Author: Peter Maass

I was born and raised in Los Angeles. In 1983, after graduating from the University of California at Berkeley, I went to Brussels as a copy editor for The Wall Street Journal/Europe. I left the Journal in 1985 to write for The New York Times and The International Herald Tribune, covering NATO and the European Union. In 1987 I moved to Seoul, South Korea, where I wrote primarily for The Washington Post. After three years in Asia I moved to Budapest to cover Eastern Europe and the Balkans. I spent most of 1992 and 1993 covering the war in Bosnia for the Post.

A New Theory From Pakistan: The Mossad and 9/11

Slate
September 23, 2001

The headbands were flimsy, just strips of white cloth tied across demonstrators’ foreheads with slogans written in black ink. The most popular slogan was “Long Live Osama,” though others said “Death to America” and—simplicity ... (Read more)

Macedonia Diary: Dispatches After 9/11

Slate
September 13, 2001

Thursday, Sept. 13, 2001

At the main gate to the U.S. military base outside Skopje, Army soldiers in full battle gear offer visitors a crisp salute and an even crisper shout of their squad’s motto—”Strike To Kill.”

The motto predates ... (Read more)

Milosevic and the Beginning of Honesty

The New York Times
June 30, 2001

When Bob Stewart, who commanded the first regiment of British peacekeepers in Bosnia, was asked by the BBC for his reaction to the extradition of Slobodan Milosevic, he responded with one joyous word: “Hallelujah.”

Across Europe ... (Read more)

Have It Your Way: Why the Bush Administration Should Be Thrilled About Macedonia

The New Republic
June 29, 2001

In 1993, connoisseurs of government dithering heard Warren Christopher utter a delightful phrase that reflected his befuddlement with the war in Bosnia. The conflict, the secretary of state confessed, was a “problem from hell.” What ... (Read more)

Ayn Rand Comes to Somalia

The Atlantic
May 2001

The headquarters of Telecom Somalia is filled with the sights and sounds of Mogadishu-style success. Customers pour through the entrance, funneling past machine-gun positions that flank the front doors. After a pat-down by security guards, who take temporary ... (Read more)

Sin City: How the French Became Puritans

The New Republic
April 30, 2001

“I represent the Mitterrand name,” the former French president’s son said unhappily as we lunched not long ago at Les Comediens, a Paris restaurant near his lawyer’s office. Jean-Christophe Mitterrand, 54, who has the ... (Read more)

This Space for Rent: Dennis Tito Is the Neil Armstrong of Our Time

The New Republic
April 27, 2001

If all goes as planned, at 3:37 tomorrow morning a new space age will dawn. At that moment, a Russian capsule will bear into the blue sky and beyond the strangest cosmonaut of all time–a balding, 60-year-old businessman from Los Angeles ... (Read more)

Our Half-Baked Balkan Policy

The Washington Post
March 26, 2001

All too often the American government has, in its handling of Balkan affairs, pursued a policy of “Do as I say and not as I do.”

Last week Serbian Prime Minister Zoran Djindjic was on the receiving end of this treatment during ... (Read more)

Ad Nauseum: Race and Free Speech at the Daily Californian

The New Republic
March 7, 2001

The Daily Californian is doing it again, bless its soul.

The newspaper at the University of California at Berkeley has always had a Madonna-like ability to reinvent itself, remaining relevant and controversial long after its presumed zenith. ... (Read more)

Radio Wars: Milosevic’s Failure to Silence the Radio Station B-92 and the War He Lost

Brill’s Content
March 2001

In Belgrade, you don’t need to be paranoid, but it helps. It’s late October, and I’m sipping an espresso at the Window Café, along Knez Mihailova, the city’s main shopping street, with Sasha Mirkovic, the general manager ... (Read more)