The Fog of…

Princeton’s Gary Jonathan Bass, commenting in "Independent Daze" in the 6 Jan 08 NYT Magazine on secessionist politics and Kosovo’s impending status resolution, notes that "whatever the proper standard for secession might be, the next president cannot simply improvise." Noting other examples, in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, Belgium, and of Kurdistan, Chechnya, Transdniestria, among others, Bass is sober: "The costs of fogginess are too high, and we aren’t the ones who pay them."