I feel the coverage of the Slovene-Yugoslav crisis has exaggerated ethnic tension and ignored some clear, hard economic differences that are the heart of the crisis.
Slovenia was given a basic economic infrastructure by the colonialism of the Hapsburg empire. Serbia as a Turkish colony lacked such advances.
Today those differences cause great distance in terms of economic growth and the success of individual firms. Slovenia currently has many successful firms that have been held down by payments to the federal government which are used to maintain the standard of living in Serbia, Macedonia and Montenegro. But if such firms are given the chance to grow without carrying Serbia on their backs you will see a very successful, small-nation economy within the next several years.
I have traveled and studied all over Yugoslavia and I urge our media and government to do more for the Slovenes. Much like the small but successful economies of the Baltic states, Slovenia has been swallowed by a communist, unwielding and corrupt central government. It need not continue; give these hard-working people their due.
