Joseph Broz Tito--Yugoslavia Remembers

Tito's birthday was May 25, yesterday, and many people went to the "House of Flowers", a site in Belgrade that has been the celebratory locale to honor the former President of Yugoslavia. Other dates are considered his birthday but they seem to celebrate May 25.

Tito was born in Croatia and led what was known as Yugoslavia after World War II until his death nearly 25 years ago. Tito was best known for bringing together disparate Balkan nations together as one under the umbrella of "brotherhood and unity". While Tito had his critics--let's face it, he was a Dictator; He was seemingly the only individual to bring together the cultural, ethnic and religiously diverse components that made up the Balkans during that era. And his mandate indeed was to get along.

The country thrived under his rule and law of the land. Some perished, others flourished, but if you were to talk to most people who remain in the countries of former Yugoslavia today, or the refugees in the United States who came to our country from there, most tell me they were better off there. National health care, a job, food on the table, even a car manufacturer and a Winter Olympics in Sarajevo in 1984.

Tito bent enough to placate the West but never cozied up to Stalin, Franco, or Mussolini in Italy. His "communism" was a brand all his own; more moderate by Western standards, more socialist, and perhaps more humane. Tito embraced the diversity of his countrymen by and large.

With Tito's death and a dearth of power hungry politicians from the various Republics who did not actually possess the same charisma or political capital, the country fell apart, and Nationalism led by Slobodan Milosevic of Serbia prevailed for a time.

I will not point fingers here. There is plenty of blame to go around. It includes Franco Tudjman of Croatia, leaders of Slovenia and others from the multi-country rotating Presidency that ran Yugoslavia after Tito's death.

One thing I have noticed world-wide is that when Dictators die, there typically is no one who is the up and coming credible leader waiting in the wings. That leads to Nationalism, ethnic cleansing, religious wars, military takeovers and power struggles that drag down all the nations associated with this kind of scenario.

But, I do say--rest in peace Josep Broz Tito. You inspired a nation and left a legacy of communist rule unrivaled in the modern world for effectiveness with less brutality. And I love the countries of former Yugoslavia. May they all prosper as Democracies and join the European Union and NATO and ultimately live again as brother and sister and unity as neighbors, instead of rivals.