economics of Yugoslav war

["J. Barkley Rosser, Jr." <rosserjb@xxxxxxx>]

      Since there is clearly a desire by some listmembers
to discuss the current war while that has been ruled out
by Ric, let me suggest that a different focus might be on
the economics of the war.  Several questions arise:
     1)  To what extent does the war reflect the increasing
inequality that arose between the republics and provinces
of the former Yugoslavia.  In particular, Kosovo-Metohija
is by far the poorest region and fell behind other areas
(such as leading Slovenia) during the postwar period.
Was this due to systemic aspects of the Yugoslav economy,
due to outside interference, or due to characteristics within
Kosovo-Metohija itself.
     2)  To what extent did the war arise from economic
imperialism?  A variety of specific motivations have been
proposed including controlling the mines of Kosovo-Metohija,
controlling the Danube for transportation, gaining a regional
foothold to insure oil supplies from further east, a systemic
attack on the remnants of socialism in Serbia, a general
European pacification to allow expansion and development
of the EU, and a more general desire to control the world.
      3)  It has been argued that the US, Germany, and the
IMF plotted to break up Yugoslavia.  Certainly Germany
encouraged the secessions of Slovenia and Croatia.  Was
the US trying to break it up also, or trying  to keep it together
as an anti-Soviet bulwark?  Certainly the IMF was imposing
strict austerity in the late 1980s that exacerbated the regional
tensions, but Yugoslavia also was experiencing hyperinflation
then and had high foreign indebtedness.
     4)  Why did the Rambouillet Accords demand a change
in the local economic system (to a "free market" one)?
     5)  Economically what should be done when the war ends?
Barkley Rosser