With Their Backs to The World: Portraits of Serbia
Encyclopedia
With Their Backs to The World: Portraits of Serbia is a book by Norwegian
journalist
Asne Seierstad.
While working for the national Norwegian television network Åsne Seierstad
was in Yugoslavia
(today's Serbia
) during the Kosovo War
and NATO bombing of the country of 1999. She also recorded the events of the democratic revolution which overthrew Slobodan Milošević
in October 2000.
In her book, Seierstad follows thirteen people from different parts of the country who represent a rough cross-section of Serbia - people of varying backgrounds and political beliefs. She describes their lives and records their thoughts, providing a degree of insight into Serbia's national psyche and its historical causes. She visited Serbia three times during the book. Firstly in 1999, after the NATO bombing campaign, when Milosevic is still in power and when UN sanctions are still in place. She visited again during the democratic revolution in 2000. Her final visit came in 2004 after the assassination of the Serbian Prime Minister, Zoran Djindjic and the deportation of alleged war criminals (including Slobodan Milosevic himself) to the ICTY
in The Hague
, with most of her characters feeling disillusioned with the country's lack of progress.
As well as talking about ordinary Serbians, including a displaced Serbian family from Kosovo, Seierstad also writes about her interviews with famous Serbian politicians from both Milošević's Socialist Party
and the Democratic parties of Serbia, as well as television personalities and the musician Rambo Amadeus
.
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
Asne Seierstad.
While working for the national Norwegian television network Åsne Seierstad
Åsne Seierstad
Åsne Seierstad is a Norwegian freelance journalist and writer, best known for her accounts of everyday life in war zones - most notably Kabul after 2001, Baghdad in 2003 and the ruined Grozny in 2006.-Personal and professional life:...
was in Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
(today's Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
) during the Kosovo War
Kosovo War
The term Kosovo War or Kosovo conflict was two sequential, and at times parallel, armed conflicts in Kosovo province, then part of FR Yugoslav Republic of Serbia; from early 1998 to 1999, there was an armed conflict initiated by the ethnic Albanian "Kosovo Liberation Army" , who sought independence...
and NATO bombing of the country of 1999. She also recorded the events of the democratic revolution which overthrew Slobodan Milošević
Slobodan Milošević
Slobodan Milošević was President of Serbia and Yugoslavia. He served as the President of Socialist Republic of Serbia and Republic of Serbia from 1989 until 1997 in three terms and as President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1997 to 2000...
in October 2000.
In her book, Seierstad follows thirteen people from different parts of the country who represent a rough cross-section of Serbia - people of varying backgrounds and political beliefs. She describes their lives and records their thoughts, providing a degree of insight into Serbia's national psyche and its historical causes. She visited Serbia three times during the book. Firstly in 1999, after the NATO bombing campaign, when Milosevic is still in power and when UN sanctions are still in place. She visited again during the democratic revolution in 2000. Her final visit came in 2004 after the assassination of the Serbian Prime Minister, Zoran Djindjic and the deportation of alleged war criminals (including Slobodan Milosevic himself) to the ICTY
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
The International Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia since 1991, more commonly referred to as the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia or ICTY, is a...
in The Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
, with most of her characters feeling disillusioned with the country's lack of progress.
As well as talking about ordinary Serbians, including a displaced Serbian family from Kosovo, Seierstad also writes about her interviews with famous Serbian politicians from both Milošević's Socialist Party
Socialist Party of Serbia
The Socialist Party of Serbia is officially a democratic socialist political party in Serbia. It is also widely recognized as a de facto Serbian nationalist party, though the party itself does not officially acknowledge this...
and the Democratic parties of Serbia, as well as television personalities and the musician Rambo Amadeus
Rambo Amadeus
Rambo Amadeus is the stage name of the Belgrade-based Montenegrin singer-songwriter Antonije Pušić, popular all over the former Yugoslavia...
.