UNMIK on Air

23 May 2003

Tim Marshals “Shadow play”

(Andrea Saula)

Slug: An interview with Tim Marshall, veteran Balkans correspondent and author of Shadowplay, an exciting new book on the background to the fall of Slobodan Milosevic.

“The Yugoslavs argued over lives and paid with them. They killed children, and burned houses for good measure. All sides committed war crimes by any definition. Tragically, for so many of the people left behind, the most important question remains ‘who killed the most?’ Then they begin to argue about it and so the circle continues. You can have the same conversation in Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia and Kosovo and hardly anyone will ask what is really important, the question the Germans asked themselves after the Holocaust: ‘How can we stop this from happening again’.

Hello and welcome to UNMIK on AIR with Sputnik Kilambi and Martin Redi.

You’ve just heard a passage from Tim Marshall’s book “Shadow play”.

As a journalist, Marshall was an eyewitnesses to the bloody events that took place in the Balkans over the last ten or so years. Currently the Foreign Affairs editor for Sky News, he has brought together his experiences in this new book.

Marshall’s primary focus in “Shadow play” is on Slobodan Milosevic's fall from power and its orchestration from behind the scenes – specially the role of foreign intelligence services, primarily British and American, during that turbulent time.

“Shadow play” could easily be a thriller or a spy novel, but more than that, it’s a historical book about tragic events as well as a serious geopolitical analysis. Marshall permeates his text with telling vignettes and colorful anecdotes.

He explains that he wanted to do something different, to write something accessible, open and easy to read, while simultaneously trying to explain things on a very human level.

Tim Marshall: I personally believe that you can actually write geopolitical strategy in a human way that everybody can understand. I don’t actually think geopolitics is rocket science you just have to find the way to explain all the stuff and in language that everybody understands. And the vehicle that I used for that was some of vignette, the little individual stories either of my own experiences or of the people in the region experiences.

Marshall hopes that his readers will be able to create a picture in their minds – to imagine a time and a place – what once was Yugoslavia. “Shadow play” begins with Kosovo in 1998 and 1999. It covers the suffering of Albanian civilians and the first clashes between the KLA and Serbian police, military and paramilitary forces. The second section is dedicated to the period during the NATO bombardment, which Marshall mostly spent in central Serbia. Finally the book outlines the plans to oust Milosevic from power on October 5^th. While Marshall mainly focuses on the political aspects, his book also provides broad insight in other areas.

Some critics have accused Marshall of only zeroing in only on the role of foreign governments and their intelligence services. Marshall denies this.

Tim Marshall: Yes, they did play a role but I spell it out. I think I make it clear that what overturned Milosevic was the people of Serbia, the opposition in Serbia, most of the police, most of the army and foreign intelligence services, all working together, and the Yugoslav military intelligence, I should add. So it’s wrong to say that this book is saying British and American overturned Milosevic, they didn’t, they helped to remove him and they pushed and opened the door.

“Shadow play” first came out in Serbian and was published by the Belgrade Radio & TV Station and Publishing house B 92. Veran Matic, B92’s Director, is very satisfied with the success of Marshall’s book in Serbia.

Veran Matic: His main idea is to try to explore the role of intelligence services in the whole process. That is of course an interesting topic for journalists and the one that has not been investigated here. Almost everything here has to be put in context - like every foreigner -- especially the one who is asking around here -- is considered as a spy. That is the heritage we got from the Tito period. They are saying that there are a lot of spies around and that everybody is interested in us, but basically we don’t have any real research on the topic.

Marshall says that he hasn’t seen a lot of books by Balkan authors dedicated to recent history but only from wider, less introspective, points of view. The ex Yugoslavs have a real problem in writing about it, he explains, because if they give away their source, they could be killed in the streets. His advantage perhaps was that he was from the outside and was therefore able to approach all sides.

Tim Marshall: there is still a climate of apprehension about speaking out you know what happened; you’ve seen too many assassinations in former Yugoslavia.

“Shadow play” has become a best seller, though not all reactions have been positive. Even so “Shadow play” is pushing people to rethink the events surrounding the fall of Milosevic.

Veran Matic again.

Veran Matic: Some idealistic picture has been created about October 5^th, something romantic, something that pushed people on the streets, like that they has finally gotten so sick that they decided to overturn the dictator. It wasn’t like that. October 5^th has been in the preparation phase for a long time. I know very well all preparations made by the media. I know the role of media and the role of international community. I wanted to provide insight into the many things that are still hidden regarding the 5^th of October, bearing in my mind that if something is a taboo and if something is not explored, then it can extract revenge in a political sense.

Tim Marshall has moved on from the Balkans. He recently returned from covering the events in Iraq and he is now preparing himself for North Korea. But he continues to be a frequent visitor to the Balkans and finds that progress has been made. But, he adds two perspectives still exist.

Tim Marshall: If you look today from a Kosovar Albanian perspective, I suspect most people there would think that what happened in 1999 was worth it in so far they are now free to determine their own futures. Obviously if you are a Kosovar Serb, you look at it from a different perspective.

Entertaining, well documented, Tim Marshall’s “Shadow play,” clears away some of the cobwebs of recent history – in short, a book well worth reading. “Shadow play” has also recently been published in London.

That does it for this edition of UNMIK ON AIR. Thanks for listening.