yugoslavias implosion

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ChApter 4
segments of society. Yet, Milošević did not permit the institutionalization
of the spc’s public role because his Socialist outlook inclined
him to give the church no formal part in the state.
The spc played a particularly active part during the war in Bosnia,
being an important part of Republika Srpska’s power structure
and criticizing Milošević whenever he backed away from his war
aims and sought to accommodate the international community, as
for instance during the Dayton talks. Dissatisfied with the concessions
Milošević made in Dayton, the spc withdrew its “authorization”
(which it had earlier given in the form of a signed memo) for
Milošević to act for all Serbs during the talks.
When Milošević suffered defeat, the amalgam of communism
and nationalism fell apart and was replaced by a right-wing ethno-nationalism,
with the spc playing the leading role. Koštunica
gave the spc a dominant public role as he hastily abandoned secular
principles in the spheres of public life and matters of state. The spc
was entrusted with shaping the identity of the nation and the culture
of the young. In a ruined society suffering from a crisis of identity,
the spc wielded great influence despite the fact that the values the spc
promotes—archaism, collectivism, anti-Westernism, and xenophobia,
along with extreme intolerance of people with different views—
are contrary to the principles of modern society.
The Role of Russia
Throughout its history, Serbia has looked to Russia and the
wider Orthodox world for support. The 1990s were no exception to
this pattern. Indeed, Serbian nationalists not only expected Russia
(whether incarnated as the Soviet Union or as the Russian Federation)
to lend its support to their cause before and during the wars of
the 1990s, but also have continued to see Russia as their champion in
the first decade of the twenty-first century.