Kurti at the DNC: That party at Kamala's

Written for Kosovo Online by Srdjan Garcevic, founder of The Nutshell Times

Tom Wolfe never had a large audience in the Balkans. That is probably in part due to our literary elites' Eurocentric snobbery, which still looks down on American culture, but also due to his subversive willingness to probe into the roles of the oppressors and the oppressed, something that sits uncomfortably in a region where all national (as well as familial and individual) narratives are painted in those two Manichean terms.

On the other hand, seeing how Wolfe's popularity in the USA did not prevent the country from becoming increasingly polarised, especially between the perennial oppressors and the perennially oppressed, there are more copies and translations of his brilliant 1970 essay "Radical Chic" would probably not have changed much in the Balkans.

Nevertheless, his portrayal of very rich and powerful progressive American urbanites craving some sense of being underdogs in the fight for justice and coddling people with extreme views, came to mind as I saw photos Albin Kurti proudly shared from the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, including the one with the Democratic nominee and current VP, Kamala Harris.

While it would make sense to point out here that Kurti's hardline positions are often scolded by the Biden-Harris administration, most recently due to his intention to remove the barriers protecting the Serbs in the northern part of Kosovska Mitrovica from his misrule, that would obfuscate the fact that the US foreign policy, especially when it comes down to restraining its allies, can be very unpredictable, often to be point where it goes against the interests of Americans themselves. On top of that, US politicians, such as the disgraced Senator Bob Menendez, are known for being willing to provide quid pro quo services, especially in times of hotly contested elections, which, after all, cost a lot of money can benefit from organized voting blocks for fortification, which democratically-inclined Albanian businessmen can provide in exchange for a minor photo op which would help one back home.

What made Wolfe come to mind is not even the fact that the famously cosmopolitan and anti-nationalistic Democrats are willing to pal around with the man who regularly relies on blood and soil politics and even seeks to appropriate Roman archaeological remains for bogus history: it is well known that various strains of ethnonarcissism are indeed encouraged within the 2024 Democratic party.

The particularly Wolfean moment is that for the duration of Kurti's political career, he has been hailed as a sovereigntist, anti-imperialist voice in Kosovo and Metohija, equally at odds with Belgrade, Tirana, Brussels and, yes, DC, and yet, there he was, mugging for the camera to prove that the US establishment still likes him. This fake frisson of radicalism not only got all the graduate students and activists, always on the lookout to become BalkanPundits and have a cosy stipend, talking about him as a local Che Guevara, but also attracted the starts of the European academic left, a la Žižek and Piketty, i.e. the people who managed to forcefully tilt Europe to the right, to sing him praises.

However, for this type of person, prostrating oneself at a US party convention for a photo op and being a sovereigntist is no more or less contradictory than being an ardent chauvinist and claiming multiculturalism, nor, a bit closer to their experience, being a fully-paid and protected part of the system regularly flown-out to state-sponsored events and being a dangerous critic and warrior against the system. Indeed, Wolfe marvellously explained this type by describing the party at Leonard Bernstein's, where the top of the global cultural elite saw themselves as courageous rebels simply for having a sprinkling of Black Panthers and raising money for their causes (which would end such soirees had they actually succeeded).

Alas, while it is tolerable and arguably beneficial for artists to live in a state of unresolved cognitive dissonance, being unable and unwilling to resolve contradictions in actions and thoughts is not an attractive trait among people who want to sell themselves as not only as shrewd analysts but, worse, policymakers.

What is even worse is the unwillingness to own up to the consequences. Will anybody from the DNC, who had arranged to have Kurti around in Chicago, admit their share in the blame for the unresolved attacks on Serbs? Will the fearless Euro left squeak a peep about the discriminatory policies against the Serbs which seek to impoverish them? Of course not, they will be proud for having empowered and honoured a fearless freedom fighter and underdog, who, just as it happens, has enough power to bully an entire ethnic group unopposed.