Liberty?

I declare that I am free, therefore, I am free.

I declare that I am free, but am not actually free to be who I want to be, to think what I want to think, to practise what I want to practise, to walk in the streets safely, to represent myself in my own name. Am I really free?

We are all aware that a certain degree of restraint to freedom is an essential component of social life. It is an essential component of any community life (social, international)...

Where do we draw the line? Kosovo declared on Sunday that it is free. It decided for itself. It stopped waiting for Serbia to say so. It will likely be free in name only, for a while, since Serbia has already attacked a couple of outposts manned by the UN and Kosovan forces.

Are Israelis today hostages of their neighbours in their perpetual fear of being attacked by suicide bombers or are they free because they created a state that calls itself free?

Will Kosovo be free from the simple act of saying so? It's a start. And inasmuch as it gets the support from a number of countries (U.S., U.K., France, Germany, Saudi Arabia are a few), it can gradually make its place in the "free" world. But Serbia is intent on encompassing territorial integrity in its idea of freedom to be the Serbia it wants to be. One can argue that bombarding a province to prove to them how much you want them to be part of your territory is the bad way to go about things.

Somewhere in the 20th century, fighting a war to defend your land became bad. This was not always the case. It is still not a unanimous stand. Kosovo, a new country? Or Serbia an amputee? Not an easy one to solve.

"Better is the patient spirit than the lofty spirit. Do not in spirit become quickly discontented, for discontent lodges in the bosom of a fool." -Ecclesiastes 7:8-9, NAB-