Dear readers,
Lately we have witnessed two major diplomatic breakthroughs that made us a bit more optimistic about the future on this planet: the first was the meeting between the two “archenemies”, Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un, and the subsequent détente, denuclearisation of North Korea and many praises and criticisms from all sides.
“They deserve a Nobel for peace” said the Trump’s fans, “Trump is naive and it is a victory for Korea”, said the hawks, “Trump will trick you and step back like in the case of Iran”, said the anti-Trump skeptics. But it was a compromise nevertheless: refuting nukes in exchange for safety. At the same time, the southernmost Yugoslav former republic agreed to be renamed North Macedonia, making nationalist on both sides furious: some Greeks refuse even to hear the name “Macedonia” outside Greek identity, opting for something African-sounding like “Central Balkan Republic” instead. The Macedonians rejecting the name hate the prefix although it is quite obvious that what constitutes Republic of Macedonia now is approximately 1/3 of geographical region of Macedonia and the prefix is needed. Just like if Banat or Syrmia decided to be separate states from Serbia. We call them Banat and Syrmia, but only locally. Internationally, they would have to have a prefix: Western Banat (Eastern Banat is in Romania) or Eastern Syrmia (Western Syrmia is in Croatia). Of course, dissatisfied people are all around. But it is an essence of compromise, as we pointed out in the analytical article inside of this issue: in real, good compromise, there should always be both sided partially happy and partially angry. If one side is perfectly happy with a deal, it is not a compromise and it will lead to a new war, new tensions and it is not a real solution.