKS

to historian2008 :
You should move to Russia. Just make sure you leave your passport behind. Hope you do not have one. Bit the hand that feeds and cares for you. Go to Russia since they are doing so well. Quite a propaganda, for a country where the standard of living is low, where opposition is harrassed, where free press is killed. America is better off without people like you, since Russia and Serbia have enough Historians, you might be lucky and teach english.
Law matters? Serbia did not care about law when butchered the bosnians, kosovar albanians and started the wars. MOVE ON, THIS WILL BE THE NEW SERBIA's SONG. And if you want to stay still, dont kill as you
A real professor does not spend countless hour in this blog, a pseudo professor does.

Kosovo will never bee recognized by the UN and by the reasonable world community. The Albanians in Kosovo can (based on the world historic experience) happily have their own autonomy which they have always had. The Albanians can prosper and enjoy freedoms, but without participation of those separatists who want to have personal gains. The fact that the USA and some European countries
declared their support for Kosovo's independence does not matter at alland does nothave any weight.
The LAW MATTERS AND MAKES HISTORY. Where there was no law there were wars and losses. The Law, the UN and Serbia supported by the integrity of its Consitution, WILL NEVER recognize Kosovo together with those countries who support peace and integrity of the world community.

Comment: As an American of Russian decent I see the advantage for the USA to cooperate with the strongest rising economy in the world. Russia very selectively chooses investments from outside. It has a 100% self sufficient economy. It can provide for its own economy with its both natural and human resources. Overpopulation in China and India does not allow to supply their people with enough. In Russia its rich big land/population ratio
allows to raise every citizen's standard of living to the highest level and provide for others in the world.
As a historian I see the mistakes that the whole world has repeatedly made. As soon as we all become reasonable, appreciative and respective of others, the traditions, historic/spiritual legacies of every member of the world community , as soon as we get rid of the biased attitude, prejudices and judgment, as soon as we unconditionally respect each other's autonomy
and independence, we will all succeed in our relations.

As an American of Russian decent I see the advantage for the USA to cooperate with the strongest rising economy in the world. Russia very selectively choses investments from outside.It has a 100% self sufficient economy. It can provide for its own economy with its both natural and human resources. Overpopulation in China and India does not allow to supply their people with enough. In Russia its rich big/population ratio
allows to raise every citizen's standard of living to the highest level and provide for others in the world. As a historian I see the mistakes that the whole world has repeatedly made. As soon as we all become reasonable, appreciative and respective of others, each the traditions, historic/spiritual legacies of member of the world community , as soon as we get rid of the bias and judgment and respect each other autonomy
and independence, we will all succeed in our relations.

I know, as an American of Russian decent, that Russia wants friendship and cooperation with the USA. Whenever I am in Russia I do no see any bias or prejudices in mass media against the USA. I see objective criticism and appreciation of any reasonable step on the part of the USA towards Russia or other countries. There is still a lot to work on in Russia, but much more to work on in the USA with its tremendous debts and collapsing social security system. In Russia still there is quite efficient public health care including the private one as well.

Yes, there is prostitution in Russia as well as here in the USA (on a much lager scale).
But crime is much less than in the USA. There is corruption but not on the scale of the USA where corruption became part of the internal politics presented under "different kinds of sauces". Being an Orthodox Christian I see that thousands of Orthodox churches, monasteries have been restored and thousands of new churches are being built. At the same time other
religious denominations, muslims, buddhists, jews, who have always been part of Russia (Russian empire) can attend their temples freely. There have been created some protestant denomination in Russia and they are doing just fine. Russia is an Orthodox Country and historically was before 1917. Having borders with Asia and Far East Russia learned to appreciate and live in peace with the countries which profess different religions. Orthodoxy is all inclusive.