Bosnia & Herzegovina Slowly Moving in the Direction of Hydroelectricity
My wife and I are with some friends in the Balkans just now, which, of course, positions me well to look for blog post material in this wondrous place, one I’d never visited.
It pleased me greatly that the drive from Dubrovnik in Croatia to Sarajevo in Bosnia & Herzegovina took us past one of the latter’s many hydro plants, currently contributing 45% of the country’s electricity supply. Although the other 55% is coal (dark coal, lignite and treset, a kind of peat), hydropower holds great promise for further development in the future, in that only one-third of its potential has currently been utilized.
How quickly all this happens is anyone’s guess, however, since this place isn’t prospering economically. Unemployment is running about well above 20%, and many of these people appear fairly glum. Sad to see, especially since they’ve been through so much suffering and been witness to so much horror.
Americans don’t know what it’s like to live through a war on our own soil, this an especially brutal one, orchestrated by a cruel, ultra-egotistical psychopath. And the reminders are everywhere: vast fields of grave-markers, mostly Muslim. Sarajevo itself mostly reconstructed, though some places are still half-standing. All around the country we see rubble, with the marks of countless bullet-holes in walls of buildings of cities and towns still intact throughout the land.
This makes one think: If this is what the war did to concrete, it must have been far more destructive to human flesh.
Putting mentally deranged people into positions of power comes at a terrible price.
More soon.
Craig,
It’s good to see you traveling. Travel can be very educational and broaden the mind.
However, it’s a very American fault to briefly travel to foreign climes but retain American attitudes to local circumstances of which the have no understanding or misunderstandings.
American tourists tend to have closed minds and validate everything in terms of the American experience, or preconceived b beliefs.
The Balkans are very culturally complex and exceedingly difficult to understand.
These Nation States while seemingly modern and European are nonetheless hotbeds of seething ancient hatreds and prejudice dating back before the middle ages.
They are micro-laboratories for every European and Middle Eastern philosophies, political ideologies and religions all crowded into a small, but mountainous setting.
Probable no are in the world has been the subject of more wars, invasions, genocide, and slaughter.
Partly this is due to the Balkans geographical location, partly due to the nature of the terrain.
It’s useless to attribute the cause of the misery of the Balkans to a ” cruel, ultra-egotistical psychopath”, to his loyal supporters he was a true ‘liberator’, freeing his people from ancient and current wrongs and repression. One man’s cruel, ultra-egotistical psychopath, is another man’s “great statesman and patriot”.
Choosing sides, like it was a cowboy movie with baddies and goodies, is very simplistic, and very American. The conviction by a certain type of Americans to evangelize their values on other cultures, has led to a great many of the injustices and conflict of the modern era.
If it seems impossible in the 21st century for fanatical political/religious/ideological/ racial divide to create such brutal conflicts, that may be because you just the world from the safety of your cocoon in Santa Barbara.
In a civil war, there are no “goodies” and “baddies”, just hatred and picking sides.
Balkan conflict and disputes are the result of the dissolution of invading empires. Just as the problems faced by Russia and its neighbors are the product of the dissolution of the old USSR and Russian empire.
Problems begin when significant minorities are left behind on one side or the other of a new boarder. These boarders were created for the administrative convenience of the old imperial power, and did not consider the loyalties or allegiances of local people.
Trying to make resentful people to “get along” is rarely possible mostly, usually ending in tears and bloodshed.
The Balkans have always been well-endowed with terrain suitable for Hydro-electric. It should be remembered Hydro-electric projects come with their own set of environment hazards. In addition, damning a river may start a war or bitter disputes with neighboring nation(s) who share the river.
I own property on Hvar Island on the Croatian coast and also just south of Dubrovnik, (my grandmother and her parents migrated from Croatia to Australia), so I’m glad you’re also discovering how fascinating and scenic the Bosnia & Herzegovinan region can be for tourists.
A trip to Montenegro is also rewarding.
Have a great time!