| BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE : DECEMBER 27, 1999 ISSUE | ||||||||
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| BOOKS
Slobodan Saga MILOSEVIC Portrait of a Tyrant By Dusko Doder and Louise Branson Free Press 304pp $25 Among 20th century tyrants, Serb strongman Slobodan Milosevic hardly stands out from the crowd. But in the past decade, he has managed to sow more turmoil than the leader of a such a small nation can usually provoke. Since the collapse of Tito's patchwork Yugoslavia, Milosevic has consistently shown an ability to promote his own interests to the detriment of nearly everyone within 1,000 miles. He has been instrumental in starting at least four wars, his regime has had a hand in the deaths of thousands, and he has left a once-prosperous country in economic ruins. To date, though, no writer has truly explored what makes Milosevic tick. In Milosevic: Portrait of a Tyrant, Dusko Doder and Louise Branson--former reporters for The Washington Post and London's Sunday Times, respectively--start the job, but ultimately the book feels more like a snapshot. The authors paint a picture of an unstable man with little charisma but with a formidable instinct for self-preservation. That instinct has led Milosevic to pander variously to the communists--an early nickname was ''Little Lenin''--and to the nationalists, according to his needs. The authors describe the way he excels at palace intrigue, having used connections to claw his way to the top of the communist bureaucracy and then abandoning anyone who has dared to challenge his authority. Milosevic's other main talent as a leader, Branson and Doder show, is his ability to manipulate public opinion through the media. Although he has never achieved widespread popularity, Milosevic has managed to keep Serbians in line by maintaining control of national television. When Serbian-American businessman Milan Panic ran against Milosevic for the presidency of Serbia, Panic's rallies went uncovered and his campaign ads were denied airtime. And when Serbian television broadcast live coverage of a visit by Crown Prince Alexander--heir to the Serbian throne and a potential challenger for the country's leadership--Milosevic pulled the plug on the program. The dictator's biggest miscalculation may have been in Kosovo. The authors provide copious details of the events that led to NATO's bombing of the province and Serbia this spring, and show that the conflict was exacerbated by misjudgment on both sides. Milosevic never believed that the alliance would actually go ahead with the bombing, while NATO leaders thought he would fold after just a few days. True to form, when the bombing ended three months later, Milosevic's media heralded the defeat as a victory. In the end, though, Doder and Branson don't deliver the promised portrait of their tyrant. The book provides some details about Milosevic's upbringing--we learn, for example, that both his parents committed suicide--but it lacks the kind of nuance one expects in a traditional biography. The bulk of the text concentrates on the 1990s, with only around 25 pages devoted to Milosevic's early life. Indeed, it feels more like a history of post-Tito Yugoslavia with an account of Milosevic pasted onto it. For readers who have a fascination with Balkan affairs, its account of the past decade's events will likely be rewarding. For those whose interest is less intense, the book offers little more than any of a dozen other recent titles that chronicle Yugoslavia's collapse. By DAVID ROCKS _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ BACK TO TOP |
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